Alston had beef with Toronto head coach Sam Mitchell. He's still their head coach, so nothing's changed as far the love between the Raptors and Skip. The Rockets will be forced to trade Battier in any deal for Calderon. The Raptors can contend in the East and are buyers, not sellers. Expiring contracts are not that attractive to them, but Battier would be. Also, this is not like the Scola situation. You can't wait on this one. the Mavs might offer Josh Howard, the Bulls could offer Gordon, Deng, or Nocioni. You have to make a solid offer, and Battier is just that. Plus, Dennis Lindsey isn't there for the seemingly mandatory giveaway to your former team. I wouldn't want to trade Battier, but I would for Calderon. this is a classic case of you have to give up something to get something.
This will depend on how Morey and Adelman think. I am not sure whether they want to take this risk. After all, with Battier, we are a 50+ wins team. Of course, we never passed the 1st round either.
It's no doubt going to be a huge risk, but the window is on it's way down. Win-now mode is in full effect. Trading Battier for Calderon would leave another hole on the team, but it will be on the defensive side. That's why if the Battier-Calderon trade happens, the Rockets should focus ALL their attention in signing Mickael Pietrus or acquiring Ron Artest. The Artest scenario would require expiring contracts if he doesn't opt out. But if he opts out, hopefully Adelman grabs his ear and gets him in a Rocket uniform. The best case, executive of the year offseason is getting Calderon and Artest while losing Battier, Brooks, and expiring contracts. But I'd settle for just Calderon. We have to think about how Rafer would react to a Calderon trade as well. He seems like one of those players who demands a starting job.
Bobby Jackson + Aaron Brooks + 2nd rounder for Artest Battier + Head + 1st rounder for Calderon I can see the Raptors wanting Battier. Mitchell would want him. The team needs a veteran presence and are currently running with just Kapono and Anthony Parker at swingman. It would have to be a sign and trade and Calderon would have to indicate that he wants to leave. Chances are extremely slim though. Extremely. I wish Calderon was Argentinian so we could use Scola as a selling point. Yao/Deke/Hayes Scola/Landry Artest/Novak T-Mac/Francis Calderon/Alston We could still pick someone up with whatever part of the MLE we don't use.
Calderon could potentially earn a few million more at Houston because of those Chinese sports vendor deals. So maybe we could get him with just our MLE. Problem solved
nah, no way we're getting Calderon. he will command more than the MLE, alot more. More than he's probably even worth.
i dont even know, if we gave up battier we might not be as good as we are defensively. name another player on our team who brings the defensive savvy that battier provides? do you really want to trade battier our core of defense for another point guard? we've seen a steady improvement in rafer's game (yeah 39% isnt that great but during the winning streak he played out of his mind, not to mention others stepped up, once landry went out with an injury what happened to our winning streak??) give me a healthy rockets team and im sure we could do alot of damage once our players click with the offense that Coach adelman can construct. Coach adelman isnt Mike D'antoni (however you spell it) his teams can actually consistently play defense. ahhhhh all this speculation, please come sooner NBA season of 2008-2009.
Ok, all you guys that want to trade Battier for Calderon. What is your solution for the SF and swing position? Who are you gonna peddle off BJax to and for what?
is Calderon really that good? some Raptors fan are saying TJ Ford is better, and that Calderon's trade value is at the highest right now..
I don't think so - there's not a lot of teams with cap room right now. Add that to the fact that you have a bunch of all-stars on the market this year - IMO, Calderon gets MLE max. The trick to our offseason hinges on Landry accepting the LLE. Something tells me he doesn't want to to though, he'll want more.
For those who want to trade Battier for Calderon, Artest has to be first priority. If we are going to give up our best defensive player (Batier) we have to have a replacement for him. Yao Scola ? what ever player we could get for remaining MLE. TMac Calderon Refer isnt as bad for this team as some make him out to be. I would rather keep Refer and add Artest than just get Calderon. We are better off with Yao Scola Artest TMac Refer than Yao Scola ? TMac Calderon
I doubt the Rockets can get Jose. Jose is a restricted Free Agent and Colangelo will keep him. The Raptors are most likely shipping out TJ Ford since he's more at risk for a career ending injury, and he might not be happy starting from the bench.
I would take a risk on TJ.....but not give up too much to get him....give up some picks, maybe Luther......and some expirings....and give it a go. DD
How can you complain about Rafer being unable to shoot but yet talk about TJ Ford, who is the antithesis of our half court offense and who gets as much respect from 18ft out as Rajon Rondo, and doesn't play 1/5 the defense Rafer plays. Jose isn't possible since they're looking to dump TJ, and will likely match any offer. Not worth tying up money trying to get the impossible when we have a much bigger need in getting another wing player with size.
