I though he got 3 years at the MLE, or am I wrong? If so, then he only has two more to go at MLE, which is not a big deal at all compared to Rafer's.
Fudging the numbers a bit there DD. James turns 32 this summer. And he's got 2 years and an option year for year 3. So that means that even if he takes his option year, he'll be 34 in his final season.
What makes you guys so sure James won't find a way to be 'unhappy' here? You guys are making this too narrow a question. A) Mike James B) Rafer Alston If it comes to that, can I go with c) Someone else
Sure, you can, but you would have to put up a different option besides Mike James. So what do you suggest?
Nice effeort trying to spin things. True, Alston played most minuts. But that means not only he played with starters to get his +, he also had to play extensive minutes with reserves to get his -. Yet his +/- is still the best. On the other hand, Battier played similar minuts but his +/- wasn't as high as Alston's. You pointed out Head is a great shooter but he can't run the point at all, that also explained why running the team is much more important than FG percentage for a PG. We all have seen James and Alston's play, I know James is a better shooter, but I also know Alston runs the team better.
I agree. Alston + James = 10 million contract. For that amount of money, Rockets hould be able to get a top notch PG.
It's not always about money. It's about who you can get. If we could give up Alston for a Billups that'd be a slam dunk. But it isn't going to happen. James is one of the guys that could be in our price range that would improve our team. that list should include guys like: Francis (if he gets bought out) Mo Williams James maybe Atkins maybe Earl Watson maybe Antonio Daniels These are the kinds of guys we could possibly get, not top notch PG's.
I'd like Francis, then Mo Williams from that list. I think Mike James is too strange and seems to have too much of an ego.
We all have egos, I am not sure that's a negative in and of itself; it depends on how you utilize it. That being said, I am not sure about Mo Williams, but if Francis is available for cheap I would jump all over it, no doubt. Short of that, MJ is still my top choice. I don't know about the rest of the guys simply because I am not too familiar with how they would fit with our current squad. MJ is probably the safest choice out there.
Define "top notch". Nash, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Parker, Arenas all are unavailable..... Kidd, Bibby, Davis, Marbury all make way too much money and are unreliable, bad fits or both...... Billups and Mo Williams will be out of our price range with Williams being a very bad fit anyways..... Jamaal Tinsley would be a bad fit..... What other "top notch" PG's out there am I missing? Andre Miller? I guess he's the only one and his lack of three point shooting ability already hurts us big time. The idea of having two solid but not superstar level PG's makes much more sense than sinking all your money into one player.
I can't wait till we get a new PG in the offseason so all you Rafer lovers can understand what we've been missing this WHOLE year.
if we should get James this offseason...would that be perceived as a slight against CD? I guess CD did make a push to try for him this offseason.. but still, I could see that consideration coming into play (CD traded away James for Alston, Morey got James back)
I really want to see it. I really want to see someone who can run the offense in the manner he does and hit TMac (mostly) and others coming off screens 99% of the time right in the hands and at chest-level. If you find this guy who has Rafer's strengths but diminishes his weaknesses, I'll be very happy. I just don't think that guys is out there right now...I don't think the offense would run as smoothly with MJ (i think it'd require even more of TMac with his hands on the ball before the offense is running)
Morey didn't seem that high on James. After they decided not to make a trade Morey mentioned either on 610 or the chron that James's age, contract length, and performance were considerations as to why they made opted not to make changes.
I totally disagree. I really don't see what you guys see in Rafer. I watch other PG's like TJ Ford, Deron William, Jason Kidd and see how effective a PG can be without scoring by breaking down defenses and setting up teammates. I don't see anything remotely close in Rafer who almost NEVER breaks down the defense and stays exclusively on the perimeter hoisting up 3s. Mike James, at least in 04-05, was a guy with Rafer's skillset plus the ability to hit the open shot which is desperately needed in our offensive schemes.
No he's saying you also need young talent. V-Span is a talented but raw player. With some seasoning he could be a very good player. We need young talent around Yao and T-Mac.
Actually I HAVE seen this more than once. BTW Rafer is our best PG by far, even though he isn't very good.
LOL. Or Yao... Or any other wide-open shooters... Let's see whose better in the key areas: Shooting/scoring: James Passing: Alston Defense: Alston Running a team: Alston If I was looking for a scorer off the bench, James works. But as a PG? Someone to trust to run my team and get the ball first and foremost to Yao and TMac? Rafer wins by a longshot. At this point, for this team, with this coach and roster, Alston is the much more logical sense as PG than James. I would not trade anything for James. Steve Blake is a free agent. He's a better shooter/passer/defender than James. I'd much rather us throw money at him than some scrub. If by some act of Satan, James comes here, I'd put money that he'd be a 16 mpg, combo guard and he'd take more of Head's minutes than Alston's. But I'd also be willing to be he'd be on the Rockets trading block within the next year. It's an endless cycle for the poor kiddo. Hey, at least he got a ring sniffing Billups' jock for a season though. Life ain't too bad.
