Now that Isiah has taken over their GM duties, we should deal with NY to address our most serious issues, PG and PF. Isiah loves scoring PG's for obvious reasons, and I have a feeling he would give up more than most GM's for Stevie. Don't know if this works financially, but how 'bout something along the lines of Francis and Moochie for Houston, Ward and Kurt Thomas. I'd bet this would give us an immediate, significant boost.
people on this board are underestimating steve's value. we might not be able to get t-mac for him but im sure we could get a lot more than kurt thomas and chalie ward...especially since new york has too many pf's anyway and charlie ward will be a free agent at the end of this year. this trade is straight up bad.
I think it is fans' frustration watching Francis in his fifth year making bone-headed mistakes that are hurting the team. By no means is he alone, but as the "Point Guard" he is supposed to get everyone involved and it has been anything but...sans a few games. IMO, and perhaps others, Francis has really dropped off the radar as a superstar-type or "franchise" player that we all thought he would be. Can he still be that type of player? Yes. Is he doing what it takes now? Nope. I love the Rockets, but right now I find it unbearable to watch the games at all. I can stomach a couple of minutes, amybe two quarters, but when guys like Moochie Norris get on the court, or Mobley and Francis start taking ill-advised shots I quickly change the channel of turn of the television altogether. This is supposed to be the year that they go from the cusp of the playoffs right to the front or the middle of the pack. Despite the record, the Rockets don't look like a playoff team. I don't know what happened to Yao, but he needs to be aggressive and not get pushed around. We're all frustrated and maybe even a little disgusted, but its still early and the Rockets still have a 6.5 million dollar trade exception. Lets hope for the best.
How about Kelvin Cato for Kurt Thomas and Charlie Ward? NY needs a real big man, and Cato is better than average with no more than an average salary (I know- that is so bizarre - only in pro sports!). They seem ready to move Thomas, expecting him to walk at the end of the season. Ward is getting minutes, but I hear off and on that they are anxious to dump him. Hou gets a back up point guard in Ward. I think that will really help us, I expect him to play about 20 minutes a game (roughly what he is playing at NY - if RealGM is accurate) spelling both Francis and Mobley (Francis slides to the two). Thomas starts at PF and backs up the center. This is a step back at back up center, but it is otherwise an upgrade at two positions. I hate to see Cato go. I like the way he is playing and did not hate him when everybody was anxious to trade him for a pair of sweat sox. Van Gundy is familure with both players and vice versa. It may help the Rockets with the transition. Though the transition is working; slower than I hoped, but still I see progress nightly. This works on RealGM. I'll spare you the "trade acepted..." paste.
Keep Steve, keep Cato, play out the season, and see how it goes. Tweak it then as Steve's BYC expires and the TE lasts until training camp. If it is decided they are needed, offer FA's Kurt Thomas and/or Charlie Ward all or part of our MLE next season. Whatever we do, we do not need to tie up $73m in Allan Houston for the next 4 years.
Yeah, I agree. It would be nice to add Thomas and Ward to this team without giving up Cato or Cat to do it.
Id rather have Mobley than Houston. And if we trade Steve, Id hope we do better than a middle of the road PF, a career also-ran PG and 33 yearold, one dimensional SG whos large contract well be stuck with for another 3-4 years.
I would rather trade Ameche,Padgett, and Wilkes for Ward and Thomas,this helps both teams.We get missing pieces we need and Knicks dump some salary.
Do you in all honesty believe that that trio of Rockets would be the best deal on the table for Ward and Thomas? ESPN Fastbreak just mentioned what the Knicks lack is a scorer with a killer instict and should trade Thomas and Ward for Van Exel. No offense, but two 3rd stringers and 9.8 mpg role player is a pretty weak offer. And besides, if all they wanted to do was dump salary, they can just let Thomas and Ward walk next summer as they are both FA's. (Amaechi has a 2004-05 contract).
Exactly. I would rather have Mobes because of his contract. Didn't he sign a "small" contract saying no to Toronto who offered him more money? He wanted to stay and play in Houston with his best friend SF. Anyways, Houston is WAY overpaid.
And Ward's value. And Thomas' value (in the west, anyway). We've got too much Knick blood on our team as it is. I say we draw the line NOW.
The knicks suck, that's why they fired their gm, because he basically had no eye for talent. Like I said I would never trade with NY.
