Anyone who thinks Sterling won't do a deal should read crash's first sentence in this post 2 or 3 times. The guy is in Webster's under the definition of "cheap".
Doc, On the website that I check for contracts it shows Moochie as having a 6 year 22.7 million dollar contract that expires at the end of the 06 - 07 season with no options. The only players that the team holds options on are: Boki, Yao Ming, Eddie and Posey. Cat has a player option in 05.
HotRocket brought up a good name to think about: Robert Horry, a PF from the West. I believe the Lakers have a team option on him for next year, but if they don't exercise it, he may be a possibilty. He's familiar with Rudy, his daughter lives in Houston, and he's a great clutch role player. He's currently making $5.3 million. Would Horry take less to come here to be with his daughter? Horry and Cassell back in Houston?? Clutch City III, baby!
Riet, It does not matter if the pick is one late first rounder or two early second rounders. The point is value is there every single year and everyone and every team knows it. I just mentioned a few players of late 1st and early 2nd round success I didn't even mention the other 2 Rockets drafting success stories. Kenny Thomas 22nd pick or Edwardo Najara 38th pick. An early second round pick is no more a crap shoot than a late first round pick. As a matter of fact I would rather have two early second round picks because like you said they are not guarunteed contracts and you get an extra chance to make a pick. Once again...The 24th pick is just as much a crap shoot as the 35th pick.
Aint happening unless they make every one play man to man and outlaw the zone, cause either Rudy T only knows one offense, or his players only know how to play one offense, and the result is the same thing.
It is not a generous offer at all if Moochie is guaranteed against "lack of skill" for more than two more years. We never bought out Maloney's contract, rigth? Both sides must agree, and that is usually based on a buyout clause already included. there is zero incentive for moochie to take a buyout for any years not already guaranteed. Since we don't know how many years are guaranteed against "lack of skill" everything you say is based upon assumption.
i hate to be the one to ruin the party but I cant believe anybody actually buys into this "oooh the Rockets are gonna get new players so were gonna improve crap". This team has acquired new players for the past 4 years and nothings changed..why... Because as long as this team has the same coaches, it doesnt matter what players you bring in, your pretty much gonna get the same boring, isolation, one on one, clearout fricking offense.
Williams is an excellent defender, has the size to guard 2s, is a good spot up shooter, and makes the steady high % plays. We don't need our PG to be "the playmaker" in the set offense--we have a C (Yao) and SG (Steve) to do that--we need the PG to get everyone organized, make the steady plays, and cover for Steve's defensive problems he will have at the 2. Redd is a BYC player, might as well take him out of consideration as it makes the deal too complex and requires additional compensation (3rd team taking on salary). No more talk about trading for Redd please. The Bucks/GP/Sonics could have agreed to these terms full well knowing the Bucks would then S & T Payton. A 3 year deal via S & T (Cat, Cato, +) with GP would be great, even at 45 mil--he will likely still be an elite player those 3 years, we can resign him for less or nothing after that for a sub role (lowering cap in 3 years), and then hopefully Francis will have learned to be a one by that time from one of the best. We can only offer the MCE--like between 4.5-5 Mil per year. That is all we can offer. Personally I am not that thrilled with Odom. Though he is long he is not very quick for the 3 spot--and that would leave us very slow in our entire frontline. That is why we have mentioned Kidd (though impossible w/o trading Francis), Payton, Williams, Snow or maybe Crawford or Tinsley. We want a steady, defensively tough, PG in an SG's body. I don't know about Jaric, but Odom is too slow to play many 3s, let alone 2s or 1s. Mostly good suggestions but I again am not keen on Odom or Miller. If we trade with the Clips Brand should be the aim. Yep, I agree. Brand is close to a superstar but has a workmans, not Imma-mega-star, mentality. Malone is the same way. It is not that the Rockets don't have too many stars--it is they don't have enough tough work their asses off type stars or high end role players. See above, I think our problem is we don't have enough players who are tough and will do what it takes to get the Ws--you can be megastars (like Malone) or stars (Brand) and still have the mentaility the Rockets so need. Horry is in the perfect situation with Shaq there and only having to play a solid half game of minutes. He is also a good role player--but we need more of a physical presence than a finese role player anyway. And Horry and Cassell, now way. I'd rather go into next season with a Francis-Mobley backcourt than a Francis-Cassell backcourt. Cassell isn't a bad player, but would be a bad fit for us.
