My Quick Reference on FA's

Hakeem: Wants $10M, but will be offered ~$6M. He has made it perfectly clear that he has demands and he wants to be heard. He states he can contribute, he wants input into team play and will earn his pay on the court. And, he can do that here, or elsewhere. RT and company want him of course and in fact they may even need him more than they did last year. But Hakeem has the cards. He not only holds his own future in his hands but he knows the timing of most of other necessary Rockets moves, begin with resolving his contract. Some say that at some point RT and CD will lose patience and let him go. But RT has lots of patience. Especially when it comes to Hakeem. Don’t hold your breath. I think the Rockets will be the first to blink on this one. Hakeem will accept a contract around $6-$7.5M. I just hope his delaying actions don’t impair some other important moves.

Carlos: I can see the reasoning in renouncing him,of course. That doesn’t mean I am not sad to see him leave the city. Depending on what happens with AD in Toronto, Carlos may have an opportunity to hook up there. Apparently a couple of other Eastern teams are looking for some forward fillers at cheap prices. Good Luck to ‘Los.

Moochie: he will be signed. He is being heavily pursued, but he will take the $3.0M to $3.5M contract the Rockets have offered despite offers of $4.5M or better being thrown his way. He likes it here and his role is clearly defined. He has had a run in the NBA before, and it hurt him. Cost him his confidence. He’s comfortable in Houston. Confident. That’s where he will be come next season. Houston.

Shandon: Personally I like the guy. I do not think there is any comparable defensive 2-3 spot available on the market. I think he would make our team a better team, but that being said, he is by no means an absolute necessity. I may change my mind on that before Christmas depending on what Mobley and T Morris do to fill the defensive gap. On a far different tack …. He is probably a better trade bait item than a roster spot filler for the Rockets right now. Shandon on a sign and trade coupled with someone else (Cato or Walt) doubles the attractiveness of that package. Atlanta wanted him and were offering DeMarr J and others. A double sign and trade involving Nazr/DerMarr and Cato/Shandon/plus was proposed at one time early, but I have no idea where we are with that now. He was noticed in San Antonio and Sacramento. He has tons of upside and I hope a sign and trade is workable.

MoTaylor: He will ask for $6.5M - $7.5M a year over an extended contract (5+ years). Rockets will counter-offer somewhere in the neighborhood of an escalated $5M/yr over 4 years ($24-26M total). IMHO I think he can be lowballed. He wants to stay here. RT has the vision of him playing here. But, I expect them to come to some agreement soon @ $5.5M/year X 4 Years, but hold off the announcement for the Hakeem decision.

Antonio Davis: He sure is smallish for the West. But he is active and plays bigger than his height. Despite all this sign and trade business, Toronto is emphatic they will only do a Sign and Trade if it is extremely advantageous to them. We have that advantage. We have some players they need and some room to move. They will not get a FA center to play in Toronto. We have one on contract. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Also, we are one of the few teams that can purchase AD’s services outright, although I believe our interest in him has cooled lately.

David Robinson: I still think he is playing around with these “talks” and “visits”. But I have heard that the Houston Rockets had a couple of serious meetings with him already and the key was the word “serious”. He is slated to get a well reduced salary from The Spurs in the vicinity of $5-6.5M due mainly to needing to sign Anderson and fills some shoes at Point Guard, and center. They definitely have some areas that will require some dollars. They may even pursue the likes of Webber. Robinson in a Rockets uni? I think it is along shot …. I mean a LONG shot …. But it appears the Admiral has Houston as his second choice. The Spurs will never let him go.

Marc Jackson: Last I heard he is one of the premiere FA being sought, but someone must have forgot to tell him. Jackson says he is strongly considering Golden State along with other teams. He may be harder to pull from Golden State than originally thought. We should have some money for him, but I have changed my opinion of him lately. I think with a forward roster that includes MoTay,Griff,Collier,KT,Cato we would be more happy with Nazr I think. Jackson is still ij front of nazr on the rockets short list, but it is getting closer.

Nazr Mo: Under used last year for the most part, but when he got some minutes in he still had some respectable numbers. The biggest contrast with Cato, IMHO, is not his defensive set but his eagerness. He has some learning to do but he knows his role. Stop anyone from dominating inside. Shoot them if you have to. Nazr smiles and says he likes that role. I wish he were taller. I like better than 6’10” for a pivot man but I have grown to like him more and more since last February. I truly think he is underrated and can be purchased cheap ……. the two sweetest words any GM likes to hear at any FA signing time.

Sabonis: Don’t laugh. He could be picked up fairly cheaply and spot played for effectiveness. Talk about a keen and accurate passer, none is better in the tall grass. He is an imposing defender, a top shelf 18-foot shooter, an excellent Free Thrower and more than enough help for the 12 – 15 minutes a game we will require of him. If we got rid of Carlos because he was a redundancy, we would have to take Arvy because he presents such a unique matchup problem. He is also the only guy who comes close to Shaq weight-wise. Hakeem and Sabonis does NOT have to be a pipedream. It is doable.

Todd McCulloch: I liked his game since he started practicing with and eventually playing on the Canadian National Team. I know, I know he looks like he should be Jethro Bodine’s best friend but he has hustle, tries with success to run the floor with the squirts, and he has such a nice touch around the basket. At $3.5M - $4M he would be a welcomed addition. (PS: RT/CD liked him and came a whisker from picking him at the 1999 50th pick instead of Venson Hamilton. Sixer’s coach :Larry Brown was RT’s de facto coach at the games saw the opportunity and jumped him ahead of RT/CD could pull the trigger.)

