I hear and really like the idea of trading for an established veteran to fill at least one of our holes. Who would that be, what would we offer? I have been trying to guestimate what our two picks are worth, and who has a small forward or center to trade. I figured out what I want, and I think he might be available, but I don't know how to get him. I think Latrell Spreewell would be the perfect addition to our team. He fills the Small Forward slot, he is a vetran, he is a leader and most important of all, he plays defense. He has played ofr 9 years so he should still have four or five good years and three or four more palatable years as he declines. I figure NY is in a trading mood. They have no real hope for significant improvement with their current roster, and they are so far over the cap that free agentry is out of the question for several years. Trades, the draft and the mid- evel exception are all they have. I think the mid-level is only available every other year, and they used it on Weatherspoon last year. They often mention Spree as their only tradeable commodity. If we took Spree and at least one bad contract for our two picks it may give them some flexibility. Sort of a Lafrenz with VanExcel package concept - must give up the good to get rid of the bad. Spree, Camby Thomas and Harrington each have three years left, Weatherspoon four and Anderson and Eisley five each. The rest are two years or less. I excluded Houston because that contract is immovable. I got these numbers from RealGM. They may be as of this year, and I suspect they need to have one year subtracted accross the board. I figure Eisley and Anderson are the two longest contracts for overpaid subs. So if we take Eisley and/or Anderson with Spree, their long term salary situation resolves itself in three (maybe two) years. If we give them our top two picks, they get bodies cheap. They also will have three draft picks, 5, their own 8 and 14/15 for trading flexibility. Now I know they are not going to move Spree for two picks so what can we do? A year ago Walt Williams would have been perfect, but right now we don't really have any expiring contracts to throw in. Personally, I am hard pressed to give up KT, but he would be the right type of contract. The other person in the right type of contract situation (underpaid) is Mobley. Can anybody put these pieces together to recommend a realistic trade. Who are the other players you would like to see us go after. It is a long off season, so step up and make a suggestion. But please, no Shaq for KT, Mooch and a draft pick. "No really they will want to do this because they are trying to give leadership to Kobe, and they are concerned about his big toe, and Phil saw West as a naked indian in a vision and he said he would return if Shack was gone, and another reason is....."
Well, NY has no one we need. Possibilities for trading? Everyone needs a center, so I don't see us trading for one. That leaves the 3 spot. Antawn Jamison? GS needs a new mix of players. GS could get out from under its Jamison contract; maybe Glen Rice (contract expires in 2 years) and the #6. Do we sweeten the deal? Maybe Chicago's draft pick obligation. Jamison could give us rebounding and 18 ppg. Or send Jamison to Chicago, chip in the #14 pick, and get Yao Ming. (Dream on, me.) (Is Jamison BYC? Realgm has his contract down incorrectly, I think.) Rashard Lewis can ge "got" if Rice and #6 would do it. Odom? Tim Thomas? Robinson?
Jamison, Oh man, I would LOVE To have him on the Rockets. He is a premier SF that would improve this club immensly. DaDakota
I don't think so. He ain't no premiere SF. He probably would be the best PF in the East and one of the best PF's in teh West. We don't need PF's.
I agree, the man is a PF on a team that has too many big men. I think the Warriors thought he could be like Abdur Rahim, but he can't. Jamison is basically Drew Gooden after a few years in the leaque. I think a team that we could take advantage of is the Bucks. People on that team are pissed, I imagine, at George "of the jungle" Karl. Glenn Robinson is an intriguing player, who we could get by trading Rice and our pick for, but I don't think Robinson is worth the trouble. Then there is Tim Thomas. I don't know how we could work this trade because of the BYC. I'm sure T-Thomas wants a chance to start. This guy is like Eddie Griffin with 20 extra lbs and no defense, but he is an experienced and exciting player waiting to bust out. That would give us 2 PF/SF guys who can run, hit the 3, and rebound. Obviously, I havn't really thought this trade through, and I assume it might be fiscally impossible.
We need a C more than anything else but can't get one. I'd trade both my arms for Ben Wallace.... Realistically if we wind up in the top 5 then we should keep the pick, but the other pick needs to be dealt. I can see the #14 and Kenny T going to the highest bidder. Maybe we could get Ratliff and hope he's healthy (yeah, right). There just aren't too many solutions at C.
We need a SF, there's no doubt about that. What we need is someone who play D, and shoot 3s. Spree would not fit with us at all. He's too short to be a SF, and he'd be more unhappy in Houston than he is in NY. Spree doesn't like playing the 3, not to mention that he doesn't like getting shots taken away by Allan Houston. Think about how pissed he'd be playing next to our 3 dribbling guards... I don't envision any player who needs the ball in his hands ie. a scorer, to want to come to play for us. I'm sure the general consensus around the league is the Rockets do not pass the ball, and 90% of the possesion is dominated by 3 diff guards. That is not a good thing...
What about Austin Croshere, or Mike Miller? Neither of their respective teams probablly want to deal them but I think they would make nice additions to the Rockets. Croshere is a star in the making and almost broke out last season, but had a lackluster season this year, which is why the Pacers might (probablly not) trade him. He's got a great offensive arsenal, he can play down low, he's a tough, strong player, and best of all, he's a good if not great defender. I project him as a sf on our team. Mike Miller would also be a good fit on our team, however, like the Pacers, the Magic won't want to split ways from him. It would be nice for the Rockets, but more than unlikely. Nonetheless, either of these players could come in and immediately start at the 3 for the Rockets and give us a huge two way boost. The question becomes, which pick, and which player or player combination would you trade for either Croshere's or Miller's rights?
Ron Artest. He would fit in nicely here when we need a defensive stop a la Bruce Bowen. Balance our all offense frontourt. ___________________________________________________ milo "We had gay burglars the other night. They broke in and rearranged the furniture." Robin Williams.
Kidrock, Good comments about Sprewell. So who do you like? Centers are hard to come by. How about Chris Mihm. Not all that good, sort of a tweener, on a team deep at that position (sort of - kind of like us at pf). Would he be a good combo center with Cato?
Let me back up a little bit. Why not Antawn Jamison? Sure, he has more of a power forward's game. But think of the lineup possibilities. He's not a pure three, but his 3-pt shot is around 32%, not horrendous, not great. But he rebounds...he even gets (gasp) offensive rebounds. He scores. I'm sure he'd love the change of scenery. Like I mentioned, Golden State has many talented players that just don't mesh. Realgm lists an old salary for Jamison, and he might be BYC, so that could kill all this, especially if we have any real shot at Rashard. If AJ's an impossibility, someone let me know, I just thought I'd throw his name out there.
Jamison is under contract for 5 more seasons at $66.4m with a player option in the 6th season for $17.3m. He's pretty pricey. Neither Jamison nor Rashard is a possibility with Rice's contract. Would you do this - Rockets #5 Pick + Rice for Jamison? Personally, I think Rashard is a less expensive and better option for the Rockets, but I would definitely listen if GS came calling. I remember 2 summers ago when I was a newbie and totally p***ed of Swopa with talks about AJ to the Rockets. What a difference 2 years make. OK Swopa - now it's your turn. Ming or Jason Williams is already a lock - want the Rockets #5 for Jamison (with a small string attached ).
