Yeah your right regarding 5's in draft/on market but to get to the title you have to make a trip to the Staples Center. If this is the team you are gambling on for the long term no question we get squashed by LA everytime. Cato/Taylor/possibly Gooden isn't going to put a leash on Shaq. Which is why you draft Ming to get production if not defensively if he has a time putting a handle on Shaq then Ming will do it offensively. In the long run Ill bet on Ming. I also tend to agree with gr8-1 that Im not sending the number one away for Lewis or Odom. Odom + Olawakandi for #1 and either Cato/Taylor/or KT then we'll talk. Yeah it addresses the 3 no doubt but if the Kandi Man isn't in the deal then we are giving up too much. But it don't solve our problems at the 5. We need rebounding in a bad way. So who's going to bang the boards? Gooden? Can you say Keith Van Horn all over again? This guy is a work in progress that isn't going to make the quick impact that Rudy wants as you claim. If Rudy is looking for help now, Gooden isn't the player I want. Gooden plays the 4. We need bodies at the 5. Which is why you go after Ming. Will is absolutely correct.
Good insight Oily ( sorry for the abrev ).. From my view point,, ROX management felt last year prior to injuries that we had a playoff calibre team. Adding a MING to the mix will only add to the talent base. I remember a certain Pau Gasol that all the draft guru's said was too soft to compete at the NBA level right away. If I am not mistaken,, BOTH Gasol and Ming where dominate and carried their teams in their respective leagues. I am not thrilled with the red tape ( No Pun intended ) that ROX mgmt may have to go through to get this guy , but if it can be worked out then you have to take chances to be great. The high post and pick -n- roll options Ming could provide alone with his mid range jump shots would be tough to stop at 7' 5" .. Not to mention a developing hook shot according to NBA Draft.net.. The real key to a solid squad will be what happens with the 15th pick.. DO NOT GIVE PICK TO MEMPHIS.. Draft Bostan Nachbar ( 6' 8 " Small forward ) compared to Peja !!!!!!!! or .. Jiri Welsch ... ( 6' 6" PG / SG ) with handles , money jumper , and good court sense awareness.... Trade Moochie and KT for a small forward . If Jiri is the real deal.. He comes off the bench to spell Steve and Cat. Can run the team when Steve moves to the SG role.
The more I read about Yao Ming, the less enamored I am. It's like meeting a beautiful woman, she's perfect for you; and then you meet her psychotic, f'd-up family....and they insist on living with you and controlling your life. http://www.espnstar.com/jsp/cda/other/aid=217947other_newsdetail.html Try that on for size. Gawd, if we could get Garnett. Nearly impossible. But if you take Jay Williams and sign-and-trade him ($3.5 mil) along with Glen Rice ($9 mil, contract expires after two years)...hmn, that's $12.5 million so far...they'd have to take either Mo ($6.0 mil) or a re-signed (and traded) Kenny Thomas. We'd prob'ly have to give up the #15 pick, too. Essentially, we'd have to give up the #1, #15, and Kenny Thomas (or Mo Taylor) for Kevin Garnett. I'd do it in a heartbeat. Less than a heartbeat. Even with KG's complicated contract problems (grandfather clause), I'd jump on this kind of deal like a bum on a baloney sandwich. Not that I really think we can trade for Garnett, but Kevin McHale might be able to put together the team he wants with such a deal. He would give himself some financial breathing room. And if the Bulls still want Wally Disturbiak, why not trade for Mike Dunleavy (#2 pick) and give the Bulls the #15 we sent them? OK, OK, a pipe dream....but if Kenny Thomas will agree to a contract extension and trade, or if the Wolves will take Mo Taylor, could a three-way with the Bulls happen? We could even throw in the conditional pick(s) owed us by the Bulls. Of course, it would be much easier to trade the #1 and #15 for Lamar Odom and the #8 (i.e., a center). Rashard? He's good but I won't give up too much for him. If we need someone who can help run the show, his name is Lamar, not Rashard. Or KG. Damn, that would be a blockbuster.
