With the way things are going, Rafer missing another 3 attempt would be the problem, not minutes. At least with Watson the Rockets have another option at the point when Rafer's shot is off.
That's true. He would give us a lot better defense than Rafer and probably better shooting as well. But would the extra defense he brings offset the extra shooting that Luther gives us at the 1? Luther is the better shooter by far than Earl and his defense is adequate although not great at this point. To me, it's a wash. And Earl gets $5 mill per.
First, tell me again why we're looking for a 3rd scoring option? Oh, right we traded away Rudy Gay for intangibles and then wouldn't give Mike James a potential $950k trade kicker 3 seasons from now. Neither of those options cost any where near $7m/year. (And that "3rd Option" becomes the 2nd Option whenever McGrady is not on the court). Secondly, Maggette has only topped 73 games twice in a 7 year career with his rookie year being 1 of those. Last year was his low at 32. He has 3 years @ 23.2M remaining. Too, too risky. (Apart for TMac's back, I worry how worn down Yao will become when China focuses on the 2008 Olympics...he basically took this summer off...but that's not happening over the next two summers). The Rockets should focus on as much durability as possible. Bottomline, if the Rockets focus on a player under the radar with lots of upside and one that can get their own shot they'd be further ahead. I'm sure you'll laugh but $ for $ Delonte West would be a better option than platooning CM with TM, and SB.
Obviously those guys are throw ins we want to rid ourselves of........ Are you really that easily mesmerized by the mad genius on display here? Two questions....What is Maggette really worth right now?probably not as many would think. and would you pony up Luther? While I drool at the chance of picking up Maggette,I'm inclined to NOT give up Luther.
I'm a Delonte fan, big time. D-West has struggled so far this season - back issues. Hmmm. But I'd take him in a NYMinute, or a CelticSecond...
No I wouldn't, but I think we could get the deal done with Bonzi and Rafer or Bonzi and another player. Luther is too valuable right now.
Honestly, I would not consider Luther untouchable right now. For one, his value is at an all-time high thanks to his shooting (buy low, sell high). Also - does anyone truely think Luther's indispensible? His ceiling can't possibly be any higher than Bobby Jackson. If he can be flipped for a borderline All-Star, I say do it (not neccessarily talking about Maggette but in general regarding Head). I hate to say it, but the only guy completely untouchable for us is Yao. Evan
I'm telling you. Bonzi, Sura, Novak, draft pick. The attractability of Bonzi is a big question, but I definitely think Dunleavy would be a better coach for him then JVG. Bonzi and Sura both have the benefit of possibly coming off the books this season. Novak gives them a younger, better shooting version of Tim Thomas...not as good defensively or rebounding yet, but the Clippers concentrate more on scoring then the Rockets. Draft pick sweetens the deal.
I dont think Clippers would trade Maggette to a westen conference playoff competitor like us. Plus we really dont have interesting pieces at this point to accomdate such a trade. Move on
I don't have a problem with Delonte. I've always liked him even when he was playing alongside Jameer in college. But what's the trade that will get Boston to move him? He's on a rookie deal and has high value. Can't see them taking an expiring and our first rounder for him. You're still stuck on MJ and the Rudy Gay deal man. While I agree with you, we bungled the MJ deal, there is no way that Rudy Gay would be playing major minutes for us like Shane is because even though he is athletic and can get his own shot, his defense is subpar and he is not efficient enough to plug in alongside Yao and McGrady and he is not efficient enough to run out there as the 3rd option. He is shooting 38% from the field, 30% from 3, and 60% from the FT line to go with bad defense. Maggette is giving you 5 more points on better shooting (even though his shooting has not been great this year) in the same minutes while having to share the scoring with Elton, Cassell, Cat, Thomas, and Livingston, essentially being a 3rd option at best most of the time he is on the court. Rudy is getting primary looks alongside Eddie Jones and a bunch of bench/role players. And anyways, it's hindsight. We can't go back and undo any of that stuff. Gotta look forward. What should we do from here and why?
Maggette is horrible. Did noone here watch the playoffs last year? He might have single handedly lost that Suns series for them with his god awful perimeter shooting, matador defense, and terrible shot selection. He might also be one of the most turnover prone players I've ever seen. The guy also makes $7million and might be even more injury prone than McGrady. But of course, he's one of those guys along with Jiri Welsch and Marko Jaric that this board for some strange reason likes to slobber all over.
They already have too many guys that can play Mag's position, they're probably looking to unload him and save some money. I think a package of expiring contracts like Sura, Bonzi, and may be something else would be enough to get it done. I just don't think Sterling is looking to get salaries in return.
