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

You are correct. He is a 6'9" point guard that runs the offense from the top. I don't see him doing much else for the rest of his career. So, if he stays here, it would seem to make sense most to either bring him off the bench with Wafer and Brooks. That way he can run the point and get the ball to Wafer and Brooks. Or start him with Brooks and Battier. Essentially he needs to be paired with Brooks so Brooks can play the pseudo shooting guard role and run around while McGrady stands around and finds people.

 

No, I ask it because of the name you chose...it undermines everything you say regarding Tmac.

DD

 

yea tracy was still a pretty good player wearing a rockets jersey when i signed up for this account.

if i signed up now, it would probably be lscola_4

 

DD, we finally got some good hoops talk and u want to screw it up. Put the wine down and lets keep talking.

 

You just gave us the biggest speculation so far in this thread.

 

DaDa, t_mac1's one of the good guys. I can't recall him ever posting anything inflammatory or ever refusing to have a civil dialogue with anyone.

His perpetual blind eye policy toward McGrady can be frustrating at times, but we've all had that attitude about at least one Rocket before.

 

I don't think we'd want our highest paid player to be manning the second unit, especially when our starting lineup needs a scorer so badly. If the Rockets decide McGrady can no longer function as a primary scoring/playmaking option, his days on the team are numbered.

 

DD, we finally got some good hoops talk and u want to screw it up. Put the wine down and lets keep talking.

 

Artest never cared to come off the bench for the Rockets. But i think Rockets should keep this core for the next season. Sign Artest n Wafer, and also keep Tmac. I think Tmac will come back healthy and better than this year. Not as good as old Tmac but as long as he gets his shots back and unafraid of driving to the basket, he will help Rockets alot.

I dont want him to be much of a scorer, in fact much of a passer. Hes the best passing guard in this team. If he takes upon the job of being the playmaker and also a scoring threat, why do we need to trade him. With him being the playmaker n scoring threat, u wont see much of double teaming of Yao. Now this all depends if he can stay healthy for the entire season. I think its best to keep him next season n not settle of crappy trades as we wont get much by trading him n if he gets injured again then just let his contract expire n go for big name like Wade in 2010.

 

most here on this board don't realize that this team doesn't have time to waste. this is not a young team by any stretch of the imagination. as you said, yao only has a few years left at a high level and battier and scola are right in their prime. artest is already on the decline if he is even resigned. the only young guys are the point guards, wafer, and landry, and its unclear how many of them will be back (brooks could be dealt with mcgrady and wafer could bolt).

the series win over portland was great for sentimental reasons but this isn't exactly a team with upward trajectory. they are going to need a major infusion of talent and as quickly as possible before yao runs out of time.

 

i don't think we need tracy to be a "scorer." we have so many scoring options right now from 1-8 or 9 down the team. what we do lack is a playmaker and that was very obvious in the portland series. brooks had to do so much at times and that was why people criticized him so much.

tracy will always have the vision. the thing we are awaiting is whether he can regain some type of quickness ala back to the 07-08 season. he has always clamored to be a facilitator and this year was supposed to be his opportunity.

i still think he will be traded by next year's deadline personally. but he has a few months to impress morey or another team.

 

I think the Rockets management would disagree pretty strongly with those of you who think getting to the 2nd round is not good enough. Given that the Rockets have a $20 million hole in our roster and traded away their starting PG, it seems pretty clear to me that management didn't expect this team to compete at all. So this team's performance has been more than good enough - it has exceeded expectations. Add $20M of talent to this roster, and you should be (assuming that $20M isn't a total bust) competing for the championship.

So that being said, my guess is that the Rockets will look to resign both Artest and Wafer and then trade Tmac for any player that they feel will add and improve to the current roster. They're not going to blow up this team just yet - Yao is still a cash cow and if he's on the roster, all personnel decision are going to be based on how the new player would fit alongside of him. So that rules out guys like Deng or Jefferson because they simply aren't good enough shooters to play an inside-outside game. Butler is a little better but I'm skeptical that Washington would trade him (more likely, they'll trade Agent 0 who is a huge ballhog). For those who have advocated for Jackson or Maggette, I agree they might fit but I don't agree that Morey would ever consent to trade for either. Maggette is a ball-hog and injury prone and Jackson was part of the melee in Detroit - there's no way in hell the Rockets would ever pair him up with Artest again.

