Yao / Zeke JHoward / MTaylor / CWeatherspoon / SPadgett JJax / Boki / SPadgett Tmac / Sura Ward / Sura / Lue / Gaines Let's Ball Can't wait till the season starts!
The Deke trade is excellent--I do agree it does boil down to him for Pike though. The one gaping hole was another defensive presence on the interior when Yao is out. On the other hand we don't have to play Deke every game--what he gives us is the opprtunnity to put a defensive and physical back-up C presence if needed. I think in many situations JH/MoT might be effective back-up Cs--with Shaq out East there will not be too many games where we face centers JH or MoT can't play OK against. The Deke trade doesn't preclude us from playing those guys at C, just gives us different options and more flexibility, a very good thing. As for Pike and DD's thoughts, I'd much rather have the flexibility Deke can provide to the back-up C spot b/c we really didn't have a defensive option there. On the other hand JJ does eveything Pike does (has become the deadeye Pike once was) and a ton more, and there is a good chance Boki and Padget can do anything Pike was supposed to do from the bench. Both are younger, and shot better from 3 land than Pike did last year anyway. Assuming they don't completely regress, they will do fine int he role he was supposed to fill. Further, given Pike will be 34 soon and coming off injury, the likelihood he can duplicate his form of a few years ago is slim. Not none mind you--otherwise the Bulls would have just let Deke retire, but slim enough to just go with Boki/Padgett and addressing another major roster weakness (through Deke) was the superior roster move IMO. Thecabbage, Artv, and am pretty much in your camp too, but trying to be open about it. Last year's moves were awefull, no getting around that. KT and 2nd for JP, than letting JP walk over a 4 year mid-level exemption contract simply to save possible lux tax dollars. Not only did we give up good players over nothing but saving jack (it wasn't like we were going to be under the real salary cap that gives you FA power) we ended up trading a draft pick to do it. The Utah trade just compounded it, more assets given up to save jack, but no realistic cap space in sight. The party line at the time was "we are more than a player away form a ring, so Les will spend when we are close". Another refrain was "Just wait, the TE will payoff big, you'll see". Well now the Tmac trade has changed everything rosterwise. Talent wise we are certainly among the top 6 teams in the league and no team has a 1-2 punch equivalent in talent (two top 15 players already and two top 10 talents)--you have to say we are within reach of a ring. How has spending been? Well, kinda mixed. On the positive side we did spend the amount for a full MLE we didn't have to if we were pulling a total Sterling. I didn't really like the choices compared to alternatives (especially Mike James), but the money was spent so that falls on CD/JVG--not Les. Now we are back to the TE issue. We also have a 2 year 3.3 mil exemption we can play with too. I sure would like us to use one of them--b/c it would help dispell my concern Les is still on his pocket filling ride with the roster strength being a distant secondary concern, but on the other hand I really like the make up of the roster and don't see obvious moves that would make a big difference. Right now I am in a holding pattern about Les's commitment to winning relative to his committment to profit taking, but I am quite excited about the roster, no getting around that. Not using the TE won't totally crush that and Les can still be redeemed in my eyes by OKing yearly MLEs (and the mil exemption every other year) to acquire new players and keeping our our FAs and the other exemptions. By the way when is the deadline to use the TE?
If letting the TE expire is all that you're worried about, then cheer up. You apparently didn't follow the umpteen threads concerning the Rockets using their TE in the TMac deal and the Deal generating an additional TE for somewhere around $5.5M. That scenario was discussed in several threads. I emailed Larry Coon and he agreed that these transactions did occur in this manner and that the Rockets now have a new TE for another year. Why get all upset at Ward's deal when you don't even know how much he's making? If he got a guarenteed 3 yr deal at the veteran minimum, then what's the big deal? Is that really going to make a difference one way or the other? So, if you didn't like signing Sura and Ward, then what exactly do you think that the Rockets should have done? Arroyo was restricted, so we weren't going to be able to sign him for cheap without Utah matching. Many of the other guys got over paid. So, what else was there? Mike James or Damon Jones are going to be a definite upgrade over Surra and Ward?
In that case, regarding the trade exception, I guess I can breathe easier. But as Desert Scar noted, I don't like the recent trend I'm seeing and hope that the trade exception is eventually exercised. As far as Ward, I am completely content that they did not break the bank for the likes of Fisher, Snow, or Van Excel. That would have been suicide. The fact that Mike James and Damon Jones each signed 2 year deals with their respective teams is what bothers me. I feel that even above defensive ability, the main credential our starting point guard needed was the ability to knock down the open 3 - Jones' strength. However, to tell the truth, I just got overly emotional in that last post and my primary frustration regarding the trade exception just snowballed into a lash out on Ward. I'll recant my statements for the most part. We should be fine as he knows his role and plays within his limitations. We'll go as far as Yao can take us anyways. If the trade exception truly doesn't expire until next summer, I'll go ahead and give the Rockets front office an A to an A+ for this offseason. The McGrady trade was an A+, avoiding Fisher, Hudson, Snow, Van Excel nets an A, while trading garbage and cutting off future team salary to acquire an established backup center in this recent deal nets an A. I would have liked to have seen the point guard situation play out differently but things can't go perfectly. Sura could still surprise. All in all, they have transformed what was a disorganized bunch with little future into a disciplined, veteran group of players that each know their roles in a span of months. All without committing to long term contracts. I think we can expect a 50+ win season from this group. Now about that trade exception...
