From the: Dang I wish we were involved in some way Department Something that has been brewing in the West for some time and appears to be coming to a head. I have been emailing some friends with a couple of the strories surrounding this. Believe it or not Riley in the East has been the guy that is making a lot of these West teams, consider some intriquing lineups and trades. The LA Clippers have repeatedly denied attempting to trade Taylor, but it appears recent(within the last six days) inquiries by Miami, Portland, Washington and the Lakers have finally loosened up some Clippers front office people. The Deal #1: Taylor for Rice Subplots: LA Lakers: Fisher, Knight, Horry (Pick any two) LA Clips: Anderson, Nesby, Closs (Pick any two) Duh like someone would pass up Anderson and Nesbitt for Closs! Miami: Riley "I'll take Rice!!!!!" But Miami needs a third (or is that fourth) team involved to affect a Rice aquisition. Rudy,CD, I know you have talked endlessly about this. Is it possible to get involved now? It would probably cost us Drew or Mobes. We need to lose Walt and his contract. Bull is not an option,because he is ... well, he is not an option. We can live without a couple other players,including TMass, but our real trade values are in these guys. Drew. Mobley. Williams. Should we wish for: Drew and Walt Williams for Anderson and Nesby? Or Drew and Walt for Mashburn? How about Mashburn go directly to LA and we get Taylor and Anderson for Drew(You know the Clips love him)and Walt? Can we get Kandiman? He was involved in an discussions/offers earlier with us? How about Mobes, Drew and Walt for Taylor(You know you love him RT), Anderson and Nesby. He would come here. The Deal #2: Backroom talk has been floated around about a Hughes/etc for Fortson/Barros. Now despite his poor playtime this year, this Fortson kid can play ball. Watch Detroit and Indiana jump all over Pitino about that guy. Hughes is not getting a lot of playtime and he all but ready to jump ship. Again. He will be gone by trade deadline. The Deal #3 Watch the increased Van Gundy intensity in getting McGrady to New York now that Camby is out (probably) for the regular season(Partial ACL tear). If Allan Houston is even mentioned in the same sentence with the word trade, we should be offering all three ... Mobes, Walt and Drew, plus the old uniforms, a couple of girlfriends, all our picks, the mascot and a dozen season tickets for life ... to be involved in that trade chat. [This message has been edited by popeye (edited February 07, 2000).]
"... If Houston is even mentioned in the same sentence with a trade, we should be offering all three ... Mobes, Walt and Drew, plus the old uniforms, the mascot and a dozen season tickets for life to be involved in that trade chat." Boy, the Rockets would have to make sure McGrady locks up with the team, otherwise it's a very risky deal. Many think McGrady is heading to Florida for sure in the offseason, so to give up Mobley and Drew (and Walt) on someone who may not stick around is scary... Anyway, just speculation since I don't think the Rockets are involved in any McGrady talks.
Tracy Mcgrady is a great player but houston shouldnt deal for him. He will leave and go sign with orlando.
Granted the Rox are all but lost in any McGrady dealings this year. I was really referring to wanting Allan Houston. Sorry. I'm a slow editor. But JVGundy has lost Camby and will probably offer almost anyone to get McGrady. If A. Houston's name comes up, I sure would want to be included in any talks if possible. PS: McGrady is not on my "just gotta have" list anymore. Mobes would probably fill that need and is a heck of a lot more coachable than McGrady in my opinion. Nice to have, but not on the popeye "hot as hell" guest list anymore. [This message has been edited by popeye (edited February 07, 2000).]
How old is A. Houston? I cannot see how they would Trade him He is NY's bread and butter along with Spree. I'm not his biggest fan but. . . dunno if he is worth MOBES and DREW Rocket River
Pitino not playing Fortson is very odd,,,considering he was the #4 rebounder last year at both center and PF,,and Boston needs big men. Either: 1) Danny's pre-season injury is effecting his play 2) Pitino is an idiot for shopping a power rebounder 3) or Pitino is trying to be clever If Boston really is shopping him as rumors say, you gotta believe Indiana wants him the most since they miss Antonio Davis badly and they want to be in the finals finally in birds final year (that's final), and they have the most to give for him: I don't know what Boston needs aside from big bodies (that's why I'm confused about Fortson's playing time), but Indiana has one of the deepest benches to use to pull a trade for sure. Jonathon Bender, Croshere and Harrington all have potential and about the same price tag, plus the Pacers could offer some vets if that is what Boston wants. Do you think Boston wants anything other a big man in return? Because if they want a big man in return...we don't have one to offer. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited February 07, 2000).]
LA Lakers: Fisher, Knight, Horry (Pick any two) LA Clips: Anderson, Nesby, Closs (Pick any two) Duh like someone would pass up Anderson and Nesbitt for Closs! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ POPEYE is this an example of Clippers shooting themselves in the foot again? Rocket River They need to learn to be patient and hold onto some folx
Pops: Makes no sense to me, considering Allan Houston is way past the age range we should be looking at (I think he just turned 29). You would be giving up Mobley, Drew, and the lotto pick, three peices of your future, for a player who is now in his prime? For what? We have no team to win with..