Eddie Robinson: Mmmmmmmmmmm. Can we afford that luxury? It would be nice having another gazelle in the jungle. Eddie Robinson and our backcourt with Griff playing an uptempo PF. Gives me shivers. Great compromise for Shandon in the offense. A bit of a drop in the defense, but otherwise all upside in the new zone rules.

Allan Houston: Don’t need him as bad as he needs us. He’s too expensive. I am sorry but talking about seeking a "career ending contract" with Houston does not appeal to me. He’s redundant here. He can't run the game we play, not even close to our backcourt speed and that includes Moochie's legs (and maybe Bull's too). Sorry. Bye bye. I'd take an aging Detlief Shrempf first.

------------------


[This message has been edited by oeilpere (edited July 06, 2001).]

 

* Raef is NOT helping anyone. Hebasically has refused to discuss any possible change of venue. That doesn't mean he doesn't want to leave, or that he is dissatisfied either. Dan E. is noncommital. RT and CD's take, and this was last week sometime, is that they have their sights on Dream,MoTay,Mooch and maybe just a little less so on Shandon. In real day to day terms, that means they will not seek replacements for the 4-5, although LaFrentz will essentailly be the 5 if he came here. Discussing about bringing in another five when you are courting Hakeem, seems like a bad move to me. Kinda like telling you lady she was your second choice as a mate just before bedtime. IMHO,the door is not closed, they are trying to nail down Dream to a $6M contract agreement. You will be able to tell if they have done that by who they announce as resigned first. It will Mooch or MoTay and not Hakeem.

* Horry is out of the picture.

* That look on Sabonis's face was a total lack of respect from the ref's,I think. Hewas mauled. Shaq smiling. It wasn't pretty. We however could use hin a little differently. His role would not be to bang away at Shaq all night. Shaq would have to contend with Sabonis and Hakeem over a forty min span. Then some young guys driving in his face. I think the problem with Arvy last playoffs was he was the only one that took it to SahqDaddy.

* The Atlanta option is not dead. Just quieter.

* Cato and Shandon to Chicago is a win-win situation for both teams. Floyd tells others Cato has an upside that was not used in Houston. He also thinks, I am told, that $6M is NOT a lot for a center. Probably comes from not spending enough time with Krause. Shandon would be a godsend to the Bulls. And, he would feel more in control in his role too. Well,maybe. He truly wants to stay here, and for any Sign and Trade we have to have the players consent. Could be rough.

* The long shot at Robinson is just that. But he definitely would want a major deal (~$8M or better) to do so. Again a sign and trade is really the only way all this could get done, if and that's a big IF, all players agreed. Shandon in place of Anderson, Cato as relief center would have to be involved and some major hoops jumped through. I can't see it happening in all reality. But Robinson has Houston as his choice behind San Antonio. Just that the distance between the first choice(SA) and second(Rockets) is very,very wide.

------------------

 

Interestingly Shandon's agent has NOT mentioned Atlanta, except merely in passing. As an add-on at the end of sentences. But I have heard for some time that Shandon was not only on their list to go after, but that Shandon wanted to go there because this next contract could be a career ending length.

I think that a sign and trade for Shandon Anderson is more likely than him being on the Rockets roster next season. I also think he is more likely to go to Atlanta than anywhere else. If he was to go there, you can bet that he will want some assurances that Demar J is sent somewhere.

On top of that,Atlanta wants Nazr to stay a Hawk. They want to resign him.

Every trade has a get and a give. Losing Nazr would be equal to the give on their part. They wouldpart with DeMarr quick enough, but the give would be losing Nazr and being convinced that Cato could do the job they require.



------------------

 

It's not hard for me to see the following:

5. Hakeem, Collier, Nazr - I tend to agree with Tacoma that having Jackson here would be a redundant(dang I used that a lot today) luxury pivot man in our game plan. But his defense ( and Raef's too ) platooning with Hakeem would be a staggering one-two punch to throw at an opponent. Collier's outside shot and his above NBA average lateral movement(for big men,anyway) could do some stanky damage. Nice three way combo.

4. MoTay, Griff, KT, (Bull)- Make no mistake,if MoTay is signed he will be the starter and Griff will get some minutes at the four, but EG will not be revolutionizing our game this coming season. He needs time. Some posters are making him sound like he is miles ahead of his game. He's not. He could and MUST learn a lot yet. KT with some spot duty especially on teams with limited mobility at the four, and Bull signed almost as a hiccup afterthought to take any 3 or 4 duties when necessary.

3. Griffin, Langhi, (Walt) - I think if the grand experiment is to work, Langhi will get lots more minutes this season. Don't be surprised if he moves ahead of Griff in the early showings. Walt will get some early minutes. May even start. But once Langhi and Griff gets their legs he will be third option. Actually, I don't even expect Wizbang to be on the roster come November-December. So this is a mute point. Bull will get minutes here epecially with teams who are trying to establish a zone early in the season.

2. Shandon/Terrence, Catman - I know the prevailing attitude on this board is that Stevie Francis will get some minutes here but don't expect any more than very(and I mean very) minimal shooting guard duties out of him. Morris,if he proves his worth may get some minutes early in the season, especially if Shandon is gone or a replacement is satisfied. But Cat will own this spot all year.

1. Francis and Mooch - nothing more to be said for these guys. Our guys are set.

Interestingly, Avery Johnson spoke to the Rockets briefly since the opening of FA talks. Don't have a spot for him. He is slated for some hard pressed PG-defiecent teams in both conferences. Miami, Utah, Seattle .... even Sacramento have called him.

Here's a question to ponder:

.... would you sign Mario for the minimum if Shandon (and his defense) are lost to Free Agency?


Cheers.

------------------