You guys disappoint me... so few caveats on the list you require. Where are the others like "not on a rookie contract", "must be left-handed" and "has as much street cred"? It's hard to say who is available ... but there are 7-8 point guards on the 4 West contenders ahead of us that are better than Rafer Alston. That alone should be motivation to get help in this area. Stars like Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Deron Williams and Jason Terry are one thing, but those contenders have backups better in Leandro Barbosa, Derek Fisher and Devin Harris -- and you could debate Jacque Vaughn/Brent Barry. I tell you what though -- I'll get you a detailed list as soon as you send me a list of NBA teams that are willing to give up something of remote value in order to make Rafer Alston their starting point guard for 35+ minutes a night (hotballa - you can't include the Lakers and Brock, you can't cite teams with cap space ). Interesting because my other question was how are the T-Wolves doing since they benched the ballhogging malcontent - but I already know the answer to that one too. Mike James is a classic buy-low candidate. The Rockets could possibly get value here for very little in the offseason.
sorry for keeping it to realistic options. Next time we'll talk fantasy B-ball. But for fun we'll drop the salary consideration and just talk obtainable replacements for Rafer that would be better fits for this team. Mike "trigger happy in the playoffs and it's all about me biatch" James isn't on my list. As far as value goes, I think Rafer is a pretty good value and I'll take him over Derek Fisher at this point any day. Regardless, the answer to that question for me is that we got a good deal and until we can get someone better he's our guy. His defence has improved beyond where I thought it could be (although still has trouble at times like tonight). His major downsides right now are shooting percentage, brains at times - although the majority of the time he makes good decisions I will grant you that he has his moments where you just wish he wouldn't have done that, he has trouble finishing when driving to the hoop and could improve his rebounding. The upsides are he is an excellent teammate (not a term I would use for Mike James), low turnover, usually makes good choices, plays decent defense, shoots OK from the three and makes his free throws when it counts. What I'm saying is you can come up with a solution if you see a problem or simply keep talking about the problem. over. and over. as for the t-wolves - they weren't doing that much better when they were starting the ballhogging malcontent. Even further, if he wasn't a ballhogging malcontent he would probably still be starting.
Clutch, you've given us a prototype of an absolute Rafer-hater without mask, just as Dada to JVG. U know what? I like this consistent type of guy on this board rather than those wagon-jumper.
I can't really see James as a buy low value. I agree with most of the things Clutch says but James was doing horrible with old coach, with new coach, on the bench. Every aspect practically. His ideas of launching shots to me doesn't seem much different to the current Rafer, except Rafer can bring the ball up more effectively. If I could buy James low and still keep Rafer I would be fine with it. But even then it would be hard to justify James starting over RAfer
Nachbar did make very bad comments on JVG's coaching in NJ, and, I think, in Houston (Nets road game in Huston). Span is keeping his mouth sealed, but I guess he will let all out someday.
Woo Hoo. More Mike James / Rafer talk? Funny how the NBA Trade Review thread turns into James/Rafer in a nanosecond! I am also a James fan like Clutch. But I also want to point out, as much as Clutch and I want James here, overall it's not about James vs Alston. It's about ADDING James (or another vet PG). Why can't we have BOTH James and Alston? Why can't we have TWO seasoned veteran PGs on this team that can handle the ball? As maddening as Alston can be at times, the problem is when he gets "extended minutes." His performance goes down. The problem is Alston gets put into a "3rd scorer role" when he isn't a 3rd scorer. He is a 4th, 5th scoring guy that should ONLY be shooting "spot up" 3ptrs. Anytime he drives to the basket or shoots on the move, it is a disaster. Conversly, this is where James would help this team tremendously. The bottom line is this team needs TWO decent PGs.