The more I think about it, the more I lean towards only trading the pick IF AND ONLY IF we can get a "franchise" player in return (this is assuming that the Chinese government isn't putting up too many road blocks...and I realize this is a big assumption). The KG deal is the kind of thing I'm talking about...however this scenario seems pretty unlikely. If Minnesotta wanted to do this deal, then they would have to be VERY high on Jay Williams because they would have to be eating some of our bloated contracts in order to make the deal work cap-wise. I think a deal where we give up #1 + Mo + Rice + Moochie for KG + C. Billups works cap-wise, but again, Minn. would have to be REALLY high on J-dub (or high on the whacky-tobaccy) to do this. I think oeilpere is right when he says that this is a long shot...
This is really disappointing news that the Rockets are likely going to pass up on Ming. I pray this will not end up another Rashard Lewis situation where the fear of taking a chance costs the Rockets big time in the future.
I'm taking the lazy route also and agreeing with Will completely. It sounds like Rockets management is trying to be too cute by half with this unbelievable stroke of luck. A very, very depressing post, pops.
NewJack, But with the brilliant Rockets' mindset that oeilpere is describing, you could always correct that mid lottery mistake by shedding a future top pick for the player you lost out on 4 years before. Sorry oeilpere, but Rudy is an idiot when it comes to draft matters. I don't doubt that you heard a lot of interesting stuff... but I definitely doubt that at the end of draft night that the Rockets won't possess Ming (for better or for worse). It's just too serious of a decision. Besides, those greedy ****s in China want much of Yao's money. They'll never get it if he's playing basketball there. And as West said, draft the ******* and deal with it. Our teams shouldn't be hostages to players (or to governments representing a 1/6th of the world's population).
Such a great event is bringing out the best of the board. Keep it going... the info and the give and take. There's more of you out there. Chime in! My own opinion is that Stern should come out with a definitive statement regarding what's allowed under league rules, and let the Chinese bite the bullet and accept that, or be prepared for the uproar that would follow. Stern most likely won't do that, and leave us twisting in the wind. Oeilpere, you honestly think that Ming is more Bradley than Smits or Sampson? That's not good news, and at odds with what little I've seen of him. That's a major problem... we all know SO little about him!
Couldn't agree more...absolutely on the money. You become a champion by A) Making some unconventional moves, as standard moves just gradiates everyone towards the middle, and B) Getting lucky. We just got very, very lucky. Let's not blow it by playing 'safe'. I don't want to get on that 80's Hawks/Cavs type treadmill...I want to go for the gusto, or die trying...the advantage for us, as fans, is that if you die the system rewards your death with a chance to rebuild...if you play it safe and get on that treadmill, you get year after year of 1 or 2 rounds of the playoffs, no real chance to get better, and no real chance to be a perennial threat either. Of course, if you go for it and lose, and you're one of the guys in charge, you might lose your job, but that's their problem, not ours. Our best interest, as fans, is in the Ring...
oeilpere, leave the politics out of it unless you know it. Give ME LINKS!!! This BBS is spewing out hoaxing, and you might be propogating them without knowing it. I've been providing plethora of links on this, and you just aren't reading up, being so busy writing about how you love a #1 pick to add marginal extras to your previous trades before the lottery. for instance, What hoops! DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE!! I can't believe you are falling for this and/or using it to prop up your ideas. You won't find me trying soooooo hard to convince people of my opinion of the UCLA Cut with Francis and Ming. I will wait until people start a thread to offer my personal take on Ming's influence on our offense....like this one thread: <a href="http://bbs.clutchcity.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33692">Design a Play for Ming</a> Don't downplay the Ming pick. Don't say now you can get Odom for cheaper or with extras, like you intend to ignore Ming. Just say you like Ming or not. Just say what he is worth. I personally believe he will significantly upgrade this team in 2 years MUCH more than you apparently do. but that is just my opinion. Yeah, and Doc Rocket tried to tell us yesterday that "no one has eever SEEN" Yao Ming. You prophets need to wake up!!! We don't care what your sources are. Don't give us, "Anyone who thinks that Ming"...whatever..."needs their head examined." BULLSH!T You owe us an apology this time, Mr Over Sensitive, No One Takes My Word On Honor. Don't read me your lame take on Ming to prop up your <b>prophetability</b> on this BBS. As you told us: "End of my OPINION!!!"
OP- As always, thank you for your time. I hope we can get a franchise type player without having to give up our big three. Any conversations with the Spurs?
