What needs to be done seems to become a lot of threads these days so I think I'll throw my hat into the ring. Management - I have no probs with CD for the most part. This managment for the most part isn't afraid of pulling deals. Think about the past season... Clyde trade, Barkley trade, Pippen deal, Francis Trade, Shanon Anderson and Mo T signing for the MLE, the draftign of Yao Ming. This is a management that isn't afraid to pull the trigger and make deals, sometimes it works out (Clyde, Barkley, Francis, Yao) some times it doesn't (Pippen, Mo T). Keep CD in place. Coaching - So many people wants Rudy gone, should he be? Let's see our top 2 players both endorsed him heavily. Steve's quote is now infamous and Yao said "if Rudy is the coach next year we will make the playoffs". I think Yao and Steve are both loyal to Rudy for all the hoops he jumped through to get them on this team (Steve with all the players we give up and Yao for going there and grease the CBA's wheel to get him here). Such bond is typical of college coaches and players but rarely seen in NBA. I can say that for every coaching change that helped, there are ones that can make the situation a lot worse. It's a huge risk to remove him right now with both of our superstars endorsing him and feeling loyal to him. PG - If Steves moving to the 2, Mooch isn't the answer. I think we should try to get Rafer Alston and not resign Posey (luxury tax prob) if we feel we can get FA Rafer away from Toronto. Looking pass his street ball rep, I think you'll find a really good player. From his interviews, he seemed like he appreciates the L alot after taking the long road here and seems like he's willing to do whatever it takes to help the team. A player who avgs 8pts, 4.1 Ast to 1.8 TO in 20.9 min as well as shooting 39% from the 3 fits what this team is trying to do next year in my opionion. Trades, here's my block buster S&T to .................. the Kings. Why would a team like the kings trade anybody for our scrubs? Well it's because we aren't looking for Peja but rather good role players along the lines of Keon Clark, Hedo Turklo, Damon Jones and Jim Jackson for Rice, Cat and EG. After the season JJ had, he will be lookng for a bigger contract. With Sac already in the luxury land, that might not be to willing to give him a really good contract, but if we can offer Cat with his really good valued contract, it can be agreeable to the Kings. The other 3 especially Hedo and Clark, while solid players, finds absolutely no time on the Kings and really doesn't help them while they are on the Kings. The Kings wouldn't mind seeing those two go for Rice (living Cap room) and no matter what, still a 21yr old with potential and so far a small contract. Damon Jones will also service nicely as a good backup. The reason the Rox do this is that insted of taking a risk of trading for a huge name with possible unmoveable contract we get 4 solid role players in much smaller contract that are much easier to move. This is a really plausible trade that I think really benefits both teams.
I'd like Rafer Alston....but no way in heck can he start. Anyways.... Cuttino Mobley, Eddie Griffin, Glen Rice, Terence Morris, Kelvin Cato, and a 1st Round Draft Pick FOR Elton Brand, Quentin Richardson, and Marko Jaric! Woohoooooooooooooo! I'm not sure the Kings want Cat. But they probably want Rice...maybe...and could give up some of their bench players...who are actually starters.
Ok reason why I propose the trade I did was I want to be realistic and ask for trades that I know can happen without committing to anothe huge contract. Reason against your trade First - Cato's salaries would be higher than what Sterlings would be willing to pay or he would actually resign brand. He also won't trade Q or Marko since they are still on the rookie cotnracts while still are pretty decent player. I don't see how we can pay Brand w/o moving a big contracts and no way sterling would take one, not even Rice for one year. Also, for a period of time when Raptors was injuried plagued, Rafer actually did start and produced some good numbers. When he's on this team, I see him starting but Steve getting some of the min at the 1 with Damon's minutes depending on his playing.
