With all the talk of the future,I just couldn't help wondering about Juwan Howard and his place with the Rockets.Let me preface this by saying I have the utmost respect for Howard and his professionalism.This is a guy that has gotten the most out of his talent.He's had a successfull NBA career and has been a solid performer.Coming out of Michigan,his upside was fairly easy to assess,as his workmanlike attitude foreshadowed the consistent player he would be in the League. Along with being a high draft pick and receiving a monster contract came unrealistic expectations though.So,now that we've seen him for a decade teams know what their getting with Juwan......The fact is that he eats up capspace,and is an easily replaceable player in the grand scheme of things.Now,I believe chemistry is very important,but I really feel that we could create enough flexibilty to acquire another star level player(PF) in additon to filling in our role players by dealing Juwan. I know we're going with what we have this year,but I see Howard as not too difficult to move in the future if attached w/picks and/or players..Just curious about ya'lls thoughts.
The problem with trying to trade Howard is that his contract is so long. Even though his yearly salary is not that high, the fact that he is under contract for another 3 years (someone correct me if i am wrong) will make it hard to move him. Besides even though he has been playing well he is still not a great defensive player or a good rebounder. By the time his contract is up he will be like 35 or 36. The best chance we will have to trade him is when he is going into the final year of his contract. So unless Mullen or I. Thomas decide to ask for him, I don’t see him going anywhere for a few seasons.
Howard has the Jim Jackson curse. He's a good solid player, but not the kind of player you build a team around. That makes him excellent trade filler. No one is dying to get him, but no one would really mind having him either. If we could get a real POWER forward (Elton Brand comes to mind). Howard would be a great backup. On the other hand, Howard might be more useful to us in a trade for Brand, with Berry and maybe a pick thrown in.
Howard has 4 years left after this year. The last year being a player option but considering he will be turning 36 that season I think he will not opt out. Anyone can be traded, we just unloaded Mo Taylor, and we just took on Baker & Moochie so that says anything can happen.
Since when did Elton Brand become a realistic goal for the Rox to get? That guy is making $12,048,500 this year, then $13,152,000, $14,248,000, $15,344,000, until 2008/09 where he'll make $16,440,000. Can the Rox pay another max player on the roster? Probably, but not likely. Do the Clippers want to deal him? I think not. Do we have anything that the Clippers might want outside TMac and Yao? No. (Granted we're talking about the Clippers here but they haven't been making bonehead decisions lately.) Let's separate fantasy bball talk with actual realistic goals we can shoot for.
CD/JVG need to find someway to trade Juwan this summer. Juwan has stepped his game up lately, but his contract is too long. We need to find a young PF. Swift? Chandler? Marshall?
If you dream, dream big. Phoenix will have the same problem. What to do with Marion when Amare gets his max contract? Donald Sterling might have Brand pried loose. He always finds a way to make money, if not put a winning team on the court. But no, we can't hold our breath waiting to get Brand. Still, I say we go after Brand or Boozer with expiring contracts and #1 draft picks. Why not? JVG won't play rooks anyway.
I don't have a problem paying CD to make offers to Sterling, but I agree with v3.0 that it's almost pointless for us to talk about getting Brand, although admittedly stranger things have happened, seemingly multiple times this year. If we can move Howard for a player who can do more for us, I'd definitely be up for it. But I can live with him as a backup PF longterm.
Rumblings about the new CBA indicate a higher salary cap. Couple that with potentially shorter length contracts, and the old rules about 3 Max Players might be a thing of the past. If the cap goes up to 55-60 million then a team sould be able fit in 3 max salary guys along with an assortment of role player without going too far over the cap. The only cavet being if there is one or more of the Max guys being veteran max guys and requesting a full extension, like what Shaq is doing by asking for a $90 million extention. But we don't really have to worry about this stuff right now. The next time this would come up is probably 2010, when T-mac's deal comes up. Hopefully he won't get McGreedy on us and ask for a $25+ million per year extension.
I'm not sure how Indiana would feel about a Howard and #1 for Artest. From our perspective,I guess we have to ask the questions about whether Ron could keep his head,stay motivated,and also..would we want to deal with him being a Rocket in the first place?Personally I could get past what happened,if I really believed he was focused on acting like a mature adult.Artest w/attitude adjustment = bigtime player,and just what we need.This would be buying a stock on it's lows,w/the possibility of fantastic returns.Downside risk is chemistry gets blown up,and capspace eaten.There is that selling you soul factor here too. Bottom line for me...He would be representing the city of Houston,and the Houston Rockets organization.I'm not sure about the PR backlash,but there is a moral question here.I think Artest is going to come back and make someone very happy and I could see him fitting perfectly here,but we're not desparate..tough call.
Trading for Artest kinda reminds me of how the Bulls traded for Rodman. Both Rodman and Artest have been known as trouble makers, although Artest is usually on the court whereas Rodman was a headcase on and off the court. Anyways the Bulls took a chance on Rodman and we all know how that worked out. I wouldnt mind trading Howard + Wesley + 1st round pick for Artest and maybe A. Croshere.
The question of whether we would want to take a risk on Artest is a good one. However, if Indiana were willing to trade Artest, why would they want Howard? I think it would require an expiring contract plus two #1s at minimum to get Artest.
Why would we trade our only productive 4 for a problem child 3, where by-the-way is where TMac is currently playing?
Arttest is one more blowup from being out of the league. Pass. If they want a real PF then maybe CD (and the mystery group) should try taking (for him/them) a more novel approach to finding a PF: DRAFT ONE!
Don't we have some PF draft picks from like 2002/2003 that's currently playing overseas and will join us next season? Go Rockets! We need youth!
Badiane might develop into a solid rotation player...and he might not.Either way we need a solid defensive presence at the 4 now. I'm confident in CD's ability to judge established veteran talent and he's definitely shown he's one of the best when it comes to putting together sweet trades.We haven't been near as fortunate in his drafts. The draft is a good place to get young talent,but with where we are picking,I would think the smart move would be parlaying it and other capspace created by trading a guy like Howard into even more quality depth.
Do we have anymore 1st rounders to give? Keep in mind, you can't go two years in a row without having one..
