Here's my deal. Rafer, BJax, Luther, Novak, Francis plus cash to Milwaukee for Charlie V, Charlie Bell, Bobby Simmons, and Ramon Sessions. You go to training camp with Sessions and Brooks as your point guards and let them duke it out. We're taking a gamble on Sessions but I think he is gonna be a player based on his run the last week or so of the season. You can't ignore that run of games right at the end. We also get Charlie V, a very gifted and tall player that can play the 3,4, or 5 for a few minutes if needed. We also get Bell, whose play has went downhill but he obviously doesn't want to be in Milwaukee after signing offer sheet from Miami last year. He takes Luther's spot. We also take back Bobby Simmons who has gone downhill since he signed his big contract but who does have the capacity to hit shots. He could recover his game or if not, he's an expiring the next year. Milwaukee obviously gets a ton of salary relief. There are many possible variations of this deal. One variation may be Milwaukee wanting us to take back Gadzuric's crappy contract instead of Simmons' deal and they may want Landry since he's a Purdue kid. I'd be willing to do that too so long as the deal included Sessions and Villanueva coming back here. I like Landry a whole lot but we've got Scola and if we have to give up Landry to get the chance to upgrade our point guard play, I say we have to do it, especially with Villanueva coming back. Villanueva can adequately give us what Landry gives us and then some because he has 3 point range already and he can run the floor. I personally think Morey should be targeting Sessions as a possible upgrade. He's unproven but he's young and he is showing tremendous potential on both ends of the floor. With Sessions and Brooks we would have the quickest point guard combo in the NBA and we could really create a lot of mismatches provided both guys continue to improve. It's a gamble. But what other choices do we have? Mo Williams? He is signed through 2025 I think.........at monster numbers, and he ain't no better than Rafer. Bottom line if all else fails, we have to go to training camp next season with Brooks entrenched as the starting point guard. He has to start, play 30 minutes per game and develop. Otherwise we're just spinning our wheels again. No sense going back to Rafer for another whole season. It's pointless. No pun intended.
I wished we'd quit talking about Calderon. He is entrenched in Toronto. The only way he leaves is he flat out decides he doesn't want to sign there and play there long term and only signs the one year deal so he can become unrestricted next year. That would be unprecedented. I doubt he does it. BC has already made it very clear they are going to match any offers. If the other teams in the NBA were smart, they would wait and see what kind of deal Toronto throws at him before signing him to an offer sheet that Toronto WILL match. T.J. Ford is the point guard in Toronto on the trading block. And I'll gladly take him so long as the deal includes sending Rafer's contract back to Toronto. Send 'em Rafer, Luther, and Loren Woods for T.J.
I would think you would need to send them expiring contracts........for TJ.....they would be seeking cap relief. And Sam Mitchell and Rafer Alston...round 2.....never gonna happen. DD
Here is what i think they need to do; 1st- we need a killer off the bench ala Ginobilli or Barbosa. someone that can come in and by himself score and creat for himself and others while the starters rest 2nd- get mike miller or Ron artest- preferably both 3rd. get a strong _ mean- 7 footer that can come off the bench back up Yao effectively and be able to score 5-10 points- they should have gone after theo ratliff instead of wasting time with Brent Barry! do all this while keeping, Yao, Tmac, Battier, Scola, Landry, novak definately get rid of Head, and everyone else so my wish list is unrealistic but it will solve all the problems for this team. giving the line up of Rafer/brooks TMac/Miller Yao/Ratliff Scola/landry Battier/Artest and my killer off the bench to be determined Barbosa ginobilli type. Monta Ellis would be fine Never gonna happen but would be a heck of a team. a man can dream can't he?
No T.J. Ford. I believe Brooks and Ford are the same type of players. Since we have Brooks, we don't need Ford. It is unnecessary for the rockets to take his big contract. Actually, I don't think Calderon wants to stay in Toronto. They let him come off the bench now. That is unacceptable for a pg like him. He averaged 8.3 assists per game this season and he was the no. 5 in the league. Plus, I believe he will pursue a bigger market and more successful club. If some clubs (e.g., lakers, rockets, knicks,...) can give him more than MEL, he will go.
Calderon went to Mitchell and volunteered to come off the bench for team unity and to spark the second unit. Make no mistake about it, Toronto is moving Ford when the season is over. They are keeping Calderon.
I agreed, if they can't get Artest...then it's time to trade EVERYONE yes included TMAC. I am tired of the combo of TMAC/Yao not succeeding. The team is better off with one superstar and bunch of decent players than 2 superstars with a bunch of average players. Players that should be kept are Yao, Battier, Scola and Landry....everyone else should be sold like prostitutes. Chicago has a lot of talents....it's not that hard to make a great deal with them. And after the Playoffs, i am sure some of the elite losing teams are going to do something about their rosters. So it's time to make major deal to get this team some sick talents...instead of sticking year after year with Rafer, Head, Motombo, Hayes...these players are one sided and one dimensional....they're not MULTI-TALENTED and are consider as liability.
That is the problem. Because Ford was the starter before he was injured, when he came back, Calderon went to Motchell to express he can come off the bench. But, as the head coach, Mitchell shouldn't agree because Calderon was sensational during that time!!!! The coach agreed it and that means he thinks Ford is a better starting pg. I don't think Calderon wants to play for him anymore, no one would! BTW, no one will want Ford because his big contract even Toronto wants to move him. p.s., I guess you are a raptor fan.
