If t-mac comes back playing well he will probably be more of a playmaker and brooks will be more of a shooting guard
If the only thing the Rockets manage to do is get a backup Center and return the same team, they IMO have made little progress to the WC Finals let alone the NBA Finals. Here's the logic... Re-signing Wafer is probably going to take some of the MLE because 120% of his 2008-09 salary won't get it done. That leaves you with an unknown commodity in White. IOW, re-signing Wafer lowers the amount of MLE $ availalbe for a backup Center. My best guess is Wafer will get $1.5M of a $5.5M MLE. You've now got $4.0M for that backup C. Not going to get it done. And I'll bet you right now Yao will be injured next season. No qualifiers...he WILL be injured again. So if your plan is the best $4M MLE C and trading Grady at the trade deadline, my hope is that absolutely no one in Rockets' management shares your view. They need to be extremely aggressive because a team like the Blazers has a lot of tradeable talent and a good amount of cap space with Steve Francis and LaFrentz coming off of thier books. The problem is that, when evaluating talent, most posters on this board place too much emphasis on taking LAL 7 games. The Lakers were sleepwalking for a good portion of it.
This team was one game away from beating the team that will win a Championship and they did much of it without the franchise player. I would say there is plenty of good news and not a whole hell of a lot that needs to be done in order to be a real contender next season. Backup Center who is 6'10"+ and a legit NBA player resign Ron resign Wafer (or get a solid replacement) See what McGrady's contract brings. It should be good. Just a hunch but I think Carl Landry is going to be moved. He is close to hitting his ceiling but probably has real value to some other teams. I think he brings a lot to the team but nothing that cannot be replaced or at least compensated for by strengthening some other positions. Of course, this would only happen if a quality NBA PF/C was acquired.
Evertime I see a thread talking about standing pat and waiting, I'm going offer yall the gold watch. The gold watch is a symbol of a thought process of a man or woman who settles for working 30 yrs,retire, and get the infamous gold watch as a thank you gift. The man that thinks about and injects his work into being "the man" normally starts his own thing and has way more than a 6k rolex to show for his 30 yrs of work. So if your happy with getting out of the 1st rd and hoping yao,mcgrady, and artest is going to be healthy and put the rox on the podium, good luck.
Agree with everything you said accept the rediculous quote of Lakers were sleepwalking for a portion of the series.
I agree. We're not as close as some people think we are. It's still a star's game, and who fills that need if Yao goes down? This is why Morey almost certainly wants another marquee player.
You did not mention that for every guy starting his own thing who gets more than a 6k rolax, there are probably 5 guys who lose their capitals doing that and are forced to go back to finding someone who is still willing to give them a chance for the gold watch.
We were one game away from playing the Nuggets in the WCF. Think about it this way. When we had Yao we destroyed the Magic and beat out the Nuggets fairly consistently. If Yao did NOT go down, who was going to stop us? We are o
I know people who would rather wear suits and hard bottom shoes for 50k than start something and have the risk of being wealthy. I know this guy that owns a window cleaning business. Sometimes he will work with his crew just because he gets tired of doing nothing. People look at that guy from behind their desk and have sympathy for the guy, but what they don't know is the guy has like 15 contracts at a crazy amount. The guy basically is a millionaire washing windows. The guy has wealth, not just money because his company works yr around just like his money. Those same college educated folks sitting behind the desk couldn't pictgure themselves doing what he's doing, but the dude is rich. I know i'm always bringing up the gold watch and the killer scenerio,but that's how I view it. You don't become wealthy by being conservative.You don't become champions being conservative. You have to be big and bold and every yr you have to put your team in its best possible scenerio. Game 7 vs La means nothing to me. I can make the argument that it was a fluke based on gthe way they destroyed the rox during the regular season. I will give them some credit though, but the notion that if the rockets had yao they would have won. How can we not assume La wouldn't just pick and roll yao to death like they did in the regular season? We can assume anything, but the fact that Yao,tracy, and ron are prone to missing games is certain. Its not even a if, but when.
