It sounds like to me that management is prepared to make fundamental changes to the player nucleus, but that doesn't mean Mobley's on the block. I'd bet five-to-one that Cuttino stays. The Rocks would be stupid to give him up easily. We'd better be getting a damn sure thing in return. What this does emphasize to me is that the Rocks would like to come away this offseason with a point-forward bad and/or a strong backup point guard. That changes my perspective on the recent guard workouts. I'm sure the Rocks always try to keep an eye out for talent at all the positions, but I can see a slight rise in importance to these workouts now. I see Moochie going somewhere much more likely than Cuttino, but only if we get a solid backup point, and it seems to me that in this draft, we could very well nab one with the second rounder. I don't know if Dunleavy is still in the top three of my draft wish list, but I wouldn't mind having him at all if we got him, although I do agree with those who feel he's not worth a top-five pick. I don't think he'll ever be more than a solid role player, but he could very well be the answer to some of our key weaknesses: poor team play on both ends of the court, outside shooting. If we get Dunleavy, I hope he has true point forward skills. Sounds like the Rockets are valuing that a lot. Oh yeah; thanks Clutch. This is why I waste so many godforsaken hours at this damn site.
You guys are crazy! Cat and our 15th for Odom. Do guys know that Cat was (I think) the 13th highest scorer in the league? Do you know his contract makes him one of the lowest paid young studs in the game? You guys want to give him up along with a pick for a player that has been suspended repeatedly for testing positive for drugs. Excuse me, but that is stupid! Do you guys seriously believe by subtracting Cat and adding Odom, the Rockets will be better next year? No way! How much will we pay Odom? Do you guys really want to have another bad contract on our hands? In my opinion, Odom is no different than Mo Taylor. He really looks good on paper but neither one of their teams ever win! Cat leaves only for a superstar. In a package that invlves a franchise type player Duncan, Garnet....
Trading Cat in a package for anyone other than a young, franchise player is one of the worst trade proposals ever. I had to state that again!
Well said, Nike. I could also see Cat going for Andre Miller (someone else can work out the salaries), but only if we improved in other ways as well that made such a trade ideal. I definitely don't see the Rocks doing that just for the heck of it. I hope we don't get Wilcox just because we're badly in need of experienced or impact players. Wilcox seems like a great talent, but I don't think he can step into the center spot right away, and it seems silly to add to the "depth" (I won't say "logjam" for the benefit of some posters) at PF without improving the team now in more obviously beneficial ways. Same applies to Stoudamire, but with an exclamation point. I'm glad though that the Rocks have their eyes on guys who can add toughness to the frontcourt. Despite the needs for another ball handler to help out Stevie and a good shooter, we desperately need help in the frontcourt. If Mo T could bring toughness, we'd be set, but despite his reputed good work ethic and repoire with players and staff, I doubt he could suddenly try to be a bruiser and be good at it.
DearRock, How did we get cute in the Lewis draft? We used all 3 picks and didn't trade them. How much less cute can you possibly be? Apparently if you don't draft a guy at your pick that turns out to be an All Star later then management has made an unforgiveable mistake. I suppose our management isn't allowed to miss out on anyone? Didn't every other team pass on Lewis as well? We stood pat and didn't do anything in that draft but draft the best players available. We ended up trading Drew for cardboard, Dickerson was the biggest piece of getting Steve here, and Turcan got dumped for a 1st rounder or something. Our problem wasn't being cute, it was not being 'cute' enough. There was no boldness, no desire to go out on a limb for a high schooler. I think we will and probably should trade at least one of our picks. We're trying to be competitive next year and getting a 19 year old probably won't help us do that. With the later pick we could trade up for a project type, but we have to get at least one impact player this offseason that can help out next year. I really don't see anyone in the draft that is a sure thing to help us out next year. Williams and Wagner could have immediate impacts but we already have the gaurds full. The SF's have talent, but no one can be sure how much of an impact they could have (Butler is probably the closest). Every one of the big men in the draft is a project outside of possibly Gooden who doesn't really fit with what we have anyways. There's no reason to draft another project if we can get a high quality talent like Odom in a trade. He still has as much upside as anyone in this draft AND has proven to at least be a quality contributor now (when healthy). Has the guy had problems? Yes, but so did Webber and look how Sacramento turned out for being bold and acquiring him. Odom is a risk, but he is at least a risk with an extremely high reward.
