Not necessarily. He could sign a 1 year deal this year to get a better feel for the team/situation, then we could use our MCE next year to sign him to a longer term deal. The thought of putting a front line together of 3 guys under 22 with that much talent (Ming, Griff, Lewis) is simply frightening. Lewis will have a field day off the amount of attention teams will have to give Yao's size, and Steve/Cat's abilities. All those back iron duds we saw from the Chinese guards magically turn to swishes.
I didn't say he'd get big minutes there, but he could get some. Hey,if KT can play the 3, MO the 5, Griff the 5,4, and 3, and Mobley the 2 and 3, Rice can play the 2,3, and maybe 4. Also rememember that it helps to have the new rules and Yao and Griff down low. Also, I believe that Rice was out of shape last year and may a little more mobile this year. Besides, it says Guard-Foward on ESPN for Glen Rice. They couldn't be wrong, right? IMO, Boki would probably be better as well, but I'd rather give him minutes at the 3. But if needed, he could play big minutes at both, I guess. edit: Oh yeah. Chances are you've seem him be slow against STARTING Sf's. In this plan, Rice would be guarding backup SG's. He may be able to get by with a little immobility. Or maybe not...
No response to the little hornet's nest you've served up, Pops? The replies have been fairly predictable, so far. (Myself included... I don't think Lewis is worth the max either, but if we could get him for the MCE, why not? Work the ramifications out later and WIN this year!) Jeff (as usual) and Joe Fan had excellent points about the cap side of the equation... others have discussed how they would all play together (Rice is NOT a 2 guard, not unless he's guarding someone as slow as he has become. Is there anyone that slow at 2 out there?) So, whats up, oeilpere? Give some of your speculation on the info you know... you know?
oeilpere doesn't have internet privileges at the looney bin. His mom picks him up on Saturdays, and then he posts his bull**** here.
Real nice unsolicited personal attack on some one that Clutch has verified as an insider. Or maybe you think clutch met him in the loony bin. That is really just pathetic.
Ok, I'll admit Rice is probably too slow. But lets say his man drives past him. Who does he meet, then? BTW, like I said, I wouldn't plan on him getting big minutes, but he COULD play there.
Achebe, I thought this WAS the looney bin. He is perfectly at home with all of us bull****ers. It's just that some of Popeye's bull**** isn't bull****. (Man, that's a lot of bull****, huh? )
crash, Your next to last post was great and I agree with you completely (I'll say something about your last post in a minute). Before we got Nachbar, I was in favor of trying to get Rashard somehow. Now, I'm not so sure. I mean it seemed perfect...have Rice start and by the end of the season, pass the torch to Boki. If Lewis is on the team, then it is doubtful that he would pass the torch as the starter to Boki. Maybe Boki can go to the 2 spot, but what about Mobley?? Of course, if we can get rid of some of these bad contracts like Cato, Moochie, Rice, and Taylor, then Lewis could probably get what he is worth. However, I agree that we shouldn't give him (if we had the amount available) an exuberant contract. Sign him to a one year deal, find someway to get rid of Rice, and see what happens with Rashard playing like 28 minutes a game at SF and Boki 20 minutes. If Kenny or Mo (more likely Kenny) gets traded, we could also let Rashard or *possibly* Boki play some of the 4. As for your last post, crash, you have to realize that pops has always had some doubters and Heb has been one of his biggest. I have read here Heb actually complimenting Pops on his posts, but unlike me and others, he is not going to automatically take his word as the gospel. That is his preference, and it differs from mine. However, I like both posters and I don't think that Heb meant anything more than a playful jab at oeilpere (but then again I'm not Achebe, so who knows).
crash, I'm admittedly dubious about a ton of things, but that post was of course a jab, as Manny labeled it. I think that oeilpere knows and expects to get the occassional barb when he hears, and then relays obviously absurd things. The nature of that beast.. is when you're going to be wrong... you're wrong. But somehow I feel that you are razzing me b/c of previous bs-calls I've laid on Rocket!!!, n'est-ce pas? This is our bbs, of course, and you should expect more out of the posters... including yourself. Try not to lap everything up people put in front of you.