Damon Jones showed me last year that he could play, but he's not that much of an upgrade over Ward (who can consistently hit the three, and won't turn the ball over) and Sura (energizing player who plays hard and aggressive on both sides of the ball). Granted DJones and MJames both got a solid game, but they are not that much better or equvilant to our recent pt. guard signings. We have a deep team, if only we could get an upgrade in the next year or two with our starting pt. and PF, we will be a great team this year, and in the year or two we will have that flexibility to upgrade the positions we need and still have an able backup players at each position. I hope Badiane can make improvements, because if he can turn out to be a Defensive stud who plays hard and rebounds well then he would fit nicely into the "Cato" role. until then we have the 4 time Defensive player of the year in Zeke, I think he will surprise people with how much better he will play given the 15 minutes. thats not that much time, even for a 38, or 40 or how old he is. Look at Kevin Willis. I'd be happy to sign Willis with a 1 year Vet Min. and let him backup Yao and Zeke.
Great trade. We needed defense from our backup 5 in the worst way. That, as far as I'm concerned, was the biggest area of need. (See the games Cato was injured for examples). Way to go CD.
Two words for you: Charles Jones. If the Rockets can win a Championship with Charles Jones backing up the starting 5, then absolutely NOBODY should have one negative thing to say about having Dikembe Mutombo as the backup 5.
Hmm, if it's true that we have a new TE, then that along with Tumbo and Lue's expiring contracts means we got some OPTions at the trade deadline this year. Me likey.
remember that Mutombo is a BACKUP i would definitely think that he is in the upper 33% of back up centers. does anyone have a list of them?
He wasn't two years ago. He was third on the Nets depth chart behind Jason Collins and Aaron Williams. Why would he be now?
even at his age he is probably the best backup in the league todays lack of real Cs in the league would probably force mutombo to be a starter on most other squads in the league today if i am not mistaken wasnt he a starter last year with the knicks? during yao's rookie year i felt we had the best backup C in the league in cato, despite his large contract, but now he probably will be the starter center in orlando again with tony battie his backup. face it despite what some of you feel about this trade we landed ourselves a very good backup center, a center that probably would be a starter on 1/4 of the teams in the league today even at like 38. i am saddened at the loss of pike, i loved him as a clipper and was happy when he came to the rockets, even tho he never really got to show what he was capable of i think its easier to find a player in the mold of pike than a player like mutombo now. We have some good shooters to complement Yao's inside prescence in tracy,jimmy,sura,ward and boki (who is gonna bust out this year big time !) the other two players hardly saw any playtime so we didnt lose much in trading them. i think there may be one more minor move/signing before the season starts but i think any moves with big names are through and jvg is going to into training camp this year with a very good roster
No I can't. Dikembe is not Cato. Never has been and never will be. One thing you can count on this season is not seeing Yao and Mutombo on the floor at the same time.
That is because the Nets were 10x more effective running than getting into their set offense because their set offense sucked so bad. Since Yao isn't exactly a running center it is not a big shift in style of play with Deke in there. With Deke in for Yao our defense can largely be the same with the center the linchpin while the offense merely has more modest differences (running through Tmac, or possible a PF as a 3rd overall option).
i'd like it at the end of games when the other team is trying to inbound the ball. have one of them guarding the inbounder and the other one in the paint to protect against lob passes.
Jason and Aaron are decent centers and they r quick, better suited with the Nets. I like Deke with our team. Maybe even more so than Cato. Cato never could block shot. Cato thrived along side Yao but did and will struggle manning the middle by himself. Deke can hold down the fort for 15 mins.
Ok... Pike would have probably played a few minutes every fifth game, just like he did last season. Wilks and Griffin would have never played, just like last season. So... we get Mutombo for pretty much nothing. I figure he can handle his 18 min.-per-game job. He'll also be working out with Ewing and Yao, which couldn't be a bad thing. If anything, he's a decent shot blocker for Yao to practice against.
Dikembe is just as effective in clogging up a half-court offense as he is a transition offense. Aaron WIlliams and Jason Collins weren't exactly flying up and down the lane. In fact, that was specifically one of the reasons why the Nets wouldn't play him, IIRC. His large, immobile presence f-cked up their half court offense beyond belief.
Right, but the Nets tried to run the Princeton offense in the halfcourt. Dikembe screwed up the spacing by parking himself down on the left block and not moving. At all. Thus, there really wasn't alot of room for the backdoor cuts that the Nets liked to use in their halfcourt sets. That's not really going to be an issue here.
Did Dikembe clog up the Nets half-court offense? Yes. Does that mean he will clog up ours? No. Sam, the nets run the princeton offense which is based off Motion. We will not be running that offense. Yao is not the most mobile big man so therefore whatever system that VG runs should not be negatively impacted by an immobile backup center.