1) The Luxury Tax was not implemented for the 2001-02 season. Loosely speaking, the Luxury Tax is invoked when salaries exceed 55% of BRI (Basketball Related Income). Given the income to the league generated by Yao, it is not likely the LTax will be invoked for the 2002-03 season or beyond. 2) Cap space is only valuable to teams trying to get substantially under the cap to bid for FA's. Given the Kings have $51m already committed for 2004-05 season, they have little to no interest in Glen Rice's expiring contract. Further, Rice planted at the 3 point line is contrary to every aspect of the Kings offense. 3) Given that the Kings' offense is predicated on movement and passing, and they finish their breaks well, why would they have any interest in Cuttino Mobley? 4) The Kings are likely to go deep into the WC playoffs. Why would they destroy one of their biggest assets - a productive bench? You need to rethink this because the Kings are way down the list of potential trade partners for the Rockets.
What about giving out contracts like Cato's/Rice's/Taylor's/Moochie's? CD (no offense) IMO doesn't have enough knowledge of salary cap-luxury tax. He costs Les Alexender tons of money. Rudy will stay. Don't worry about it. LOL. You really think Alston is an NBA starting point guard? LOL.
You beat me to it Gater. I think when posters make trades proposals, its most at the expense of over blowing our players and undermining other teams players. I know I've made some trade proposals, but most were pretty subjective. The Kings wouldn't want anything off our roster but Ming to replace Vlade. They have their sg of the future in Wallace, peja is 25,Bibby is about that age also. If they were to trade anyone, it would be Hedo to get a pick, and probably a high pick based on his potential. They might traed Hedo to us for a future pick or something, but not for a team offensively disrupting player like Mobley.
Hmm, Im not 100% sure but there was several concerns about when Bibbly signed how the Kings owners took a hit as far as luxury tax is concerned. I think no matter if its invoked or not, most owners would try to avoid it. I've also read several articles about how Les might not use the MLE this year in fear of the luxury tax, we'll have to wait the new estimates to comeout before we know anymore about taht. But we are also taking players off their roster and EG and Cuttino are very agreeable contracts, it does offer them room to move later on if they so choose while giving up mostly players that don't even see pt in their system. What was the rep and style of JJ before this season? It all comes down to how much he thinks he's worth in the offseason. Like I said, this deal helps the kings as much as it helps us. It gives us the change we need as a team while offering Sac more long term potential and flexibility in return. Outside of JJ, turkelo and Keon aren't really playing that much on the Sac and I don't even think Damon's on their playoff roster. I think they are still as deep if not more we replace JJ, Turkelo, and Keon with Cat, Eddie and Rice.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=insidedishclaxtonspursli&prov=tsn&type=lgns Spurs didn't pick up the option on Claxton who played decent at PG. My entire trade scenerio was really hoping to get a servicable sg to back up francis, getting a new starting pg we can afford and realistically get, and a sf that can hit atleast hit an open three. I don't know why every here thinks so lowly of Rafer Alston, when he started for the Raptors, he didn't do too bad of a job, and I can't think of a better pg that we can actually have a real shot at getting. Don't say dre miller because Sterling don't want any more of our contracts. I think a combo of Alston and Claxton wouldn't be too bad. Heck we did reach the WCF with Maloney and Price playing point. I still think we should get Jimmy Jackson as a back up 2 and our options are fairly limited. Hedo is gettable too, He's a good player on a team too deep, I think the Kings might just move him to help him like we did with Shandon and Damon Jones.
Also Newgirl, I think this team really does need some role players. We have to bonafide building blocks but look at what surrounds them: Cat - just really in a bad situation as he was the man last year and now the 3rd option, never the less he was the man. MO-T - Wanted a max contract, got close to it from the Rox, while with the clips, it can be argued that he was the main man on that team. Rice - was a main man, too old to be one. EG- projected to go #1 in many mock drafts during his rookie year, he even said himself he was going #1 till he dropped, still could've been a corner stone of franchise. Posey - also demanded a contract with Denver and was the main man on that team. So we see we have five "role" players who at one point is or wanted to be the main man on a team, what we need in reality is real role players that knows how to be role players.
