If Steve Is Not A Part of Our Future, Which Way Do We Go?

We'd all love AK47 and Arroyo. Worth a shot! Sloan is leaving.
Larry Miller is dumb. Go ahead and try. They can have anything else from this team. Really, the more of that team we can get, the better.

 

for ak and yao to avg. 8 blocks a game, means ak will have to block 6.5 bpg, cuz yao really is not that great of a shot blocker hell cato avg. bout the same as yao.

 

I knew I shouldn't have brought up Arroyo.

I wanted AK-47 also, but now that he's had this breakout season, there's no way the Jazz are trading him.

 

How about Rudy gets the head coaching job in NJ and has Kidd and Jefferson traded for SF and Boki? Everybody wins!

 

Steve and Mo Taylor to the Clippers
for Marco Jaric and Elton Brand and #1 pick1

 

Well, nobody has advocated it, per say, but HeyDude mentioned it in passing, and SWTsig also mentioned it. pasox mentioned trading other players for pics. I just wanted to make sure everybody knew the rules of the CBA. There's no way Steve could be traded for a newly drafted player because he makes way too much money, and trading a player for a future draft pick just isn't allowed unless there is another player involved.

yaopao's grilled cheese sandwich DOES sound tempting, though...as long as there is some ham in it...

 

I agree with alot of the posts here that we dont give SF for junk or picks. Thats too much risk..

If we get 2 borderline stars that would be great too.. but I would like to pick up a rising star and build around that person and Yao.

pick up some more veteran leadership that isnt on their last legs.

I think JJ was a great pick up.. who else can we bring over? I dont think we need an all star PG in return.. just someone solid who will get us into our sets and play solid D. * sounds like ESnow is starting to become disgruntled in Philly we should keep our eye on that situation.

too bad Cat cant play PG.. didnt they try that early in his career? damn only if he was a lil bit taller

J

 

If you were so inclinded to do any of those deals you would still have the MLE to fill some holes for players lost. And depending on salaries in the trade you might still have the TE to work on other roster moves.

I agree, if you move Francis you need an all-star or a couple of borderline guys.

 

Unless we get a superstar in return, which most likely won't happen, the Rockets would basically be throwing away the season.

As much as some of ya'll hate him, Steve is the glue to this team. He is the guy who gets the team in the game (mentally), he is the guy that forces the issue, he is still an All-Star that is capable of putting up sick numbers.

Steve has done nothing but try to adjust his game. Yes, missing the flight was a huge mistake, but you don't trade a star for scrubs just because of a missed flight. Ya, Ya, no playoffs and all that stuff. But the fact is that it seems that Steve is finally getting comfortable in his passing game and once he gets his shot back, everything will open back up.

 

now that's classic!

 

I looked over the choices and I'd honestly be willing to try any of them. I think MacBeth makes a strong case (as per usual) and I'm inclined to agree with him, however, there is one thing that I haven't seen addressed here.

The main reason I want to Steve Francis moved (and I actually do love Steve Francis and think he's an unbelievable talent) is because Yao will never be the focus of this team as long as Steve Francis is here. I think if they move Steve Francis it will send out a clear message that Yao is the man on this team and we're going to live or die through Yao. They did this in Cleveland when they moved Ricky Davis and then later shipped out Darius Miles. Now it's clearly Lebrons team and they're playing better now that they've resolved that. I'm fine also fine with building through the draft if need be and with Rudy focusing all of his time on scouting right now I'm fairly certain we'd be in great shape to evaluate talent. I also think trading for another star would be fine because the difference would be they aren't established as the go to guy on this team and would understand they're being brought in to compliment Yao. (just like Ricky Davis seems to be more willing to accept a secondary role behind Pierce).

If Cuttino, Mo Taylor or Cato need to be shipped out for this message to be clear than so be it. Also, why all this talk of the Toyota Center being half-empty? It's usually near sold out. I don't think it's that much of a concern if corporate big wigs aren't actually using the seats so long as they're still paying for them. And as for competing with the Texans and the Stros, well honestly, this team can't do it. I honestly think the fans would be more interested if Yao became the clear center-piece of the team and stepped up to fill that role. I honestly think he would too. I think it would build his confidence and he'd understand that the organization believes he can be their franchise player and he'd do everything he could to live up to their expectations. Really, if this team is going to be able to compete with the other teams in town one of two things has to happen. They either have to make a big splash that would make people optimistic about the team. (and no, i don't necessarily think that splash would have to be a star player. i honestly think some of the trades proposed in this thread could do it) or they have to start winning consistently. I'm not sure I believe this team has the heart to do that anymore, and as big a homer as I am, that's bad news.

 

p.s. i apparently really like to use the word 'honestly'

 

well i was saying we shouldn't do a trade involving picks, but since we couldn't anyways i guess my point is moot.

regardless, it seems like the only viable way of pullnig off a favorable trade would be to wait til after francis' BYC is up. so i guess we have a lot of speculating to do before anything comes to fruition.

should make for a fun 2nd half and offseason....

 

Simply Put. Steve Francis is a valuable NBA player. I think watching last nights game shows you a little more of his value.

If we were to get rid of him we would need to get something damn good in return. Until we know who is drafted where and where the teams pick is, we don't do it. This could be a situation similar to when Atl traded the #3 pick (Pau Gasol) for Shareef Abdur Rahim. But unless we are able to get Okafor or maybe a Telfair, that would be unlikely and the team would have to package some more.

Chicago would be an ideal situation for this. If they were to get a top two pick, they are a team SICK of rebuilding and drafted youngsters. Francis could probably net us the pick and maybe even a Hinrich or Antonio Davis. This would also work because they have cap room.

Aside from a top draft pick situation coupled with another player, I would look at the following players:

Steve Francis (and change and may recieve change)

for

Ray Allen
Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy *
Andre Miller and Nene
Corey Maggette and Marko Jaric/Chris Wilcox *
Lamar Odom and Dwayne Wade *
Paul Pierce
Pau Gasol/Battier
Vince Carter


* Means Questionable

Of course we might need to make some other trades to shore up different spots, but these are the feasible trades that I would look at for Francis, otherwise we might as well keep him. I didn't mention the Duncan/Garnett/Kobe etc. b/c its not going to happen. There is the possibility that Kobe would want to play in Houston b/c he would be the focal point and that Yao would defer to him in a way Shaq wouldn't. If that was the case then a sign and trade of Kobe for Francis and change would be the best option for the lakers if he said he wanted to walk.

I think many of you are downplaying Steve Francis' value around the league.

 

I will say it one last time.

Assuming he's not in prison, Kobe will be a free agent.

There is no better time to be looking for a superstar to pair with Yao. He is answer to all of the Rockets problems.

And to top it all off, he's going to be more determined than ever to stick it to Shaq, the Lakers, and the whole world.

Is there anything more beautiful than the sight of a pissed-off Kobe in his prime wearing a Rockets jersey; could it be more poetic than to be paired with Shaq's successor?

The only catch is, we have to move Steve during the season to get the cap room, or we would have to pull a sign-and-trade, which would still leave the Lakeshow in good hands with Francis.

 

Mike Bibby, Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Brad Miller, Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Doug Christie, Bobby Jackson, Antoine Walker, and Antawn Jamison were all attained through trades and free agent signings. A team does not have to stick with their original draft picks to be successful.