I think the rox must be extremely confident about landing a pf in free agency or trade to pass over Simien last night. Either they have some form of trade in place or free agents to be are just gushing over the opportunity to play for Houston, even for just the MLE. I hope they can get SAR or Stro ...
They were saying here in Dallas that he could ask minimum $5 million per year. How much do you think we could get him for?
I hope it's Swift. The Rockets kind of owe us a major name PF after picking up Head. I've heard Stro's name come up a couple times with the Rockets. I believe Ric Bucher said something about it and a buddy told me that MattJ said he heard something about Stro from the Rockets org. We'll see though. I think Stro would be our best option for this team and hopefully we can get to him early. I wonder if he would take a 5yr/40M deal?
Well, I figured we may be able to get him for the veteran's minimum, but I just read something about the Bulls targeting him with their MLE possibly, so I am most likely wrong. Shocker.
Webber? Yep...he's old enough, expensive enough and crippled enough for JVG. Finley? Well, he's old enough and expensive enough, but is he crippled enough for JVG?
I think the perfect offseason would see us landing Swift with the MLE, and a sign and trade for a SG (Daniels, Mobley). However, both of those are longshots...I still believe someone is going to overpay for Swift, and Daniels or Mobley would be tought to outbid other teams for. Seattle might bite on Wesley, expiring contracts, and maybe a pick in order to clear some cap room next season...and possibly help them afford Ray Allen. I think if we aren't able to land a younger SG, we'll just stay put with Wesley or another year rather than bringing in a guy like Houston or Finley.
Swift is going to get more than the MLE, I'm not sure from who, but there is always someone willing to overpay players. Daniels would be a great addition, reports say he is looking for the MLE and will most likely get that. What is the max deal ya'll would give Swift? I wonder if a 5yr/40M deal would be too much for a player like him. This would put him in the MoT, Cato, type contract. Also, I wonder if Seattle would bite on a Sura or Wesley + 2nd round pick for AD.
We can't pay Swift 5 yr/ 40 mil. He is unproven, and you pay that money for proven players. We must learn from Cato and MoT.
'stro will be paid, he'll be OVERpaid by a team like Atlanta or maybe Nets. Cavs could ostensibly be players here, too.
I think Swift will go for somewhere around $40 million. And I think we are going to go after him with a S&T scenario with Memphis, taking back Bonzi in exchange for our 2006 1st round pick, expiring contracts and maybe Mike James. Swift is probably going to pick between a larger contract with a club like Atlanta, or his hometown Hornets, and a slightly smaller contract in a S&T with us. What we should be wondering is what other teams would be interested in Swift and Swift interested in them enough to do a S&T with Memphis and what could they offer Memphis. I think if we are interested in Swift, we would be willing to take on Bonzi also in exchange for Spoon's, Dwes, and whoever else along with picks, and that is probably as much as Memphis can get out of a S&T for Swift. Not to mention, all Swift has to do is tell Memphis to do the S&T with his preferred team, or he is gonna walk to Atl or NO. And I think he would probably want to burn Memphis as much as possible by going to their division rivals. That is us and NO. But we are the team that can punk them every year, not NO. Bonzi would be our starting SG. ?????? Head Spanoulis Bonzi Head ????????? TMac Bowen Bonzi Yao Deke Swift Howard Now we've got the MLE, the LLE, and some trade exceptions left to fill in the gaps. When you take this into account if a big S&T with Memphis goes down and the players that are going to be available, many for the LLE, we are looking at a defensive juggernaut, a great offensive team, and 60+ wins next season and a serious contender for the WC crown if not for the championship. I look for the Rockets to have no worse than the 2nd best record in the West next year, barring major injury to TMac and Yao.
I find it highly unlikely that Houston will do a sign and trade with Memphis, a division rival and their closest playoff competition. I like the idea of Swift a lot, but sure, it's a possibility (maybe even a liklihood) that some team with cap space will overpay for him. My feeling with Swift is simply that he is a very talented semi-underacheiver and that JVG could make him (a healthy) Camby. Maybe not. A healthy Tyson Chandler would be wonderful. He's probably too expensive and unlikely and he's a restricted FA, whom Chicago covets, but yeah, that'd be nice. Yeah, I really don't know. All I can come up with is Swift without a sign and trade.
