Daryl Morey took over as GM this past summer and made quite a few changes. But let’s say instead of hiring Morey they hired you. What would this team look like now? (be honest)... I’ll start… I would have drafted Big Baby Davis in the first and if I could have got an early second even though I liked Marc Gasol I would have probably gone for a pg named Jared Jordan (if I knew we were getting Francis I would have picked Gasol but of course no one knew). I liked the Mike James trade and would have done that. I loved getting Francis back so that would have been a no-brainer for me. The Scola was another no brainer. I would have kept Bonzi but… I wasn’t crazy about the Bonzi for Jackson trade but I felt we had to dump James and I would have pulled the trigger on that. After Bonzi left I would have seen the need for backup help and got Mharris. I also liked Justin Williams ever since we played Sac and he got 12 rebs in 20 minutes so I would haved picked him up. I would have traded Rafer for anything. After Tmac had a couple of games were he looked like he quit I was ready to trade him. I wouldn’t have traded him for nothing but if I could have gotten Villanueva and Redd from the bucks or Deng and Hinrich for Tmac and Rafer. Let’s say for the purpose of this thread that the Bucks agreed to the deal (probably have to throw in Hayes to make it work). In reality I don’t think they would have. I would have done it. Okay so let’s see what this team would look like now… C- Deke, J Williams PF Scola, Big Baby, Novak SF Battier, Villanueva, Harris SG Redd, Head PG Jackson, Jared Jordan IR-Yao, Francis, Obviously at this point I would have seen the need for a PG so I would have some how brokered a deal for another pg. Probably would have at least have to give up Head to get that done unless we could have gotten Cassell off the wire. But that is more speculation so I will leave my team as stand for the purpose of this thread. So there you have it. No Landry, Brooks, Rafer, Tmac, Yao and Francis are injured and Redd and Villanueva are trying to learn the system. I would say we are lottery bound but when Yao comes back next year we could be competitive. Still pretty bad considering what we have now! I appreciate Morey even more.
I like this thread, but I'm not sure if most people will be as honest as you. I also liked the Redd+Villanueva deal for T-Mac, or at least I saw benefits for it. I don't know if I would have been ballsy enough to go through with it, though. Thank goodness that didn't happen. In the draft, I didn't even consider Aaron Brooks or Carl Landry. I don't follow the college game too much, so they weren't even in my radar. I probably would have gone with Fazekas or something. Hey, he put up some nice numbers in college, so at the end of the first round I thought it would be a good gamble. In retrospect, that probably would not have worked out well. I wouldn't have resigned Deke in the offseason since I didn't think he could help at 41. I was pushing hard, like many others, to trade for Jeff Foster. Alston for Foster appealed to me. Again, in retrospect I think that was handled correctly. Alston has been huge this year. I might have kept Jackie Butler, but negative feedback from the coaches could have changed my mind. I would have kept Harris and dropped someone else before the season. I like to think I would have kept Landry, but in all honesty he was a bubble player for me. Novak might have been released, if I was in charge. The more recent deal for Bobby Jackson, I was sort of neutral on. I understood the reasoning behind it, but I had to see what Jackson could give us and who else we might pick up. Considering that the Hornets and the Rockets have gone in opposite directions since that deal, and it has opened up some roster spots for us to sign extra help to make up for Yao's absence, I think it's looking pretty good right now. The Rockets effectively exchanged Snyder for Mike Harris (assuming we keep him the rest of the way, and I think we will). Gotta love that "trade" as well.
I'd have done a lot of the same things, both good (keeping Hayes, getting Scola, keeping Rafer and Tracy) and not so good (Mike James). I don't know who I would have drafted, frankly.. didn't follow the college game or the international game closely enough to really form an opinion-- but given the available info, I can't say I disagree. I'd have kept Mike Harris and tried to convince Les to give me $2.3 millions to pay an under the cap team to take Snyder off my hand. Given the roster at the trade deadline (which, presumably would not be the same if I had been GM), I would have given the Kings Aaron Brooks and a pick plus the contracts of Bonzi, Snyder, and Francis for Ron Artest. Or I might have gone after a Tim Thomas trade with some expiring deals and a pick.
