Good points... That's the tricky part. Sure, everyone would love to land McGrady. But acquiring a good supporting cast is part of the idea of building a team... We'd still gain a huge improvement by just getting players that play well together. But it wont end there. Because we'd still need a "star" player that carries us. Is that Yao? Not sure. But these things must be looked at by management. Yao's development is a key issue in future FA acquisitions and trades. Trading Francis for solid role players is a start. But not a end in itself. By the way, I'm not sold on the Rose acquisition, but I am intrigued by the #4 to #8 draft pick possibilities. Who knows, there might be a Marquis Daniels (diamond in the rough) laying around? Rose upside is that he's a 6'8" lead guard. His height alone and PG/G/SF versatility can be a bonus. But he's not our "star" player. That has yet to be determined who that player will be.
Do you think it could be as promising as Eddie Griffin? Im not a jerk or anything but promise is what you hear from everyone, and very few times do you ever hear of it panning out like it is supposed too. So will take something solid over promise all day. IF, Steve is traded he shouldnt be traded on "promise" it should be superstar for superstar!
I guarantee you. Trade SF3 and Yao will be out of Houston in 2 years. Well, the Rockets want Yao out anyway so that everyone will be happy!
When is Charlotte's expansion draft? That has to be before the NBA draft right? It might be interesting to see who Charlotte drafts, the Rockets may be able to pick up a good player like Rashard if he is available. Sometimes teams want to get rid of talented players to free cap space...and the Rocks could do that if the expansion draft is first. DD
That's because you're looking at stats instead of things like Rose having more length on the defensive end than Francis and he can finish a fastbreak much more effectively. Think of it this way. The Kings were moving along at a great clip in the regular season and then Webber came back and they struggled. Is Webber a bad player? No, the Kings had gotten used to a more uptempo and perimeter game but had to feed Webber in the low post because that's where he needed the ball to be effective until he fully recovered from his injury. What was better for Webber diminished what was effective for Peja. Same difference with Yao and Steve. You just won't be able to find "low post passing efficiency" as a stats category. That's among the many things that make Rose a better fit.
First off I would like to aplogize if it seemed like I was getting "personal" in my post. I wasnt calling you out or anything. I wouldnt do that, that is kind of on the childish side. Second I would like to say your post was well spoken. I have a quick question. I understand that you cant blame the coach for all the short-comings. You cant walk around changing your image every 3 seconds either. But I dont like the way everyone points out 1 or 2 players like Steve or Cat and says, "Hey you know what?" "They dont fit." That may be true, but its time to lose that "we suck even when we win" attitude. That cant be healthy for the players or his staff. For God's sake smile every now and then! That continual bombardment of "we should have done better" "It was a great game up until the opening tip" mentality that will cause this team to lose. Well Im done venting.
I'm just about officially off the Rox bandwagon, they have not made a good move since Drexler it seems.... WTF happened to this team? They are on the brinks of trading our best player and only player who consistently showed up in the playoffs for scrubs, great move no, i think not. It's really hard to be a Rox fan right now, there's no other way to say it.
Relativist - Rose and Mo Pete make $16.9m. 85% of that is $14.3 so we can't use the assigned player exception we have to use the TE. Francis makes $11.5m so you need $5.5m of the TE to make the trade.
It's been hard to be a Rox fan with Steve as "The Man." After 5 mediocre years (for the team as a whole), it's just time for a different direction.
I've always thought that after Gundy leaves, Rudy would be brought back. By then the team will have been molded into a more defensive oriented team, Yao will be much more developed, and perfect for a guy like Rudy to come back and finish the job "riding the coattails" of his dominant center. The JVG coaching move won't have been a bad one because we got our foot in the playoff door, Rudy gets a break to recover/relax, and we start playing good championship D. Storybook, ain't it?
You left out the part where Les sells the team to someone who would respect Rudy. Regardless of whether or not it was Rudy's time to go, if I'm him I'm never going back to work for someone who treated my firing (and by extention my entire history with the organization) with such utter disrespect.
The fans of Houston and Rockets management are lucky that Rudy is so easygoing. Whether it's right or not (its not), I don't see that being a problem. Rudy is the man and if he got begged back with visions of another title run, he'd be too competitive and dedicated to the city of Houston to decline.
Blah. Neither of the trades make much sense. New Orleans has a better version of Steve in Baron. Toronto would give us a bunch of wing players and a crappy pick...ugh. Rose would be nice if not for the salary. Marshall is solid. Mo Pete is okay. Nothing to get excited about though. Other than Okafor, most of the picks wouldn't fill our needs and definitely wouldn't have significant impact (read moving us into the Big 4). Glad to know they're at least looking at trading Steve, but it's really early... Keep up the info Doc
I love/hate a thread from doc rocket. He has good info, and then it turns into 20 page marathons. It sucks when one comes in late. I've been reading this thread since four or something when it was posted. JVG vs Les. Man, that is some good stuff.
just did some draft research i would be happy with any of these guys in a rockets uniform next season Early 1st Rounders (if we get a high pick in a steve francis trade): Shaun Livingston 6-7 175 PG IL HSSr. http://nbadraft.net/profiles/shaunlivingston.asp GREAT size, great passer and has great court awareness, he is a stick though he needs to put on some weight badly, not the greatest outside shooter Devin Harris 6-3 185 PG Wisconsin Jr. http://nbadraft.net/profiles/devinharris.asp great 3 pt shooter, good 1st step, good size and rebounding for a pg, only played one year at pg though and had a low assist avg Ben Gordon 6-2 185 PG UConn Jr. http://nbadraft.net/profiles/bengordon.asp great 3 pt shooter which is what we want in a pg, a little to much like steve francis though in other aspects of the game, was a sg in college Josh Childress 6-8 205 SG/SF Stanford Jr. http://nbadraft.net/profiles/joshchildress.asp Josh Smith 6-8 220 SF Smyrna, GA HSSr. http://nbadraft.net/profiles/joshsmith.asp Mid - Late 1st Rounders: Kris Humphries 6-8 240 PF Minnesota Fr. http://nbadraft.net/profiles/krishumphries.asp good outside shooter, can draw away some pressure to let yao work downlow, good rebounder and not afraid to mix it up down low, needs to put on more lbs or im not sure he can compete against the great PF's in the west Luke Jackson 6-7 215 SG/SF Oregon Sr. http://nbadraft.net/profiles/lukejackson.asp COMPLETE player, has a great 3 pt shot, good passer, good rebounder, defense isnt the greatest, not the most athletic guy Roko-Leni Ukic 6-5 185 PG (Croatia) 1984 http://nbadraft.net/profiles/roko-leniukic.asp nba comparison is tony parker, good outside shot but streaky, good penetrator, great size, good passer, needs more strength 2nd Rounders: Chris Duhon 6-1 190 PG Duke Sr. http://nbadraft.net/profiles/chrisduhon.asp read his summary, it is EXACTLY what we all want in our point guard Blake Stepp 6-4 192 PG Gonzaga Sr. http://nbadraft.net/profiles/blakestepp.asp Rickey Paulding 6-5 200 SG Missouri Sr. http://nbadraft.net/profiles/rickeypaulding.asp better shooter than i think people give him credit for, can hit the 3 pt shot, very athletic, can play good defense, best finisher in college basketball, bit of a luxury pick for us since SG is not a need position for us Christian Drejer 6-9 210 SG (Den) 1982 http://nbadraft.net/profiles/christiandrejer.asp they have him listed as a SG but i think he is going to be a SF, he needs to bulk up, great passer, good fundamentals, good 3 pt shooter but not great, great defender for their value i like luke jackson, chris duhon, and christian drejer the most
