Mike James wants to get traded

In other words, you want another all-star for the PG position? Come back to reality please - we have 2 superstars with max contracts on this team. We can't afford freaking TJ Ford, Deron Williams, or Jason Kidd.

 

All just an opinion, nothing more.

....and not that I wish to contribute anything to the tedious "Rafer vs. Mike James" debate that's seemingly NEVER going to end, but I prefer to be fair and MJ happens to be one of my favorite players. Sometimes pointing out poor analysis is necessary.

 

Mike James would not shoot as much as Alston here because he is a better shooter.

Alston shooting so much is largely due to the fact that he is the worst non-superstar shooter among our other shooters on the floor (Battier, Head, Howard). Teams are doubling off of him because he is most unreliable. (Hayes is worse but he knows when to dive to the basket to catch T-Mac's passes.)

There is a reason why JVG believes we can win with Alston. He is a decent wide-open 3pt shooter. As inconsistent as his shooting is, he does punish the opponents for leaving him open. And together with his handle, decent passing, and the ability to set up the offense quickly, it is not surprising that he plays so much.

MJ wouldn't get so many shots because teams wouldn't leave him as open. That means other players are going to get more, which is good for the team. I think MJ's could help the Rockets more than Alston can. We've seen him play here. I think his selfishness is in his personality. He doesn't seem to be well-liked by teammates anywhere he goes.

My point is, pointing out numbers of shots isn't a fair assessment about "selfishness." Selfishness is not about how many shots you take but about how you conduct yourself on and off the floor.

 

I said running an offense. No, I don't think Rafer is good at breaking down defenses with penetration-and-kick plays. But I think our offense can function without him having to do that. Sure, if he COULD do it, it'd certianly help when plays break down...but it's not part of our fundamental offense. (Maybe it's not part of it b/c he doesn't have the skillset...but TMac does, and when they want to go to that offensive set, TMac handles it)

You're vastly underrating Rafer's ability to, again, make the right passes, hit guys in the chest/hands every time, get the team into the proper sets right away, tell guys where to be quickly, and always hit guys off screens perfectly. If you're trying to tell me Mike James did that stuff in 04-05, then I'm just gonna say you didn't watch much..

 

You've gotta take stats with a grain of salt, too. It seems like TMac attacked more a couple of years ago even and settles for jumpers more now unless he needs to attack. That could certainly be because of his back.. it could also be because he's getting better jumpshots because of better passing coming off down-screens. (Then again, they didn't run TMac off double screens nearly as much 2 years ago...if ever? Because they didn't think he could hit it? Or because it wasn't as effective if the pass wasn't delivered on the money at the right time?)

I think the offense has been tailored to Rafer's strengths in that sense. But I think TMac's outside shots are more in rhythm this year, and I'm guessing he's made a higher percentage of those. Are there stats anywhere for TMac's shooting %age 2 years ago vs. this year at 18ft and higher or something?

 

Thank god we didn't pay him MLE.

 

Please forget Mike James. He's getting old - 33 next seasons. He's getting slow. He also gets 3 more years on his contract. Say No to Mike James.

 

Expect this Mike James talk to continue throughout the summer.

The bottom line is the Rockets need to upgrade their PG position. It doesn't necessarily mean to replace Rafer Alston, but at the minimum, help him out.
It doesn't mean Rafer OR James. It could mean Rafer AND James.

It could be Atkins, James, Mo Williams, Francis or whoever, but the Rockets are going to add another VETERAN PG to this team. They are not going to go into next season with Luther as the backup PG or counting on Vspan/Lucas.

James makes sense because he is proven here and the Wolves will look to dump him on the cheap.

The Rockets like Mike James. They tried over the summer to get him and then again at the trading deadline. And you can bet they will try again this summer.

If you don't like James, his ego or whatever, fine. But it is obvious the Rockets like what he brings to the team, fire, energy and player that can create his own shot and finish on drives.

 

I could see the Rockets acquiring James just so they could up his trade value and then move him to another team, but I highly doubt they think he’ll be a long term solution at the point. The fact that they didn’t want to give him that trade kicker is a clear indicator of that. Let’s face it. He’s never going to be a long term fixture on any team. 7 teams in 6 seasons. Likely to join his 8th next season. It’s just ridiculous how quickly this guy wears out his welcome everywhere he goes.