Good post, Old Man Rock! Everybody likes to pretend they'd be a genius if they were a GM, so it's refreshing to see somebody explaining move by move how they'd have screwed up the whole team. I'll give it a shot. First, sadly enough, I probably would have picked Josh McRoberts at #26. Clearly, that would have been my first mistake. If I were to pull off the purchase of the 31st pick, I would have used that on Glen Davis. While Davis is no Landry, he has at least proven to be a solid second round pick. I probably wouldn't have bothered to buy the 54th pick from Orlando, unless I thought Marc Gasol was still going to be on the board. I'd have left Gasol overseas. I would have definitely done the James for Howard trade. I thought that was a steal. Who knew? I would have also signed Francis. I knew that was a gamble, but I thought at the time it was a gamble you had to make for the price. I'd have also resigned Chuck Hayes. The Scola trade was a no brainer, I agree. I'm just not sure I would have been able to pull it off. There were apparently a whole lot of offers for Scola. I'd like to think I'd be as tenacious as Morey was in pursuit of Scola, but you just don't know. For the sake of my self-esteem, we'll say I pulled it off. I wouldn't have done the trade for Jackson. I'd have kept Bonzi for sure. I'm sure I would have been looking for ways to rid ourselves of the James contract by that point, but I just don't think I would have had the balls to include a major rotation guy in the deal. I mean, the Rockets were playing great basketball and if we hit a slump after Bonzi was gone, I'd look pretty stupid. Besides, I was really looking forward to seeing Bonzi have a monster game or two in the playoffs. Now, while Rafer has driven me crazy at times, I've never been as anti-Rafer as most of the board. So I wouldn't have been looking to include T-mac in a deal just to get rid of Rafer - unless that deal was something like T-mac + Alston for Chris Paul + Tyson Chandler or Deron Williams + Kirilienko. The second one is more realistic, but I don't see either of those teams parting with their point guards so I'm going to assume I stand pat. Would I have picked up Justin Williams and Mike Harris? Of course I would have. I read this board constantly and would undoubtedly be influenced. Honestly though, I probably wouldn't pick up Justin Williams because I drafted McRoberts and Glen Davis. Too many bodies in the front court already. So my team would be as follows: C: Deke, Glen Davis, McRoberts PF: Scola, Hayes, Novak SF: Battier, Bonzi, Harris SG: McGrady, Bonzi, Head PG: Alston, James IR- Yao, Francis I, like Old Man Rock, would have clearly seen the need for another point guard. I would have done everything in my power to bring in Damon Stoudamire or Sam Cassell to back up Alston. I might would have even looked at bringing back Tyronn Lue. Who knows. If all of those options failed, however, I guess we'd have ridden it out with James playing the back up. What a nightmare! I don't think our team would be quite as bad as Old Man Rock's team, but that's mostly on account of the fact he made ballsier moves. Still, we wouldn't have Landry or Brooks, nor Bobby Jackson. So our PF spot would suffer a bit and we would, like last season, be depending on Alston for 42+ minutes a game. We all know that's unacceptable. While our team would be decent, I'd argue that Old Man Rock would have put us in a better position for the future because he'd probably be looking at a better draft pick and be in a better position to use the MLE next year as he rid himself of Mike James. edit: Completely forgot about Jackie Butler, but he might not have been able to even beat out McRoberts for a roster spot.
I like that you kept Bonzi he is clearly a lw post threat and the Rockets will miss him come playoff time. You are better GM than but I think Morey still has you beat.
Short answer: I would not have drafted Brooks or Landry. Let's just say if I did draft Landry he would have been cut in favor of Harris. I would have gotten rid of Novak as well. I would have traded Tmac for 50 cents on the dollar if anyone offered that level of talent early in the season. I would have pulled the trigger on the James and SF deals also. Those were good gambles IMO.
Oh Morey definitely has me beat. But, if you got the Rockets into the lottery and the ping pong balls bounced in your favor and you were able to land a PG like Derrick Rose pr Jaryd Bayliss- who knows. If you liked Justin Williams, I'm sure Deke wouldn't be asked to return, so your 08-09 team could look like this: C- Yao, Justin Williams PF - Scola, Big Baby, Novak SF - Battier, Villaneuva SG- Redd, Head PG - Derrick Rose/Jaryd Bayliss, Jared Jordan And you'd have the MLE to pick up another point guard - or at worst, another swingman that would allow you to trade Battier or Villaneuva for a PG. Now of course, that would depend on the ping pong balls bouncing your way, but that would be nothing to sneeze at.
I will be very frank with what I would have done starting with the draft. I admit I have limited knowledge of the college game. With the 26th pick I would have taken Petteri Koponen as the PG because of his natural passing ability and size. I wouldn't have suggested to Les Alexander to buy the 31th pick but if he told me to pick some one for him at that spot,I would choose Dominic McGuire even though I would be tempted to get Big Baby Davis,but I would pass up on him because of his excess weight. Getting Luis Scola would be a no brainer for Spanoulis and the 2nd pick. I would have gladly exchanged Juwan Howard for Mike James and picked up Steve Francis as well. Assuming that Landry ended up on the team and was not working hard during the pre-season,I would have recommended dropping him for Mike Harris. I would take Justin Williams over Bobby Jones immediately instead of waiting for 10 days.I would have exchanged Snyder and a 2nd pick for Gerald Green but I wouldn't cut Green for Mike Harris. I would also retain Bonzi instead of Bobby Jones even though I wanted to get rid of Mike James. If the Kings asked for Scola or Landry for Artest I wouldn't have given up either one of them,but I would have given up Brooks,Bonzi,Snyder,Hayes or Novak for him if salaries worked out,but I wouldn't give them the 1st round pick in the 2008 draft.
