Hey Pops the following is a list of some of the big men that will be free agents next year. Michael Olowokandi .... 1/29/99 4 Keon Clark .................. 1/23/99 4 Raef LaFrenz ............... 1/23/99 4 Dean Garrett ................ 9/7/97 5 Cherokee Parks ........... 8/3/01 1 Donyell Marshall .......... 9/26/94 8 Lawrence Funderburke 8/4/97 5 Al Harrington ............... 1/22/99 4 Michael Doleac ............. 1/21/99 4 Greg Foster .................. 8/17/99 3 My question is do you think the Rockets would be better off saving our cap space and waiting for any of these guys next year.
I really hope the Rockets do not pick up Jelani McCoy. He's like Cato w/out as much potential. Seriously guys, do you really want another guy who shows moments of above average play, but is usually uninterested and very unmotivated. I know this because I live in Seattle and have seen Jelani play quite a bit. The guy just looks lost on the court sometimes.
I really like Jahidi as an option, and I don't think his price is too bad for a center who can give you quality minutes (look at Geiger, Dampier, or what M Jack is looking for). What I like about him is he is very strong, adequately athletic, and plays really hard. I would be cool going into the season with Cato/Jahidi at C going into this season because of different attributes. If Collier earns meaningful minutes over those guys that is fine I don't see much reason to pursue Oth (he is not a center by any strength of the imagination and defense is not his forte), but I would not object if it doesn't cost us too much (KT, Langhi or Collier at the most). I would be Ok with trying out McCoy if he wasn't too expense, but he is not nearly as proven as White in terms of playing adequately for substiantial NBA minutes. I would trade a late/mid first rounder (Toronto or ours) for White (I think we can use our trade exemption to take on his salary w/o losing a player). I would also do a trade with Walt or Collier or Langhi or KT as the principal for him. With a mix of exclusive 4 or 5s including young prospects--Kwame, Haywood, Etan Thomas, and older players-- Popeye, Lattier and Vaught, I would think the Wiz might consider trading Jahidi. The Wiz most looks in need of more shooters (Walt , Langhi, anyone?). Let's make a deal.
The Rocket Guy (yes, I know, not exactly the most reliable source around) is saying that the rockets invited Jelani Mccoy and Pig Miller to camp and even promised a partially guaranteed contract to McCoy. Is this guy for real or is he just making stuff up again? Probably the latter. Oh, well. As far as the center debate goes, i'm all for grabbing a guy who can fill a hole, such as McCoy, Brad Miller or Jahidi White and maybe even Polynice (don't laugh) for cheap or by trading one of our unneeded players such as the Wizard, and see what can be done about Cato. We all know that he CAN contribute as he was a monster in that damn pre-season eons ago. God knows what has to be done to motivate the guy, but he would be the perfect defensive minded center with SIZE we need if it could be done. The more i think about it, the more i dislike the idea of signing Marc Jackson for the long run. He really isn't the answer to our needs of an intimidator in the middle and his long-term demands for a contract are scary. I'd rather save the cap space and try our luck in the FA market next year when we could hopefully try to sign LaFrentz. What becomes clear is that CD and RT weren't expecting or even considering the possibility that Hakeem could leave. Their lack of a backup-plan of any sort is proof enough for me. I'm sure we wouldn't let the draft go by without landing any centers whatsoever. One way or another, someone will have to be signed as the thought of going into the season with two injury prone players like Cato and Collier gives me the creeps and I don't want to see Mo at the 5 and KT at the 4 again.... that's lottery and we've had enough of that for the past couple of years. A serviceable role player to shore up the 5 is the best we can hope for, and I hope it's done ASAP. PS: Oeilpere, mon ami, I wonder what was that hint you dropped about BIG NAMES....? You are not going to DOC ROCKET-us, are you? I still have a headache trying to figure out that damn cryptic stuff...
