The problem with that as far as the rockets are concerned is Carrol Dawson isn't the former GM and consultant to another team ie.(Jerry West with Memphis and his Laker ties).
For real....how can people still support Luther Head. Every time he touches the ball he looks like a H.S. freshman playing against the Varsity squad. His playoffs numbers speak for themselves. He is crap, and needs to get gone fast. We have a better shooter with more size in Novak, anyways. And if I was Morey, I would tell Tracy McGrady this: Work out in the offseason on your stamina, and overall ability, or you're gone next year. I don't want to see Tmac living the good life vacationing in the Bahamas while people like Kobe are striving to WIN, working out in the offseason nonstop, playing in the Olympics.
The problem is both obvious and complicated. The Houston Rockets simply don't have enough talent. OK, now that we've established the obvious, let's move on to the next question; are the Rockets desperate? In other words, how big or small is their window. The answer to this question will determine just how bold the Rockets should be this off season.
There's nothing wrong with Yao and Tmac. All Tracy needs is a side kick kinda like Jordan and pipen or Kobe and Lamar.Tracy needs a someone like Mike Miller in backcourt with him to help spread the defense.All in favor for Mike Miller say yay ok the yay's got it.
PG isn't the problem for next year. I believe Brooks will be great next year. Remember, there are like 4 guys who playing their first year in the NBA. Scola, Landry, Brooks and even Harris will only get better next year. It's just too bad Brooks didn't really get to develop more this year. Even though I hate TMAC and his mentality. You can't really replaced his talent with the options that we are given for trade value. He still have alot left in the tank physically. Mentally someone need to encourage this unmotivated dude. Another good percentage scorer like Mike Miller is what this team need. If this team can win 55 games this year with this group, they should be even better next year. Must go: Battier(I'm on the fence with this one) Luther BJ Francis Next Year Starters: Yao Tmac Landry Brooks ? Sixth Man: Scola
"Must go: Battier(I'm on the fence with this one) Luther BJ Francis" I think the ones that need to be moved are the 1 dimensional players: Chuck Hayes No Offense/Poor Free Throw % Undersized In: Someone who can finish with a dunk, can shoot free throws Any of our undersized PGs: Look at how Deron Williams killed all our PGs. In: Someone of size and length, Ex: Antonio Daniels, Andre Miller. Rafer, Brooks, Head are all undersized. (I know head is not a PG but he is undersized at the 2) I do like his shooting but we already have Novak as well as a 1 dimensional shooter. Our Big Men: We need to have a post presence other than Yao, unfortunately we let go of Bonzi. We have none right now. Deke is also 1 dimensional but as we all know, he does more off the court so he is somewhat valuable in keeping the team chemistry. Just my 2 cents on our situation for the offseason, but Im still not counting the Rockets out...I will cheer them on until the end!!
Might want to open your eyes a bit there. I'm not saying that's a deal the Rockets should do, but feel the need to correct you since many of your posts act like the suggestion was to get Marbury for his talents, as if he is some sort of PG solution. The whole point of such a scenario was to get cap room and a top lottery pick -- not Marbury. His name is just attached to the expiring contract ... could be Jon Koncak for that matter. Feel free to pick it apart and I may even agree, but don't pretend the deal is talent-for-talent as "McGrady for Marbury".
C- Yao stays, IMHO Mutombo is not doing us any favors, so he comes in and has couple of blocks, then he is too tired to continue. And as soon as he leaves, other teams start attacking the basket plus he is an offensive liability and is soft on the offensive end and he is hard on the defensive block. I understand he is a good man and all, but we are wasting money on him, we should cut him, and get someone who can actually back up Yao during injury. Okafor can play starting PF and backup center if we can get him. PF- Again if we can get Okafor, then we are good here, although whatever happens Chuck Hayes should be traded. Landry and scola does everything he can do and they can even score, something Chuck Hayes is allergic to doing. I dont know why we love undersized underpaid players like Hayes and Harris, but they gotta go, i love their energy and hustle, but they are liabilities in a big way. SF- If we can get a Ron Artest type of player and this requires trading Battier, then i'm all for it, if not, then Battier should be coming of the bench, he is another mutombo-type player. Josh Childress and Mike Miller would also be excellent additions, but whatever happens, Battier should either be gone or the first man off the bench. SG- ohh almighty Tracy, how we hyped you up and then tore you down mercilessly. Even if none of the other trade or roster change scenarios i mentioned should happen, this one should DEFINITELY happen. TMac should be gone, just cos he doesn't facilitate the team- HE IS THE TEAM, and without him, no other player on the court can function. That being said he needs to be traded for playerS that can create their own shot. Head needs to go too. Hopefully with TMAC gone, we can afford to actually get players to play their designated role since we will have more salary cap, instead of getting undersized midgets like Hayes and Harris. PG- Rafer tried a lot this season, but as someone else mentioned, he is just not the pg for a championship caliber team. If Francis was healthy, he would have been tougher for Williams to abuse simply because of his size, but his days are over. Rafer and Jackson should be traded, although Jackson will be more likely because of his contract. I would hate to relegate Rafer to the bench to fight with Brooks for minutes, so he might just need to go. We need a big guard to slow down the other pgs in the west. Bench: If Head can get minutes, i cant for the life of me see why Novak can not but oh well. The whole bench is expendable except for our Landry
Interesting idea but i think both would make the rockets instantly worse. The chicago idea (assuming they wouldn't offer more than one of the Gordon/Hinrich/Deng types) would essentially be another poo-poo platter that would result in alot of guys getting contracts they don't deserve for playing decent. That idea rarely ever works and we all know it. The rockets would probably get more for tmac if they kept him and used him in a trade as an expiring contract when his contract is up. The rockets put themselves in a bind when they focused solely on win now mode when tmac and yao first got together. they seriously needed to focus on building a realistic championship caliber supporting cast first. I think their best bet would be to ride these guys out until they have a clear understanding that the tmac/yao tandem won't work with decent role players. They don't know that now and they may never find out but i think its safe to say that bringing in some more inconsistent short shooters like Gordon and Hinrich won't make this team a championship team.
