I'm more worried about a potential third starter/key rotation player that has a high potential to miss a third of the season. I don't care about the cap relief half as much as I do about this team constantly playing with a hand (or two) tied behind its back. I'd chase Hinrich HARD before bringing in TJ Ford, so long as the team is committed to both Yao and Tracy. Ford: 5 regular seasons (410 possible games), played in 253. Evan
Hope it doesn't turn out like Sura. It's a bigger risk because Ford is expensive. Injuries are a serious matter.
I'd be happy if the rocks got either one. But I'd also be happy if they passed on both, esp if the asking price is too high. Either would be an upgrade over Rafer, but both have their warts. I much prefer Kirk, but I haven't really gotten to see Ford play all that much. I think Ford is much more likely to be had on the cheap though.
C'mon DD, you know it's not that easy. TJ is a BYC player. And, as has been discussed a bunch on this board, any contract that Calderon signs is also likely to make him a BYC player (and very very difficult to trade for in a S&T). TJ's BYC status makes him difficult to trade for. After much tinkering, here's what I could come up with. Houston Trades Bobby Jackson Steve Francis Chuck Hayes Luther Head Steve Novak (need to exercise team option first) Toronto Trades TJ Ford Jorge Garbajosa Joey Graham #17 pick in the draft We trade away a lot of rotation players for basically TJ Ford. We'd probably let Jorge play in the Olympics, freeing Toronto of their lawsuit with Spain, but I wouldn't expect him or Joey to be any significant players next year. Meaning Morey would have to work some magic with the 2 first round draft picks at that point. Plus, Bobby is potentially a great trading chip at mid-season. On the other hand, though you'd definitely be small at the PG position, you now have TJ, Rafer and Aaron Brooks, making one tradeable. If you wanted to get crazy after that, you could do the following trade: Houston Trades Shane Battier Aaron Brooks #17 and #25 pick Portland Trades Martell Webster Channing Frye Josh McRoberts #13 pick With the 13th pick I'd draft either Westbrook or Joe Alexander. Alexander would right now be my preference. Then I'd offer the full MLE to Ricky Davis. Lineup PG: Ford, Alston SG: Webster, Ricky Davis SF: T-Mac, Alexander, Graham PF: Scola, Landry, Frye, Garbajosa C: Yao, Deke, Frye -------------------------- Just made that all up as I typed it, but the trades at least work per salary cap rules (I think!)
The rockets will go with Head, Jackson and Brooks. Seems like Toronto will NOT resign Delfino, so they will need a 3pt shooter as benchwarmer (Head fits) and they get a good Backup SG in Bobby for next year only. They will have room to develop brooks under Calderon, a better player than Rafer that can teach him many things, and is a smaller, worse, cheaper but similar version of Ford. I would do the deal if that´s the best we can get, try him for two years, if we cannot win anything we go rebuilding mode by then. (T-mac expires and Yao to be traded along with TJ)
Ford is the better player, but Hinrich is the better fit. I'm sorry, but there's just no room for Ford to operate with our other starters. If we bring him in, what's to prevent opposing teams from just zoning us all day? Tmac and Ford are poor 3pt shooters and Shane's not exactly a sharpshooter himself. Yao works on the block and not on the move, so shooting is at a premium. And we don't have the athletes for an uptempo game either, so we'd just be wasting his playmaking abilities. Hinrich's not very good at all, but at least he can space the floor for our stars. And he has played good defense before, whereas Ford has always been bad on D. Please note that I am NOT endorsing Hinrich. I'm just pointing out that we need to think of a player's effect on the team as a whole, and not just his individual skills.
Are you guys forgetting that Ford was a locker room cancer at Milwaukee and at Toronto? Plus keep in mind he didn't exactly dominate anyone in the Eastern conference. I'd personally rather have Aaron Brooks and Rafer Alston. At least we know those guys are all heart and competitiveness.
Miles better than Rafter? Where has that been proven? His shot isn't any better than Rafer's, he's injury prone, and there is absolutely no evidence that he could run a team any better than Rafer has.
true, but that would make it a more complex and unlikely deal and often the 3rd team needs to be under the cap, and there aren't a lot of those teams out there.
Being in Canada, I've watched lots of Raptors games. Ford's forte is that he is lightening fast. He is, however, not a pass-first pg. His style is more like AI. He is not much of a 3-point shooter, but he slashes well under the basket. I don't think he is a good fit when you have Yao being the first or second option in offense. Calderon, however, is a much better fit. He is a better 3-ball shooter, and he is a pass-first PG with very low turn-over and extremely good court vision. Hell! I would give up anyone in this team except Yao or TMac to get him.
ford doesn't even average one 3 pointer a game.... put him in houston, let him jack like 4-5 three pointers like we do to rafer, and i bet you... he can make more. of course... we realy don't know if he can shoot well or his stats don't lie. i'm just gonna have faith in morey.
There is another drawback. TJ is an injury waiting to happen. He has only played in about 50% of his eligible games. We can't afford another key player that is always getting hurt. I don't think Brooks is the answer either, but he might develop as a decent backup until we can obtain or draft his replacement. I would much rather do that now and spend our limited trade assets and draft on our other pressing needs then shoot our wad on TJ who makes a lot of money, is only marginally better than Alston, and is injury prone.
One of these days you'll accept that it's never going to happen. Though it seems in your case that day won't come until Calderon has retired and it never happened.
Or you could wait until July 1 when his BYC expires, and it's suddenly no longer so difficult. Edit: I like TJ a lot. I'm not so sure how much of a fit he is on this team due to his lack of outside shooting and size -- and that's with injury issues aside.