Honestly and without fear of looking stupid...... Mike James trade: Would have done it in a heartbeat. Draft: Would have drafted Nick Fazekas with our first rounder and pulled off a trade to acquire a second rounder to take Sun Yue. Scola/Landry trades: I can't take credit for guys that Morey handpicked. I knew of both of these guys but I can't say at the time I would have moved to acquire them. Again, not taking anything away from Scola or Landry, just pointing out that those were Morey's guys. Francis signing: no brainer. Allowing Bonzi to come back: no brainer. Rafer? Would have considered him an insurance policy but expendable at the same time. I have always given Rafer credit for being a good player that was simply asked to do too much last year. I didn't think there was a chance in hell he'd play as good as he has this year. He's been the biggest and most pleasant surprise of this season and i'm loving every minute of it. Head, Novak? Would have looked to move them. "My guys" that I would have looked to trade, sign or acquire somehow..... Marcus Williams - Before NJ dealt Kidd he was buried on the depth chart. I've always known this guy has talent, incredible court vision and the kind of upside you look for in a young PG. I would have tried to pull off some sort of Luther for Williams swap. I'm not sure if the salaries would have matched but you get the idea. Chris Wilcox - Still young and can play minutes at both PF and C. Underrated offensive player that rebounds, plays tough defense and would have been another body to throw at the Boozer's and Duncan's. I would have tried to use Bonzi and Snyder's expiring contracts and another guy like Novak or whoever to trade for him since Seattle has been in salary dump mode. Travis Outlaw - I've always been a huge fan of this guy. He ended up signing back in Portland for dirt cheap. Not bad value for a 6'9" guy with 3-pt range and can play four positions. All of those people crying about the Rudy Gay trade, here's a guy that's roughly the same age with similar strengths. Matt Carroll - I've always considered him kind of like a poor man's Battier. Plays smart, doesn't make mistakes, lights out shooter and gives it all defensively. He's not the quickest or most athletic but he knows what he's capable of and plays excellent team ball. MLE - Split between Outlaw and Carroll. PG Rafer/James/Williams SG T-Mac/Carroll/Francis SF Battier/Outlaw/Yue PF Hayes/Wilcox/Fazekas C Yao/Deke
I would have got scola, but I would't have done the howard trade since he was a expiring contract. I probally wouldn't have drafted landry or brooks. I would have definetly drafted david west 4 years ago.
Question: What will you do this summer? What do you draft for? PG? I think we set at PF. SG [maybe a back up], Maybe a Small Forward? Rocket River
Yeah, Morey has done way better than I would have this year. I was upset about all our draft picks. I wanted to buy a couple of picks, and taken Crittendon, Fernandez and Glen Davis. Once I learned more about the Brooks pick, I liked it, especially once we saw him in summer ball. But, I hated the Landry pick. I was SO wrong! At first I didn't like the Jackson trade, but once I understood it, I didn't like the Bobby Jackson trade, but the rest of the moves I liked. But, I probably would have done whatever it took to get Artest, which would have included one of our rookies playing well, which I'd have assumed would be Davis, along with Head and Bonzi. I never went along with the trade TMac stuff, unless we got full value, and I did mention that if CHI would have traded Thomas/Deng or Selofasha/Hinrich or Gordon, you'd have to make the trade, especially if they took Rafer. I thought we might be able to trade Rafer to NJ for Boki or Williams or something, but I definitely wanted him gone. I'm pretty blown away by Landry, and I have no idea HOW in the world Morey got Scola for so little ... but, I certainly wanted him. So, if everything had gone my way, we'd have had: Deke/Williams/(Yao) Scola/Thomas/Hayes Battier/(Artest)/Novak Artest/Selofasha/Fernandez/(Francis) Hinrich/Crittendon/James ... and there is no way that team would be playing like this one, and I think I like Landry, Scola and Brooks better, for now and the future. I love that we have fresh blood, and none of the CHI players are playing that well. Our defensive intensity is nothing short of amazing. Battier has become the quarterback of this team, and almost everyone has imitated his chasing after loose balls, coming in intense and prepared every game, passing, and doing the little things that help you win. It's not just Battier and Hayes anymore. We've got like 4 glue guys now in Battier, Hayes, Scola and Landry, and it provides great chemistry. Our 3 headed power forward is as good as any in the West. Look at these numbers: points/rebounds/assists/steals/blocks/turnovers Last 20: 25 / 16.1 / 2.7 / 2.1 / 1.1 / 2.8 Last 10: 26.1 / 19.1 / 3.3 / 2.2 / 1.2 / 3.1 Last 5: 31.2 / 19 / 4.4 / 2.8 / 2.4 / 3.2 In the last 5 games, those are better than Dirk's numbers, who's leading all PFs in averages ... geez!
My sig used to say get Darko and Artest. That what I would have tried to do. I wanted to trade Shane,the pick, and head for artest to give the rox a legit 3rd scorer and tough guy. I wanted Darko for the mle or for howard. Reason being to get longer and more atheletic. Also Darko can blk some shots backside and still young enough to get better. The other thing is when scola comes in, he could slide over to center. I would have made the move for james or francis, not both. The 2nd rd pick goes for bpa. Also when beno was waived by t-wolves, would have gotten him. Yao/Darko/deke Darko/scola/? Artest/Bonzi/snyder Tracy/Bonzi/snyder Alston/James/Beno
I think it was Rafer for Haslem and Doleac....Then rafer "stabbed" and the heat supposedly backed off
