ESPN insider makes up a trade: Abdur-Rahim for Rice and E. Griffin

Yeah! Where has leebigez gone?!?

Well it doesn't make a big difference if Mo Taylor is listed at the 3 or if SAR is listed at the 3. They are interchangeable. But I would rather have Mo Taylor being our great 6th man like last year along with Cato, Moochie, and Piatkowski.

Francis 37/Moochie 11
Mobley 36/Piatkowski 12
Griffin 24/Piatkowski 12/SAR 12
SAR 25/Taylor 23
Yao 35/Cato 12

I don't think we can wait for Eddie Griffin to develop...I do remember this trade during the deadline. It was Griffin for SAR...and supposedly Rice too. But someone said the Rockets rejected...

I like this trade.

 

Remember guys, this is an idea of the reporter, a proposal, won't be reality. All you are very excited, CALM. Evidently, this could be a great trade, but back to the real world. The thing is that we have 2 PF like Griffin and Taylor and they´re very good players. A lot of teams, would like have them. In different teams, being starters they could be all-stars.
And don't worry about the small forward position. I have seen play Stojakovic, Divac, Turkoglu, Gasol......and Nachbar in europe and I can assure he will be our starting small forward for a long time (if JVG give him minutes and confidence...) He is so talented and maybe this year won't play but next year will play more and next year he can be our starter SF. The defense?? Is Stojakovic a bad player? Wouldn´t you like have him in our team?

 

I'll take this trade, where do I sign?

DD

 

This deal is good from an individual talent perspective, but does not address the rockets needs well.

SAR as a 4 in the West? Do you want the rockets to be the mid 90's no defense Milwaukee Bucks that bad? He is a SF playing out of position at PF in the East. His game also clashes with Yao in that he surely isn't a banger to help take the pressure off him. In fact, he will just take away some Yao's touches in the low post, and some of Francis's in general. I don't like that at all.

SAR as a 3? We need a piatkowski, brent barry type as our 3, except with better defense. That's what we all hope Nachbar becomes. We all know SAR isn't that kind of player. He does not shoot that well from long range, and needs the ball in his hands to score more often than not. He does not fit the model 3 for a team with a dominant center. Plus, he has a max type contract so why would we give up our most tradeable asset in rice for a guy who is a good talent but questionable fit at best, unless we aren't getting other offers, which I doubt. The type of 3 we need is a Peja type player, a guy who will make people pay for doubling Yao, and who can also handle the ball decently.

Bottom line: SAR is a good talent, but a bad fit in Houston, so I pass on this trade.

 

Although I like SAR's versatility, I do wonder, is he JVG's sort of player?

We could use Brian Grant even more, but his contract runs longer and so he would be making the beaucoup bucks.

So, would we pay SAR top dollar for two years, then give him the contract he deserves (when I say, Mo money, Mo money, Mo money, I don't mean "more money," I mean, Mo's current contract), and use SAR's versatility? Or do we go for the banger we need?

I'm still sticking by my proposed massive 3-way trade with Miami and Memphis (don't match for Odom, Clips; don't match!) given that those teams also need to make moves and their silence is also suspicious. Or no trade at all.

 

The bottom line is:

1. What is Glen Rice's contract worth. It's worth something but not as much as people think. Utah had a ton of cap space and couldn't sign anyone. San Antonio was counting on Jason Kidd or Elton Brand and struck out on both counts. And they just won the title.

2. What is Eddie Griffin worth. Once again, it's worth something (he's young) but not as much as people think. What difference does it make if he is 19, 20, 21 or 22. He still hasn't shown an ability to do anything other than block shots. How does a 20 year old player not improve?

So you take 1 & 2 and do the best you can with what you have.

Yao and Steve are off limits. Nobody will pay equal value for an above average SG (HeyP's theory).

That leaves 1 & 2.

SAR's contract will expire in 2 years. He has the dubious dinstinction of playing the most NBA games (among active players) without a playoff appearance. If he has any pride, he would swim in shark infested waters to get out of there.

Assume we get SAR. That gives the Rockets 1 year to determine whether he's a good fit.

At the end of the season we can decide whether or not to sign him to a long term deal at a reduced salary. If he says no, then we trade his expiring salary (ala Rice) next season or let him play out his final year and sign him in the offseason or let him go for salary cap relief.

The only downside to this would be if Eddie Griffin turns into a mega player. Once again - how does a 20 year old not improve unless he's lazy, stupid, and/or has no talent.

SAR is not an ideal PF but you can't get the ideal player for Griffin and an expiring contract.

