Lewis will become a free agent this summer. Do we have a chance to get him? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashard_Lewis He bypassed college and opted for the NBA draft in 1998-1999, but the hometown Houston Rockets, who had 3 first round picks that year, passed him up with all three. Lewis cried on national TV to show his disappointment that he was not drafted by his hometown team the Rockets.
Almost every off season his name is atop the list and the quotes from the papers about him crying are posted...
Speaking of which: Pretty much the entire board agreed that the Rockets need an upgrade in PG and PF... Rashard is a good option but although decent-sized, is not an absolutely true PF. That means that if he came, we def have to keep Hayes and Battier So, our players that IMHO should go are Howard,Lucas,Kirk, Sura, Wells... As a FA, Rashard would probably require around 13-14mill... The way I'm looking at this now, with quick calculations, the Rockets won't be able to afford a PG upgrade if they get Rashard even if they DO manage to offload Howard's contract. In terms of value for money in trades, the Rockets would probably be better off trying to sign someone like Charlie Villanueva and get a decent PG along with a different FA option in SF
Paying 13 to 14 millions for a non defending, injury prone player would be ridiculous. Spend money on a 4. Rasheed Wallace signed with Detroit for 10 mil per year. Come on - 13 to 14 mil per year for Rashard Lewis??????? for what - 5 years. Ridiculous..... We need a physical 4
That observation was based on the fact he rejected a 12.5 mill/year contract in Feb in order to try his luck as a FA
my friend graduated from elsik and met rashard from time to time (being a basketball player) and he's told me that rashard still wouldn't mind coming home and playing. whether or not this can be done salary wise remains to be seen. he played a contract year this season so i seriously doubt that we'll sign him for what we have to offer.
I wish we had the contracts to make a trade but we simply don't. No one will take Juwan and that's the only real contract we have to trade. I also think it's silly to trade for a SF when we have a hole at backup PG and could stand to upgrade the PF spot. With our limited resources, it would take a stroke of luck to fill those spots up decently. Not to mention that, for the minutes that will be available at swingman on our team, it doesn't make sense to get anyone who makes serious money. T-Mac, Luther, and Battier will eat up most of the minutes. Snyder will be here. If anything, we need to work on Luther's ball handling and Kirk's 3-pt shot, and we're set there. We have an MLE that we can't afford to waste away again. If we can somehow package Juwan, Luther and our pick for an upgrade at PF, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Sign another swingman for the vet min (a shooter) and use the MLE on getting a very good backup PG who can penetrate (Earl Boykins?). We need to be efficient and realistic with our resources this summer. Personally, I would not make any huge changes other than an MLE addition, the vet min and a trade that CLEARLY improves us now rather than later.
Its just not going to happen barring a major trade most likely involving Battier since he is the most tradable asset that has some salary cap number to make a sign and trade work I wouldn't hold my breath on this one.
They offered him a two year extension. I don't think he wants more per year just an extension for the full allowable 6 yrs. Say the Rockets were willing to give him a c.60m deal over 6 years via sign & trade. A possible trade package could be Battier, Snyder/Head, Sura, Lucas. Dump JHo to an under the cap team like the Bulls who can absorb salary. They've gone for vet PF's on expiring contracts in the past several seasons like Antonio Davis & PJ Brown. Then fill the other spots: *Bobcats have 3 PF's who deserve starting minutes. Since their roster is guard light perhaps offer them Head/Snyder for Hermann. *Sign Diener for the min/lle level money as a backup PG *Sign Udoka for the min/lle level money as a backup SG&SF *Bring back Deke for one more year for the vet's min Alston/Diener/Spanoulis McGrady Lewis/Udoka Herrmann/Hayes/Novak Yao/Deke All that might be under the luxury tax but even then IMO I don't think Lewis is a good idea. He just isn't durable enough for the Rockets to invest in. For that reason alone I don't think he'll be considered.
I'd say no to Lewis. We've enough softies on this team, we don't need another one. And Rashard Lewis on a bad day looks worse than Shane Battier...heck, even Juwan Howard on offense. I'd say yes to Gerald Wallace. Not sure if we can get him, but we should definitely look to move whatever parts we need to to get him. This guy is a real player. Almost reminds me of a young Tmac, but a lot stronger. Although he's technically not a 4, I think if we were to keep Yao, Wallace could work at the 4-spot. That and his athleticism would probably fulfill Les Alexander's supposed wish to run more, with Tmac and Wallace running the wings and Rafer (if he's not shipped out) running the middle lane with the ball. That's a quality fastbreak trio right there.
i live in Seattle. and ever since he got here he has been a stud. big, fast, and sometimes mean. that is who the rox need.
That's exactly the kind of thing I've been thinking about as well, not neccesarilly with the same players but that level of trading , although I'd rather keep Luther. However, although I can't find the link now, I remember reading somewhere how Lewis was aiming for the full 15mill. Thats what my original post was about....
Exactly he is a rebounding machine can run the floor and finish! From what i've seen he has a decent 15 footer as well.