For some reason I have a strong feeling that Troy Murphy of GS will be a player the Rockets will pursue. We were probably going to pick him above Jefferson untill the Griffin trade came in. He is a hustle player that actually has good stats and brings it each night even on a bad team (well not that bad.) He is that 10-11 rpg player that the Rockets need. He has range out to the 3pt line and shoots very well. His best comparison would have to be Rudy T. himself. Yao / Cato Murphy / Mo Tay Posey / Tmo / Nachbar Steve / Barry Alvin Williams/ Steve
Agree 100%. The Rockets had Pippen, Barkley, Dream. The only offense was still iso, iso while everyone else stood around. No wonder Pippen was pissed off and wanted out. He was the smart one. We don't need 5 all-star players, but need a coach who can install a real offense. I can't stand another year of iso, iso....
Don't you see, we are talking about getting rid of the players that are hurting the Rockets, not just who we would like to pick up. Getting rid of Mobley would cut down the ISO more than half, even Steve passes when he realizes that he can't drive in with an ISO. Griff will be gone so we can get an athletic PF who has the intelligence to run w/out the ball; allowing for Steve and Yao to work their magic. How many times has Yao thrown a great pass down to Griff and then Griff just throws it away. Posey and Steve are the only players who are able to get anything out of his amazing passes. Now add a smart SG/SF who can play through the flow of the offense, a PF who can run w/out the ball, and a PG who is pass first and defensive minded; and what do you got? Playoffs. (period)
Man I wish. First. Who is your intelligent shooting guard or small forward who can play through the flow of the offense? Bostjan Nachbar? Lamar Odom? Toni Kukoc? Steve Francis? Michael Redd? Sam Cassell? And your power forward who can run without the ball..hmm...who's that? The point guard who passes first and is defensive minded has to be either Eric Snow, Darrell Armstrong, or Kenny Anderson. Yeah. I wish we could have those..
Karl Malone should not be given a Rox jersey. I can't stand that floppin, elbow throwing fool. He'd guarantee us the playoffs and offer a chance in the 2nd round, but I say no. It's personal. I can't stand him. He's on my tv right now and it makes me sick. He and the pasty gangsta need to stay where they are.
First, you are also assuming there is a clause in Moochie's contract which allows the Rockets to "cut" him for lack of performance. I for one find it hard to believe that any player (or the agent of that player) would sign a contract with that kind of team option clause when that contract never even exceeds the MLE at any point during its 6 year duration. Secondly, the amount of a buyout can be a very personal amount. Maloney and Moochie had different paths to the NBA and neither of us knows whether Moochie would intend on trying to play for another team or go sip Coronas on a beach somewhere like Maloney. Given Moochie has worked his way up from the CBA, my guess is the former. Without a buyout, the Rox could threaten to leave him on the IR for 4 years. My $5m lump sum may be a little light for $15.5m discounted backwards for 4 full years. The figure is probably closer to $10m. However, the difference between the full contract yearly hit and the amortized amount of $1.25m per year less for a buyout can be significant if it is the difference between having a total cap hit of $54+m or $52.75m. Lastly, the amount of any buyout has two significant variables. First is the rate at which the 4 year annuity stream is discounted back (kind of like the "Cash Value Option" of the Lottery). Second is what is an acceptable discount rate for an individual. For you or me, a discounted annuity rate of 10% may not be acceptable given that we probably can't get that rate on the open market. But for someone else, they may have significant debt which makes the lump sum more valuable to them personally (say a 12% unsecured loan or the need for cash to finance a risky business venture that can't be funded normally). Bottomline...what Moochie does is not impacted at all by what Maloney did and what is an acceptable discount to Moochie is purely subjective and personal.
SF/SG - Jon Barry Det PG - Alvin Williams PF - Murphy GSW Jon is one of the best bench players that Detroit has. He can hit the three, and he has the type of defense that causes the other guy technicals. (ala Najara) Alvin has shown that he can be a great shooting PG who also has the height to cause the other PG's fits. Murphy is pretty athletic for his height. He is a hustle player; which can be seen in the fact that he is in the top 10 in rebs. It wouldn't be too hard for him to stand around the basket and catch behind the back passes from Yao...
We should just start a petition and get 1,000,000 signatures demanding Moochie to return half of his salary back.