If you look at the Kings since they got rid of St Jean and company and brought in Petrie, they haven't really made a poor deal yet. Yes we made it to the WCF with Maloney, but we don't have anyone on this team that even close to being Clyd,Barkley,Hakeem or even Kevin Willis. I do agree Hedo can be had, but at this stage in his career, JJ is more about winning a ring. remember he was pre rookie salary structure so he has more than enough money already. Jackson ,like Fox had chances earlier in the yr to play with teams trying to fill spots, but sat back and waited on the right chance. For him to think about coming to a team like the Rockets to back up a player he's probably better than, I seriously doubt. Hedo can be had for a future 1st rd pick, but what is that saying about Nachbar? Nachbar and Hedo was picked in pretty much the same position in the draft, so i would guess that the Kings would probably want at least a 1st rd pick for him. If you could move Mobley to another team, I would probably be in favor of getting Hedo, but the Kings wouldn't take Cat in a trade. We can talk about trading for a pg because Steve isn't one, but the Bulls played for yrs and wn without one because of their system used for playing offense. Portland won alot of games playing with a score first pg like Terry Porter, but used Clyde to start the offense most of the time.This always cycles back to the scheme vs players thread from earlier.
The "concerns" you mentioned about Bibby failed to materialize. This is likely to be the case with the current NBA income generated by Yao. Les Alexander will have "concerns" but imbedded in those concerns is being a good businessman and putting this info out there for Posey and Posey's agent. IOW, the Rox will approach the re-signing of Posey with the premise that "we want you, but as a matter of good business practice, we can't pay you more than $Xm because of LTax implications. In fact, we may not be able to afford a MLE if we overpay in this area." It's managerial cost control spin. The Kings have a deeper rotation than any other NBA team. Players like Hedo and JJ are valuable because they know and accept the system and prosper in the roles they play. If I'm the Maloof Brothers and Geof Petrie, why would I want to experiment with two Rockets starters on my bench? How many games into the season will it be before Cuttino starts to complain that his Rockets PT of 40+minutes goes to a Kings of 18? An "agreeable" contract is only agreeable if a player is productive within a defined system. Neither Mobley or Griffin fits into the Kings system. JJ bought into the Kings style because it works...he was almost guaranteed to go to the playoffs and perhaps the WC Finals. What can the Rox guarantee him? What track record or strong coaching figure keeps Jackson in line when he starts to revert to the pre-Kings JJ? The pre-Kings JJ is an older, less productive ISO copy of Cat...no thanks. I repeat...the Kings have absolutely NO interest in Glen Rice.. Not as a player who doesn't fit their uptempo style, not as an expiring contract as they are not in the FA market..IOW, NO interest in Rice. Cuttino Mobley as I have pointed out doesn't fit....the Kings do not have 40+ minutes for him, he doesn't pass well, his defense compared to Doug Christie is deplorable, he is not a great contributor on a fastbreak and the SG major minutes go to Christie and Bobby Jackson. Stop the personal delusion...Sacramento has NO interest in Cuttino Mobley. The contract may be "agreeable" but playing behind Christie and Bobby Jackson will make Mobley disagreeable. Perhaps the Kings would trade Griffin for Hedo as their contracts are close. But that's as close as your proposal gets. And then, I'd have to ask myself...if Petrie put that team together from scratch...what does he see in Griffin that I don't?
Basically , thats the way I think of it Gater. Substance over style is what the Kings are into now. I remember 4 yrs ago they were the most exciting 27-23(strike season) team in basketball history. The next yr they were a little better winning 44 games and playing a little better defense, but were still kind of soft and was eliminated from the playoffs. The next yr,Corliss and Anderson was replaced by Peja and Christie and they won 55 games. The next yr they won 60 games by replacing the fabulous,yet erratic pg Willams with thesteady and calming Bibby. With that, those days of being fun and getting scorched were out the door and was replaced title hopes. I really don't think this team is that far off, but just like Sacramento went from Abdul-Wahad and Vernon Maxwell at the sg to Anderson to Christie, then they went from Corliss to Peja and Williams to Bibby, this rockets team can't be afraid to try to upgrade its roster. Even after taking the Lakers 7 games and returning with everyone from the best record in hoops team, they stil went out and added keon Clark and Jim Jackson without missing a beat. I'll take Hedo and wemight have to give up Griffin, but maybe having 3 international players in the same lineup(Hedo,Ming and Nachbar) just maybe this team would be more team oriented rather than individual based.
