GARM FAQs: John Lucas III and Steve Novak Signing Edition

1. An interesting thing about JL3 and Novak is that they are both sons of basketball coaches. Maybe that and their college experience with coaches Crean (a Van Gundy friend, I heard) and Sutton will help them learn the system and adjust to Van Gundy's demanding personality better than the average young player.

2. I think Battier has more tricks in his bag to make opposing PF uncomfortable than the spot up 3, but we'll see about that. Also, even the ability to shoot the spot up 3 means the opposing PF would be out of position to help on Yao and rebounding the ball for a lot of positions, and that's a pretty significant thing.

I agree, though, a guy in constant motion running off screens is more of a pest than a spot up shooter.

3. Novak will never have the physique of Superman, but does he really need to? I think a 22 year old athelete can easily add 15 or so lbs to his body without slowing himself down much (unless we are talking the "prison buff" muscle gain where it's all upper body).

If he hits 230 instead of 216, he'd probably be OK as a PF. Officially, Odom is 6'10'' 230, Juwan Howard is 6'9'' 230, S.Swift is 6'9'' 230, Rasheed Wallace is 6'11 230...maybe they are a little heavier now, but all 4 of these guys have played PF at or around that weight.

Novak's not gonna be great at D, but I think the team can find 15-20 minutes a game for him of acceptable defensive matchups where his defense won't be exploited enough to hurt the team. After all, Scott Padgett was crap on D at any weight and any position, and he managed to help the team for 15-20 mpg for a couple of years.

 

May be? Indoubitedly. However, your 'series' has been renewed and retains Bird Rights.

IMO - Lil Luke will be the equivalent of a free 1st round pick by next ('07-'08) season. His lineage will be as helpful as his quickness.

Novak, I fear, will be Korver, at best. Which is ok-sorta. In other words, good for spot minutes in a spot up (type) roll.

 

Korver is a legit NBA player, even if he is limited. I'd be quite pleased if we got that much out of our second round pick.

 

Point taken as to his limitations, but actually, I'd be suprised if he was wolfing down Pat Robertson's 2000 lb leg press protein shakes. There isn't much time between the end of the NCAA season and when all the predraft workouts start. Gaining weight too quickly tends to mess up a player's jump shot and since the J is his calling card, I doubt he'd risk messing with that just to tip the scale 10-15 lbs heavier.

I think usually players wait until their spot for next year is safe before they try to play with weight gain. For example, Tyrus Thomas (another guy projected as a P-- certainly Bulls think so since they already have Deng and Nocioni at SF) tipped the scale at 217 lbs, actually lighter than his official weight according to LSU.

It's much safer to do it after you got drafted and have your contract inked so now you have 3-4 months before the season to gain weight and allow your body to adjust to the added strength so you don't lose your shot.

 

i luv it!!! but yao is too slow and no rebounder in this lineup...

 

You seemed to dislike Yao so much that you overlooked the fact that Yao Ming can complete a 4 session of 5-peat to-and-fro spirnt between the baseline under 65 seconds, the yard-stick standards set for forwards by Jeff Van Gundy.

And no rebounds ?? He has been the top rebounder in this team ever since joining.

 

Thanks m_cable for the amusing and informative (if rather schizophrenic) post.

I have a question however (for anyone):

How do team options work ? i.e I understand that the team can extend the contract for the additional year, but is this at the same salary or would a new salary have to be negotiated ? What options does a player have in this regard ? Must they accept the old salary or can they seek an increase ?

 

Patricia Bender has Novak's as a 2 year min deal with a team option on year 2. This is how the contract should be, given the Rockets maximum options, and not cutting into the MLE. I am guessing we have more like 2.8 milof the MLE left.

JL3 appears to be a 3 year deal, details unknown. I would guess starting salary at 750K with 10.5% raises. I really hope we have a team option on year 3, but I don't know.

Can anyone confirm?

 

Whether 2 or 3 year (I tho't CD said three) there's enough to sign Wright or another latter rotation guy if they feel the want and need (based on trade options/timing etc).

 

Not sure where the sina.com get the source from.

http://sports.sina.com.cn/k/2006-07-30/09002367819.shtml

But from the above report

1. It is a 3-year contract.
2. Originally, the Rockets wants to sign a 2-year deal; but given 6 other teams interested in JL III, it turns out to be a 3-year deal.
3. The MLE has been used up according to this article (as portion of the MLE had already been used for V Spanoulis and Steve Novak)

But I seriously doubt about what the article said about JLIII's Year 1 salary (US$ 3M) which is way too high, right ??

 

Way too. Right.

 

I love how you use the GARM FAQ's as an excuse to publicize your conversations with yourself.

 

Clearly, you don't remember MacBeth. This was pretty long, but MacBeth's posts often consisted of huge paragraphs, one after another.

Good job, cable. Fun read.

 

Macbeth shouldn't even be mentioned in this thread.


Fine job interesting read ~ we need more quality in the GARM.

 

Did Larry Bird have the athleticism or hops? I forget?????

HEART, brains & Skill are way more important than athleticism.

DD

 

Thanks for the explanation m_cable. So does this mean that the Rockets will have the right of first refusal at the year 3 salary or is it a given that JL3 would have to accept this salary ? In other words, does JL3 have an option of testing the market if he feels his market value is higher. I guess i'm just having trouble understanding what the true value of a team option is. What would be the downside of not having the team option in place ? Sorry for all the questions but I am really trying to understand this.