Actually, no it's not. This isn't an argument about Which Player Will Be Considered Better in the Year 2020. It's about who will benefit the Rockets more next year. THat would probably be Lewis. Not certainly. I mean, other Europeans have been successful immediately, like Gasol. Maybe Nachbar will be like him. But if Nachbar is like Nowitski, we'll have to wait.
Lets not make another by signing Rashard to a bad contract that will hamper or even deny us the chance to lock up Griffin and Ming...not the mention the extension of Steve. I never said that Rashard would not help us THIS year. I said that Rashard is NOT worth max $$$ That is what Rashard wants..period. It is bad business to pay for something that you cannot afford and may hamper your cash flow later when needed. My point about Boki was that he Will contribute this year at a much cheaper price and will leave more flexability cap wise down the road. Could Rashard help this team...yes Do we REALLY need Rashard...no Can Rice, Boki, & Tmo hold down the SF position...yes
Some of you guys will probably blame the Rockets if Lewis doesn't sign here.His agent has mentioned that Lewis is NOT interested in the MCE.He wants the MAX,and he is not worth it even though he is a better player than Nachbar right now.
If that is so, than you must take into account the $$$ situation too. Rashard wants max $$. We cannot afford to do that because of future issues salary cap wise. Do we really need another shooter? What if Boki averages more steals, assists, and plays better D? Is that something this team needs?
I met Lewis Last year in the stands at the LA Summer Leauge.. We both know the same people and he ask me how they was doing and tell them wass up.. He and this other Cat was getting Mob by Autograph seekers.. But I told him we would love him back in Houston and he smiled.. like saying he'll work on that.....
does anybody else not know that glen rice sucks???? rashard is way better than that fool. get rid of rice and kenny thomas....get rashard...we have a winning squad!
What's the point of your post? Did I ever say otherwise? Did I even say that I favored signing him? No. You assume that because I mention that one should regard the situation pro-Lewis in one aspect, that I feel that way in all. Such a situation is more complicated than "I want Lewis" or "I don't want Lewis." There are many things that must be considered. As for the salary cap issues... yes, those exist. If Les were willing to pay the luxury tax, it wouldn't be a problem, since the Rockets aren't going to have cap room for the forseeable future, anyway. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that he would. Therefore, I'd be in favor of an MCE or slightly higher-paid deal (through a S&T). If nothing else, he'd be easy to trade at those rates. At the max, he'd be overpaid and impossible to unload. If les didn't care about money, that wouldn't matter... but he does. Now you have my full opinion on the topic, even though it wasn't relevant to the point I made previously . EDIT: One other thing... currently, the Rockets lack a SINGLE good shooter. Rice would be good, but cannot be relied upon. One of their most glaring problems last year was the lack of a dead-eye spot-up shooter who could murder the defense for collapsing on penetration. So, yes, not only do they need "another" shooter... they're desperate for one.
I just rather have this money, for some other true all-star player that may be worth more... next year. Next year maybe crazy, and a change next year is what is going to get us to the next level. One more big move next year is the key to success!!! Once Ming shows, he can be the real deal, many players will start really looking at Houston, and the Rockets are going to need the money to pay for this. Another advantage of Ming will come next year. Maybe a Duncan or maybe a Kidd????? I rather overpay for Kidd than Rashard..
Yes I completely agree. I do not mean to box you in on whether you wanted him or not. If he will come cheap and is willing to see that he is not worth max$$$, I would love to have him here. I just don't think he will accept less than max. I should have said that we did not need another SCORER and not shooter...my bad I just feel that Boki is a more rounded player and would be willing to do the dirty work( diving for loose balls, taking the tuff charge, letting all hang out). I am not saying Rashard does not hustle but that Boki would be willing to play wherever, whenever, & however much we pay him. He flat out loves being Houston Rocket....who wouldn't?
You act as if Boki is already a sure thing. I believe Boki will turn out to be a solid player, but that in no way is a guarantee. What if Boki turns out to be a bust? (knock on wood). How is it a foregone conclusion at this point in time already that Boki will be solid? The fact is that you don't pass up a chance to get a proven kid with a whole lot of potential, who wants to play in his hometown, provided the price tag is not too high. I wouldn't mind giving him Cato or MoT money provided one/both of the is/are traded. BTW, isn't it true that you can go over the cap to resign your own players? Then resigning Griffin and Francis won't be as difficult provided Les opens his checkbook.
I'm sick of Lewis stating that 'oh i'm going to go houston, if you don't give me what i want'.. i wonder if the seattle franchise knows that if the rocks dont do a S&T.. hes not coming anywhere near clutch city.. and if we sign Rashard to a maximum contract.. id be pretty dissapointed because the rocks dont need a player that'll put up 20/30 shots.. francis/mobes/griff will be doing plenty of that.. they need a playmaker..
I bet Lewis would take a lot less money to play for the Rockets than the Sonics. Look at the difference in the two teams. I would want the max to stay in Seattle. I think it will come down to what Seattle's final offer to him is.