You’re wrong. I am not razzing you because of Rocket!!! You might be right about him but I don't think you are right about Pops. I think he has proven that he is legit. Clutch said he was legit and even gave an explanation (during the Dream to Miami trade rumors two years ago) about why some rumors are never revealed and why some never mature. That was good enough for me but then Pops nails the 3 for 1 trade with New Jersey the day before the draft. Now please who could have done that with out some kind of inside info? Your jab sure seemed like a sincere lack of respect to me. Of course if I am wrong then I am sure you will correct me.
Um, I went to be early last night, So Yes I was talking about a back-up 2 guard! RC Cola I know you have been told Rice is slow but he is old lol So I wont even bother repeating what you have already heard 100 times I have one question. What is wrong with adding depth to a championship team Doctor Robert? you said,"As far as I'm concerned, completing a great starting lineup is more important than keeping Taylor, Moochie, Thomas, and Cato, who all have trade value. If we are really trying to build a championship team, we can draft guys or get CBA guys to play those roles without a big problem." But if we get rid of those guys and fill it in with CBA or Rookie talent, We take away our depth? I believe our depth is what makes this team a shewwin to make the playoff, please correct me if Im wrong, I have been wrong before and I have no problem with it. There is cheaper talent out there we just have to find it (No Im not Les)
Awesome tip, Oielpere! I can see Lewis deciding to wait until next year for his 'max' demands, and what better place to play than at home? The reference to CD's comment about the draft slight --'it's business'--gives me the feeling that the Rox aren't guaranteeing a big contract after this year. Francis, Griffin, and Ming will always be ahead of Lewis in the financial commitment pecking order, no matter how well he plays. I can't help but look at every new occurrence with reference to Steve's contract negotiations. It seems every new move the Rox make (and potentially make) is in the Rox' favor--signing Lewis gives the team yet another high powered scoring threat to fall back on if Francis' ailment worsens or he plainly decides to leave (assuming he doesn't sign an extension). I just can't understand Francis' hesitation, unless he really wants to play somewhere else, like Washington. But its shaping up that he'll have one hell of a team to play on THIS YEAR. Let's hope Lewis decides to stay at home.
It seems to me that the way the ramifications of the luxury tax are shaking out, the Lakers will have an even bigger lock on things. Pay two great players the max and fill in around them. Since the Lakers have the best twosome - the rest of us are fighting hard for second place. It is starting to look like teams the Blazers put together over the last 5-6 years may be a thing of the past. They never lived up to their talent, but you have to admit they had a lot of it from the top of the roster to the bottom. Chemistry/coaching (and the Lakers) kept them from being champs, not a lack of excellent ballers. Troublesome from my perspective is that the Rockets are just now arriving at the cusp of having that kind of deep talent. Arriving after wandering in the desert for 6 years. And now that we are almost there, this luxury tax may knock our feet out from under us. The Kings are the one team seemingly willing to bite the luxury tax bullet for short term gains. Maybe it will work, maybe it wont. One thing for certain, the LT will make this type of go-for-it-now experiment more costly than ever before. My worries are, of course, more selfish. I worry whether the Rockets are going to be able to keep this young team together long enough, in light of the impending LT, to even have a chance to become a dynasty. I really want to see it too. I want to see this nucleus grow together. I want to see this roster deep from top to bottom, as it is headed right now, like the Blazers had, and see if we can win it where the Blazers could not, because of better chemistry/coaching. And I don't blame Les or any other owner for wanting to avoid the luxury taxt. Hence, it looks like we may fall victims to bad timing. Anyway, back to the point at hand, I just don't see how giving Lewis $75M over 7 will get us where we want to be. If you give him that, then what about Mobes, etc? Seriously, what is the answer?
Let's say Lewis is considering signing with the Rockets for one year instead of three. This would make him a free agent again next year, when some teams will be under the cap. If he does not like his one-year tryout with the Rockets (or the Mavs), what teams would be under the cap next year that Lewis would have as a fall-back from which to get a big contract? (I'm just trying to get inside his head, or his agent's head). 1. Clippers? 2. Bulls? 3. Heat? 4. Magic? 5. Nuggets? 6. Wizards?
