NBA Insider...Dec 6: Grading the free agents; Legler's early -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grading the free agent class of '05 By John Hollinger Stromile Swift, Houston Rockets, 5 years, $30 million. A big reason the Rockets have been such a disappointment is that their major free-agent acquisition, Swift, has failed to deliver. He's underperforming his career numbers across the board and has failed to pick up Houston's defensive concepts, a major reason he's still suffering the indignity of being Juwan Howard's backup. Grade: D+ Biggest disappointment (team) Houston Rockets (4-11) Most people give the Rockets a pass due to the fact that they have spent most of the season without Tracy McGrady, but I've run out of hall passes. They spent significant time without T-Mac last year and they rallied. Yao Ming has improved marginally for the third straight year. His 19 ppg and 9 rpg compare with the best centers in the league, but the problem is that he doesn't impact the outcome because he disappears in the fourth quarter. If you are 7'6" and want to be considered a star player, you have to be able to carry your team for a short stretch when your star teammate is out. He can't do it and as a result the Rockets have a lot of making up to do if they want to get in the playoff hunt. Houston Rockets Hayes To Sign With Rockets "The Rockets released injured guard/forward Dion Glover, a move likely made to create a roster spot for former Kentucky forward Chuck Hayes. Hayes, who played for the Rockets in the preseason and on their summer league team, has been playing for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the NBA Development League, averaging 10.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game." -- Houston Chronicle
interesting that they said: the only contracts on our team that work cap-wise are moochie, rafer, and sura.
T-Mac missed 4 games last year and the team was 2-2. He missed 2 games in November, one in January and one in April. This is "significant time"? I'm not making excuses for the team, but Hollinger doesn't have his facts straight here.
EDIT: I accidently didnt delete the part about Eric Williams, that was refering to some other team Sorry. Who got the As and Bs??? OUCH!!! Damon Stoudamire, Memphis Grizzlies, 4 years, $17 million. Few small guards have aged better than Mighty Mouse, who even at 32 is having no problem filling it up. He's hitting 40 percent on 3-pointers and contributing solid numbers across the board at a bargain price. That's helped the Griz to the second-best record in the West despite a thorough offseason housecleaning. Grade: A- Donyell Marshall, Cleveland Cavaliers. 4 years, $22 million. Marshall's shooting (38.5 percent) isn't up to his usual level despite the many open shots that LeBron & Co. provide, and defensively he's of limited value. But he's helping out on the boards and comes at a bargain price, so even if the jumpers don't start falling, he's providing decent value. Grade: B- Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Sacramento Kings, 5 years, $30 million. Half a billion dollars later, we finally get to a free agent who's lived up to the expectations. Abdur-Rahim cost the Kings only their midlevel exception and he's given them exactly what they expected: A high-scoring, high-percentage power forward, albeit one who's a bit soft on D. The grade would be an A except for Abdur-Rahim's supernatural ability to have his teams disappoint, as the Kings have been surprisingly mediocre. Grade: A- I know there was no chance in hell but... Cuttino Mobley, Los Angeles Clippers, 5 years, $42 million. A stellar acquisition by the standards of this list, Mobley fills two important needs for the Clippers. He provides a durable shooting guard, and gives the Clips a respectable long-range shooter to open things up for Elton Brand in the paint. It's still hard to get excited about paying over $8 million a year for his ho-hum production, but as long as the Clips stay in first, Mobley's grade will stay above the curve. Grade: B-
I don't see how you can say we "passed" on Mobley. We didn't have $8m to give him and PF was more of a priority post-Luther Head and pre-Sura injury. But I doubt if either party was interested and that doesn't bother me at all.
