Solid player not so solid person. Got in trouble at Fresno State for beating up his girlfriend. That was in 1999 or 2000, but Skip to My Lou has been in trouble. He may be a pot head, too.
I think the idea would be as a starter. He started 78 games last year...granted, for Toronto, but then, everyone seems to think Donyell Marshall is going to be the savior. I'll admit I didn't watch the Raptors much, and the few times I did, I didn't pay attention to Alston that much...but his stats, at least offensively, do speak for themselves. A little trigger happy, and needs to work on that 2 pt % a bit, but a very solid scorer...still was #11 in apg and almost as much as TMac. Decent board work for a PG, though not as good as Sura. I can't say how the fit would be, but other than TMac, and even him at times, the Rockets weren't stacked with players who get get to the rim at ease, and this seems to be something Rafer can do, no? Defensively, I have no idea about his game. Personally, I think one on one defense for perimeter players has become less and less important in the league. Defenders like Artest, Kobe, TMac at times can make a difference, but other than that, given the foul rules, most semi-quick guards can get into the lane. The Rockets will see the most defensive improvements when they get a PF who can fill that void. I'm not all gung-ho about Alston, but I can see how he would be a viable option.
Totally off the wall idea but I just thought of this now..... Toronto picks at numbers 7 and 16. What if we offered some kind of trade where the catch is we take on Jalen Rose's contract in exchange for our expiring contracts. Depending upon how much Toronto really wants to get rid of his seemingly albatross contract, they could be willing to do something like: Houston trades: Expiring contracts (Spoon, Wesley, Baker or whoever) #24 pick Toronto trades: Jalen Rose #7 pick Just an idea. It is probably very unlikely since Toronto would be dropping 9 spots despite still having 2 picks and ridding themselves of Rose's contract. This is a deep draft but probably not deep enough to assure them they will get a for sure difference maker at either pick. From our standpoint it would be bittersweet. We could get the #7 pick and have our choice of a top PF or PG prospect or any other talent that falls. All of a sudden the likes of Chris Paul, Raymond Felton, Chris Taft, Gerald Green, Deron Williams, etc are a possibility. As far as Rose, his contract is disgusting but he can still be an effective player. He could be a nice option off of the bench or starting with his scoring and playmaking abilities. NOTE: Not even sure if this trade is possible, as I have no checked it on RealGM or anything. Just throwing an idea out there.
Baller, I think the Raptors want their picks. They are rebuilding around Bosh and selling the future so picks give them more "hope". Sure they want to get rid of Rose but I doubt they'd give up the #7. Maybe a swap of their #16 for our #24. Its already been suggested by others & myself of the possibility of a Sign & trade of: Marshall + Rose for Spoon + Moochie + Wesley+ Baker + a #1 pick or Marshall + Alston for Spoon + Sura + #1 pick
You're probably right about Toronto wanting to hang onto the #7 pick---I know I would if I was in their position. But at the same time, looking at what Rose will be making I would have to consider a deal like this.... 04/05 $14,487,000 05/06 $15,694,250 06/07 $16,901,500 That's a LOT of money for a 32 year old player on the decline. That team is sorely lacking an identity. Bosh and Mo Pete are really the only solid players that team should be building around and even they aren't enough to carry the team as of now. Rose probably would be best suited being a 3rd option at this point in his career. If they could unload his contract and acquire some expiring contracts as well as still having two 1st round picks---that's not a bad deal for them. Granted, it's basically a 2 year rebuilding plan since they would have to wait another season before being able to make a big splash in free agency when all of our expiring contracts would come off the books, it's still worth consideration IMO.
You are right. BTW, Rose only has two years left on his contract. 04/05 was this last year. The problem with taking on Rose is that it takes away flexibility in his last year which is also Yao's first max contract year- 06/07. 05/06 06/07 Tracy McGrady $15,694,250 $16,901,500 Jalen Rose $15,694,250 $16,901,500 Juwan Howard $5,900,400 $6,392,100 Yao Ming $5,594,905 ~$11,000,000 FA PF on MLE $5,000,000 $5,500,000 Deke ~$5,000,000 $5,000,000 Bob Sura $3,500,000 $3,800,000 Mike James $3,410,000 $3,720,000 Charlie Ward $1,870,000 Jon Barry $1,700,000 Scott Padgett $870,046 That is $65M next year for 11 players and $69M the year after for 8 players. But I guess if Les is winning a Championship he wouldn't care. While Rose would handicap us the next two years he is still putting up good numbers, is a decent ball handler and can play SF/SG/PG, a definate upgrade over Wesley, is 6-8. From his PER numbers he appears to be a better defender than Wesley. 14.8 vs 15.7. Another thing, trading Rose for Moochie, Baker & Wesley would make the Rockets younger I guess it would all depend on the new CBA and where the Luxury tax is and if it is a hard cap or not.
Alston dribbles. A lot. We've had players like that before, and our offense sucked. For the first time in almost a decade this year, we had a team that passed more than it dribbled. And the offense was the best it's been in a long, long time. Can we please keep it that way?