If we can bring Lewis in - DO IT! We need all the talent we can get, the more the better. Joe Fan talked about the Blazers of a few years ago and the current Kings roster being loaded with talent but not knocking off the Lakers. In my humble opinion, the way to beat the Lakers is to hound Shaq and Kobe as best you can (cuz ya can't stop them you can only contain them), then hope your role players are vastly superior. The Blazers would have beaten the Lakers a couple of years ago if they didn't suffer from a serious case of shrinkage. Their nuts shrunk up like George Costanza's after jumping into that freezing pool. I haven't seen a melt down like that since, and it pains me to say it, the Oilers 38-35 loss to the Bills. Seriously, if fear stinks then the Rose Garden would have smelled like a port-a-potty on a hot July day at a hillbilly, white trash tractor pull. The King's gave the Lakers all they could handle, and that was with their second best player being hobbled by an ankle injury. Anybody thinks that Pedja played like the guy that averaged 22 a game in the regular season is kidding themselves. Who knows what would have happened in all those games the King's lost because know other than Bibby could hit a shot. I have to believe that a healthy Pedja knocking down open 3' rather than Doug Christie jackin up air balls, would have made a seious difference. Plus, the Lakers benefited from some seriously shady calls. While I am excited about Nachbar, not many of us have actually seen him play. It took Hedo Turkgolu a few years to come into his own, and Lewis give us a better than average 3 NOW. Who knows what Ming will be able to do offensively given the physical punishment he will receive over the course of an 82 game season. I am a HUGE supporter of the Rockets, but while we seem loaded, we do have some question marks. I have read a couple people compare KT's numbers to Rashard's, BUT Lewis is an undoubtedly better long range shooter. KT has some skills, but he is not automatic from 3 point range. My point is bring on Rashard, lets load up with as much talent as possible, learn to play just a little D & pass the ball, and open up a serious can of WHOOP ASS on all those old, washed up, has been, wanna be punks that need to sit their tired asses down come play off time. And let's just see which of the top seeds want to play the Rockets in a 5 game series - NOT MANY! IF YA SMELL WHAT THE ROCK'S ARE COOKIN'
I would love to get Lewis for the MCE, 1 year, 3 year, whatever. However, that should not be our only approach. I would be fine for a 7-year 50-60K deal for Lewis through a trade. What you have to remember is we give up a lot of long-term salary to do this (in Mo or Cato likely), what this means is Rashard only costs us OVER what we are paying one of these guys already. Now it is possible the Sonics would want Rice as a trade filler so they can dump his salary the following year (totally rebuild), but I think Mo would be one of their guys. The question to me is what do we have a value we are willing to give up? Boki is the obvious choice if we land Rashard. But Boki can't be traded until 12-15, so that is a complication. EG, well, we already have said no. Mobley, no, he the soul of the team. Ming and Francis--only in Seattles dreams. KT? Sure. He is a solid player, but Seattle from a fan publicity view might rather have Lewis just walk (blame it on the selfish player) than trade him with KT as the principal. What I think would be best for both teams (great for us, somewhat exploitive of Seattle but better than nothing) is like Mo and Boki (and maybe a conditional future pick) for Lewis (plus filler and whatever teams involved). But this can only go down after Dec 15th I believe (somewhat of a drawback if not an impossibility because I guess Lewis still has to be signed). For those of you that balk, remember Lewis is the same age as Boki and had far better numbers in the NBA than Boki did in an Europe league last year, our HOPE is that Boki develops into the player Lewis already is. Outside of this I guess we can wait an see if the Sonics would rather swallow Rice (or Cato or Mo) + KT + future unconditional picks rather than lose Lewis for nothing. Lewis would be a fantastic addition in an oppertunnistic situation not likely to repeat itself (plus are not likely to get good draft picks in the future), I would not flinch guaranteeing Lewis 50-60 Mil over 7 years to get this done. BTW-SteveL I saw you post after I finished mine, I completely agree, great post!!!
he will sign a 1 year deal and then, test the market next year and then negotiate off season for larger contract!! Man, that will be awesome!!If it happens!!