I believe this was a point I made some time ago … in another context. I believe that this is a playoff team, when healthy, so the consideration should be … what's going to take it to the top? Chemistry and character questions take on added importance, as well as the opportunity to take a player who has a chance to be an extraordinary player. Dare to be great!
Well, I have been a rocket fan since 1983 and from a distance I have seen alot. I view the rockets organization as a fairly deliberate and discipline bunch. I would like to think that the management were very pleased with the team just before MoT got injured last year. They signed the free agents they wanted and drafted the guys they wanted. Although we had a bad season we all know that it was because of injuries. So there is no need for me to feel that management have lost faith and confidence in the position they were heading and literally turn their back on the few gains that we had this year. Hopefully CD and RT remembers that the two championships came from a team that was allowed to develop and did not come from blockbuster action. In fact our last 2 blockbusters (Pippen, Barkley) did not get us rings. In fact RT needs to prove that he has what it take to make a non-Akeem team an efficient offensive bunch and a defensive stopper. If not all the Lewis' and Odoms will end up just like Pippen. I have said that the team does not have a talent problem, it seems more like a system problem that has even hindered Steve Francis. If Todd Mac can be the center on a NJ team that is about to go to the Finals (series tied) and Seattle, Portland, Suns, Wolves and many more have centers we do not know, why the hell can we feel a 7-5 ft skilled 22 yrs old center with range to 3pt line is woefully inadequate? Last year we took a 19 yr old who we would have taken #1 who is even more frail than Ming and have now included him among the untouchables. However a 22yrs old promising big man, with almost 70 more pounds is not good enough. Have we lost perspective. I respect OP and my thougths here are an attempt to speak out loud to the same group that made a few blunders in the past. I trust that they realize that the Ming fing is more than basketball. The way I look at it is that if we sellout the new arena with Odom and Lewis we sure can sell it out without them. They are not difference makers. DO we have contracts that we should move? Yes we do and unfortunately the ink on some of them have not even dried yet. Try your best to correct those mistakes but do so with other things like the #15 not the #1 pick.
#1 for Lamar Odom shouldn't even be discussed. No way Odom is worth a #1 pick. The Clippers would trade him straight up for a #5 pick, they woudn't have to even think for a second to trade him for #1. Clippers aren't to happy with him. It almost sounds to me like they're in more of a position to just "get rid of him" than they are to pull some blockbuster deal. A guy who had the problems he has over the last two years can't be worth that much. Didn't ESPN say he was the most likely player in the NBA to be traded when they rated the trade value of 40 NBA players? Anyone remember that? As for including Olowokandi, does the prospect of getting him really excite anyone? For some reason it doesn't really do it for me. He's a decent player, but that's about it. I'm just not very excited about a deal involving the #1 pick that lands Kandi and Odom, and that's probably the best "realistic" deal I've heard. So, in other words, I haven't heard any trade that really excite me. A Garnett deal would be a no-brainer, but I really can't imagine the Wolves trading him...talk about ruining a franchise. And maybe I should start a new thread on this, but if the Rockets really do want to pull a blockbuster deal why not included some GUARANTEED FUTURE FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS? I think this is the year to go all out.
If true, pops, that is pretty depressing news you're giving us. I only hope that rudy and cd are smarter and have more foresight than this. Most likely barring a miracle playoff run, we're not going to win the championship in the next two years anways. Even if we get odom or garnett. And i don't even want to think of what we would have to give up to get kg. Athletic 3's like odom and combo forwards like gooden are a dime a dozen in the nba. There are 3 or 4 every couple years. But, an all-star center comes along at the most every 6 or 7 years. Of course Yao ming is a gamble, but it's a once in a generation gamble that has a huge upside and not so big downside(we weren't even suppose to have the pick!). You don't piss away a chance at greatness just because you're scared. And if rudy and cd pass up on this great opportunity because they don't think he'll be an impact player in his first season, I seriously have to question the their competence and the direction of this team. Of course, i have faith that they'll come to the conclusion that this is too big an opportunity to pass up.
Pops, Good read, and appreciate your input. I disagree about Yao, but let's assume that we are trading the pick. Do we have any chance of getting GS pick and Jamison? Then we could get a great player at 3, and get a rebounding scoring SF as well. Heck throw in the 15 to make it fair. Thoughts? DaDakota PS. HP has been really ornery lately.
