If we throw in a future pick (or two), that scenario may be possible. Picking up James, unloading Howard, and keeping the MLE intact would be incredible. It would definitely take away some of the sting regarding The Trade That Shall Not Be Named, at least in my eyes.
The whole issue with Mike James right now is role not money I believe. I would bet that him and JVG had a lengthy discussion about what his role would be. He already knows what the money is. I would love to know how that played out. And I'd like to know what Van Gundy is thinking about how to make the matchups work. Is he going to play SG next to Rafer? If so, then what do we do when we are going up against Kobe, Ray, Artest, Manu, and all the other big SGs? You switch off Battier or McGrady on those guys and now you've got James stuck with an even bigger size mismatch most of the time. The most logical spot to play him is at the 1. But if you do that, you've got chemistry issues, both with Rafer and potentially with McGrady and the rest because MJM does have a tendacy to go 1 on 1 a little bit too much. Do they sign him and make Rafer the backup? Or do they sign him and he willingly accepts the 6th man role off the bench? I know at times that a Rafer James or Head James backcourt is going to make sense when teams are playing small ball on us. And obviously we are trying to rectify that with the trade for Battier and now the pickup of James. So, I think it makes sense. But, if teams do go big on us at the SG spot, then we need something else at one of the forward spots, because we are going to have to play TMac or Battier in the backcourt. For instance, Dallas goes to Terry, Stack, Howard, Dirk, and Damp. Defensively, we have to counter with James, McGrady, Battier, ???, and Yao. Ok, so you want Battier to matchup with Dirk. You still need another long swing player to play on one of Stack or Howard. I just don't see any way that James/Head/Luther in any way can defend effectively against Josh Howard or Jerry Stackhouse. And don't even bring up Juwan. He can't defend any of them. However, I can see it now. 20 seconds left in the game, all tied up. McGrady brings the ball up. Battier in one corner. James in the other corner. And Head spotted up at the arc on the right side. Yao is on the low block. As the clock winds down, Yao moves up to the circle to set the screen................... Pretty sweet.
The Return of Mike James should be the number one priority of the Rockets Management. If they can't get it done with MLE and can't pull of a deal with Howard then we should offer more money without going overboard. James is the X factor, especially if T Macs back causes problems we need a strong third personality to keep our team winning and winning is what James is all about. I also like a deal using Howardand a draft pick to get Jackson from Indiana, but only second after we get James.
I was upset last year when we got rid of him. I welcome him back with open arms. He's the PERFECT fit for us. And I didn't see where he had an ego. The guy played HARD every game. Granted he may have shot a little too much on occasion, but lets be honest, sometimes WE NEEDED HIM TO. How many times did he come in late in a game and take over when we desparately needed scoring? We need a backup PG AND a staring 2 guard. He fits BOTH needs. And considering he wants to be here, it's a perfect fit. Alston/James James/Head TMac/Bogans/Bowen Battier/Howard/Hayes/Novak Yao/Mutombo Sure James and Head are a little undersized, but if need be you slide TMac to the 2 guard and Battier plays the 3 for matchups.
Mike James insisted that he wants to be back in Houston playing for the Rockets. Also JVG was talking to mike james last night, which means that jvg wants james back as well. It would make our shooting a lot better with the addition of mike james and battier. Hopefully we can address our PF problem before the season begins.
