Man, this is an early discussion. I can't focus on specific players yet. But for sure our need for a new starting PG is the #1 priority. #1A would be at least a backup PG or part-time starter for when Rafer craters. PF help is a distant #2. It's funny how this forum has been so focused on PF help since Yao got here but it's misguided. Because of Yao, we can afford to have a player like Chuck as a starter. With Yao and Tracy on the team, PG automatically becomes our 3rd most important position on the Rockets by far. Maybe I'm on an island but this seems really obvious to me.
true. it's a bit unlikely though because a few teams will have cap space to pay him more than the MLE. teams like atlanta and memphis would be interested in him. S&T is a good idea but wouldn't detroit be first in line? i mean of course we should try for him but it's still a long shot. i think atkins would shore up our PG spot, but we would still need a scorer off the bench. i'd rather go into the offseason with the plan of trading our first rounder along with sura and lucas for bench help. mike james, kyle korver, and even luke ridnaur should be available for a pick and cap relief. then we can target guys like atkins, steve, mopete, hill.
Some thoughts: CHUCK HAYES: I'm pretty sure the Rockets have the Early Bird rights to Chuck Hayes, although his "10-day contract" status from last year may muddy the waters there. If the Rockets do have his Early Bird rights, they should be able to offer him up to the MLE salary level, without actually using the MLE. Please, someone who KNOWS the answer please confirm or clarify. DRAFT DAY TRADES: Unfortunately, Sherlock, I don't think the #25 pick holds the same allure to other teams that the #8 pick had last year, meaning that the Rockets are unlikely to turn that pick (with another player) into a starter via trade. DRAFT PICKS: As far as the first round draft pick is concerned, my early choice would be Tiago Splitter. This guy has been playing overseas for about five years, yet he's still only 21 years old. He's 6-11, long, athletic and a good rebounder. The next good prospect out of Brazil. The best part is, if the Rockets somehow don't have room for him, they could possibly stash him overseas for another year. However, I think he's seasoned enough to play at the NBA level right now. I don't think the Rockets have a second rounder this summer. I think it belongs to Milwaukee as the second of two second round picks traded to originally get Mike James. BOB SURA: I have a feeling that, since the Rockets were unable to move his contract during the season, Sura will retire this summer, and the Rockets will get a Disabled Player Exception for half of his salary, or about $1.9M, that they can use on free agents. POINT GUARD: Mo Williams is a pipe dream. He'll be this summer's Bobby Simmons. I'm guessing that Williams will get a long term deal from someone at $7-8M per season, minimum. A slightly more realistic pipedream (one that I would wish for in an ideal world) is for Mike Bibby to opt out of his contract to take the full MLE with the Rockets. This would have to be one of those "Danny-Manning-with-the-Phoenix-Suns" type of moments where a player who is still playing at a high level decides to take a substantial pay cut to try to win a championship. He'd be the good shooting point guard we've been missing. His defense isn't terrible (not great), but Van Gundy can make him better there. Rafer could come off the bench as the defensive, up-tempo floor leader of the second unit. If this happens (it won't), I'd look to trade either Lucus or Spanoulis. SHOOTING GUARD: We're set here. Tracy McGrady is a superstar. Luther Head is a quality backup. Kirk Snyder (who has barely even played a minute at shooting guard this season) is an athlete with size. And let's not forget that Spanoulis plays both guard spots. Well, I guess I shouldn't say that Spanoulis actually "plays" any position for Van Gundy. SMALL FORWARD: There is no need to go after a starting caliber small forward. Shane Battier is the perfect complement to Tracy and Yao. He is actually a better player to have on the floor for this team than Rashard Lewis or Grant Hill would be. Battier is a better defender than either and is just as good a 3-point shooter as Rashard. Battier doesn't need the ball (a la Grant Hill) to be effective. Still, if the Rockets could still somehow get Hill as a 6th Man, I'd be fine with that. POWER FORWARD: Chuck Hayes should be back. Barring a trade, Juwan will be back, too. I have no problem with either player, each of whom is a pretty good fit in Van Gundy's system. Like most, I'd also like to see the Rockets add a tall, long, shot-blocking, rebounding power forward. Maybe Tiago Splitter could fit that mold, although he is a surprising poor shot-blocker for someone who's 6-11 with long arms. Maybe P.J. Brown is a possibility via free agency. CENTER: If the Rockets choose to let Jake Tsakalidis go this summer, they will need to find a backup center to replace Dikembe Mutombo, even if Deke comes back for one more year. Again, Splitter could play some minutes at center if the Rockets want to go up-tempo. If he falls to the Rockets, Roy Hibbert of Georgetown (all 7-2 of him) is another option. Overall, I don't think the Rockets will make any major changes to their team, nor do I think they have to. This is a team that simply needs to grow together and to possibly add one or two minor additions to the rotation. The future looks positive for this team.
1st priority is the point guard position. Whether it is starter or back-up, we need one. It will cause us to be stacked at the position though, so we'd have to move either JL3 or Span. It would be awesome to get Steve back as much as I hate his game, but only as a back-up. I still have his Rockets jersey... I'd say sign Francis, trade Span (or Snyder or Novak) and Howard for a veteran PF, re-sign T-Sak. And we'd probably be set. PG: Rafer Alston/ Steve Francis SG: Tracy McGrady/ Luther Head SF: Shane Battier/ Late 1st round pick PF: Chuck Hayes/ Veteran PF acquired via trade C: Yao Ming/ Dike Mutombo/ T-Sak Sort of an improvement... IMO the kind of improvement we need is one that would put us among the elites. Maybe either Steve can be that or the acquired PF. We just need something...