Yes it is true you can go over the cap but there is a thing called the LUXURY TAX. Which means for every dollar you pay over the cap in salary you must pay a dollar worth of penalties. So.... If Rashard came here in a S&T and we gave him the max, when it was time to resign Griffin and/or Ming( even Francis since his extension will be in effect by the end of the year), we would be paying double their salaries when exceeding the cap. Les has always been willing to do what is required for this organization to be successful but paying Griffin and Ming double their max contracts would be a very bad business move since even winning a championship in a new arena would not recoup those types of losses. ( see port ) Bottom line is that it would be nice to have a superstar at every position but it is not financially feasable. Think about the championship over the last decade or so. LA - Kobe & Shaq and a bunch of roll players Chi - Jordan & Quitten and a bunch of roll player ( honorable mention Rodman) SA - Duncan & the mermaid..err I mean the Admiral and a bunch of roll players Hou - Hakeem & OT (1st time) Hakeem & Clyde ( 2nd) and a bunch of roll players.
Does this mean that Rudy T wants to go back in time and kiss his mom? Or does it mean that it takes 1.21 JiggaWatts to get Kelvin Cato's a$$ moving?
Your bottom line is confusing me. What superstars currently play for the Rockets? Francis is the only one that I know of. Ming and Griffin have the potential to become superstars but are not sure things by any means. You are assuming Griffin and Ming are going to command the max. You're also assuming that Lewis would want the max from Houston and that CD is stupid enough to give it to him. I think the whole "I deserve the max" statement from Lewis is just a ploy to get as much as he can from Seattle. He and his agent know he's not worth the max. Hasn't Lewis already said he would take less money to play in Houston? I thought I read that somewhere. Anyway I bet he would. I think he will wait until he gets Seattle's final offer and then see if Houston can get close enough to make it worthwhile for him to come home. He grew up here and his family still lives here too.
Who here is against signing Rashard to a 2 year wink-wink deal using the MCE? Griff will be up at 2 years as well for extension and Rice will be off of the cap. We will have options. If there is redundancy in our lineup at that time we will have powerful S&T assets to get what we do not have. I just think this is a no brainer. Too bad I don't think it will happen.
Some of you are really overdoing the luxury tax argument. First off, it's not a given that Griffin and Ming will command the max. Second, Les hasn't publicly said that he wouldn't pay the tax, from what I've heard. Finally, you need to deal with these things when the time comes. Despite what many say, it's not impossible to trade these players with big contracts. Remember the Knicks fan that came over here a couple of weeks ago asking what it would take to get Cato? Glen Rice will be an expiring contract next summer, which will have value. Some of you think Mo is overpaid, but he is really coming back strong, and there will undoubtedly be teams (Seattle?) that would be interested in him. Half the teams in the league are in the same boat we are-- over the cap long-term with no hope of getting under. If the luxury tax became that big of a problem for us. We could just trade Mo to a team that is over the cap anyway for an expiring contract. Some people really underestimate CD's intelligence as a GM. He's not going to let a stud player like Griffin or Ming walk because of Kelvin Cato's contract. There's 28 other teams in the league, and we are not close to the only one having overpaid players. I'm not the biggest fan of Rashard Lewis. He's a great shooter, and an above average rebounder with good athleticism. He's not a star, and never will be. But, if he wants to sign for the 4.5M exception (the only way we can get him), we'd be foolish not to be interested. I'm as high on Nachbar as anyone, but he probably won't be at Lewis' level for a couple of seasons. Is Lewis the future three or four years from now? Maybe not. But, we've spent the last three offseasons worried about the future. We have great pieces in place. Finally, it is time to start worrying about the present. It's impossible for anyone to say that Rashard wouldn't greatly help our team right now. If it causes a problem with the luxury tax or minutes down the road, we can worry about that when the time comes. Rashard would have a lot of value, especially for the exception. The absolute worst case scenario for Lewis would be that Nachbar is ready and Les won't pay the luxury tax. Then, we could probably get an expiring contract and a pick for him. All in all, in that scenario, Lewis would give us a great boost for a couple of seasons, and we could still end up with another pick in addition to that. That being said, Lewis isn't an absolute necessity. Rice will be better than most think, and Nachbar should be able to give us at least 20 minutes a game. But to pass on him at a discounted price due to the possibility of the luxury tax and minutes problems (years away) would be foolish. We can deal with that when the time comes. I am pretty confident that this will eventually lead to a huge contract with the Sonics, though. I live in Rashard's original home town (Beaumont), and have talked in the last few months to a couple of friends of his, while a friend of mine knows his uncle. The few posters who think this is completely a negotiating ploy are off. He sincerely does want to come back here, even at a discounted price. However, from the people I've talked to, that discounted price would be something in the 6.5-7.5 million per year range, which would require a trade. Everyone seems to think that as much as he would love to be back home, the 4.5 would be much too low. I think this will go on for a few weeks, because Lewis really does want to play here... but Seattle has the leverage. Seattle, IMO, will wait him out as long as it takes, and force him to take their deal or the 4.5M from Houston. When it comes down to the last hour, he does have good teammates in Seattle and a community that likes him, and that combined with the significant increase in money, I just don't think he's that desperate to play here. We're not the Lakers... yet.
i think the rockets should take care of francis first before worrying about another player. after that if he is still around i would do everything i could do to bring him home. there is no doubt in my mind that he could make a great impact. you would be able to do so many different things with him in the line up. does anyone know if c.d. or rudy t knows about his interrest in coming home?? if we get lewis i promise i'll run outside of my house and scream with so much happiness!!!