Would the the Clippers go for this deal? KT Mooch #5 for Odom Keyon Dooling #8 and #12 Clippers get a veteran guard to run the show and a hard working frontcourt bench player. The number 5 allows them to draft a stud and not have to pay the two lottery pick salaries, also allows them to get immeadiate help and not habe to wait on a project. Rockets get SF they've been looking for, a PG to fight with Tierre Brown for the backup job, and an additional lottery pick.
Rocketfan, no way. We'd be lucky if they were willing to throw in the #12 along with Odom and Dooling.
Why is Griffin untouchable? Not only did he not win the ROY, he didn't even make the rookie first team. Until he puts up the numbers I say he is tradeable. Outside of J. Oneal and maybe McGrady what other rookies have showed as little as Griffin did in there first year and produced in the future. Compare Griffin first year stats with Kenny's. What do we need Odom for anyway. What has he ever done outside of getting busted. You people have no loyalty. Francis, Cuttino, and Thomas should be the only untouchable Rockets.
Ok why is Kenny untradable I mean I love his effort, but give me one starting PF who didn't average about 11-12 pts in the NBA Kenny averaged 14 ppg, got plenty of shots, and was on a horrible team wow. As often as he creates a matchup problem, he is one... Thomas doesn't run the floor all that well, despite his lack of size and doesn't pass... he has a cheap contract trade him
D. ILLEST 1: Griffen came into the league at 19 while KT came into the league at what 21 or 22. There is also a huge difference in skill level between KT and Griffen. KT has absolutely no chance to ever be as good as Griffen can become.
D. ILLEST - griffin is NINETEEN. what he showed at that age was a sweet stroke and a great shot blocking sense. comparing him to people who are older with more college experience makes no sense. while no one is untouchable, his potential puts him very close to that status.
If Kenny was getting thoes shots that Griffin was bricking from behind the arc then he could have boosted his average. Look at Kenny's field goal percentage if he got as many shots as say Cuttino do you think his scoring would have went up? Quit making excuses for Griffin he is a NBA player I dont care how old he is, if doesn't produce then he doesn't help the team. Potential has never won one NBA game.
what the hell was i thinking, i guess eddie can't possibly improve after one year. very rarely do rookies ever get better. where am i making excuses for eddie? i'm just stating pretty obvious facts. he is young with talent but based on your criteria if we had kobe, garnett, nowitzki, mcgrady, o'neal, etc., in their rookie years, they'd all have to go because "potential never won one nba game."
not that it matters too much but i think he's still 19. the card i have lists his b-day at may 30, 1982, so he still has a couple weeks.
KT as a rookie - age 22, 4 years of college: 8.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.6 apg, .3 bpg, 39% fg, 26% 3p (1.7 3pa) in 25 mpg Griffin - age 19 (his bday is May 30, '82), 1 year of college, (with an injury): 8.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, .7 apg, 1.8 bpg, 36% fg, 33% 3p (3.7 3pa) in 26 mpg Oneal, McGrady, & Lewis put up much lower numbers. Garnett put up slightly higher. What was the argument? Oh yeah, Griffin sucks.
Why bother drafting a 19 year old if you are not going to give him a year or two to start growing into his potential? Did you really expect a 19 year old to step in and domiate? If the Rockets trade Eddie Griffin they will be giving up on a player before he has a chance to mature.
Try a new and revolutionary concept D. ILLEST, It's called actually watching the games instead of using statistics as the end all of how a player is. Have you ever heard the phrase Statistics can be misleading? Also, I really want to hear your evaluation on Thomas's year and how his play is conducive to our guard based offense.
This thing started with Clutch saying the Rockets are interested in Odom, and nobody's untouchable. Both of these comments tell me again that the Rockets have no clue, CD is senile, and Rudy must stick to coaching. What's so good about Odom? 1. His team is no better with him than without him. 2. He's more fragile than Brent Price. 3. The pot thing=lack of professionalism. What does it mean nobody is untouchable? I would say everybody but Cat and KT is untouchable. Who would wanna touch MoT, Moochie, Rice and Cato with their contracts? Collier, Morris, Torres and Brown are untouchable as well, for the simple reason that nobody knows of their existence in order to be willing to touch them. Steve is obviously staying, and Griffin is staying.