By your view it seems that you would prefer the Rockets to make a trade just to gamble for a better return. Thank God you are NOT in charge and Morey is. It is POINTLESS to make a trade unless it is one that will make this team better. Lets put it this way. 1. Ron Artest loves the Rockets. Rockets and fans love Artest. Currently in the 2009 FA, which player out there can we sign in place of Artest that will improve our team? I can't think of any... 2. T-Mac has a possibility of coming back and contributing since it is his contract year. He also knows this is a team that can win it. As far as trading him goes, do you see teams running up to the Rockets yet offering marquee players for him? 3. Most teams would DIE to have Yao Ming. He is humble, works hard, and a great center. Fronting is NOT Yao's issue. It is something that is up to Rick Adelman and the team to figure out how to counter. They can swing the ball around, drive in, or do a variety of other things. Until DH learns how to be effective more than 6ft away from the FT line and shoot FT's with better accuracy, I will take Yao over him any day currently. 4. The worst thing our FA can do right now is make a trade for the sake of making a trade. There are no marquee players we want or can afford in 2009 aside from Artest. In 2010 the ones we want we cannot afford. It will be a wet dream for us if we can somehow get Joe Johnson though.
Fronting is not a issue Yao needs to figure out. It is beyond his physical capabilities to counter it. It is the JOB of Adelman and the rest of the team to figure out how to counter it.
You...and every other poster...who drinks from the "we were one game away" Kool-Aid are drop-dead foolish. Remember Streak 22? Remember how good YOU thought they were? I was never impressed...they beat up on a bunch of sub .500 patsies. Would you have liked to stay put with that team? They had the 2nd longest win streak in NBA history. What would have happened this season if Rockets management would have been fat and happy on Streak 22 like the majority of this board? No Artest and no Wafer. And they'd have kept Alston who slowed they team down. The 22 wins was Fools' Gold. How about the Cavs? 66 wins...they should clearly stand pat, right? All they need is a back up Center, right? Let's totally disregard that in spite of 66 wins, they lost the season series to the Magic, Celtics and Lakers. 66 wins is more Fools Gold. The Cavs have alot of matchup issues. So we're down to "we were one game away"....WRONG. Look at the body language. The same body language Utah had in the 2008 playoffs. While you and all the like-minded thinkers were glowing in the afterglow of Streak 22....never once did the Jazz's body language sweat losing the series. The Lakers never once felt threatened. It was in the body language. It was deep in the "we can turn it on when we want to" body language. If you didn't see it...you're self delusional. We're all entitled to an opinion. But if the Rockets management once again goes into a season with an assumption of health from BOTH Yao and Grady, they are foolish beyond belief. I'll leave you and all of the other "we were one game away" posters with a final thought. Regular 2008-09 season...16-14 against all WC playoff teams including 0-4 vs LAL. Color me less than impressed. Adding only a backup C is suicide.
No, you are somewhat wrong. We have enough depth to stay with any teams in the league. But our health is definitely the issue.
Enough depth based upon what? C'mon...hit me with your best shot. Other than "we were one game away"...do you have any other intelligent comments to back up your opinion? And please...give us all a break...they won 50+ games and gone out in the 1st Round multiple times. Health is the issue...and they are foolish to stand pat because of it.
If Tmac stays, the first thing he need to do is He need play without the ball!, uncless in the final moment. If he play the way he's used to play, i bet AB will lost again.
You had me at 1, but then you continued... 1) Ron need to stay 2) TMac is done 3) First of all, it's Wafer, not Wefer and more than anything including a back-up Center we need a "Microwave" off the bench. Wafer is better than anyone we can sign or develop... including White. 4) Youth has nothing to do with it - only skills and confidence (please see Magic Johnson in '80 if you'd like to dispute this). 5) If today's game is not a Center's game - than why is DHo playing instead of King James?