IMO, our current weakness is PG, so I'd guess is that the Rockets will long and hard at any deal that gets them an upgrade there. So the question becomes - what PGs are actually available? I can only think of three:

Baron Davis - Hasn't worked out in LA and I'm sure they'd love to unload his big contract. When he's not injured, Davis is a special player and could potentially run the offense better than anyone we've ever had. My concern of course is whether he would be willing to stick to a structured offense - if Tmac's constant "heat check" 3s drove us up the wall, Davis would be even worse. Plus, Davis is injury prone.

Monta Ellis - Not really a PG, but due to his size, I don't see him playing any other position. Has the offensive explosiveness that the Rockets would love at the PG position, but again, not someone who has a history of fitting within a system. Still, he'd be an upgrade over Aaron Brooks, and the team has functioned OK at times with Brooks at the point.

Andre Miller - A very long shot - his contract actually expires this year so we'd have to work out a sign and trade with Philly. I doubt that Philly would be willing to wait another year to clear a contract, but stranger things have happened. Miller's not a great shooter, but he can run a team and can score on the drive.

 

Blender, I think we were talking about his career in general. That's why the gsw makes so much sense.Ellis is not nor will ever be a pg. If u put tracy in that lineup as the pg along with kellanna, randolph and biedrens, now u have something. As a playmaker, u need play finishers. If a rookiescola and guys like hayes can actaully be effectiv e because of tracy somewhat, then those gsw guys would be really effective.

 

our current pg combo Brooks/lowry is just not good enough for a championship run.I really don't see potantials in them to make elite level in future. IMHO, pg is the first back hole Rockets need to fill up as far as Rockets still want to build around Yao。After that, then come the position of sg, a wingman need to be lethel on offense.

For Hamilton, last time i heared from detriot fan is Joe Domars game him a awful extention,don't know the details of the contrect though.

 

subtomic, I disagreed with u bigtime. Just because a guy doesn't shoot 3's doesn't mean he can't shoot. The rockets need scorers like von. If nothing else the series shoudve taught u that. U can't have a bunch of guys that need yao to get them a shot. Also watching portland, u saw creases on the offensive that only brooks, lowry,and von could attgack. You give those creases to jefferson, deng,and maggette and ur talking blowouts. If this team had more slashers and finishers, u could never front yao. The standstill players should be eliminted from all thought process for the rox. Deng and jefferson do fit this offense.

 

We do need a playmaker, but we also need someone who can create his own shot during crunch time, something that Brooks and Artest have been unable to do on their own despite their best efforts. When healthy, McGrady is the combination of playmaker and scorer that this team has been built for.

If he proves unable to fill both those roles anymore, the Rockets will have to go with Plan B, whatever that may be.

And I'm with you in thinking that the likelihood of Morey trading him is pretty high at this point.

 

the rockets organization is ecstatic getting out of the first round. but you'd be dumb if you think morey himself thinks this group can win a championship. he saw what we all saw in the portland series and how we still struggled to score points and making plays down the stretch.

morey will do whatever he can to get us that playmaker. it could still be mcgrady, but most likely not. but hopefully by next year, morey will get us a playmaker b/c we're nowhere near a championship level team until we do.

 

I agree blender. There isn't a stat for playmaking.The game 7 vs utah, he assisted on like every basket in the last 6mins. He got yao some cleans looks in great positions. He has struggled because even though he's a triple threat, his lost explosion to the rim takes away from his effectiveness.

 

Personally, I'm pretty high on our young PGs, and I think Brooks is developing into an effective starter.(Though many would disagree.) But I think Brooks is meant to play with a playmaking shooting guard like McGrady. Take McGrady out of the equation, you'd have to reevaluate Brooks as a starter, IMO.

 

We have a series in front of us and I think winning is not completely out of question as many say, but I would be much more confident if we had say Ben Gordon and Tim Thomas.

I can see both teams would be willing do this trade sometimes during off season or before trade deadline for different reasons.

so, Mac for Gordon and Tim thomas/john salmons is the most beneficial and realistic I can think of.
I would not wait for 2010 market as I think we will have Zero chance of landing any of the big names, but with that move Chicago could land Lebron.