Who are we going after? The new front page article suggest Brandon Rush and Russell Westbrook as possible targets. Both seem to have their stock rising recently. Any other possible targets that fit a need? Who are we trading with? There's been lots of speculation about making a deal with Portland that would involve their pick at 13 and Travis Outlaw. They have lots of young talent and need more of a veteran presence. Moving up to 13 would almost guarantee a shot at Rush, but Westbrook is sure to be gone by then. Milwaukee is picking 8th. Westbrook could be available there, but he isn't a lock to still be on the board. There have been other deals proposed with the Bucks, involving both Michael Redd and Mo Williams. A deal with them could be for a lot more than just that draft pick. It could involve a scorer as well. Milwaukee papers seem to think Redd is on his way out of Milwaukee. The local GM apparently wants to put his stamp on the team. Despite his contract, I would welcome Michael Redd with open arms. He would be a complete game changer for the Rockets on offense. Williams could also help, but I am less excited about. What would we have to give up to make these things happen? If you assume that Yao and McGrady are untouchable (which is a whole other argument), the best assets the Rockets have are expiring contracts, Carl Landry, and Shane Battier. I think Battier would have to be involved in any deal that would move up up that high. That being said, I would want more in return than just a player like Rush or Westbrook for Battier. Is a quality starter and a young player with potential enough in return for Battier?
i highly doubt that our starting lineup is traded this summer. this team has such great chemistry and morey doesn't want to mess it up. he's said before that he wants to improve the size and quality of the bench. i would say that outside of landry, anyone on the bench is available. if we are thinking about trading with portland then i could conjure up some speculation like: jackson's expiring contract in exchange for taking pryzbilla off their books. then swapping picks. portland has oden, aldridge, frye, lafrentz, mcroberts...and would probably like to shed pryz's contract. for the rockets, it's a great deal.
Could Aaron Brooks plus the 25th pick move the rockets high enough in the draft to get a homerun pick?
Here is the link to Clutch's article on the front page. http://www.clutchfans.net/news/1472/draft_day_trade_could_be_rush_order/
Alot of what I'm reading around the net suggests that many teams are convinced there is so much parity involved in this draft that they can find a player in the 20s who is just as talented as someone taken in the teens for a smaller price tag. Obivously all we have to go by for most of these players is second hand evaluations, so it is anyones guess where the talent pool drops off to this level of parity. Regardless, this would lead me to believe moving into the early teens if someone like Rush is available would not require a price as hefty as losing Battier. Although, I have to concede outside of the assets the OP suggested we have very little to offer.
I read Clutch's article.It was interesting but I hope the Rockets won't reach out to pick Richard Hendrix at 25.He is a high 2nd rounder at best. I think J.J.Hickson and Jason Thompson are better than him and I'm not sold out on them either.
listen if we can add a third star without touching our first two im sure morey would do it. i'm sure morey wold move tmac if he got 2 b level stars in return. however, you can't say that rafer alston is supposed to be the second leading scorer, and a 41 year old center is supposed to be the starter... with 3 rookies playing major minutes... on a team that won 22 in a row. you can't say that because they weren't supposed to do that well. you can say that they overachieved because they played hard and trusted each other. i doubt that they will be willing to break that up in order to move up in the draft.
I don't know how much Portland wants to jettison salary cap, but I really like this idea. Prizbilla has 3 years left on a large contract, but would be an excellent backup for Yao. We could then take the 8th pick and use it on Westbrook if he is there or Rush if he is not. It also works if you throw Luther Head into the deal (checked on realgm)
I don't think the Rockets would do it, but I would trade Battier to move up high enough for Westbrook. He is a combo guard that would solve 2 problems with one pick, backup or starting PG, backup SG. SF would become an issue so you couldn't make the move without something else in your back pocket or if you believe Mike Harris/Landry could fill the role until the trade deadline when your expirings and next year's first might garner you a replacement.
I don't think chemistry is overrated, but I don't think it is nearly as fragile as people make it out to be. You can take on a crazy and still have great chemistry. The Bulls dealt with Rodman just fine. Rasheed Wallace has a rep for being a cancer, but players on his team always suggest that he's a great teammate. Artest doesn't scare me, he plays to win. I think Michael Redd would be fine. He took a lot of shots on a bad team, but I think his hearts in the right place. Players that seem to put personal goals over the team do a lot more to erode team chemistry than a volatile personality. This is why Carmelo and Iverson will never win together. Same thing with JR Smith too. He wants to score more than he wants to win. I would never touch Nate Robinson for the same reasons. He's more interested on putting on a show and getting credit for it. I think the Rockets need to roll the dice a little in terms of chemistry in order to add some more talent to this team. Chemistry is great, but this team needs a few more legit contributors to really contend for it all.
Wow, 100% agree. IRT topic: The only people in our range that I've watched are Hibbert and CDR and they look like they'll at least be adequete pros. Is any player in the mid-lottery or after worth giving up one of our few contributors for? I don't think so. Trade up if the package is cheap, but we shouldn't be gambling Battier until next year.
I'm glad for the update from Clutch. Gets my draft jones going. Every time I would read a profile on the mock draft sites about Brandon Rush, I would wonder, Why does anyone think this guy would last past the lottery?
That's precisely why it's overrated. People didn't want to trade Francis/Mobley for TMac, because it would "hurt the team chemistry". How many teams actually don't have "good team chemistry"? Teams that hate one another or at each others throats? I can't think of many. It's ridiculous not to try and upgrade our starting five "because of team chemistry". People act like we'd trade good-guy Shane for a raging racist. Yao/Tmac are the stars and a calming presence, they set the tone for the locker room. We'll have good team chemistry no matter whose on our team. Look at "cancer" Bonzi Wells -- the team loved him, even when he pretty much sat out a season. He was the joker in training camp, and was helping everyone. People really overestimate the value of team chemistry and how easy it's affected. I honestly hope we trade Battier this off-season for an offensive upgrade. Will we lose some on the defensive side? Of course, but it's not as drastic as everyone crys about. We were a damn good defensive team before Shane even arrived. He's a good defensive team player, but there's a reason we're a good defensive team and it's not because of one player. If the right deal comes along, I'd consider moving anyone outside of Yao, Tmac, and probably Scola.
My point is that the chemistry problems on the Lakers is well known and when the going gets tough to a team that has no chemistry they fall apart. Evidence: Blown out in the sixth game of the NBA finals.
