Serious Discussion - what could we trade Tmac for...

im telling u...he will be a beast

 

Who?

DD

 

Morey will do something great Im sure. He has not let us down yet!

 

Come on now...which team doesn't want their own $23 million dollar home court cheer leader who publicly states your opponent will win?

 

Trade T-Mac for Brandon Roy + Greg Oden!

 

Somehow get ben gordon.

 

The only thing that's going to happen with Tracy McGrady, is that the Rockets will let his contract expire. They have to. People are assuming that somebody would want McGrady sight unseen after microfracture surgery.

And that they'd give away good young talent for him.

The only reason why anybody trades for McGrady at this point is to get that $20-something million off their books. So why would the Rockets do it, when no GM in their right mind would give them anything valuable?

It's fun to get on that trade machine thingie on ESPN's website. Anybody could make the numbers work.

Especially if you don't count on people being smart...

 

Agreed! In fact, why don't the rockets keep the expiring contract for themselves?!

 

That's certainly a likely possibility, and that's one I'm prepared for. But don't you dare discount the rockets making a move. Almost every year the rockets do something big, and I wouldn't be surprised if they continue the tradition next year.

Don't you forget to count on cheapass owners wanting to hold onto their money instead of pumping cash into mediocre teams. If a team wants to start over and rebuild, there's two ways to do that:
- get out from bad contracts
- get young talent

The rockets have both to offer and there are some mediocre teams with bloated payroll out there. That doesn't mean a deal will happen, but at least the rockets are in a position to make something happen.

 

If they do, the Rockets won't be able to re-sign Artest & Wafer.

 

Hmmmm.

Makes sense. A Little.

...But, I thought that the Rockets beating Portland (and giving the Lakers a run for their money) meant that the Rockets don't need to rebuild as much as the need to upgrade.

What I've seen from Daryl Morey so far is that he tries to gather quality assests. All the deals he's made here have been deals he's NEEDED to make. The Rockets roster, after Yao and McGrady and Battier and Hayes and Mutumbo, wasn't doing anything other that getting its collective tail whipped.

Morey never had it so easy, knowing he had to upgrade thee spots on this team that were below average. Anybody could see we needed better shooting and younger, more athletic players. Morey isn't an idiot.

Have you paid attention to the signing of the D-leaguer, James White? Athletic swingman? Good jumpshot? Young? Works hard to get better?

He's what people wish Tracy McGrady was, from what I can tell. Morey's got a guy that led the D-league in scoring tucked away at the end of a playoff team's bench, taking the time and opportunity to start grooming the guy to be a piece next season in case McGrady doesn't play a day next year.

That's what makes Morey a good GM. He won't burn any bridges with McGrady. He knows McGrady's gotten the short end of the stick. But he won't wait around for McGrady's health or attitude to improve.

McGrady comes back and can play, Morey will move to plan B, which is to let McGrady become a free agent, and not overpay him at this stage of his career. If McGrady doesn't, he still lets him come off the books, but he's already got a replacement ready to go.

That was his think in drafting Joey Dorsey. Car Landry was Morey's draft pick. Landry was angling for a better contract, and Morey didn't wait around to see if Landry got one form another team. He used a pick he had to replace Landry (who's a big piece of what the Rockets do) with a similar type talent. Just so happens that Landry came back, so the Rockets still made out great.

That's the way you run a pro sports team. Especially with an owner like Les Alexander. Alexander doesn't get in the way of the basketball people making basketball decisions. He lets them do their job. He just makes sure that they've got the money to do it, or the stones to make the tough calls on who to give a contract to and who to tell to hit the bricks.

Don't misunderstand. I don't believe, for all of Morey's exasperation with McGrady's behavior this season, that he thinks McGrady is anywhere near the problem or albatross on this team everybody else makes him out to be. But he won't rest the entire team's success on McGrady.

He didn't do that with Yao. He won't do it with Ron Artest. He didn't do it with Rafer Alston.

Daryl Morey's a good GM. Not because he makes deals.

But because he makes the RIGHT deals.

Keep watching...

 

i think the point is, as someone pointed out in an earlier post, that because of the way the salary structure is set up, if we let tmacs contract expire in 2010, its not as if we suddenly have 22 million extra to spend. the real way to add to this team without going over the luxury tax is trading his contract.

