Interesting. Like I posted in another thread, I heard a clip of Morey on 610 yesterday saying they will be going after a couple of bigger names to start but felt they were both longshots. Going after Rashard confirms my hunch I had when I heard it.
Do teams still do that thing where they call at 12:01 am July 1st? Maybe Morey will just show up at Rashard's place in a half hour.
Feigen mentioned Nocioni in that blog. I think he would be a much better fit than Rashard and we would be able to keep Battier. I don't know if the Bulls would match a full MLE deal or not.
Make it official...let's start a bring Rashard to Houston website!!! We need to start a website and tell Shard how much we want him to come back home...COME BACK TO HOUSTON RASHARD!!! -V
That had to be a little hard for Feigen to write after this one a month ago ... http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2007/06/rumor_season_already_underway.html
Nocioni is easily worth the full MLE. That would be a bargain for the Bulls. If he signs with some team for the MLE they will match it and be thrilled.
Golden State had scorers at all positions who could not be left open and who all can go off for 25+ on any given night, yet they were manhandled by the Jazz due to thier inability to defend anything quicker/more physical than a lawn chair. If Lewis comes at the expense of battier, it will be a short and excrutiating playoff for the Rox
Nocioni would have to come off the bench if Battier doesn't go anywhere. I can't seem him playing PF.
Just looking at Seattle's roster it doesn't seem to hopeful... Ridnour, West, Watson Durant, Wally, Gelabale Lewis, Green, Wilkins Wilcox, Collison, Fortson Swift, Petro, Sene They won't be able to move any of the recently traded guys or rookies once signed until several months time. They're loaded at PG already. Watson has a bad contract that's not going to be easily moved and if the PG situation stays the same he'll be a major headache. Another thing is there is no one worth cutting on their roster. Even their third stringers are good to keep. However it could all still make sense. Battier most likely have to be the centerpiece, Sura's partially guaranteed contract helpful, Lucas has a min/near min level contract also partially guaranteed, then maybe add the 2008 1st round pick or more (but that's mortgaging the future). This package would get them into the 12M range but then they're essentially trading for Battier + pick/s. Then again Battier is a Team USA member and I guess a good countering influence on their youngsters especially with Watson around. Alston James Spanoulis Brooks McGrady Bonzi Head Lewis Snyder Reed Hayes Landry Novak Yao Deke
I think this move for Rashard is meant to at the very least drive the price up and force Orlando to offer him big money. If the Magic offer him $80 million, and he takes it, then obviously Darko is looking for work, and no team in the league makes more sense for him than the Rox, starting job, on a championship contender. If Orlando locks down Rashard, I really believe we are in the driver's seat for Darko.
Just to sort out all the crazy things going on! We are looking for a Power Forward who can play with Yao Ming. He must be a player with the potential to play with and guard Boozer, Duncan, Nowit. [Mavs] etc so be sure that when you make suggestions like Nocioni, who is a good player but would not fit the Rockets needs in this position, be sure to consider the type of player and requirements of position.
i would be ok with this plan partly because i don't know if rashard is better then battier AND darko.
Bad comparison...they were manhandled because they had no interior presence defensively. We do. The Suns don't play much defense and I would argue that they were the second best team in the playoffs.