Thank you, AMEN. I wrote something very simliar to your post and believe it can actually happen. the span and badiane part is a bit optimistic... however, if they perform well this summer it would for sure work out. easily adding some depth to the lineup is blissful. anyways, about swift though. honestly... who is better? The guys atheletic and physical stature fits this teams needs. a long atheletic body that can finnish hard at the rim and play mean defense. and along side with yao he could be a rebounding machine. he wasnt able to rebound in memphis b/c the entire team is soft so it was easy for defenses to box him out or cut him out of the equation on the boards. i believe that swifts natural atheletic ability and basketball skills paired with jvg's amazing basketball mind could formulate for an eruption out of swift on both the boards and defense. anyways, lets take a look at the other potential free agents this year the rockets could land. list of pf FA: 1. Shareef Abdur-Rahim Profile: Height: 6-9 Weight: 245 lbs. Age:28 Stats: 2004-2005 min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 34.6 .503 0.91 0.5 2.2 7.3 16.8 he will get about the same amount of playing time in houston. so no need to figure the numbers. my major concern is his height and defensive presence... how does he handle playing the duncans and stoudamires? He can score... but so can howard. And we dont need him to be a big scoring option on this team while in the post b/c we need to feed the ball to Yao. He wouldnt be a bad pickup. just not ideal. 2. Antoine Walker Profile: Height: 6-9 Weight: 245 lbs. Age: 28 Stats: 2004-2005 min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 38.4 .42 1.16 0.8 3.3 9.0 19.1 like the last time... he would see the amount of minutes so stats avg. wouldnt change too much. this guy is the exact opposite of where this team needs to go. he has a terrible attitude and has no concept of team basketball. all he would be good for would be to frustrate the hell out of jvg. again, this is a guy we dont need b/c he constantly needs the ball in his hands to do anything mildy productive. our pf isnt going to be a huge ball handler... since the ball needs to be in mcgrady or yaos possesion. if francis was pf in the league he would be walker. 3. Tyson Chandler (Restricted) Profile: Height: 7-1 Weight: 235 lbs. Age:22 Stats: 2004-2005: min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 27.4 .49 .86 1.8 1.5 9.7 8.0 if playing 35 mins(all of these are when assuming he shoots the same percentage): min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 35 .49 1.09 2.29 1.9 12.3 10.21 not only does he have the exact same bday as me, but he plays amazing basketball. lol. but seriously... the guy is only 22 years old so with these stats he obviously he will become even better. my mouth just waters with the thought of him on this team. he is EXACTLY what this team needs. a rebounding and blocking machine with a massive frame and an agile body. imagine chandler and yao downlow playind D. two over seven foot players. it wouldnt be fair for the other teams. and thats exactly what we want and need. he would help against the bigger pfs in the league. however its a massive and i mean massive longshot for us to acquire him. bulls will not let this gem loose. 4. Stromile Swift Profile: Height: 6-9 Weight: 225 lbs Age:25 Stats: 2004-2005: min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 21.3 .45 .68 1.5 1.5 4.6 10.1 projected: min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 35 .45 1.1 2.46 2.46 7.5 16.59 he is young, atheletic, great blocker, and goes to the rim hard... but hes not GREAT at rebounding. if he played for houston i believe his number will go up in that department. he wasnt a starter there so he wasnt ever able to get on a role. his defensive presence is another huge perk for the rockets since the next best thing we have is bowen or howard at that position and they arent the scariest bunch. he would be able to help us play D against the better pfs in the league. 