1st time poster. Long time lurker. I'm a huge Rocket fan from Chicago - admittedly because of Yao. Here's my ideal off-season and a very realistic one, I think. Trade Stro to the Nets for Scott Padgett (JVG wants him back) and one of the Nets 1st round picks. Use the pick to draft Paul Millsap or Rajon Rondo. Nets with Stro complete their transformation to Phoenix East. Ignore naysayers and draft Redick with the 8th pick. Rox need shooting desperately and he would absolutely kill double teams. A steal if he's like Hornacek who feasted off playing with Stockton and Malone. Draft Dee Brown in the 2nd round if they get Millsap. Draft Steve Novak if they get Rondo. Sign Sam Cassell for 3 years at full MLE. He may play just 2, so the 3rd year is just pudding for him. This is the most important move for them. They need another legit PG. Speedy Claxton would be the fall-back plan. Re-sign Keith Bogans and Chuck Hayes. Both solid and durable players. Durability is a premium given last years results. So the line-up would look as follows: TMac/Bogans/Bowen Howard/Hays/Padgett/Millsap (or Novak) Yao/Deke Cassell/Rafer/Dee Brown (or Rondo) Redick/Head/Sura We get younger (3 rookies) and smarter (Cassell) and we get a huge upgrade in shooting (Redick, Cassell, and possibly Novak). If TMac stays healthy, we contend for the title. If not, we still make the playoffs. JK
All you guys need to take a close look at Scott Padgett!! He isn't the answer to any of the Rocket's problems. If JVG is foolish to add him to our team he is building another team of scrubs. Padgett is about a 37% 3 point shooter and going down hill fast.
i think those all sound like great ideas. getting younger with better shooters. but with about as smart a PG as you can get. to help put it alll together.
hi. dont know if it is realistic but here's a scenari i like if we dont win the lottery, and if Roy is not available when we pick, trade our pick to NO for their 12th and 15th (is it possible to add $$$ if they are reluctant to do this ?) trade Swift to NJ for their 22nd pick + Nachbar (sorry, i'm still in love with this guy lol) with those 3 first round picks, get Carney, Millsap and Rondo (they all would be available with those picks according to draftexpress) draft Novak with our second round pick resign Hayes and Bogans bring JL3 back sign Mohamed with our MLE cut Bowen and (sadly) Sura (dont think he will ever be back in good shape) the team would be Rondo / Alston / Lucas Carney / Head / Bogans McGrady / Novak / Nachbar Millsap / Howard / Hayes Yao / Mohamed / Mutombo
fancy this combination with one of our picks (Sun Yue)? <img src="http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/k/p/2005-08-31/U687P6T12D1746355F44DT20050831133137.jpg">
ummm 14 mil a year to a injured kmart...no thanks, and tmac for ai??? naww i mean it wudnt be THAT bad, but tmac has the ability to be much better than ai wen he tries hard and plays aggresive like in the playoffs
ONLY BECAUSE I AM SCARED TO DEATH OF HIS HEALTH HISTORY AND MY PESSIMISTIC VIEW OF HIS FUTURE (HEALTHWISE) WOULD I COSIDER THIS... 1. If Atlanta was willing to trade JJ and Zaza plus the #4 for TMac and our #8 I would do it. 2. Then I would pray that Morrison fell to the 4th spot. Take Pittsnogle in the 2nd rd and hope that G. Mcnamara falls out of the draft then we pick him up. Yes that would be three rookies on the squad, but they have all played big in big games. Maturity. 3. Sign Spanoulis and R Butler as FA. Yao, Zaza, Deke Howard, Swift (unless we can trade him), Pittsnogle (fits what we need) Morrison, Butler Johnson, Head, Bogans Alston, Spanoulis, Mcnamara Thats mine.
Hell no. I would rather take the risk on T-mac than get a severely overpaid JJ and the next great white disappointment.
If we get anything like a First Round Pick for Swift It would be dumb not to take it. I would then trade our 8th and high Second round pick to trade up and go for Bragnani ( since aldridge and Thomas will NOT be there), That leaves us with one more First round pick- sure that would be a guranteed contract but a lot less money- so if get even that 7 foot centre from Congo as Yao's back up that would be OK! shucks we need a shooter though- so Mike Gansey or Reddick or Novak I think we should look at position and not the people- the Power Forward spot has to be fixed and we cannot do that via trading etc. It is a lot easier to get the SG slot via free agency- if only we can afford Bonzi! Atlanta is not going to be contending next season- so I dont think they can say an outright "NO"!
I think when it's all said and done. JJ will be worth the money. But i still wouldn't trade T-Mac for him either.
Think about winning the whole lottery and pushing Portland to #4. Then trade the #1 pick and Howard, Bowen, Lampe to Portland for their #4 and Darius and Jarrett Jack. Then we take whoever is left at 4, either Bargnani or Gay or make another trade down to 5-7 if the right trade is there. Let's pull for winning the lottery or at least getting top 3. It gives us a whole lot of options and gives the opportunity to get very deep in one offseason.
Howard for a bag of chips- no strike that, a ton of chips the salsa is free! You are more of an optimist than me - but heck why not? If we can add two studs and still have our MLE open- who will complain? ( and Lose Jho and Bowen- that will be too much of joy to fathom!)
Instead of starting a new thread, i thought i'd just ask this in a loosely related thread. In a season filled with high expecatations, teams like Dallas, SA, Detroit, Miami, Phoenix and Houston would have commissioned Camera crews to film our guys preparing, training, playing etc in order to make the season ending dvd's that accompany a potential championship (eg. Clutch City). I think it would still be interesting to get the season wrapped up in a dvd, and give us a glimpse of what went down in the locker-rooms and to see the state of mind of our players in such a disastrous season. They would have kept filming through the tough times too, incase the Rockets pulled off a '95 dream run. Anyway's what do you suppose happens to the footage?
Although extremely unlikely in the first place, it would give us a TON of leverage and opportunities to explore different roads. The hardest part though would be actually passing on Aldridge if you had the opportunity to take him. If he's there you almost have to take him.