Nice try at a downplay for having brought "salary" to the equation, oh and refusing to hear possible solutions you just don't like. I didn't see your list of NBA teams by the way. Not surprised. I came in to this thread talking about that trade from a Toronto Raptors perspective. Most know I don't like Rafer for the Rockets, but outside of a jab at the word "fixture", I wasn't talking about it being a bad trade for Houston. Part of the writer's justification for it being a winner for Houston (and I assume a loser for Toronto) was that James walked a year later from the Raptors... that did not make it a bad trade from Toronto's end. Dumping Rafer and not taking back a bad contract made it a good deal for the Raptors. So not only did your post request that I respond to solve a problem I wasn't talking about up to that point, but you're now b****ing that I keep talking about it over and over. They were 23-27 with James as a starter and oddly in a playoff spot, but they're 5-11 since. When you remove a ballhogging malcontent chemistry killer, don't you get better? I think Minnesota's problems run deeper than Mike James, and again ... I think he is a great potential buy-low candidate this offseason.
Clutch, If the Knicks don't release Francis and give us a chance to sign him, it's probably a safe bet that the Rockets' brass WILL -- once again -- go after Mike James. We tried twice, and failed, but I have a feeling we will keep trying. Book it...
I wonder if the Rockets brass would choose James or Francis if he is released this summer. I think with a new PG we can truly be elite next year, assuming the rest of our team stays intact and healthy
As much as I cringe everytime Rafer shoots, we have no one else that can run our team. Talk about acquiring a veteran PG is moot point unless a FA is willing to take what we can offer for cash in the off season. We have no trade bait besides our rookies, Head (which we don't seem to be giving up), and Alston. Anything else opens up another problem on our roster. Losing JB and Sura hurt our team's depth alot.
Clutch, assuming that Mike James would waive that infamous "trade-kicker" after claiming to be insulted by the Rockets' unwillingness to give that stipulation to him this past summer, what do you think it would take to get him? Would Sura (partially guaranteed contract), Lucas and cash be enough? Probably only if (a) Minnesota thought it made a mistake signing James and wants out of his long-term contract and (b) the T-Wolves think highly enough of Randy Roye's future to hand over 38+ mpg of the PG duties. It would probably take at least a future second rounder to make that deal work. Would you be willing to part with the Rockets' first rounder this summer? While it is a deep draft, it's not like the #25 pick is going to be a world-beater. Still, that's a big gamble on a malcontent who isn't even that great a player. I'll go on the record as being a "pro-Rafer" guy on this BBS, although I agree that his 2-pt shooting is absolutely atrocious. If the Rockets were to add Mike James, I (and likely JVG) would prefer that Rafer remain the starter. James could provide scoring off the bench, and Rafer wouldn't have to play 42 minutes seemingly every night. But could James live with being a backup? Let alone to the very player for whom he was traded?
The irony is that I asked who you would rather have for the same amount of money - the only other stipulation being that we have a reasonable chance of acquiring that player. Instead you want me to come up with a list of teams that would pay Rafer "remote value" yet add the stipulation that they must play him 35+ minutes a game. I agree that Rafer would be great off of the bench. We don't have that luxury now or a way to get from here to there this season. The fact is Rafer is a value and that value has paid off whether you like him on the team or not. In addition we have that value as our backup when a bonafide starter comes our way. That's luxury. I'm not trying to "downplay" anything and unlike yourself will answer the question I am asked directly instead of resorting to emotion and making it personal. As to refusing to listen to possible solutions - quite the contrary. I asked the question because I was genuinely interested in your solution. So far all I have to show for my question is to apparently pick any back-up pointguard from a team with a better record than ours and throw him into the mix for 38 minutes a game. sweet. it was also a good deal for the Rockets. We would be without Rafer and Mike James right now if you had your way. Or even worse, we would have Mike James, for more money than he is making now, as our starter. wasn't talking about up to this point? It's been in your signature for over a month and creeps its way into headlines on the front page even when Rafer has a fantastic night. over and over. Sure they do - but did he help them or hurt them? I'll agree with you that they sucked less with him starting. congrats.