This is a recent status alert on Stevie F ( espn.com) Status Alert: As quickly as Francis returned to the Knicks rotation, he has become the enigma on the floor. Forcing his style, rather than that of coach Isiah Thomas, Francis almost refused to get the ball to Eddy Curry Wednesday. On two different occasions Curry could be seen barking at him. With Thomas also yelling to get Curry the ball throughout the fourth quarter, Francis started forcing it inside. Four Francis turnovers inside a six minute span erased the Knicks lead for good. (Mar 15) Once a ball hogger- always a ball hogger. Stevie you are good- but you need to win games and championships!
Nice Post.The chances of Bibby or Mo Williams is unlikely as you said. What do you suggest to improve the PG spot? I would also like to ask you if Splitter is not available when the Rockets pick who should they go after?
I'm all for getting Stackhouse, if only to see what happens when you throw him in a locker room with Kirk Snyder. Nothing like a little WWE Smackdown 82 nights a year to make for an interesting season. DALLAS -- Jazz rookie guard Kirk Snyder and veteran guard Jerry Stackhouse of the Dallas Mavericks engaged in a postgame fistfight following Utah's 88-81 loss to the Mavs on Saturday night here. Snyder reportedly was seen bleeding after the fight, which took place in an area of American Airlines Center near where the Jazz's team bus was parked. The Jazz left the arena shortly after the fight, which occurred roughly 20-to-30 minutes after the game's conclusion -- and after Snyder had showered and exited the visitor's lockerroom assigned to the Jazz. The Mavs considered issuing a statement following the game, but owner Mark Cuban later told reporters that the incident was still being investigated. According to a Dallas Morning News report, "there were reports that the fight lasted up to 40 seconds. Security officials from all over American Airlines Center Center rushed to break up the confrontation. Stackhouse was escorted back to the locker room by teammates Josh Howard and Michael Finley." Jazz coach Jerry Sloan did not witness the brawl, but was said to have hurried to the bus afterward so he could speak with the bleeding Snyder http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20050410/ai_n13599094
I thought that in the Jake Tsakalitis (sp?) trade, we traded padgett for their TE, and they traded Jake for ours, so don't we have a small TE worth padgett's old contract that we could maybe use to sign Chuck back?
padgett was a minimum salary player. there's an exception that allows min salary players to be traded (in single player trade, not packaged) without the other team taking anything back.
I agree with you here! With yao, it is the other 29 teams that are supposed to worry about where to find a decent center to minimize yao not the rockets to worry about finding a decent PF to counter the likes of Duncan, Kg, Amare, Boozer etc. Without T-mac, the team's records suck! So the rockets should sign someone who can create his own shots, pass and shoot the ball. That's the top priority and preferably a PG!
OMG. Come on guys. You can't use a TE to re-sign a free agent. TE stands for trade exception. That means you use it in a trade. Also, all the trades involving Sura's contract, stop with it. This is it already. This is the last year of Sura's contract. He's got a team option that we can buy him out for $100,000 next year. We will buy him out. We aren't going to re-up him and use his contract in a trade. The opportunity to do that passed at this year's trading deadline. BTW, it should be obvious to all that Francis is playing his way to a buyout. He's not going to cooperate with Isaiah because he wants out of New York. So, he's going to play this way to force their hand in the offseason.
I think Sura's will be useful as a trade asset next season since it's partially guaranteed for $1 million. A lot of teams will be looking to dump salary and that's what Sura's contract offers. Reggie Evans, Damon Jones, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Carlos Arroyo, Marcus Banks, and Darius Songaila are all realistic targets, ie workable in a Sura trade. Not exactly a choice lot but the options are there.
I don't think Sura's contract condition is of a buyout, it's just partially guaranteed. They can keep him on up to a certain date/s during the regular season until until he qualifies for a fully guaranteed contract or just waive him for $1 million before that happens.
I think we can get away with paying him about 2 mil or something to that effect. Chuck Hayes is a starter, sure, but who's looking to aquire Hayes in free agency? He's only effective next to a huge low post center threat. Yao is really the only guy in the league that fits that discription. Look at his stats with and without Yao and it becomes painfully obvious.
Actually no. Sura is on the "books" for 3.8M next year. However only 1M is guaranteed. So he can still be used in trades for "salary matching." This is key. Feigen said as much in his blogs. So Sura is still an asset in terms of "salary matching" so we can move a non-rotational player (Sura) to another team looking to dump salary and get a rotational player back. That's why a Sura+JL3 for Mike James deal could happen. 2007 Summer Assets -MLE -LLE -Sura's 3.8M contract that is only 1M guarateed -1st round Pick
Agree totlly. If he plays and training with teammate., VSpan will grow in the summer and be the perfect 2nd pg. so MLE shoul go for for the 3rd score option, a 6th man like Wells. unfortunately, this year Wells and Span didn't work well, otherwise Rockects will win it all.
