isn't amaechi a backup center? maybe something's in the works to get rid of cato. i'm sure they thought about rice's contract expiring after next season, after all they do do this for a living.
The taxpayers of Tokyo didn't just fork over millions to pay for Les' shiny new arena. Not a dollar (or yen in this case) of the gains Hiroshi Okuda stands to make off this deal will be spent in Houston. The money he is spending for the naming rights will go straight to Les' pockets. Awarding Toyota the naming rights is a slap in the face to Houstonians. To add insult, the uniforms have an obvious Asian influence and little if anything to do w/ the culture of Houston. Trading Shandon Anderson for Rice, not re-signing Posey, trading Rice for Amaechi - all in order to save bucks and stay under the luxury tax threshhold - is a signal the winning takes a backseat to balance sheets. Face it, our owner is a sellout.
So there aren't any Asians in Houston? They are not part of the culture of Houston? Your post sounds very anti-Asian, I hope you did not mean it that way.
Re: the Rockets and $ savings moves... Have you ever noticed that whenever the Rockets make a move like this...or like letting Posey go, etc...we, as fans, want to assume that the people who run our beloved Rockets are only doing this to make way for another move...and yet, almost always in the past few years, we never end up seeing the other shoe drop. Mostly we see a slipper or two shuffle across the floor, like an Adrian Griffin, etc. Almost every time the move seems to remain at least partially about simply saving cash. I hope I'm wrong on this one, but my bones are telling me not to hold my breath...( as opposed to most days where they advise any practice which would give them at least a little peace and quiet...)
MacBeth, As much as I agree with you that we could have gotten more out of Rice's expiring contract, I think we learned that making the move before or early in the season won't affect team chemistry as much as making a move late in the season. Some may argue that trading KT for Posey completely changed our offense and chemistry. You have to give up something to get something. The fact that we now have a 6 MILLION dolloar trade exception sounds really freaking nice. I wouldn't mind seeing us trade for a top tier PF.
Why do the negative heads always repeat themselves over and over again. if you don't like this trade and can't see all the better options this gives Jeff Van Gundy heading into training camp then your mind is all fogged up. Find the defrost button. Turn it on. Then look at this from a new persepctive. One that is not filled with gloom. learn how to apperciate a good thing for once in your life cause we heard your repetetive negative viewpoints for the 100th time and they are becoming a bit too much to bear.
No, not at all. On the contrary, we owe quite a bit of gratitude to China and it's people for letting Yao come to our team. And not just for the physical talent he brings, but the sharing of his culture and spirit of teamwork with the city and other players. What I am actually disappointed with is how Les is so shamelessly exploiting Yao's talent for every last dollar he can get his hands on. He's consistently revealing that both basketball and the city take a backseat to how much dough he can bag in the Far East off of Yao's popularity. Funny thing is, if Houston had a population of 1.2 billion itself or if Yao was from some random place like Suriname, everything about the Rockets would be marketed towards Houston.
Although I'm unsure about the impact of this move on the season I think getting Jim Jackson might help us reach the playoffs.He won't be as effective as when he was with the Kings because of their far superior ball movement but he is still an upgrade from Rice. He can shoot the 3 fairly well which he showed during the playoffs and has decent ball handling and postup skills.He was even putting a decent effort of the defensive end last year which isn't his strong point. Amaechi is a chronic underachiever who I dislike and we gave up a lot to the Jazz which I think was unnecessary because Jackson is being payed the 1.25 million expection. It seems to me that it was done to avoid the luxury tax. If the Rockets can use the 6.5 million exception with another player like EG to get a quality PG or a talented hard working PF then the team will be in good shape.
Utah is one of the very few teams, maybe the only team that can take Rice's contract off our hands without us having to take back at least 80% (or something like that) of his salary. There have been numerous threads where we've been trying to figure out who'll start at the 3 for us. The reason is because there was no clear cut starter (with Rice in the fold). We now have one in JJ. AG will back him up and EP will back Mobley up. Amaechi will just be the 12th man on the roster. Why would Utah make this trade? To get a first round draft pick that they will use in rebuilding. There's simply no other reason for them to do it. They're taking other teams expiring contracts to stockpile draft picks.
Care to show me the arithmetic that shows Shandon Anderson made more money than Glen Rice in any of the last 3 seasons? Extending Cato, Mo Taylor, and Moochie, trying to use the medical exception on Marc Jackson only to be rebuffed by the Warriors, etc. You do realize that salary wise, the difference between Pike+Jax+Griffin (3 signings) and Posey is almost negligible, right? I don't see how a move that allows us to improve ourselves- and Jackson is an undoubted upgrade to Rice- is winning taking a backseat to money. What, were you planning to resign Rice at 9 mill for next season?
You'll have to explain to me how adding one shooter and substracting one shooter improves your shooting. All of the Kings score in transition and with secondary breaks as much if not more so than any other team in the league. If you really believe Maurice Taylor has an unstoppable post up game then I just have to laugh my ass off on that one.
Anyone in their right mind (ie not the Knicks) gives Shandon 42 mill because? Rice made 8+ mill year the past 3 years. Shandon made closer to 5. Bottom line, our payroll has been higher with Rice than it would have even with Shandon's ridiculous contract.
Hey Mensa, where in my post did I mention making moves out of boredom ? I was implying that the signing of Jackson was more of an impact than the signings of Griffin and Piatkowski. Glad I could clear that up for you.
bottomline: We will really not know about the full impact of this trade until or if we make another move. But, short-term it was a good move. We picked up a formidable veteran who can still ball in return for damaged goods. Like Macbeth says, this move does have value depending on what happens next. If this was just a move to stay under the cap, then probably not the best move. But, Jim Jackson does give us a better starting option over Rice. But, clearly this trade was made for another move. Why would we take on Ameche? We cleared space. We will make another move.....whether now or in 12 months.....stay tuned until the expiration approaches : )
I think the poster was inferring that if he was going to remain bitter about the Isiah deal, Bird would be all too happy to send him elsewhere. And so you know where I stand, I personally despise the trade unless something good comes of the exception. I'm not counting on a home-run splash, but if a SAR-caliber player comes of it, that will nullify my complaints. We will have to sit tight a year. I didn't like the Posey cost-cutting move, and I don't like this one either. But this paves the way to make a bold "3rd star" trade that will put us in contention, and if we are able to pull something off, the risk will have paid off huge. I just can't bring myself to believe that CD would be this incompetent or that JVG would allow this to happen unless there really is a master plan this time.
