Heat Continue Discussions With Rockets For Alston 7-25-07

I think it's obvious here. Doleac for Rafer is on the table and Morey would consider it because it is the Rockets getting out of Rafer's contract. It keeps them flexible. So managing money here is important. Don't forget, they ARE close to the LT line and have to keep in mind resigning Bonzi/Francis next offseason.

BUT, Morey is also looking to upgrade talent and the Doleac move obviously doesnt do that so he is looking around to see what else is out there.

So, my guess is the worst case scenario is Doleac for Alston which is fine. But Morey is gunning for more.

 

If ya want a big, you'd best be looking at teams that were lottery last year. Try to pry a big out of Orlando, Boston, Portland, Seattle, Sacremento, Atlanta or the Clippers. No playoff contending teams is going to make major offseason moves like the Heat. They are going to try to tweak it a little here and there. Now lottery teams..they are going to be desparate in trying to improve so a guy like Rafer makes a lot more sense.

 

Maybe I missed it, but I can't believe it took so long for anyone to mention this. We got a lot of guaranteed money invested in Yao, McGrady, Battier, James, and Alston for a long time, and all 5 of them are making $5 mil+ in their final year. Serviceable though Rafer may be, he's not worth his contract. The fact that we have James, Francis, and Brooks means that elbow room under the luxury tax is going to be more valuable to us in the future than keeping him on the roster.

"Why do we as fans want that?" I'm sure we as fans don't care one bit if our team pays the luxury tax. But from what I understand, not only do luxury tax teams pay the dollar-for-dollar tax, they are also eliminated from the league's profit sharing. Do you realize how many millions you'd be flushing down the toilet?
Getting rid of Alston would give us more flexibility in future to do things like use our mid-level exception and (god forbid) not lose our own free agents because we're pressed up against the luxury tax ceiling. We would seem to get robbed now, but it'll really help in a year or two.

 

of course Morey should do that and just not resign Deke if that is the best option left because it's clear Rafer is not in their plans long term so to get out of his contract is important.

 

Your points are on point. Yes, Sura has to be bought out, there's no room for a trade. Lil luke for a 2nd rounder would be idyllic. Doleac means no Deke. Is Landry to be stashed internationally? Who and what is the in visible Reed?

Too many bodies, yes, but it seems to me Rafe MUST be placed somewhere with the returns of mj and SF3. Rafe wasn't good enough not to get them yet Doleac isn't good enough for RA?

 

i understand the luxury tax problems but rockets dont exactly have a big window here. Tmac and yao both scare the hell out of me injury wise, bonzi may very well not be back. James and francis havent exactly been great lately and they arent getting any younger. brooks is still a rookie who hasnt played a real nba game yet...i think its premature to start counting on him.

and from a skill set standpoint, i dont feel that confortable having james and francis handling the ball for the vast majority of the game. I know its a new offense and we will have to see what happens, but regardless those guys are exactly known for clean passing and ball control

 

To put too fine a point on it, we know Alexander does care about the luxury tax, so if the team were to spend irresponsibly now, we met get into another situation where we don't offer Posey a contract or send a couple first rounders to Utah to take Rice off our hands a season early. As fans, we don't want to see that again, so we're forced to be concerned about the luxury tax.

 

Why not just haslem...ahh i hope it works out...i rather keep rafer then get doleac...

 

Rafer for Doleac is essentially a salary dump. With Scola new to the league, I'd still perfer a quality PF. Rafer averaged 13.4ppg and ~ 5.5 assists last season, and has a decent contract. We should be able to get something of value.

 

Rafer for Simien!!!

Does anyone know if this is possible because I think simien is still on an rookie scale contract so I dont think it would be possible if we also had to take doleac i would be satisfied

 

We don't need much back for rafer. We got many too many players under contract right now and don't really need bodies back in exchange for players and just need to get rid of alston's contract.

 

Doleac for Rafer does not work straight up, so Simien could very well be thrown in to make it work.

 

I want Dorell Wright to be included in the deal...though I Like Haslem, it's very impossible for the Heat to let him go..

 

I think Hayes/ Alston for Haslem is a possibility.

What is Luther Heads role now? What about packaging him up with alston for a starting PF.

 

No way do we trade one player and get two back in return ...unless we cut them.

WE ALREADY HAVE 20 PLAYERS.

If we do a 1-2 trade, we'll have 21 players!

If anything, we need to swing a 2-1. So we send Rafer+Hayes in exchange for Haslim. Then we pick up a legit player and knock our roster down by one player. That would be an ideal situation and I'm sure Morey is exploring that.

 

doesnt work. BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

reed and alston for haslem after aug 14 works.

 

I'd love to get Foster somehow.

 

Doleac is a waste of roster space, IMO. Id rather trade Rafer for draft picks than that. I think were holding out for them to get desperate. And I think Miami is holding out to see if they can get anyone better.

 

Thank you, I've only said this a dozen times! ^^^^

Zo is more than capable of playing plenty of minutes at the 4 and so is walker and simien, and if we throw in reed (and here's hoping that's what the rockets are waiting on) they'll have a decent PF crop especially considering the east isn't exactly full of talent at that spot, they'll be more than sufficient at the PF.

 

p.s.

Isn't foster really just a taller version of Chuck hayes, he doesn't have an offensive game, not that he's not a great rebounder..

I'm a fan of playing the waiting game with the heat as well, but I don't think we should wait too long incase the heat decide to not show up for the start of the season like last year and than they might not be that interested in getting a PG