First of all, if the cap continues to drop next year then we could still be over the cap. Even if we aren't we won't have any cap space to sign somebody significant. That's where the trade exception comes in. You can use it to sign whoever you want (outside KG) even if you're over the cap. JVG need shooters, that's why we got Pike. Rice even when healthy, is streaky at best. If outside shooting is all we need the Pike > Rice. As for post up skills JJ > Rice. I won't even bother going into D. If you are really that worried about the 1st rounders I already showed you how you can get two earlier 1st rounders and still have money left on the trade exception. In a perfect world it would be Rice for a 1st round pick from Utah. Why would they help us though? Amaechi is the necessary evil.
yeah but most if not all of Collier's stats are extrapolated from the 5 minutes of garbage time he would get here and there, which skews the sample greatly. Don't you think if Collier played a little more, his rebounds per 48 minutes would decline slightly? Amaechi has been a regular NBA player; Collier has not been. You can call him a gatorade getting scrub or whatever, but he's played a hell of a lot more than Collier in the past and has produced. Collier would tell you, hell, he has told us, that he wasn't given a chance. Well, maybe there's a reason for that.
We shouldn't cut him. We need a bench warmer to keep the Rox sqaud from catching an a** cold. He is fullfilling Collier's job.
Amaechi can and should be cut. He had one decent year with Orlando.....he's done nothing since. Where does he fit in between Mo, Eddie, Etc. I hope I'm right....the key to the whole deal is avoiding Luxury Tax and getting Jim Jackson, which I think is a good move. The Rockets went out this summer and got Piatkowsi (shooter) and Jim Jackson (tough and was once quite a scorer). Not blockbuster moves, but decent pickups. The best move will be signing Gabe.....he is dominant.
Gabe Muenoke is dominant? DOMINANT? Tim Duncan is dominant. Kevin Garnett is dominant. Shaquille O'Neal is dominant. Gabe Muenoke maybe a scrappy fellow with a whole lot of heart but he is far from dominant.
a. just in case it isn't clear to everyone even though it's been mentioned, cutting a guy doesn't get him off the payroll. we still pay him cut or not. so don't cut him. b. jim jackson has a better 3 pt % each of the last 2 years than rice. c. the cap didn't drop this year, it went up quite a bit. d. rice's contract wasn't gonna let us get under the cap anyway.
J. Jackson was a great pickup for this team. He proved he can play at the highest level of basketball and be a quality role player who can spark it up some nights. Amaechi wasn't a horrible pick up either. Although, he won't really have a chance to prove himself. In Orlando and Penn State, Amaechi was asked to play a vital role on the offense and that is one of the reasons why Amaechi did so well. He was given the chance to take 15 some shots a night. What Amaechi wasn't able to prove is that he can play quality minutes being a role player in Utah. Amaechi is a smart guy, the smartest guy on the Rocket Team, that is for sure and I'm hoping that Van Gundy can teach him to play quality minutes as a role player.
Why would you cut a guy who a) was pretty solid with Orlando b) had a known major issue with Sloan at Utah, cutting into his playing time and production. Why wouldn't you see what you had first? Especially at 2M a year. If he does well, he makes Cato very expendable. If he doesn't he is a 1.5M to 2.5M chip for trades to help make things work.
www.meech.org Hasn't been updated in a while. But it sounds like the guy kind of raises the IQ level of the Rockets. That should not hurt too much.
I think we will carry 3 centers and 3 PGs. For those positions you need the specialists. You can carry 2 each at SG, SF and PF. You can also keep your next best (from SG, SF, PF) on injury reserve. In case of injury, you can swap your SG, SF. If you lose a PF, 1 of your C can sub in for short stints. Amaechi is plenty good for 3rd string center, or 2nd string. He even started 89 games in 2 seasons for Orlando. We are responsible for his salary no matter what and at $2.6 mil/ yr for 2 yrs, you can't get cheaper. John will be here.