It's worth a risk and one of the only ways to get a player in his prime for almost nothing.

This is a no brainer. Why Atlanta would do it is the bigger question.

 

More chad ford bull****.

I can't believe he gets paid for this crap.

 

Another way to look at this would be, would you give up 3 first round picks if you knew you'd be getting SAR out of the deal?

I think I might.

And to those who are saying things like "SAR won't get 20ppg with Houston" - who cares? That wouldn't be the point. The important questions would be:

a. will be be a legit enough scorer to make defenders stay at home?

b. will he be able to make people pay if they leave him to double Yao?

c. would he be able to step it up if Steve or Yao was having an off night (or worse, got injured)?

It's a big plus to have someone who's been proven to be able to score 20 ppg consistently, even if we don't need him to. the trouble comes if he can't/won't fill the role we ask him to. His game seems pretty versatile, but who knows about his ego?

 

I don't think the Hawks would do this. If the rockets rejected this same offer before, Carrol Dawson shoulda been fired that same day he rejected it. The only way I see the hawks doing it is if, David Macdavid goes into rebuilding and gives us a hometown break.

I'd do it in .000001 seconds though.

 

Don't like SAR........but its been a long boring summer so hey......



WELCOME TO THE ROCKS SAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I like the trade, but I don't like the idea of having a $48 million contract on the bench as a backup 4. We already got a $42 million one on the bench and a $23 mil backup PG.

 

while SAR would be nice, i still would like a 3 point threat at the 3.......granted if the rocks did make this trade, id prob wet myself......i guess we'll get our big splash after all......

ok thas enough outta me.......ESPN Insider is crap neway.....

 

Yao/Cato
MoT/SAR
SAR/Griffin/Boki
Mobley/Pike
Francis/Moochie

Some things to consider:

- SAR is a good enough rebounder so that we don't have to worry about MoT's rebounding. Both SAR and yao Ming can grab 10 rebounds regularly, and are capable of averaging it.

- If we don't like SAR, we trade him after one year. Who wouldn't want a 27 year 20ppg scorer in his last year?

- More than likely, if we like SAR, we have to get rid of either Cato or MoT.

- SAR can't be a full tiem PF in the West.

- SAR plays similar to Kenny in that he needs to be isolated, and create his own shot with as much time as he needs. Not at all a catch and shoot player, but a very good post presence.

- 3pt shooting would be SEVERELY lacking outside of Pike.

- Can Yao, MoT, SAR, Mobley, and Francis play on the same team anyway? Should we swap Mobley and Cato for Wes Person and Lo-Wright after this deal?

 

Why?

Francis, Mobley, and Yao can all shoot 3's. We could play Piatkowski at the 3 then more often.

But yes...we do lose Glen Rice.

Has NBA Insider ever predicted a trade that really happened?

 

Think...Don Carter not Mark Cuban.

 

The Ratliff is injury prone... if he didnt get so many injuries... than i would consider cato for ratliff... but nope i prefer keeping cato....

 

I still don't get why we need a "3rd star player." The Spurs just won the championship with only TD, the Lakers won with Shaq and Kobe, the Bulls with Jordan and Pippen, etc. You just need a third player who can consistently step up such as Cat. For those who'll say Cat is a star player, the question then arises as to why we need SAR.

 

He doesn't have SAR out of position, he has him in the same starting line-up with Taylor. So what if he said Mo was the three, we all know who would be guarding the other team's 3's, and Mo might actually be the guy spreading the floor on offense, he has 18-20 foot range, while Shareef is inside grabbing offensive rebounds.
We still don't know what VanGundy's type of 3 is, is it Larry Johnson ( a natural power forward) or the Minnesota Strangler (a natural 2 guard)? Maybe Shareef is Jeff's kind of 3. I know he said to Piatkowski the 2 and 3 would be interchangable, but I think Jeff will adapt to the players we have on the team.
j

 

Everyone who's talking about SAR being a bad fit in Houston... I wonder if they think that Eddie Griffin and Glen Rice are great fits for us...? Come on now. There's not a lot of logic there. Sure, we need a banger type PF, but EG does not exactly fit that role. Glen Rice is a slow, defenseless, injury prone vet who can only shoot threes from the top of the key.

I don't see why people would have a problem trading them for SAR, even if he isn't the best fit. He's a better fit than those guys.

 

I like SAR at the 3 and moving over to the 4 to help out Mo Taylor with the minutes. I think that would give us a solid front line and a little more versatility. We have other guys that can play the three. I would hate to give up Rice's shooting when he gets hot, but the everyday play would be better.IMO