Is it at all possible tp get Artest by trading BJax and fillers? If the answer is yes, we will become a real contender.
I know a lot of people want change. To me, the celts have shown that if ur willing to go all out, u can be a serious threat to win the title. I can create scenerios in which the rox can do it. Many will blow it off, but they can make it happen if they're serious about it. Personally, the only untouchables are yao and tracy and that's because I can't get fair value for tracy and yao means too much to les. Everything in my scenerio starts with Artest. He's everything the rox need as a player. Most like the playoff flop mike miller, but just like games 2-7 last yr, some teams will single yao and tilt to tracy. U have Artest and u can move yao up to ft line or backside sometimes. U have to double artest which leaves 3 defenders to cover 4 offensive players. I mentioned earlier that 4 yrs 40m is the starting point. In my scenerio it will cost battier-6m,francis 2m expiring and the 1st rd pick. Sounds like a lot, but to his ability to create mismatches and his toughness will makeup for shane love. Emeka Okefor. I still like scola, but what this series has shown is that he lack explosion near the bucket and the rox are small overral at that spot. Once again I'm building a team for the ring. Okefor is a fa and has ties to the area. He turned down an extension because he's tired of the losing. This contract will cost u 5yr for 50m. To get to that via sign and trade u have jackson-6m and scola 3m. Emeka kills 2 birds. Now the rox have their shot blocking/rebounding 4 with size plus u can't find a better backup to yao. Now when yao goes out for a breather, emeka slides over and landry plays the 4. If yao goes down for games or the season, we have a guy that can get 15-11-2blks consistently. Now I'm calling Portland . Why? I want Jack and Outlaw. Outlaw makes 4m and jack 1.7m. Rafer makes 4.5 and luther 1.7. Perfect match and I'll throw in a 2nd. Jack gives the rox the bigger pg to either start or split with brooks. Outlaw gives us the long atheletic swingman that can play 15mins for tracy and 14mins for artest. Mihm or Elson. Now that I got everything covered, I have to safeguard myself. I still have the mle, but I'm not giving it all up. Since my 4/5 has had prior injury history, I need another big that can play 4/5. Mihm or elson fills that spot for 2.5 for 3 yrs. Now lets look at the rox. Brooks/Jack Mcgrady/Outlaw Artest/Outlaw/Novak Okefor/landry/elson or mihm/hayes Yao/Okefor/elson or mihm. That's a squad set to win now and for the next 4 yrs. In 2 yrs after this if mcgrady is still playing at a good level, drop his salary to 8m or so on a extension. If he's not, slide outlaw in and let him walk. After all this, I came to my senses and realized the owner won't spend and the gm considers hustle a skill.
It seems like Emeka wants way more than that. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3090412 http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=FreeAgents-080226
hooroo-Maybe so. Maybe he doesn't want to play for a sorry team anymore. His qualifying is 7.8m. He could sign it then walk after the season in charlotte or maybe get traded. He could sign it and tell any team he signed with he's walking at the end of the season. Although money is important, emeka doesn't strike me as a person that's concerned about being a max player. I think its more about winning. The chance to be a title contender in his hometown might be enough to take 10m per via sign and trade.
I can't believe he turned down 10 mil per year, wtf. He's not an all-star and many all-stars make less than that. Hell he's only a 13-10 player not a 20-10 player. If he was a 20-10 player then we could talk. He vanishes in games much too often to get paid that much.
IF Fernandez is as advertised, and I suspect insiders who have scouted him know more definitively than we - and IF Fernandez is reluctant to go to Portland because of how Nate 'handled' Rodriguez - Then, Scola II? As for Shane - he is one of two Rox, Yao being the other, I would sincerely regret losing. However, if he were successfully replaced it might well make sense.
I'd like to get Artest, we could even give up Shane and somebody but Artest would really help this team. He is great on defense and what's important he is a really good scorer as well.
I used to be on the Mike Miller bandwagon, but after watching other so-called inexperienced teams like New Orleans and Orlando getting the job done in this year's playoffs, I'm starting to agree that Ron Artest is a must on the Rockets. We've been saying for years that T-Mac's(and Yao's to a lesser extent) playoff futility is a result of an inferior supporting cast. Excluding this season given the absence of Yao and Rafer, that's a load of BS. T-Mac had enough around him to be up 3-1 over Detroit in '03, 2-0 coming home against Dallas in '05, and 2-0 and 3-2 last year over Utah with Game 7 at home. Yet in each instance, he couldn't close out the other team. T-Mac's failure to get out of Round 1 has just as much to do with his mental toughness(or lack thereof) as it does the complementary players he's been surrounded with. Let's face it. T-Mac and Yao are soft. And this is not something that's gonna magically change with yet another season played in this league. Some guys just don't have that will to win at all costs. David Robinson didn't have it. His team didn't win squat in the playoffs til Tim Duncan got there. Long stort short, a player like Ron Artest not only improves the talent level of this squad(provided the Rockets don't have to give up too much to get him), but he brings that fire and fearless attitude that T-Mac and Yao don't appear to have. Imagine having him against a team like Utah or San Antonio that plays dirty. Think Bruce Bowen or AK47 will take a cheap shot against him?
