[SportsRadio 610] Rocket Insider: Dennis Lindsey (12/1/06)

If all this is true expect one heck of a trade in January!

 

Absolutely not...

 

I agree.

But then all the guys here won't have Spanoulis to swoon over.

 

while i love billy, i could've waited till next year if it meant having MJ start at the 1 with rafer backing him up.

a 3rd scorer. a perimeter defender. a shooter. a slasher.

i bet that he would've helped in the 2 losses we gave up to the spurs and pistons. we needed a 3rd scorer to play with the bench unit. we had big leads, we just needed to keep putting points on the board.

we could be 12-3 and at the top of the conference, hell, at the top of the league.

 

Chicago needs offense, they could use Bonzi. I would try to work a deal for Chris Duhon, say Bonzi + Spanoulis or Bonzi + Bob Sura's expiring and Lucas for Duhon and some scrub.

Though thinking about it a little more, we better wait till the trade deadline. There will be other players who become disgruntled. I'd watch out for Ray Allen up in Seattle. Sura's expiring + Bonzi's expiring + our two young rooks and possibly Head could get it done.

 

Sorry but I hope we don't trade V.Span and Novak but trades should be made with Bonzi, Sura, Howard , Padgett possibly Mutombo.

 

If we trade Mutumbo it should be for another big man. otherwise we have no backup for Yao.

 

We know what motivates Bonzi: he likes them big and round Jvg needs to promise him a locker in the power dancers locker room if he gets in shape and plays like we all know he capable of doing.

This childish little stand off between him and JVG was inevitable when you look at the two personalities involved. These two guys are like two drunk drivers playing chicken and neither one wants to be the first to swerve.

If it comes down to saving his job JVG will play Bonzi. The Rockets will not go far in the playoffs with their current team and another first round exit might not get JVG that contract he wants.

 

Ray, Rashard, & Ridnour would be their untouchables.

If they're serious about making cap space for Rashard and moving a disgruntled Watson who has a widely regarded bad contract. Lucas & Sura (potentially expiring contracts) would make a workable trade. Though Rockets mighn't be able to to absorb the extra salary.

Hayes at C is a failure. With the extra roster spot in that scenario they should look at picking up Haryasz.

 

The situation in Seattle is very tenuous. Like a 3 legged stool with a wobbly leg. Rashard CAN decide to opt. Rashard DOES have the power to force a trade. It's really this simple right now. If that team ain't winning come the trade deadline and Rashard decides he wants to come home, he can pretty much force a trade or else Seattle loses him outright. And the only market leverage Seattle has is to basically dare Rashard to shoot and take the risk that nobody is going to offer him a long term big dollar deal. That would really be foolish of them to think that though. Dude is averaging over 22 ppg on over 41% shooting from 3, 85% from the FT line and 53% shooting from everywhere else to go along with 6 boards. Staggering.

Basically, Rashard has to decide what he wants to do. If all he is after money, he can threated to opt out and force Seattle to offer him an extension. If all he is after is winning a championship, then he may choose not to exercise if he feels he can win it there, or he may become very disgruntled in the public, say he is opting out, and force a trade to the team that he feels he could play a major role on and win a championship. If he is smart, and he wants to leave Seattle, come home, compete for championships, and get an extension, he could probably make that happen. December and January is basically going to be now or never for Rashard to come home and play for the hometown winner. If he doesn't make his move then, he will wind up somewhere else and be stuck with a very good contract but his chances of winning a championship go down drastically. He isn't going to sign here for the MLE.

The perfect place for Rashard is Houston. The perfect time is this season. But, is Rashard the perfect player for Houston? Would Rashard settle for a contract extension not quite at the max, maybe $10 mill per for however many years? Will Les be willing to forego the tax to have a lineup of Yao, McGrady, Battier, Lewis, and Rafer/Luther/VSpan/whoever? It will cost us Novak plus our draft pick plus expirings plus maybe even another draft pick. Is it worth it?

 

Very interesting, I would love to find out more about that.

 

So you basically are saying Novak + junk for him, in other words, Houston will get him for free.

 

Nope. It's gonna cost us picks plus Novak, plus we may have to exchange other contracts for Earl Watson. In other words, Seattle gets salary cap relief, a young shooter, plus a couple draft picks. They are set to tank out the season, possibly get a high lottery pick, sign a high salaried free agent or two, and get another young player/players with our pick. The deal has to be based on us wanting Rashard and being willing to go into the luxury tax, Rashard wanting us, and Seattle acknowledging he is going to leave.

 

How does Alston get any playtime with Van Gundy? Alston and Sam Mitchell had a big falling out in Toronto. It was one of the big question marks when he came to Houston. He was a complete "knucklehead" as JVG would say.

I am surprised Bonzi hasn't been able to get along. He should be able to get along with Van Gundy better than Sprewell or Rafer did with Mitchell.

 

The player option he has is there for good reason and it's not through coincidence it happens to land in his tenth year as a player (where he qualifies for the maximum rate for a max contract). I doubt he would want to get traded since Seattle are the only ones who can offer him an extra year on 16+ million per year.

 

Bird rights get transferred if you are traded, IIRC.

 

You're right. