Rox wants part of the J. O'Neal sweepstakes! David Aldridge from ESPN reported that the Rox wanted to get into the Jermaine O'Neil sweepstakes. He said that it is reported they may offer Mobley/Cato/Taylor and a future 1st round pick for a sign and trade for O'Neil. He also said that JVG was thinking of moving Griffin to the 3. Aldridge also said that Les wanted to make a big splash entering the new season and new arena.
Griffin at SF? Better to use him as trade bait rather than moving him into a position he can't play. But the prospect of a Yao/O'neal frontcourt makes me just salivate. Yeah baby!
If this Jermaine deal falls in our favor, Eddy will then have to be the back up 4 and 5. If that option is not viable then Eddy will be moved because the "3" in definitely not his best suit.
Steve Francis, Jermaine O'Neal, and Yao Ming in your starting lineup. Who cares who plays at the other positions. Does Tim Duncan care who plays G on his team?
If they were to get J Oneal, what if they traded GR to Atl for Robinson? I am not a huge Robinson fan, BUT the thought of him hanging out at the 3pt line punishing teams for doubling Yao or O'neal could convert me. As far as the 2 guard, resign Posey.
I never thought that I would ever say this but I am not ready to get rid of CATO. (Danged it hurt to have that thought) Never thought I would want to keep him but he is good insurance to have on the bench. O'Neal would be great to have but we do not need to over pay (players & picks) for him.
Man, I would love to have O'Neal, but that trade obliterates our bench (depending on what we do with EG) and SG position. If something like that were to go through, I would anticipate dealing EG for a decent starting SG to replace Mobes. Also, I hope we would be able to use our MLE to sign a nice backup 4/5 post guy. Not sure if Piatkowski or Barry would be able to hold down the starting SG spot for 30+ mins or if they would sign for the MLE.
Is this info on ESPN.com or did DA say this on SportsCenter? I admire Les trying to make a big splash here. It is worth a shot. J O'Niel, Francis and Yao would be a AWESOME trio! The only way I see this deal going down is: 1) O'Neal has to pretty much want out of Indiana and force the Pacers to make that move or they get nothing in return. 2) Additionally O'Neal has to WANT to come to Houston. 3) Perhaps use San Antonio (who has cap money to sign without a trade) as leverage to force the Pacers to make the trade. The Pacers know that O'Neal won't go to Houston as a MLE FA. But O'Neal could walk for NOTHING to San Antonio. Again, the only way this works is if O'Neal really WANTS to come to Houston. Cause he can get his money AND go to San Antonio with Duncan and be in place for a championship. However, what Houston has to offer for O'Neal is that HE might be the main big guy down low with Yao as his second versus in San Antonio where Duncan would be the main guy and O'Neal would be the second option. In any case, if Les is gung ho to go after O'Neal then hopefully he will be as gung ho to go after Elton Brand as well. We can't go wrong with either of the two. Adding either of them and still having Yao and Francis would be a MAJOR coup!
Why don't you think EG is suited for the 3? He kinda reminds me of Bob back in '94, and Bob played the 3 (yeah, he moved to the 4 later ... and then do you remember his first year when they kept him at the 4 and he beefed up? What a disaster!). Bob had better defensive quickness, I think, but with zone defenses, you play a 2-3 with 2 guards up top, EG & O'Neal on the wings, Yao in the middle ... what's wrong with that? EG's pretty much proven to me that he's not a banger down low, nor would he ever be. He's more comfortable settling for jumpers. If that's his game, why NOT play him at the 3? Personally, I think he's more of a 3 than a 4. So what if he can't dribble? When would he have time to dribble, sharing the floor with Steve and/or Moochie?
Don't know if there is a link because I just saw it on TV. I hope it happens but I bet some other team might top what Rox have to offer. I bet the Pacers will ask for Griffin instead of Taylor, though. Even if they did, I would do that deal in a heartbeat. The chance of having Yao and Jermaine in the frontcourt is just too good to pass up! I just hope Aldridge isn't just blowing smoke up our butts!
i'm sure the pacers would bite, but... you'd probably see the rockets starring in a sequel called "Dude, Where's My Bench". surely they don't think norris, morris, boki, hawkins, and maddox will cut it out west... do they? they don't qualify as role players (don't know about boki though). maybe this isn't the only trade. hope not .
the first rockets championship team didn't have the greatest bench. They had Elie and Cassell but was there really anything after that? Pete Chilcut, Scotty Brooks???
We need to upgrade the PF spot and I would love to see JO there but to lose 1.5 starters, our only backup center and maybe a #1...too high.
think about it like this. We would lose mobley but gain an allstar/olympian. We would lose a 1st round pick. If the rockets made the playoffs as the 5 seed the pick would be crappy anyway. If you don't have a top 10 pick then for the most part it's not a big deal.