Thanos, Right on, dude, about The Rocket Guy. He needs to be a fiction writer. Well, I guess he is, considering his web site. Absolutely horrific. He'll take a nugget of information...a kernel of truth...a boatload of cliches (actually, that would be me ) and completely fabricate stories around it. (I.e., someone posts that a decent short-term solution for the center position would be Miller or McCoy. BAM! Now they're being invited to camp. One of these days he won't be brandishing fool's gold, but when? And I still say we go after Jahidi White: Wizard to the Wizards.
Guys: Thanks for supporting the thread, a couple of things ..... 1. I personally do not think anyone here will be happy with the way things may turn out. The fact that we have been spoiled for the last 15 years (out of 17?) has made us want more out of the pivot than is available right now, unfortunately. 2. We are in a somewhat retooling phase. Face it. The simple fact is we have to shore up some spots and do "something" about the pivot position at the same time. Over the last several years the five was in truth anchored by the presence (threat,reputation)of Hakeem more than his offensive or defensive production. As far back as Mark Bryant, Kevin Willis, Othella to a certain extent, Cato initially, Pig Miller and when healthy ... Tony massenburg ... they all lent a supportive role. We were pretty successful with that idealogy. We DO NOT Have A Supportive Role at Center Now. That is what they are trying to fix. The supportive role. If you go with Cato, then damn it RT will go with Cato. If not him and he is traded then a tandem of average or above average players that will accept that responibility. Problem is there are some AVAILABLE role players out there, but to move Cato you cannot gain enough to offset the second part of the equation. 3. McCoy MAY be the most attractive option right now. He fills a need, and he will come cheap, possibly on a very short contract. A Cato-McCoy-Collier Depth may be more attractive than the alternative. 4. White is an option but the prospects of an average five from the (short) East on a long contract ,along with starters money ($5M ), may be more than I would be willing gamble right now. There is a reason that MJ wants to retool at this juncture. Think about it. See below(#7). 5. Longley and Othella in a trade for Cato+ may still be out still there. I don't know. My feeling is it is drying up. I can't beliecve some think this is a poor Houston deal. Baffles me. Longley on the IR, until he retires for medical reasons this fall/winter, and a dependable(albeit undersized) five in O ... should be reasons to rejoice. IMHO anyway. 6. I agree Jackson, at this point anyway, seems to be a lost cause. He may want far too much(contract length wise) and we will have to jump some hoops to get him. It doesn't look good there. It was far better a week or so ago. 7. I will not tell you about any "big names" out there just yet, but I will say that a post I wrote several weeks ago about a move to unload some flotsum ("There is a God!") included ...... substantial offers with Cato and Chicago, and Walt to Miami or Washington. That initial Cato offer has since gone to the wayside and from what I understand Houston was the team that backed off. There are still some open lines between Krause and CD but the options for these two dealing are getting slim. The Walt to Washington thing has opened up a bit but that is still a tenuous trade offer at best. Last I heard they were trying to get a third team involved, Rt has not been completely sold on it(losing Walt) and included another player that Mj wanted out of Washington. I can't/won't elaborate on Curry,yet. As a side note, I had some good sources swear that Krause was going after Payton earlier this summer (prior to the draft), and almost had a deal done which included the Rockets in a minor role. Possibly a convoluted exchange of this year's picks among the teams involved, and possibly Miller to Houston. That is all water under the bridge now, however. 8. There was another set of seperate trade chats between New York and Houston happening prior to the Allan Houston signing. It was a last ditch effort to find out all available options prior to the decision on AH, I would imagine. It did not sound serious at the time. 9. Sherlock: Have no idea how or why MoTay has dropped his demands on Cato. Could be that as persuasive as CD is, and as loyal as RT is ... both made a pitch that this situation would eventually work itself out. Who knows? We could be missing some important ingredient here. That is, that Cato has a new committment to work hard this year. That he has told his teamamates and management that he realizes he knows he has an enormous responsibility and he is now equal to the task. Huh? ...................... naw ................... then the damn sky would fall down on me, and Tyra Banks would be begging me for a date. More later. Cheers. Oh yeah,PS: Last I heard, Shandon got an offer of $24M or "a bit more" over five years.
