Regarding the weather and taxes, I used to think the same thing. I was wrong. Places like Vancouver (maybe Toronto, too) are far more temperate than many of the large metropolitan areas in the US like NY, Chicago, and we won't even mention places like Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the winter time. Regarding taxes, someone recently did a study that showed NY'ers pay just as much if not more in taxes than the folks in Vancouver (I don't have a reference for this, just read it somewhere during the Steve Francis draft fiasco). FYI it's about 67 degrees in Toronto at the moment and 72 degrees in Vancouver. The heat index in Houston at the moment is 89 degrees and in Dallas it's 96. Weatherwise, I know Vancouver's a far better place to live than some of the ice buckets in the Yankee states. ------------------ Just shut up and post
Ummmm....spank me if I'm wrong but did someone just say Vince Carter planned on exercise his FA option NEXT YEAR!? Webber who? ------------------ It doesn't matter if I have a signature!
YEAH BUT WASN'T THE DEAL THAT A PLAYER WOULD HAVE TO PAY US AND CANADA TAXES IF HE PLAYED THERE? seems like it was somethiing like that..not so much the canadian taxes but having to pay taxes in both countries or something ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"
I didn't see that, but I still would rather have Chris Webber on the Rockets than Vince Carter any day. Without a doubt. ------------------ Member of the pro-Collier/Langhi movement. IN RUDY WE TRUST!!
the cat..i think it has something to do with lets say mobley wanted to keep a house in united states and in canada he would have to pay income tax twice or something...i reember there was some big deal about ita few years back..someone please correct me if they know exactly what the deal was about taxes? ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"
Not cold in Toronto? Maybe not if you're used to living up north. But to say it's not cold up there is like saying it's not going to be hot tomorrow out here in west Texas because it's only supposed to get up to 101 degrees, and not 105 like it was a day or two ago. ------------------
The Cat -- Re-read Old Man Rock's post again. Could you imagine Carter and Francis, working together against the forces of evil? This is so exciting I have to pee!!! ------------------ It doesn't matter if I have a signature!
RocketFan: don't you have to live outside of the US for less than a month a year to get away from paying US taxes as an American citizen? Although I think Cuttino will be in Houston this year, it is interesting to note that he's putting it off until August 01... that is, apparently, when other free agents lots have been decided (Tim Thomas, R. Lewis, etc.) p.s. if Rashard Lewis was offered $6M a year from Toronto what is the offer for Cuttino? ------------------ The ClutchCity 500.
Yes, I could imagine Carter and Francis. But Webber and Francis gets me a lot more excited. With Carter and Francis, I still see a team that does not have a consistent low post weapon to use. Somewhere along the line, we need that big time low post player. We can talk about getting swingmen a lot, and no matter how good you are, you need more than driving and jump shots to win a championship. You need at least one big time low post threat, and IMO Kenny Thomas and Kelvin Cato aren't it. Chris Webber is, and he fits with this current Rockets team perfectly. I'd take him over Vince. ------------------ Member of the pro-Collier/Langhi movement. IN RUDY WE TRUST!!
Stone Cold: I'm sure RaptorFan imagines that every night when he closes his eyes to sleep. TMcGrady has walked for nothing and Antonio Davis isn't getting any younger. The Raptors sure wish they had made that McGrady+#5 for #1 trade last summer. ------------------ "I wanna eat his children."