If possible, I'd love to trade Mobley, Drew, and Walt for Anderson, Taylor, and Nesby. You get two bright stars of the future and a good role player in Nesby. But, if you're the Rockets, you have to push the Clippers for one more addition. They should take Bullard, T-Mass, or someone and give us Eric Murdock or Troy Hudson. The trade as you had it would give us one point guard and them three. If they'd give us one of their point guards to use as a backup I'd take that deal in a heartbeat. By the way, would this work capwise? And Popeye, do the Rockets have any interest in those players, or is it just your speculation?
It would be nice to have the word "Houston" on the Rockets jerseys again even if it's only on one player. That would get rather confusing for Bill and Gene though when they do their play-by-play. I'd trade Mobes + Walt + two 1st rounders to the Knicks for A.H. and then move Shandon to the 3-spot. 29 is not that old and he's been relatively injury-free his career.
I'm sorry Cabbage man, but Houston is not out of the age range we are looking for. He will turn 29 in April. You do know, Cuttino Mobley will turn 26 in September. That's only 3 years. And I'm highly skeptical if Mobes will ever be as good as Houston. Anyways, it ain't gonna happen.
You guys saying Houston is out of the age range we're looking for have got to be kidding me. You have a chance to get Allan Houston, you go for it. With Houston we have a starting lineup with explosiveness, long-range bombing, scoring, and some defense with Cato. We have no pure gunners on this team right now, it's one of the things we're missing. We have a bunch of role players and a couple of playground players for our offense. Allan Houston would be a welcome addition to ANY offense, age-be-damned. ------------------ trade them all and fire the coach.
heypartner, With Antoine walker at the PF position, Fortson's not going to get much time. Fortson is really undersized as a center as well (6'7"). I didn't watch many Celtics games last year, but I would think to ask a 6'7" guy to guard centers on a nightly basis is dang-near impossible. They also have Potapenko playing a lot of post minutes from what I remember. Pitino is taking depth at the PF position and attempting to trade for strength at another position. I like what someone else on the board once said, to paraphrase : "It's easy to find backup role players, but it's not easy to find great starters". In Fortson's situation, he's probably hoping Fortson starting on another team will land Pitino a quality starter even if it means making Fortson part of a package. He's doing nothing for them on the bench, so why not trade for someone that will contribute? ------------------ trade them all and fire the coach.
popeye -- My mistake... not the first time I read "Houston" referring to Allan and thought it was referring to the Rockets. In fact I dread when the Knicks are on national TV... always hear "Houston" and my ears perk up ... I think Houston is a hell of a player... I agree with you, but couldn't see Van Gundy parting with him (especially for something the Rockets are willing to give up)
Well Houston would make one hell of an addition. He does need the Spree to set him up, but Franchise can take over with that. I'm still skeptical about the age differential, however. I believe in the school of thought which states that marquee players be around the same age level. Houston is ready to win a championship now. By the time Franchise is ready to take his game to that level, Houston will be falling off his better years. What they have in NY right now is ideal. Spree and Houston, the two marquee players, are both 29, just hit their peaks, and they have a core of nice role players of different ages. BTW, on Taylor, he's not worth even a 2nd round draft pick. Any guy over 6'9, averaging over 30mpg, should be getting more than 6 boards a night.
Couple of other things: Derek Anderson is one of my favorite players in the NBA. If the opportunity arises, I would trade the entire ship for him. Substitute Taylor with Kandi. McGrady in New York does not look like a good situation to me. Sure it looks great on paper: Camby McGrady Ewing Spree Ward but New York is the type of place a guy like McGrady does not need to be in. The media there has the ability to make him shrivel up and implode. If full potential were reached, a Spree-McGrady combo could be devastating, but I have my doubts it will ever reach that point. The ideal situation for McGrady, IMO, would be in Miami. A year in Pat Riley's system and we'll see what kind of player he really is.
DoD, Antoine Walker is no power forward. That's why I say Pitino is an idiot. But that goes back to why did he trade Mercer instead of Walker. With Anderson, Mercer, Pierce you have a glorious guard-oriented line-up around which to play the new Rudy ball. Walker had many offers for big men in exchange to fill the gaps. DoD,,,stay away from this argument...Pitino is an idiot college coach thinking he can get Walker to play. Walker is at best Mark Aguirre...totally out of position for power forward in the NBA...no ability to play defense. Fortson on the other hand played center for Denver last year and pulled down the #4 leading rebounds. The man is a true PF. Walker is best to play SF like Aguirre, and let the real men play the power position. Pitino should (if he could coach Walker) move him to SF (like Daly did with Aguirre) and Fortson to PF...then he'd have something. But Walker is uncoachable and Pitino is on his way out of Boston as soon as the PR firm is ready to handle the failure. DoD...your turn!! [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited February 07, 2000).]
There is no need to post any of my thoughts as heypartner has stolen the words from my mouth. Every one of them.
