[Kenny Smith] West Teams Could Face Tough Decisions in Off-Season

rterry Francis has had 1 bad season in his whole career, I can't believe you're still counting him out. He was playing with a leg injury, I'm hopeful that he'll play better next year. The only reason I'd start Rafer over even an injured non explosive Francis is the fact that Rafer is hands down the better defender. Rafer can't come close to Steve at finishing at the rim.

 

We'll just disagree. I'd hate for this thread to become another pro Stevie vs. con Stevie thread. Anybody have any realistic ideas about a good option at swingman off the bench that can be had at the mid level exception (which we might not have depending on Landry)?

 

There's alot to look at but finding a MLE will be tough.

http://www.insidehoops.com/free-agents.shtml

 

Boy, those are not very impressive lists at SG and SF. Looks like we might need to do something with expirings and picks to pick up that spark off the bench. Somebody suggested Josh Childress might be an option. I think Cat Mobley might be an option depending on the bucks. I'd love Mike Miller or Maggette but I think they will cost too much. Maybe Jackson (expiring), Stevie (expiring) and our 1st might get Miller, but I doubt it.

 

I'd love to draft Roy Hibbert if he's there when we pick...

 

That's just a list of players currently NOT on an NBA team, there are more than that (I just realized this) let me find the correct list. Also this doesn't show a list of players who can opt out of their contracts.

 

Here we go, much better: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=2008freeagents

 

Those are the CURRENT free agents - not the guys who will be free agents at seasons end...

 

Yeah I'm pretty sure I already said that, scroll up... anyways based on the ESPN list Shawn Marion has an ETO, here's to a pipe dream though.

 

we will have to find a pg who is a starter and by doing this it will enable us to move the expiring contract of bobby jackson for someone else. A big would be nice also to take some minutes from yao

 

Why would you want to waste a pick on a guy that is going to be very average in the NBA and likely not to average more than 5-7 minutes per game if that? He's going to be a rookie, a slow rookie in a fast league, with limited skills. He's not worth it. We need to use our draft choice to either trade for a rotation player or draft a rotation player and upgrade our rotation. Backup big men are a dime a dozen in this league. Sure Deke has been great when called upon and has been a big plus when Yao went down. But there's gonna be veteran guys available, some of them with just as much skill and a ton more experience than Roy Hibbert that we are going to be able to pick up for the minimum. Do you think a guy like Raef Lafrentz is going to be interested in coming here to backup Yao after his contract gets bought out? And wouldn't he be more likely to get minutes behind Yao than a guy like Hibbert?

To draft a big, slow center in the first round when the NBA is getting smaller and faster, that center needs to be in a situation where they are going to be a starter or at the very least a primary rotation player being groomed to be a starter. Otherwise, they just ain't worth it. Especially on a team that already has the best center on the planet and is specifically looking for a backup.

 

If Deke stays, I agree that it doesn't make sense to draft Hibbert. But assuming he leaves...

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Not bad for a late first round draft pick if you ask me... Afterall, who here was completly thrilled with our Brooks/Landry picks last year? Not me... Now, it looks like we had one of the better drafts.

 

I was really impressed with Hibbert in the NCAA Tournament of 2007 up to a point. That point was when Greg Oden ate him alive. This year, Hibbert didn't impress at all against less than stellar tournament opposition. The other reason I'd be cautious is that he's played 4 years and probably is close to his peak potential.

I'm with you. Go for a tall athletic C/PF type. Stro Swift without the mental downside. That type player works well with Yao, Deke or Scolandry.

 

CONGRATS KENNY!!!
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Childress is one guy who could help us. His stuck behind a mass of swing men in Atlanta and his a reliable scorer. More importantly his fairly athletic and I feel in a system like Houston he'll be a awesome defender. This won't solve our PG problems but it will mean that we have a fairly strong bench.

 

Hmmmmmm, sounds like Artest to me.