Sorry but I just have to pick apart a couple of things in your post. 1st. Amare is a great talent and deserves all of the props he got last year but Yao was better in head to head compatition and anyone that dismisses Yao just because he is with the Rockets is only kidding themselves. 2nd. LaFrentz is an absolute bust in Dallas. He has shown that he is not NBA worthy outside of an emergency. Cat, Steve and Yao so much more consistently better than him, he does not even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with those three. I live in Dallas and the fans here hate him as much if not more than Shawn Bradley. Now if you wanted to add Van Exel... 3rd. Hedo is another person who can not be placed in the star list. Certainly not yet since he has done absolutely nothing other than loose his back up role to Jim Jackson last year. 4th. Neither Spree of Candi can be classified as stars IMO. Both are good players but both have very identifiable deficiancies in their games. BTW, the Pups are my pick to win it all next year.
I disagree to a certain extent... When the spirit moves LaFrentz to play inside, instead of camp out at the top of the key, he can be awesome - that's why he's so inconsistent, and that's why Nellie gets so upset with him but still starts him. LaFrentz is also a good shotblocker. Raef just needs more of a hard ass to force him to keep his game within fifteen feet of the baket.
Maybe so...but I'm down with dreamcasting when it's for a good cause. How about Odom signed @ 9millionish? + (Ely or Wilcox) for Rice and Griffin? The Clippers are going to lose Odom regardless, so this is basically a trade to get rid of an unhappy player and move the cap space to next year, while swapping Griffin for whichever of their young PFs they want least. This move will probably put us over the luxury cap next year, but Les said he would be willing to do it for the right player. Odom is not a good 3 pt shooter (career .313), but has a pretty good field goal percentage in general (career .444) and a decent FT% @ .777. He is an excellent passer for a 3 (career 4.6 apg, high 5.9 apg) and I believe he would mesh well with our squad. Assuming that we could make this move, it could really make or break the Rockets. We would have good size, speed, passing, and a core of players who are all close to the same age. We would also have defense, rebounding, and shooting off of the bench. It's not all sunshine and roses, as we would be gambling that Mo and Lamar O could keep their eyes on the ball and not the eight ball, but if we could do it, it's a chance I'd be willing to take. Come on CD, renew our faith! Btw, Lamar, you can help too! Remember what Cat said "With me and Steve and Lamar on the break, it's over!".
The Rocks usually come through with a splash when we need one. If Odom can get his head and game together, this would be a great move and might make the Mobes/Franchise backcourt much more effective. While Odom's passing would help the backcourt, his rebounding and defense would help offset MoT's weaknesses at PF. This may be our player...we'll see.