I can't believe it... he did pull a Doc Rocket on us... you gotta love it! I won't even try to figure that out! thanks for the info pops!!!
Thanks for the info Pops, It looks more and more to me like RT is planning on going with Cato. It seems to me that there have been several opportunities this summer for Rudy to go after a big man and other than this board we have not heard a peep. I relize that Dream was a top priority this summer but certainly CD and Rudy could have at least explored the possibility of Nazr Mohamad and Marc Jackson in free agency or Loren Woods and Brandon Haywood in the draft. I have already probared myself for Jalani McCoy as the next Rockets big man to back up Cato while we wait for Collier to get well. McCoy does nothing that excites me. I have been reading your posts religiously hopping to find some small glimmer of hope that we will make a move for a decent center or at least have some other plan than Cato.
Cap nightmare. Longley counts against the cap for 6+ mill for the next 3 years, retiring or not. I don't think Othella, undersized as he is, transcends the 5 position enough over Cato to pay 6 mill to a guy who can't play. Sure, it drops Cato, but he has the "p" to be better than Othella at the 5. As a side note, how does Kiki V as the new GM in Denver affect the hunt for Raef Lafrentz? (now or next offseason as a restricted free agent)
Spinach-man or anyone for that matter, a name I haven't seen mentioned is Daniel Santiago. He is a free agent and as of right now, the Suns are over the cap. His final stats weren't overwhelming in the RMR, but I saw him play a couple of times. He is 7'1" and is not a stiff. He plays hard, which I consider a good thing for a center. What is his situation? Will Phoenix clear cap space to resign him? Do you think he is a worthwhile project?
I don't want OH back, even if Longley weren't involved... unless NY really, really wants Kelvin Cato . OH is a black hole on offense, plays mediocre deffense, can't pass, and is undersized. He has a pretty decent low post game and boards pretty well, but he's not what we need. Offense would be nice in a center, but I think Houston's priorities in a center should be: 1. Defense (including shotblocking) 2. rebounding 3. 3 pt game 4. post game 5. ability to get garbage points Othella Harrington fits #'s 2 and 4 on that list. And there are other guys that are comparable rebounders available.
You didn't tell us about Curry..he just magically appeared on our roster in the same thread where we traded for Kobe without giving up "fransis" mobley or griffin: yo dawgs kobe dont like shaq and he dont like the back seat so let get kobe. pg- steve fransis sg- mobley sf- kobe pf- eddie g c- eddie curry what do yall think?
Agreed, but that is like saying Cato's salary counts against our cap also. It is ubiquitous. All salary counts against the cap. Even those airplane trips counted against Mark Cuban Maverick' salary cap. My point is .... I agree with you that his salary counts .... but it is addition to the cap is offeset with a medical exemption which is "universal" in scope, i.e. it can be used, split, divided, attached, etc .... to purchase talent. My real point, it is NOT a horrible decision if they went that route. By mid decenber we will know if it is better than the alternative. Curry I was not saying Curry is going to be a Rocket. I was saying I would NOT tell anyone yet, about some things that were going on this summer with regards to Curry. If I wanted to be cryptic I would have said something like ..... an indian dish that awaits at the gate for Kaitlin to rise before Judge Ito ..... or some other esoteric nonsense. LOL Santiago: More of the same. Great potential. Great desire. Realtively cheap. Needs a team that will give him minutes. We have Collier. I could be convinced Huffman would be a better move. But all in all, ther are likely sveral prospects ahead of him. Shandon: He never left Utah two years ago because he wasn't offered enough money. Haven't we been down this road before. Crash: That's my assessment. I think RT sees it as there is no OVERALL improvement on Cato/Collier out there presently. He may see it as Cato and Collier with a great role player in support as the lesser of several evils. Otta here. Cheers.
