It's doubtful Brooks will be going to the D-League either. Adelman has already indicated plans to use him and capitalize on his speed. When you combine the player with their contract, Brooks has much more value to NBA teams than Rafer, who is a known (mediocre at best) commodity and is on the downside of his career. I am being very realistic. Teams would much rather have a cheap rookie with decent potential than an old one-tricky pony with great handles who's flaws have been totally exposed. Last season drove a stake into Rafer's trade value.
Okay, assuming the Rockets carry four PGs, who do you leave off the 12-man roster? Trust me, with all due respect to Alston, he no longer has a place on this team, especially with Brooks in the Final 12.
There is a 15-man roster with 3 players that can be made inactive for each game. It's not a permanent designation.
I doubt Morey-- or other GMs-- value Rafer as lowly as many people here. He has weaknesses, but he did play the most minutes out of any player on a 52-win team. He can't have sucked that much and his contract is reasonable. Considering what the "White Rafer Alston" (a.k.a. Steve Blake) just signed for and considering what guys like Snow, Kenny Thomas, Damon Jones, Damon Stoudamire, etc. make, the real Rafer Alston has some value. At least according to the Miami Herald, you can get a expiring contract for him... There are plenty of guys you can't even get expiring contracts for in this league.
HP, I understand that Alston is the steadiest PG we have. I can see why you want him to stay. I am curious of how you envision the PG rotation to work if we don't trade him. I am pretty sure they aren't going to get rid of James, Francis, or Brooks. And if Brooks is any good, they should develop him to be the future PG. But there's no way Brooks will play ahead of Alston if he's on the roster. You think either James or Francis should be moved to SG? Then what about Head and Snyder, not to mention Wells? I am kind of torn on signing Francis. It's great value for the price. But I don't see how he can contribute anything more than James can. The most frustrating thing of this offseason, as exciting as it is, is the number of unknowns. 1. Can James play at a high level like he could 2-3 years ago? 2. How does Francis fit it? Is he going to be here for the long haul? 3. Is Brooks a real deal? 4. Is Wells going to put his acts together? If he does, will he stay long term? 5. Is Scola good enough to be our long term starter? If he is, how big are the holes in his game? Does he need a big time banger to back him up? 6. Have we settled our backup center with Butler? All these unknowns have ramifications on how much we want to balance the roster. We have enough talent to make us feel "deep." But we have so many unknowns we don't know how good we really are. There is a big range of scenarios, from worst to best. The bottom line question is, do we want insurance at the perimeter or do we want insurance at the front line?
4. Yes he will put his act together. Will be a top 5 candidate for MIP award... 5. Does Scola need a big time banger to back him up? Scola needs a veteran to START in front of him. Scola may play with passion but he looks like a softy at this point. 6. God I hope not. When Yao goes down for his annual 10-25 games we will be kicking ourselves for not resigning Mutombo. Ya, my comments dont coincide with the point you were trying to make. It just looked too fun to resist.
1. this really could and should have gone in one of the other threads discussing this. 2. SF3 and james is probably going to play two guard more then most people realize. 3. just because this deal didn't go through, and framkly I'm glad morey didn't pull a cd and take the first offer presented to him. 4. rafer is not that bad a pure point guard
y tread alston? i mean here is my sl: sf3/skip and brooks tmac/mj and head bat/wells scola/hays yao/deke rest left is whatever, depends what happens on the court. unless there's really perfect tread, other wise i rather skip stays, he's a fine back up for sometimes hotheaded sf3. mj... well... i think he can back up tmac no problem...
Like someone already said, Brooks will be on the 15 man roster. The 12 man active roster will vary. Since it's apparent Morey has discussed trading Rafer to the Heat, I think it's likely he gets traded before the start of the season. That fact Morey didn't take Doleac in return may indicate there are other avenues available. As far as who will be inactive from game to game, candidates are Novak, Snyder, Bonzi, Deke, Brooks (hopefully not often), Chuck (if we trade for another rebounding PF), Landry and Luther. Unless we play the Heat, I see no reason to ever have Butler and Deke both active for the same game backing up Yao. I see little reason to have Snyder and Bonzi active for the same game. Unless I'm missing something, it shouldn't be too hard for AB to make the full-time active roster to start the season.
I find it interesting that we signed Francis for the same prices as the heat signed Parker. What an unbelievable steal for us!
I don't think Alston HAS to go. But there is no room for 4 proven but smallish guards in James, Alston, Francis and Head, plus an extremely promising Brooks. Francis really can't be traded as easy because he signed as a FA. There is a longer window AND that is bad form after recruiting him. James can go in a 1 player out deal right now, or package in like 2 months. I am not against trading him for good value in a more needed position (landing Diogu, Haslem, etc). With Francis and what Brooks has shown we have a good chance to not miss him much. Alston and Head can be packaged. Either one is somewhat redundent because James and Francis can likely do much of their roles. Alston for someone like Donyell Marshall or Brian Cook (say with JL3 & Vujacic for salary matching) would work for me. For Head (and change) I'd want at least those teams seconds throw in for those players.
I understand James has become a bit redundant with the arrival of Stevie but IMHO, dealing him would look just as bad dealing Steve.
Interesting how some people dislike the fact we have so many assets. Worse case, we trade them and their undersized contracts to eager teams for our choice of whoever.
Agree with 1-3. The odds of all three happening are small, but it could happen. Miami tried to bully Morey into a trade, and he was smart rejecting it cause it shows the Rockets are not desperate.
thaz a pretty stupid move they made...they will suffer! mark my word! so, where can we trade our rafer to? i want a decent big man who can start our PF right away though
No, we traded for him. Trading someone you acquired via trade is not bad form like a FA you recruited over signing multiple other places. My preference is trading Alston and/or Head, but James is tradable for the right player (I'd do it for Haslem, Ike Diago + change, one of Atl's young promising power forwards, etc). Smush Parker is not as bad for the Heat as people make it out. He was not ineffective for the Lakers, there was other reasons the Lakers let him go (team conflicts, maybe for running the offense they want). Personally I think he has a better chance to make a difference there than say Jeff Blake. Parker is an OK 3 shooter and a physical defender and brings needed athleticism that Williams and Payton don't have any more. He might be OK paired with Wade, a much better playmaker for others than say Kobe Bryant who didn't mesh as well with Parker. Now Alston is better than Parker, but I can understand them saying no to Haslem and no to a 1st round pick to Houston, and trying Parker. Unfortunatly the Heat has little to offer to Houston unless they went with Haslem, and that is way too much for Alston unless Houston includes other assetts. Now personally I think they should have signed Barnes with the MLE and then traded for a PG--but Parker was not a bad FA option.
It's about balancing the roster. Right now, we have a host of guards and an uncertain group for the 4 spot. I'd also like to see us pick up an athletic wing like Barnes, who can play the 3/4 and give us a change of pace and and different look to throw at opposing teams. He's a free agent, still unsigned, and could be had if another team would do a S&T involving him and the Rocks (and someone else?). We need a 3-way with perhaps Alston (James, who DS is fine with trading, although I'd rather move Alston), Head, and Novak being in a deal.
