You think when he was with Atlanta he was ready to throw in the towel and just play it day by day? Did we rescue him from the dumps? I remember him saying he wanted to finish his career in Atlanta..... Sorta like a cow whos put out to the pasture to live out whats left of it's life....
The way I look at it is we're overdo for a successful rookie. We haven't been horrible totally just bad luck. CD still knows his stuff. The Rudy transition was tough for us initially.
While those guys might end up being backups I would be cautious about counting on them to be major contributors. Take a look at this years T-Wolves and see what injuries and inconsistency can do to a team relying on key older players. I like Mutumbo alot and as I said before would give him the MVP for the Rox in the second half of the season, plus I would like him tutoring Yao on the fine points of getting blocks and rebounds, but I wouldn't count on him to be able to maintain nearly the pace and intensity he has this year. The Rox got a great shot this year and should run with it but in the offseason we should start thinking about how to build success for years to come and I don't even two years from now we'll be talking about Mutumbo, Sura and Barry being major contributors.
Since Tmac has a long-term contract, he is not really a priority, unless something extreme happens that he wants to leave Houston.
No worries on the T-Mac and Yao fronts... Deke MUST be resigned, and I hope he is gracious and takes less money seeing how nice the city/organization has been to him and his cause. Plus, he made nearly $19 million this year, so that should be more than enough for him to live quiet a comfy life Sura will be here, Wesley will be here, Barry I am not so sure about. I think the Rockets will resign Barry if he is not asking for much, especially if they can't sign a younger sharp shooter. DW/Sura/MJ will ALL be wonderful trade baits if we want to make upgrades throughout the season, but if not then they are still valuable and solid role players. So nothing to lose on that front. The expiring contracts of VB, Spoon, Charlie W, and Moochie might be nice cap space for teams that need it. So all in all, really we have a LOT of tradeable commodities, so we are in a good shape. It will all come down to CD and JVG in the offseason to work something out.
FranchiseBlade - Yo Franchise... WTF? Over. You're going to have to go through me before you can get away with dissing David Wood!!! Seriously though, I LOVE D.Wood... do you remember that behind the back pass from his stomach while facing away from the Rox basket at mid-court back in the late 80's early 90's? D-Wood was the prototype for the 2005 WBS!! Where would Ryan Bowen be without D.Wood and Scotty Brooks? As far as players going away, I'd be shocked if Barry isn't here next year. He's like another coach in the locker room. Also Padgett, Deke, MJ and Wesley are locks. I guess we're talking about all the same guys not being here, so it'll be down to the draft, and CD in the off-season. Wesley maybe our best "live" trade bait until just before the trade deadline next February.
Motumbo goes for the most money - which is not here- I do not blame him....Good luck Dikembe and thanks for this year's effort- I do not know if Wesley is owed money for next year for his current contract. If he is -of course he is with us next year as we honor his contract..Beyond that I would not sign Wes for 5 mil plus. It is all about money in this entertainment business- IMHFO Barry gets signed for slightly above Vet minimum -good value I do not know about Sura's health-he is worth what he gets paid for heart and leadership alone- he is one of my truly favorite players- he is a gamble I think you take for one more year.He is aging quickly- back trouble is terrible. With our two superstars young- we will face this rebuilding effort of young and old role players every 2 years and hope the chemistry can work... Do not get too attached to these older players-New faces almost every year
