How soon you all forget that Mobely played the point for us the year we had Pippen. It was not until we got Francis in the trade with Vancouver that Mobley moved in the the 2-guard spot. HotBalla, Mosely was a misspelling. But you know who I am talking about anyway.
Just because a guy plays PG for a year doesn't make him a shoot first PG if he plays the 2 spot for the rest of his career.
I defintely like the James deal better, but it had nothing to do with the contract size. With Damon, he'd come off the books this year, but would we even be able to resign him? I don't think he would put us under the cap to be a player in the market anyways. With James, he has atleast another few years left on his contract and he's defintely worth something with his offense.
I think you guy are missing the point... We're not necessarily talking about Stoudamire vs. Mike James, we're talking about Stoudamire vs. Moochie Norris and Vin Baker. Mo Taylor + filler for Damon would have been a great trade. At the very least, we could have just cut him and found ourselves with $12 million in salary coming off the books this summer.
I think many of you underestimate what Stoud could have done for the team, pre-James deal of course. The guy is a fine open shooter, has a good floor sense, and can be pretty explosive. Pre deal he was one of my favs as a realistic PG to add and I would have looked to sign him next offseason if the price was reasonable (3-4 mil a year). But with Sura and James locked away for at least through next year I don't have an interest in spenind the bulk of our MLE on short PG. 1st we need to get a PF. If that is done we need a guy who has the size to play some 2 (AD, McInnis)--and even this would be a really small priority if JB comes back at a reasonable price.
Good post. Stoudamire's 13M coming off the books would have been nice. But alteast we don't have to spend money on a PG. James has been good for us, and I think once he gets fully adjusted, he could be our starting PG next year. The #1 priorty this summer is a PF. We don't have much to spend but we do have a couple expiring contracts that teams might want. Chandler/Swift/Marshall, and of those will do.
No, the point just went over your head. Mo Taylor+filler for Stoudamire was not and is not an option. The Rockets may have wanted it, but considering we couldn't get DA done, there was no way we were pulling this off. Wholeheartedly agree with Scar re: Stoudamire... if we hadn't picked up James, I would've looked to try and pick him up with the MLE as one of the better options out there. Now, it looks like we're able to divert most of our resources to the 4.
HotBalla (God I hate writing that...I'm too uptight, I think), Your comment works two ways as well. Francis may be called a point guard, but he's as much a two guard as any other undersized guard that's more comfortable being the offense than running one. -P1st, S2nd
DeAleck, I'm saying that Francis and Mobley are undersized two-guards. What are you saying, if anything? -P1st, S2nd
HotBalla, You got it. Playing those two alongside one another as starters was a dumb-ass way to play. Orlando figured that one out. They are just too similar, save for the fact that Mobley's the better shooter and Francis the better overall scorer. DeAleck, Yeah, I think they both sorta stink. Mobley's niche, if he'll ever really accept it, is to be an off-the-bench superstar. Francis' niche is to just play shooting guard. But Francis needs to become a better spot-up shooter. Period. Last year when the ball when inside then out, Francis' inability to hit even open jumpers regularly and reliably was evident. With regard to Francis, the bottom line is that he can't run an offense and must be made to run alongside a point guard that looks to make the pass (Francis DESERVES scoring opportunities) and that takes care of the ball, because God knows Francis ain't up to that task! -P1st, S2nd
I think, to you, the biggest problem that both Francis and Mobley have is the fact that they shoot 1st, pass 2nd. Am I right?
DeAleck, Dude, 1 + 1 = 2. You either know the answer to your own question or you should. I take issue with guards that are, at their best, one dimensional. -P1st, S2nd.