 

Rockets don't need to rebuild, just tweak and upgrade. Here is our to-do list from this offseason till 2011:

- Sign Artest anywhere between $12-14 million. If he wants more than that let him walk.
- Sign Wafer for $3 million max. The guy is a streaky scorer at best currently and still a major work in progress. With the current crap economy, no other team should offer him more.
- Sign a backup C between 6'11-7' to at the very least grab some rebounds while Yao is resting.
- Trade away Cook's contract at the next deadline since he has a player option I believe
- Hold on to TMac's expiring contract for 2010 in the event we cannot find a team trying to shed cap in 2010 for some good talent
- Resign Yao for $17-20 million
- 2010 sweepstakes make a stab at Wade, but more realistically, go after Joe Johnson for about $15-17 million
- Between now and 2010 offseason find a damn closer to cure our usual 4Q droughts.

 

I don't have time to break down this post point by point, but I just want to say this is a great post, and you should post more.

I agree with much of it, and what I specifically agree with is that if the rockets make moves it should not be for tweaks, but for upgrades. But also possibly for better fits.

I think there is an opportunity for TMac to be moved in a deal for upgrades, but we'll have to wait and see. I trust Morey.

I also think that all that developmental players that he's stocked up will, sooner or later, be cashed in for an upgrade. Then he'll find ways with unwanted free agents or 2nd round picks to stockpile back up that talent.

Anyway, it's just harmless speculation, and I, for one, am not going to bashing Morey if he can't move Tmac. There may be no buyers for an expiring contract. It has happened before. But it seems like there will be, so I am hopeful.

 

If we could somehow get Baron Davis or Stephon Jackson I would be pleased.

 

t mac next season

 

you will not have the money for wade. Just because t mac comes off doesn't mean you get that money. We will be over the cap so it doesn't count.

Golden State wants to move 4 players this summer, Ellis, Maggette, Jackson, and Crawford. All for cap relief, well T Mac's contract could land you any 2 of those players. Golden State wins and so do we, all you do is resign Ron and new line up

Ellis, Lowry, Brooks
Ron, Wafer, Barry
Maggette, Shane
Scola, Landry
Yao, need a back up center (Think Wallace will play for Mid level)

 

...but if he were on a WC team would he be putting up the same numbers?

 

Reading through all these posts, imho, one thing that is absolutely clear is that the Rockets have options.

i.e., there is no rush. there is no immediate urgency to do ANYTHING. And that's a huge plus fo DM.

I'm personally in the camp that believes T-Mac will be traded. I tend to believe we will be able to get future, or perhaps even near-term 1st round picks from a team in rebuilding mode. Why? b/c I've seen way too often teams that are perenially terrible try to accomplish the dual challenge of rebuilding while keeping the stands respectably full.

The marketing aspect of T-Mac and the intrigue of a T-Mac reborn will be enough to support some degree, if not a high degree, of trade value for him. Don't underestimate his value from this standpoint. Even places like New Jersey are and have been willing to taking aging and broken players in an effort to generate some excitement and to sell seats. Don't overlook major markets like New York too (which incidentally is where I used to live) who have major bucks and have a greater stake in selling seats than building a contender.

Moreover, speaking of New York, don't underestimate their short-sightedness either. One minute they are hailing Marbury as their savior, the next, their damnation. With the cash coffers they have and their need for marquee names, I can totally see them taking a risk on T-Mac even with the knowledge that he is in current rehab.

If DM is smart, and I totally believe he IS, he'll parlay the value of T-Mac into something that doesn't burden us with either a lengthy expensive contract or a boatload of average players. History of DM with RA seem to indicate they are totally comfortable going younger - be it among active players, free agents, or even rookies. Without the prospect of a high first round pick in the upcoming drafts, and probably unlikely next year as well, I wouldn't be surprised if DM can parlay T-Mac into a sweet pick for us.

Think about it. We already have vets We have a core. We can totally use some more young talents that we can farm raise in Houston.

imho, the "one player to put you over the top" argument is r****ded. Rarely have I truly see that one player, for all the times there was one proclaimed, truly put a team over the top. Kidd on Dallas anybody? NOT. AI on Denver? NOT. Besides which, why mess with chemistry by adding an ego when you can farm raise someone to FIT within the current makeup of he team and not complain about minutes???

My three cents.

theSAGE