 

Again, we all know Mike James is an average player at best, with some strengths and weaknesses just like any other player in the league. But no one has answered my question as of yet: whom would you rather have that will be available via trade/signing in the off season?

I can understand not being in favor of acquiring James, but what's the alternative? Do you guys just like to protest something without considering your other options?

Let me start: if Steve Francis is released and he's willing to play either off the bench or as the starting PG -- and the third offensive option -- and completely accepts that he must defer to Yao and T-Mac, we should sign him. No question. Likelihood of that happening? Not very likely, slim at best.

Now, your list? Come on guys, give me something to work with here. Enlighten me...

 

Target #1 should be Mo Williams, who is an URFA. Offer the full MLE day 1 of FA, 5 year 31 mil, with a player option. Approach him as we did Swift and James [went 1 for 2, not bad ]. May not be enough to get him but probably in the ball park. He has Mississippi/Alabama roots, the Rockets would be the one NBA contender with wide open PG minutes and a probable starting position, Houston may be very appealling for a guy stuck in the cold and stuck with losing.

Target #2 in the FA market is not clear at all. Charlie Bell and Travis Diener are restricted but we could try to pry them. Blake, Hart or Parker on the cheap (LLE money or less) to back up Rafer could be an option. I guess trading for Mike James is as good as any of these options. But again, i think Mo W should be THE target by a long way, as far as free agents.

 

Not ready to do this yet because I'm locked into playoff mode for now. Let's talk in June after the Finals are done. I will say right now that neither Mike James nor Steve Francis would be on my list. If I had to choose between the two, I'd probably take MJ because SF still makes incredibly dumb plays at the wrong times, even when his shot is on. He still hasn't caught on to the concept of team basketball, and what it means to sacrifice his game for the sake of the team. He still turns the ball over at inopportune times. SF just isn't the kind of player who can help a very good team IMO. If somehow/someway he would eat humble pie and accept a 6-7th man role and play ~20 mins/game, I would take him in a heartbeat. But he's not programmed that way. He's also still a poor passer and hasn't seen fit to improve his outside shot after all these years.

We need better efficiency on a consistent basis at the PG position and Mr. Flako (MJ) could possibly give us that, but not Stevie Franchise.

 

Agree with all of that. And I'd love James back as Skip's backup...essentially splitting time. But I feel like that'd nearly negate Luther's role with the team because of his size and because James would take over that scorer-off-the-bench role. It'd cut the minutes of our best 3 pt threat..

so to me, signing James should also require the trading of Luther (even though I don't want him gone...it would seem like we'd waste value otherwise)

 

I actually agree with your analysis except for the part about Francis having not "caught on to the concept of team basketball. I don't think that it's because he doesn't accept it because I honestly believe that he has, I think the problem is that he can't play that way, that it doesn't appeal to his strengths and it amplifies his weaknesses/shortcomings as a player.

But just to clarify, you do agree with me that Mike James might just be the best option on the market? You could say that it's by default since there isn't really much else out there that can help more than James can, but it would still be true.

That's essentially my point...

 

Tigermission, I gave you suggestions you asked for, what do you think?

I don' think so. James is a PG, Head is an SG. There is PT for two PGs and Head can split time with Tmac at SG (Tmac also gets SF minutes).

So whether it is James or another PG to share duties with Alston, I don't see that it means Head is squeezed out.

 

Stevie actually shot well from three during his last two seasons as a Knick (small sample size, though).

Clutch - you have always said James is a "buy low" guy but who do we have to trade for him to reach that full MLE level (that would not be a loss) plus trade kicker percentage? Sura + ?.

 

I'm shocked that KG would call Mike James from china in the summer, but yet didn't hug james enough during the season.

 

Bill- err - Dennis. You're saying this in defense of a guy who just set an all time franchise record for number of three point shots taken (24th most in NBA history, playing on a much slower paced team than most of the other recordholders) and was second in the entire NBA in this category. You are so out of touch with reality it is not even worht going into.

 

You are off base here. Alston has to take those open 3s. That is the only shot he is reasonable efficient at. That is about the only shot Alston should take with any frequency.

Also, Mike James did not have a good defensive year. He was giving up a lot more points to opponents PGs than Alston did. James only real edge on Alston this year was shooting efficiency inside the arc and FT.

Now I'd say Mike James should still be an option to the Rockets this offseason to share duties with Alston, but he would not "replace" him and he isn't my first choice (Mo Williams should be far and away our #1 FA target).