Use the part of the MLE or the LLE if they have it to sign Brad Newley. Give him a 3 year minimum salary contract with the third year a team option. This establishes a relationship with Leon Rose. Co-incidently McGrady's contract expires at the same time as LeBron's. Leon Rose is also LeBron's agent. So when LeBron's a free agent and the Rockets have the salary space to bid for him. They also have Rose's attention and reason to communicate with him because of Newley's option...
Artest will be a 30-year-old man next year. He won't be that emotional anymore, but he still has heart. Go for him with expiring + filler, we will be a contender instantly.
draft night: 1st round pick, jackson, head for m.miller grizz cut more salary, add yount talent and aquire extra draft pick. perfect situation for rebuilding team.
I think something like this has a very real chance of happening. Miller should be an obvious target for the Rockets. All potential deals for Miller would center around Jackson's expiring. Scola, Landry or Hayes could also be included in a deal with the Griz.
keep yao, t-mac, battier, landry, scola and possibly rafer Priorities in off season: Mike Miller and young athletic center.
Sure you can get better players with that money, but we don't have that money. We have Battier and Bobby Jackson. If a washed up VC is good for 21, 6, and 5 (on 45% shooting) I'll take it. That will open up the court for everyone and keep Rafer as a play maker rather than a 3rd scorer. A change of scenery works wonders for vets. Like I said before I could see why VC would leave a foul taste in some ppls mouths. I'm banking on the fact that he wants to win, has a good relationship with Tracy and the fact that he can put the ball in the hole better than anyone else we could get as reasons for this trade. If you dont want VC, RJ could be the main piece in the trade. IMO the question really is would NJ do it? That I do not know. I feel like they would be interested in cutting salary while remaining competitive. This helps them do that.
This is a joke right? Just checking. I know everyone wants an upgrade over Rafer, but we need to keep in mind these three guards: Andre Miller, Steve Nash, and Chauncy Billups. All three of these point guards peaked later on in their careers, showing that sometimes point guards bloom the latest. Like Alston, these guards do not depend on their quickness to be effective. Given Alston's performance toward the end of the season, I want to see if this little theory proves true with him and/or he is better in Adelman's system. If so, he would be better than any point guard we can trade for. Also, I want to see if a healthy Francis or an older Brooks could be effective enough to take over our backup point guard role. That way, BJax is expendable and we can turn his expiring contract into a player that better fills a need. Don't forget, this offseason is a buyer's market, so I'd be really pissed if we overpaid some scrub. If we're patient, a Pietrus, Childress, or Roger Mason type player is bound to bounce our way for very reasonable money.
I conjured my somewhat vanilla, but rather attainable, roster for next year as follows: 2007-2008 Roster Alston -- Jackson -- Brooks McGrady -- Head --Francis Battier -- Harris -- Novak Scola -- Landry -- Hayes Yao -- Mutumbo -- Woods 2008-2009 Roster Alston -- Jackson (TA) -- Brooks McGrady -- R. Mason -- Francis (TA) Battier -- T. Ariza -- Novak Scola -- Landry -- Hayes Yao -- Draft Pick -- Mutumbo TA = Trade Asset / Expiring Contract
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/hawks/stories/2008/05/04/hawksbar_0505.html Bobby Jackson for Childress via S&T?
Trade anyone but Yao, Mac, Scola and possibly Shane to get Artest in here. I think hes been pretty well behaved for a few years now and his scoring ability and toughness would be a welcome addition. We could have really used him this vs Utah.
Ideally, you get a legitimate starting Point Guard. I loved Rafer this year, but when you look at the starting line-up, PG is the position with the most improvement available. After PG, PF, then SF offer room for improvement in the starting line-up. Neither are glaring holes, though, so you would look to improve the bench first. My solution is this: If you can find a physical, penetrating PG who set up the offense and can finish, you get him. If not, look to a back-up swingman. Finally, get a full-sized back up center.
Depends on Francis. If the surgery was effective enough to have him play a la the Francis of old (or even close to it) we are suitably stacked at PG. Blow your money on Artest. If Francis is done - we need some PG help. Mike Miller FTW.
Realistically, if we want a Ron Artest or a Mike Miller, we're gonna have to give up something in return. And since we don't have a lottery pick or any player outside of Yao and McGrady that are attractive pieces to work a trade with, Morey needs to dig for those diamonds in the rough again. These are guys that I think we can sign outright and are realistic (i.e. no Jose Calderon talk here): Matt Barnes (UFA): I wanted him last year and I still want him this year. He's a guy that can guard point guards up to power forwards; can hit the three; pretty good passing abilities; plays the game with intensity. With the GS situation where pretty much their whole roster are Free Agents, this would be the perfect time to come in and sign him away. Roger Mason (UFA): I was impressed by his numbers during the regular season as a starter and he played pretty well in the postseason. Again, this is a team who has to concentrate on signing their big stars first so a guy like Mason might fall through. Gordon Giricek (UFA): As much as I hated him when he was on the Jazz, the dude plays hard and is a good shooter from outside. His defense is decent enough to where he's not going to be a liability like Novak and his shot is what this team needs. He might re-sign with Phoenix but nothing is for certain with that team and their Luxury-Tax roster IMO. Ricky Davis (UFA): Davis is probably the last guy on this list that Morey would want considering well...Davis is a bit loopy. Crazy or not, the guy can score and score in bunches. Would be a great 3rd option and he's young and has the size (6'7") that would make us forget about the whole Luther Head Experiment. Tarence Kinsey (UFA): Not a lot of you guys would know this guy if he came up to you with a name tag on his shirt, but he's a quality role player that can score coming off the bench. He played fairly well for Memphis a couple of years back as a starter and, hey, this guy could be had for cheap. James Posey (Player Option): If he opts out, I would like to take another stab at Posey. He's a good defender, can shoot the 3 moreso than Battier can, and would be the big 2/3 that we need to back up Shane and Tracy. Eddie House (UFA): The guy might be small and injury prone, but he could come cheap AND he's automatic from 3 point land. Francisco Elson (UFA): If Mutombo retires, this guy would be a perfect back up for Yao. 7 Footer, rebounds, defends, and he can actually score if the opportunity presents itself (e.g. catches those passes that Mutombo cannot). Any of those guys up there could help the Rockets. Of course, it's not the 3rd option/scorer that we're all craving for, but they're possibilities without having to touch anyone on the roster for a S&T. If the Rockets are high on Brooks' development into a good backup point guard, then I would think BJax is expendable...to the right team. Denver: S&T JR Smith for Bobby Jackson. They need a point guard that can score (Anthony Carter sucks) and an expiring contract can help them to stop hemorrhaging enough to sign their to-good-to-be-traded-for-Artest Linas Kleiza. Smith CAN be a 3rd option for us (his offensive game reminds me something of a Maxwell...too bad he doesn't have Maxwell's D). The only drawback I see is throwing 7-8 mil at a guy that hasn't really proven his worth yet.
JR Smith is a nice piece. I think he can improve his D a lot since there was no D at all in that Denver team.
Why would the Hawks want Bobby Jackson? They have Mike Bibby and Acie Law already. Plus, there is no incentive to trade for Bobby's expiring contract, since Childress could just be let go this summer anyway.
implement a zone defense that we can fall back on for certain stretches. novak needs to get out on the floor when our offense is sputtering, and the team needs a scheme that can protect him on the defensive end. i would have liked to see a novak/mutumbo combination more often.