leebigez - Great take on the Kings history! If (a big if) the Kings would take Hedo for Griffin, then some of the following are possibilities: 1) move Posey to SG and get the best banger PF that Rice and/or Mobley and/or Taylor can get in trade...or 2) let Posey walk freeing up the MLE for a solid backup PF or PG and use Hedo as a Point Forward..or 3) SnT Posey, Rice and/or Taylor for a banger PF. Many posters feel that the Rox could not run a Kings style offense but IMHO Yao could play for the Kings and they wouldn't miss a beat. I think Posey ("I came from Denver where it was all passes and cuts") could also play a Kings style game. IMHO, Yao, Hedo and Posey (and maybe Nachbar) are good players to have from a motion offense stand point. I am not a huge Mo T fan, but he is also a good passer.
I know your not a fan of this guy either, but I still think SAR would make a good fit for the rockets. I'd give up Taylor and mobley for him and have Francis,Posey,Hedo,SAR and Ming as a starting 5. I think ,I'm pretty sure some of the passing that Webber does, SAR also. he's always avg at least 3 asst per game.
leebigez - In another thread, someone vehemently pointed out that SAR did not play PF for Vancouver. From memory, I initially took issue with this but when I started to look at the minutes played for SAR'S last Grizzlie season I discovered that he must have been playing primarily SF. Observe what I discovered: B. Reeves - 1,832 G. Long - 1,507 S. Swift - 1,312 O. Harrington - 1,267 I. Austin - 845 T. Massenburg - 823 SAR - 3,241 In an 82 game season (exclusive of OT), there are 3,936 minutes per position. I could not add these mpg without concluding SAR must have played a lot of SF. I think this was one of Vancouvers many problems as Damon Jones, Doug West, Kevin Edwards and Dickerson are not SF's (and no one listed is much of a SF either). Somebody had to be playing out of position a lot of the time. It is true, we disagree on SAR's value to the Rockets. It's late so I will skip the logic for now. Suffice it to say Reef is expensive and will be for at least two more seasons. I just think there are better values out there.
I really really like SAR's game but that price tag is a little harsh. I'm not sure Atl would take MoT and Cat for him, they might ask for Rice/Cat instead. If its the latter, then its way too harsh on the Rox's purse string. But even with the former with Yao going to be Maxed out in 2 years, we'll have 3 max players + sizeable contracts in Cato, Mo T and that's almost insane amount of money thrown at players. So even if EG developes we won't be able to resign him any ways and we'd definitely be constrained as far as movement wise in the team. By the way, I still don't think the combonation of Speedy Claxton/Rafer Alston is that horrible, and definitely as a viable backup option should we be unable to get a Eric Snow or Alvin Williams.
Most will say SAR contract is too heavy, but Cato makes 7,Taylor 8,Rice 9 and Norris almost 4. Its true that he makes 12 mill a yr, but it must be looked at both sides. With those same attempts you're giving Cat, you will get 20 pts and almost 9rebs, for that same 12 mill, Griffin and Taylor, you get 16pts 9 rebs and 42%. Factor in that he's 26, in 2 yrs he'll be 28 and still playing at a high level. Ming will be ready for an extension by then also, but we will have gotten rid of some of the dead weight with Rice and his 9 mill gone. Francis,SAR and Ming would be a wheel in which all we would have to do is add pieces like Posey,Nachbar and guys like that. The Lakers had 3 good player play together and win with Worthy,Jabbar and Magic, the Mavs do it now, and the old Sonics did it also with Ellis,X-man, and Chambers. If you can't have th 2 of the top 5 players in the league like La has, might as well have 3 very,good players to go with. Les wouldn't mind paying that tax if the team was competing for a ring for the next few yrs. Atl could have Griffin also if they want.
Look at my post, it's his contract size + the contracts we already have that bothers me. Rice's expiring contract is the space we need to resign Yao, you make it sound like the rest of the league are just wishing for our big contracts. I agree and disagree, if we are competing for a ring and the attendance, sales, etc are good then he wouldn't mind paying the tax, but with the Houston's fair weather tradition its kind of hard to imagine it. In any case it could be a very dangerous business decision. If he feel like he isn't turning a profit, the "pieces" around our players might be extremely weak just to balance out the big contracts of our big three and the likes of Cato and Mo T.