Try a sign & trade for Mike Miller. I'd offer Bobby Jackson (expiring), Luther Head (expiring), and the #25 pick. I think it might be enough, although it would leave the Grizz with like 6 PG's that play like SG's lol... I'd use a few million of the MLE on Landry, and use the rest on Mickael Pietrus if he'll take it. If Landry is damaged goods, I'd let him walk and I'd go full force to get Ben Gorden for the MLE. Yes, he's undersized, but he's a SCORER who shoots over 41% from 3 for his career and is a bonafied 4th quarter stud. Anybody think we couldn't use one of those? Miller & Pietrus or Miller & Gordon would make our backcourt scoring/shooting much better. I don't think we can significantly upgrade PG this off-season, unfortunately. Do we have the LLE as well this off-season? Does signing a player (preferably a big) to a veteran minimum contract go against the MLE?
I would highly doubt it since in my opinion Miami is in shambles and needs to really rebuild. New York and Chicago atleast have some talent that could come together on some level if they added T-Mac.... Miami would be Wade and T-Mac and that is it. If you wanted to look at Marion-for-T-Mac and other parts not involving their lotto pick, they may do that. I agree. I think if the Rockets were to decide to trade T-Mac, they would do so with an eye towards really contending in 2009-10. That alone probably dictates that the Rockets will keep T-Mac and possibly Rafer, giving it one more season, then making bigger moves a year from now if things don't work out. I do think though this is the first offseason where the Rockets really have to consider bigger options though than just adding a piece. I feel the same way. I really don't know much about Bayless or Mayo just yet, for example. Mayo shot 41% from three in college as a freshman, which is intriguing. He had an upside down assist-turnover ratio though... would be nice if those skills could be a PG.
As potentially flawed as the T-Mac/Yao duo might prove to be it's still hard to make a drastic move considering the 55 wins with Yao missing half of the season. Yao is untouchable. I'd be willing to listen to offers for T-Mac but again, you laugh any deal off the table that doesn't involve us getting equal talent in return. In Clutch's scenario, that's the exception to the "equal talent or no deal" stipulation since getting we'd be getting what would presumably be a top five pick and the potential to clear all that cap space. That's a whole different can of beans. All the same, I think i'd rather try to win the free agent lottery and persuade an Arenas, Jamison or whoever to sign first. Sure, it's a long shot but everybody knows this team is for real. Everybody knows Adelman is the real deal - they've seen what he can do even without his best player with this group. If a guy like Jamison or Arenas want a chance to play for a title they know where to come.
First we have to bring back V-span...then...lol, j/k......Rafer & Head must go on the chopping block.....Damn the rockets have to be the top "All injury team of the decad'
True, Yao is untradeable but if he goes down with another season ending injury the rockets need to start thinking about trading before its too late
I think the biggest flaw in these trade tmac and build for the future ideas is that people seem to think that Yao is still a spring chicken. He's only a year and some months younger than tracy and guys as tall as him with major leg injuries tend to wear down quicker than average bigs. If the goal to is to win a championship with Yao as the main guy, i can't see it happening 3 or 4 years from now with a guy from the 2008 rookie class. We would have to get lucky to have that guy become our main superstar like the Heat did. Other than doing a poor job of surrounding our stars with decent role players, this organization's biggest failure has been relying on the 2 of the most injury prone superstars in recent history.
find a way to sign and trade for calderon or trade for tj ford or trade for hinrich. find a way to sign and trade for artest or trade for mike miller if the pg doesn't work out. trade draft picks and for a veteran big to back yao. get rid of head for the love of god. I dont know, do something.....i didnt expect the Rockets to do much even with Yao....now it only pains me more to know they are probably going to give this 1-2 punch another year to be healthy.... screw it, maybe marion stays in miami, and d, wade wants a verteran and not a rookie, trade t-mac and all ur firsts for derrick rose or michael beasley lol....prefereably rose. Sweet!
