Xiki, The perfect PG is probably not a realistic option, unless we can get Calderon etc... So, you have to go with an upgrade in two areas. 1. shooting 2. playmaking It would be great to get a guy who can do both, but it is still an improvement to get a guy who is better than Rafer at either of these and equal to him in all other areas. There are PGs available that are slight upgrades, so I would look there if you can't hit the homerun with a player like Calderon. DD
You are right , there are SLIGHT upgrades out there , but to get those slight upgrades we will have to give our best assets. Is it worth it? I don't think so because they are slight upgrades , they won't be the difference between 1st or 2nd round. We can get with our best assets a huge upgrade at the win , I will take a big upgrade over a slight upgrade anytime. We should just try to sign Udrih with everythng we got , and then tared for a Miller type. No point in trading Bobby Jackson , Luther Head and our 1st for a guy like Steve Blake , I don't even know if that will be enough they might ask for Battier.
Check out the Calderon thread. He basically came out and said in an interview that he wasn't willing to play off the bench anymore. If he and Ford can't co-exist in Toronto I think there's a good chance that the Raptors will try to move one of them. Regardless of who it is the Rockets need to move and try to acquire that player.
caderon, i'm all for it. even if we need to throw shane in there. but is ford really a huge upgrade? at what cost can we afford to get him?
Read the danged thread, I have given LOTS of names..... Blake, TJ Ford, Calderon, Udrih, ...possibly Theo Pappa...... At least the first 4 are upgrades. DD
I think Ford might not be the facilitator that Calderon is but he still represents an upgrade over Alston in all the categories that matter: assists, fg%, ability to penetrate, etc. He's well known as a guy who can drive to the basket. He's also a lot younger. On the negative side he's suffered some very serious injuries in his career, injuries an order of magnitude beyond the stress fractures and ligament damage a lot of players suffer. The TNT guys have even said they think he should retire. I still think he's worth a shot, given the paucity of free agents on the market at the PG position. As to how much to give away to get him, I'd say less than Calderon. I think it's very plausible that the Raptors will deal Ford if Calderon is unwilling to play off the bench. The Rockets might be able to get him without sacrificing Battier, who's their biggest trade piece. If I was the GM I'd be investigating a trade vigorously.
Whoops, one more thing. A Ford deal might be the rare situation where you can trade one player for another who plays at the same position. If Ford leaves Toronto you'd have to think that they'd need somebody to back up Calderon off the bench. Why not Alston, with maybe Novak or Head thrown in to sweet the deal?
If we are going to look at Rafers PER's on the offensive side then I think we also need to look at the defensive side because I think that is the only thing that may set him apart from a majority of other PG's. I'm sure there are some defensive ratings we can look at, though I'm not sure what any of them are. The game is half offense and half defense, if you're going to rank a player in comparison to the rest of the league then I think you have to look at both sides. If only the offensive side was looked at then players like Deke and Hayes wouldn't even be in the D-League today. Pugs
I think his defense is overrated (witness the abuse he suffered from Deron Williams in the fourth quarter of game 4) and it doesn't come anywhere close to making up for his inconsistency on offense.
Mike James Steve Francis Bobby Jackson Three guys who cannot do half the job Rafer Alston does. So many people were CERTAIN that James and Francis would make Rafer expendable. How many games would we have won if Rafer had been traded? Maybe 45? And how many would we have won in the Utah series without him? Probably zero. I am all for looking to upgrade at PG, but after seeing this team operate with and without him, it would be just plain dumb to dump him.
As were the Rockets. Take a look at the career numbers, or even the previous year numbers, of James and Francis. Now compare them to the numbers they put up this season with the Rockets. Francis was injured and didn't seem to care much while James' bread-and-butter, his shot, completely abandoned him. Both players' careers suffered a sharp decline this season. If we had traded Rafer and kept James/Francis, we would have had the same problem only bigger -- we'd still be saying that we need a starting point guard. Just because Rafer is the best option the Rockets have currently on their roster doesn't change the fact that he's still a below average starting point guard. Which is why he shouldn't be dumped. A starter should be brought in to move Rafer to the backup, but that will be difficult to do given our assets and the availability of points around the league. We'll have to see how things shake out. If it doesn't work out I'm fine with that. If Rafer remains the starter, a stronger-than-normal backup should be brought in and I think that will, at a minimum, be the case. Where I take issue is with those who call him the perfect fit, top 10 point guard, elite defender... not accurate in my view.
Look: Could we do better at PG? Yes. However, at this time I feel we simply have more pressing needs than a better PG (which would be very hard to get BTW). Rafer is getting better every year, and he runs our offense better than anyone else. I think at this point it is far more important for us to find a decent backup center, as Mutombo can't play forever and we need one that can score, and a decent backup for Tracy. Luther Head in nowhere near good enough. Yes, he (used to) shoot 3's well, but he does not have the defensive abilities, power, or post play required of his position. Until then, I think Rafer will just have to do; quite frankly i'm just fine with that. Without him we were crushed by Utah on our own court. With him, we won a game in Utah, were one rebound away from winning another, and absolutely destroyed them in game 5. He had to leave game 6, and look what happened. This team needs rafer.
Deron Williams is capable of doing that to almost every other PG in the league, He's probably in the top 5 PG playing in the league.
Alston and coach Sam Mitchell had personal issues ... reportedly punches were thrown there. Toronto was fairly desperate to be rid of him. I think if you went after Ford though that Aaron Brooks could be a good backup for the Raptors. Besides, if you had Ford you wouldn't need Brooks. Ford is probably less desirable to both the Raptors and on the trade market than Calderon so he might come at a cheaper price. He has a player option that could extend his $8 million annual salary out to 2011 though, and with those injuries that is risky. Size is a knock on Ford, but for me it's his lack of a three-point shot that worries me. He and Alston could be a nice balance though.
Agreed. I think Ford could be good playmaker, he can panetrate and that's what Rockets need too but shooting is more important. Ford is a good player but we need someone who can shoot, especially in the playoffs. I think Ford can't do that well.
i just think among all the names being mentioned, only calderon is a true significant upgrade. keep in mind our offense goes through yao. and yao is a back-to-the-basket conventional center. any pg who plays with yao will not see big assist numbers just because of that. take ford for example. his shooting is not really a big up from rafer. the only thing is penetration. but with rafer's improved tear-drop shot, the delta is smaller than people think. the steve blake's, daniel gibson's, etc., imo they are not real upgrades. might as well throw our money or trade assets eals where.
