i was looking at a rockets site and it said that the rockets were going to try and clear cap room this summer and try to enter the duncan sweepstakes, and he also went on to say that they were rumors floating around that duncan wanted to play here, and why not when you have guys like francis,anderson,cato,mobley, and thomas on your team why would'nt a young guy like this place? i would rather have this solid YOUNG core of guys, then robinson 34. johnson 34, elie 57 ,and porter closing in on the century mark. anyways, is it possible for us to obtain him, or is this just a pipe dream??????????
It would take a lot of cap clearing to get Duncan. I'll never say never since I didn't think the Rocks could get Francis & Anderson. ------------------ Ciao!
Actually Brahma, he has privately expressed interest in playing here, hence you don't see any of this on NbAtalk or anything. If the Rockets could clear enough cap room, we'd be the logical choice, IMHO. Once you get past the cap space issue, Criteria: *Young competitive nucleus *Warm-weather Out of the teams with cap space that eliminates Chicago, immediately. Leaves you with Orlando and Houston. I would say we are ahead of the Magic in terms of our rebuilding plan. Francis,Anderson,Mobley,Thomas ahead of Armstrong,Mercer,Doleac,etc. Perhaps Drew was not traded prior to the deadline in order to use him as bait this offseason? Whatever happens, I do have a feeling that Cato will be traded this summer.
no way we use drew or cato... it's bullard straight up. cabbage, where'd do you get this info? Duncan would of course mean 'rebuilding in about a minute' but it'd never fly. Even if 'we' had the cap do you think he wouldn't be sensitive to the issues w/ going to a team a few hours away? At least in Orlando he could pretend that he had some familial responsibility that could only be taken care of by being in Fla. versus Houston.
Well, couldn't we do a sign and trade? With our 4.5 million trade exception, couldn't we get Duncan (Who would make 9 million next year, right?) for Drew and Cato(About 10.5 million?)? Sure it's outlandish, but it seems the numbers could be made to work. Lord Tree (Insert obligatory !'s here)
Duncan might want to play here, and I would love for him to, but I really doubt that there is any way for us to get the guy. He is going to be asking for a lot of cash that we dont have and I dont think that the Spurs would want just Drew and Cato when they could get something better from Orlando (this years pix plus Maggette, Outlaw, and Armstrong)
How about this year's pick, mobley, the 4.5 exception and Carlos? Somewhat a steep cost, but I do think that it's doable. Could we not separate Mobley and the 4.5 exception for grander pastures? That first round pick also might be a 6 or below. [This message has been edited by Achebe (edited February 29, 2000).]
oh wait, I just realized that we were talking about Tim Duncan. I guess anybody on the team other than Francis would be available for something like that. It's a hard call though... to have to watch a player as boring as Duncan I'd have to insist that Charles come back for that 'last chance'.
I'm surprised aelliott didn't jump on this thread and set you guys straight sooner. No way we can clear cap room next year. Period. See http://rocketdavo.tripod.com for why - the only free agents we have after this season are Massenberg, Barkley (and Miller, Gray, Norris), and renouncing those guys alone will not get us anywhere near being under the cap. Our only chance was to trade some players before the Feb 24 deadline, for other players who were free agents after this season, and we didn't do it. So that rules out signing Duncan as a free agent. However, as stated above, we could easily be involved in a sign and trade with San Antonio. Use our $4.5mil trade exception + Walt Williams and bingo, we've got him! Doesn't really matter what San Antonio want, because if Duncan really wants to come here he will force their hand - its either do the trade or lose him to free agency and they get nothing. Its VERY feasible if Duncan really does want to come here. What was the web page you were looking at Brahma? Don't place too much creedence in, however, because they are wrong about "clearing cap room"
Davo...problem is...Walt is nothing. I don't see the exception being packaged with Walt to land a $9m player. I see it being packaged with TMass or Drew to land a $5-6m player. If you want to land a $9m player, we'll likely have to part with Cato.
Do any of you guys actually believe that Duncan will not re-up with SA? In terms of production, he's the MVP on their roster. Duncan's also more popular than Mr. Robinson himself. Rumor around here is that Mr. Robinson agrees to a pay cut/restructuring of his contract so that Duncan resigns for the max. Otherwise, SA matches any offer on the table from other teams. Remember, home team gets first dibs on free agents. Hard to believe that he'd bolt unless he really doesn't like that organization. [This message has been edited by BlastOff (edited February 29, 2000).]
The key to the whole thing is if Duncan says he wants to play for the Rockets. If that is the case then maybe we can steal him. But until the point that I hear Duncan say that he wants to leave SA and come to Houston I won't believe it. At this point I don't know why he would want to play for the Rockets for the simple fact that the Rockets may be moving in the future. Also, although a nucleuous of Francis-Duncan is impressive I don't know if it is a good fit. Francis loves to play one-on-one and likes the lane cleared (ala Barkley & Dream on the bench) while Duncan will want the ball as well. Don't anyone give me any crap that Duncan (or Francis) will sacrifice their games for the team. Even though they are both great guys I don't think either one will take a back seat. Duncan knows he is the best player in the game (so he deserves a lot of touches) and Francis is young, so he needs to develop his game. I would love the nucleous of Francis & Duncan but I don't think it would be effective to have two young superstars, unless one will take a lesser role (like what McHale did for Bird or Dumars did for Isiah). There are exceptions to two superstars, but I think for each of those situations one player was younger and accepted a lesser role (Kareem/Magic) or one was by far more superior (Jordan/Pippen). I like our core of Francis-Mobley-Anderson-Thomas-Lottery Pick PF- and either Cato or trading him for another center.
If Duncan comes here I will throw a huge party and you are all invited.....FREE BEER AND DRINKS ALL NIGHT! Damn, that would be expensive.....but I am confident he will re-up with SA. No Dunkin' in H-town.
Blastoff, You are not allowed to restructure contracts in the NBA. I'm sure you probably got your info from Jay Howard, the biggest idiot this side of Jupiter.
RM95: Wow, that's really a surprise. I thought it was allowed. Maybe it is football or baseball that allows it. You're right, Howard sucks. I wouldn't be caught dead listening to his crap.
heypartner, If it is TRUE, couldn't Mr. Robinson's contract be restructured whereby he gets a balloon payment similar to the balloon payments Bird, etc. received during their careers to accommodate signings?