5. Udonis Haslem (Restricted/Early Bird Rights) Profile: Height: 6-8 Weight: 232 lbs Age:25 Stats: 2004-2005: min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 33.4 .54 .79 .5 1.4 9.1 10.9 his minutes should be about the same for houston. this is an intresting player... he is mos def a jvg type pf. a banger who will have his presence felt. he isnt a huge shot blocker, but does rebound the ball well and can score profienctly downlow. he seems to have his head on straight and plays hard every night. he could probably be had for cheaper than swift, but im curious if he can continue to play like last year. 6. Donyell Marshall Profile: Height: 6-9 Weight: 230 lbs. Age:32 Stats: 2004-2005: min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 25.3 .44 .88 .7 .6 6.6 11.5 Projected: min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 35 .44 1.21 .96 .83 9.13 15.9 The problem with these projected stat numbers is that they are amazingly misleading when speaking about marshall. the reason why is b/c i question his atheletic ability and how his pf game would translate to the west where all the dominate pfs play. not only that but he doesnt fit jvg and the teams new movement towards "younger and atheletic" players. i dont really consider 32 young. he is now starting his decline in the nba, and the rox should have no part in it. 7. Reggie Evans (Restricted) Profile: Height: 6-8 Weight: 245 lbs Age:25 Stats: 2004-2005 min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 23.8 .476 .73 .2 1.3 9.3 4.9 Projected: min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 35 .476 1.07 .29 1.9 13.6 7.2 i honestly dont know too much about him. obviously he is reletively young a beast on the boards which gundy will like. but its clear that he rarely blocks anyone. im not going to expand on this b/c i dont know too much about him... but if anyone else would like to. please do. 8.Kwame Brown (Restricted) Profile: Height: 6-11 Weight: 248 lbs. Age: 23 Stats: 2004-2005: min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 21.6 .46 .6 .4 1.6 4.9 7.0 Projected: min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 35 .46 .97 .64 2.5 7.9 11.34 I think most of yal will agree that we should just pass on brown. he was the first draft pick and hasnt even lived up to be lottery pick material. he has been a massive disapointment to the league and should be in himself as well. he has all the tools but cant put them together. maybe its true... maybe he does need to just start over. however, that would be a gamble and the rox dont need to gamble so i dont see this happening. thank god. 9.Chris Andersen Profile: Height: 6-10 Weight: 220 lbs. Age:26 Stats: 2004-2005 min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 21.3 .534 .21 1.5 1 6.1 7.7 projected: min fg% stl blk to rbs ppg 35 .534 .34 2.46 1.6 10.0 12.6 if we cant get chandler, or swift, we should then try anderson. his size and atheletic ability are amazing. he is a hustle player which fits to jvg's scheme. he has size and mobility that would help us a lot on the defensive side... BUT his balls skills lack. not much of an offensive threat at all... but he does get offensive boards, where he makes most of his points.
I hope to God we don't sign Swift. Even by the numbers he seems like the worst prospect. There are so many other, better alternatives at lower prices. I love the SAR and Walker ideas (either would help us out dramatically, although someone would have to put a leash on WAlker). For value, I really think that Haslim and Anderson would end up being solid for us, without hurting team chemistry.
I used to feel the same way. Went to college in Boston and saw a lot of him. Ballhogging nightmare. But lately, I've become a hore for rebounding, and he has always been one of the best rebounding big men in the league. We just have to find a way to handcuff him when he gets around that three point line.
I smell Webber for the minimum and Cuttino Mobley with every dollar after that. That's making a big splash.
A very hesitant yes. Walker's proven (proven to be a ballhog, but also a rebounding stud). Swift hasn't proved ****. I do get your point, but I'm horing myself out for rebounding.
That would be a big splash... but I just dont see Phily dropping Webber, especially right after trading for him...plus no one knows how webber's knee will hold up. As for mobley, I would be thrilled if we got the cat back, but just dont see him wanting to come back here
To me, Luther Head is Mobley Lite. So I don't see us signing Cat. JVG has harped on defense and rebounding all offseason thus far. He has pointed to those 2 lackings in our roster as being the cause to the Game 7 meltdown in Dallas. He has also pointed to those 2 skills as being the key to this year's NBA Finals. So at this point I would have to single out Swift, Haslem, Antonio Daniels, and Desmond Mason as the guys at the top of JVG's free agent list. With Ruben Patterson as a possible 'Allan Houston' waivee. I would love to get Bonzi, but am not too sure of how willing the Logo will be to deal with a division rival. Then again, it's no secret that West covets a point guard right now and Mike James would fit in well with his squad.