Fadeaway, Are you saying it is not cold in Toronto? So, it doesn't snow up there in the winter then? HOGWASH !!!! It is a cold miserable place in December - February. While in Houston, you can still put your tongue to a light post if you had the desire. DaDakota ------------------
In my business class last year, we had some guest speaker who passed out sheets of paper that had all of these different options of what people want in a job. He told us to put a number next to the one that WE THINK would be most important in picking a job. The class had over 500 students and when he asked what our #1 reason was, about 3/4 of the class raised their hand for money as being the deciding factor. To make this story short, we were wrong. They had done many interviews of people in the workforce and they came up with the co-workers as the #1 reason for picking a job. And that is the exact situation here. We can offer Cuttino Mobley the NBA average which is between 3.5 and 4.1 I believe for next year. Now, I find it silly to think that Mobley would turn down that offer, his friends pleading to him and a very important role on a very young and very exciting team just to sign for maybe 1-2 million more. The lure of Vince Carter and Lenny Wilkens is appealing I'm sure but after McGRady left, they took a huge step back in their plans and they have aging veterans in Willis, Oakley, A. Davis and D. Christie who is also a free agent. Heard he is also good friends with Alvin Williams, well that guy is a super scrub who can't even pass a Boston Celtics physical and could be out of the NBA soon. I won't get into bashing Canada or the taxes or whatever b/c I don't need to. Anyone who knows basketball can see that this is stupid. I would think that Mobley would know that the Rockets organization does everything necessary to put a winner out on the court. The same can't be said about Toronto. They were good this past year but I think they will have to start rebuilding soon due to departures and getting old. I have already lost some respect for Mobley. From when he first came to the Rockets, I could tell that he had an ego but I never would have imagined that it would lead him to possibly desert the team who drafted him and go to an even worse situation for him just b/c they can offer a couple of million bucks more than us...and doesn't he know that the Rockets have a damn good history of taking care of their players, so whatever more Toronto offers we would end up giving it to him. Guess he doesn't believe in sacrificing now for the benefit of the future. In conclusion, Mobley if u go to Toronto, u will be stuck there with a pathetic team. Although your loss may set us back, u aren't the team, as much as u may want to be and we will soldier ahead and dismiss u like u were yesterdays newspaper. If u go to Toronto, it's very simple, in one word, u are stupid, and while we are enjoying are annual playoff appearances and possible championship parades, I bet it won't feel to good watching it on t.v. instead of being in it. All this can be avoided though if u are smart and make the right decision... ------------------
Kitty -- I agree completely about the low post threat but I wonder if the Rockets couldn't aquire that through the draft next year when good, young centers and forwards will be bountiful. Anyways, don't mind me much -- I'm just another hapless victim of NBC's Carter-as-the-next-Jordan campaign. BTW, I haven't watched much of Webber inb the West -- how has he stacked up against the KG's and the Wallaces? ------------------ It doesn't matter if I have a signature!
Rocketteen -- Toronto can offer: A) Mo' Money B) Mo' Playing Time C) Mo' Shots With McGrady gone, Mobley automatically becomes Toronto's second option, not a bad proposition for a youngster literally pining for a larger role in the offense. I know it feels like betrayal guys, but Mobley wants what's best for Mobley and as much as we wish every player in the NBA wanted what's best for the Rockets, it just ain't so. Like I said before, I won't shed a tear if he leaves but he's given me no reason to dislike him should he decide to defect. ------------------ It doesn't matter if I have a signature!
stone cold, webber is definitely in the class as KG and wallace. wallace and KG MIGHT be more athletic, it is debatable, but webber has a more polished game. All 3 are very close though. ------------------ "Don't they get cable in Canada ?" Keith olbermann, after watching hakeem block terry catledge's shot 5 times.
I don't really understand this decision. Cuttino would leave a young, uptempo team in Houston, for an aging team in Toronto just for a couple of million? This just doesn't sound like a good career move for Cuttino. The Raptors have already lost Tracy McGrady. Charles Oakley and Kevin Willis will be retiring any day now, and most of all, there is no guarantee that Vince Carter will stay after next year, his third. Stern and all the NBA execs want Vince in one of the big markets like Chicago, NY,LAL,etc. Do you think it's a coincidence that Shaq and Kobe play together...The NBA will do everything in its power to get Vince into a big market,into the playoffs, and onto NBC. This is the current Raptors team. Two years from now imagine how terrible they will be when Vince is gone Morris Peterson-shoots well 4 Muggsy Bogues-OLD 7 Dee Brown-OLD and injury prone 15 Vince Carter-coming to America soon 13 Doug Christie-FREE AGENT leaving 30 Dell Curry-old 33 Antonio Davis-old but still good 22 Sean Marks- who??? 1 Tracy McGrady- LEAVING for Orlando 34 Charles Oakley- OLD and slow 25 Aleksandar Radojevic- the next Tabak 4 Michael Stewart-hmmm 12 John Thomas-who cares 20 Alvin Williams- Cuttino's loser buddy 42 Kevin Willis-OLD and slow steroid user 3 Haywoode Workman-OLD It doesn't make sense to leave the Rockets to play for a soon-to-be perrennial loser. ------------------ "Oh No..." -Bill Walton in 97 just before Stockton's buzzer beater
No one ever said the world, and certainly not professional sports, makes sense. ------------------ "I'll take a Dream Shake for two, please."
If McGrady wouldn't play second fiddle to his cousin, what makes us think that Mobely will? Mobes may go for the money but nothing else about the Toronto situation is better for him-- if he is willing to wait for one year. ------------------ There are 3 kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't.
"I don't remember the Bulls having a dominating low-post threat." Houston is not Chicago and Francis is not Jordan. (Chicago did have Rodman and Grant -- two great defensive players.) Nonetheless, that was then and this is now. This is a different league, with different players. Cato is fine, but Houston needs an offensive threat in the post. (And it's not going to be Thomas.) ------------------ Forget regrets or life is yours to miss.
