I'm just looking at crappy HoopsHype but it shows Watson, Wilkins and Atkins all getting paid this coming season. According to that site, I don't see anybody in your list of 6 OKC players that has a contract expiring before the end of 09/10.
this coming season is 09/10 right? they all expire at the end of 09/10 so in the summer of 2010, they come off NO cap.
oo, i see what you are talking about, the immediate saving of 13m is by the difference in contracts, NO sends out 40m in contracts, and recieves back only 27m.
Nevermind, we were saying the same thing. The $13 mil they would save right away is because they would be taking that much less back in the deal. I meant the same thing you said in my original post when I responed to Air Langhi. I should have said the end of 09/10 instead of in 10/11 but that's what I meant. I didn't mention the immediate savings but that should have been apparent based on your post with the numbers. Edit: Looking back, I also wrote something confusing. I shouldn't have said none of those contract expire after next season. I was looking at a list that also showed their salaries for 08/09. Either way, we were making the same point: NO will save a lot of money and also get back a younger and better group of players.
Yep, absolutely, my point was that the rockets are not players in the superstar sweepstakes if any become available, doesn't matter how hard we try, we cannot put together a better package than other teams out there. We will only be able to go after older veteran guys that are overpaid to a certain extent that the young teams like OKC and memphis won't trade for.
I don't want to create a thread about this so I'll just post this thought here. The best away to build a contending team is through the draft. Occasionally, you can pull off a Celtics (Big 3), Detroit (Billups/Hamilton/Sheed/Wallce) or a recent Lakers (Shaq/Kobe) type of thing but more often than not, you draft a stud that you can build around. We did it with Hakeem, the Bulls with Jordan, the Celtics with Bird, the Lakers with Magic, the Spurs with Duncan, etc... Even with Shaq/Kobe, Kobe was effectively drafted by the Lakers and was as vital to their success as Shaq. We drafted Yao the last time we had a top 3 pick and that window is now closing. So far, things haven't come close to working out as we hoped. We may get lucky with a few shrewd moves and pull off a Celtics type thing but if that doesn't work out, we are back to the drawing board. Yao is quickly approaching the end of his career given his size and limitations. If we can't build something in the next couple of years, we are going to have to rebuild. That means sucking for a few years and getting some good picks, kind of like what OKC has done recently. We may be able to turn McGrady's contract, or the cap space the removal of his contract will free up, into the pieces we need to contend with Yao but if we fail to put it together quickly, the window will be gone in a year or two. Lebron is going nowhere and the Lakers look like they'll be around for the next few years sitting atop the West. Plus, teams like the Blazers and even a couple of the cellar dwellars are likely to start becoming real threats in the near future. My guess is we have 2 years at the absolute most to build around Yao and maybe not even that long if he can't stay healthy or we can't find the missing pieces.
Totally agreed. I also consider Kidd and Nash as better options of veteran pg. Kidd is older but with much more skill set and leadership than Bibby. Probably can use 3 year MLE. Also, I think Rockets will keep Tmac to see if he can play. Fans are just so easy to forget how good Tmac was and don't realize how gifted these Rockets are. If TMac can have 15-5-5 with current roster, Rockets will definitely dominate the league. They just need a healthy team, specially a healthy yao.
Look, the whole point of trading Tmac is to get some decent players that can come off the bench such as a Center for Yao. You shouldn't try to get a replacement in the SG position because we're not going to replace Shane and Ron in the starting lineup...that is not good for the team. So that is the whole point...because we have established what the starters is going to BE!! It's going to be Shane and Ron. Either Tmac have to come off the bench or play PG position or trade.
Well it depends on how much shots he is taken to get that 15-5-5. If he's taking 20 shots to get number...that's not efficient. The point is Tmac is a streak shooter and he can help you or kill you.
I am not sure about that at all - The thing about Yao is that if he is going to retire it will be because of injuries, not a decline of his game, his game is probably the least predicated on athleticism in the NBA. So I don't see how being a bit slower or jump a bit less is going to significantly diminish his game. He'll always have his height, and he'll always have his size. I can see him being effective way into his 30s, as long as injuries are not a factor.
I agree with these statements totally. But I believe you underrate how good these Rocket team is now. They are really close. If yao didn't go down, they should beat Lakers and other teams. NBA now is much weaker. See these 4 finalists, their role players are really weak. Rockets have the best role players, they just need their superstar (Yao) to keep healthy.
Looking at your bolded part for OKC, that deal is not necessarily better than the Houston one because they would still have to make further moves to be able to sign a free agent in 2010. I think you underestimate how difficult it would be to dump Collison, Posey or Mo Pete by next summer (or in general), when half of the other teams in the league are trying to clear cap for 2010. You have to give away extra assets to get other teams to take on those contracts. So if NO wants to be a player that summer, then your trade proposal does not put them in that situation.
2010 is just extra gravy for them, they get Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green to build around along with David West, it's way way better than the houston deal.
Trugoy, Gsw gives the rox the best deal of anyone. Now,I'm not saying he will do it, i'm saying he should do a deal with gsw. Why? Jackson,Maggette, and turiaf for tracy and barry makes too much sense for both teams. We've had this long threaded discussion about it before, but let me say why I would do it. Once again, I don't like wasting yrs trying to get into this so called dream scenerio of 2010. The so called bad contracts aren't bad in terms of production and needs of this team. Jackson gives the rox a playmaker and a tough guy like artest. He's a better ball handler and decision maker, a good defender and very competitive. He's 31 and has 4 yrs on his deal. Maggette gives the rox a true rim attacking, efficient scorer. People call him a black hole, but a guy that can get to the line 8 times in 31mins is a huge bonus. It would give the rockets a 2/3 combo of jackson,battier,maggette.He has 4yrs at 9m, but has just made 28 or 29 yrs old. Turiaf gives the rox a legit 4/5 shot blocker behind Yao. He can also play with yao if coach needs him to and can protect the rim. He has 3 yrs at 4m and is 24 yrs old. Why would gsw do it? They get from under some contracts and are clearly going to a youth movement. Plus, if they want to, they could move mcgrady's contract again if the right deal comes along. Why would houston do it? Its the best deal that will help them compete for a title for the next 3 yrs. It would mean the end of artest and wafer, but jackon is just as good, if not better, maggette is light yrs better than wafer, and turiaf is good and provides yao with a legit backup that won't bog down the offense like hayes and deke. Like I said, its the most logical deal, its just a matter of doing it. If they do it as soon as the season ends, it gives the team their new direction early and everyone can work towards winning the ring.
How about trading Tracy to Sacramento for Kevin Martin? I have no idea what kind of cap situation they are currently in, but that is definitely a possibility. Seeing as how K Mart has been there for awhile and they have not made any significant strides in making the team better. Also, I think either Prince, Wallace or Hamilton may be made available via the Detroit Firesale this summer.
Biggest reason that it's not a good trade is that it essentially stops us from resigning scola, lowry, landry and brooks. if you make that trade, you are pretty much up against the wall in terms of luxury tax, and scola, lowry, landry and brooks will want a significant increase when their deals are done. And it's not just a one off hit either, essentially, rockets will become perennial luxury tax payers, no cap flexibility, the only way it works is if the trade works out and rockets win championship, because there is no plan B, if the trade doesn't work out, the contracts are untradeable, and you end up losing the core.
Sacramento and Detrout have no need for mcgrady, they are both significantly under the cap in 2010 and have no need for tmac's expiring contract.
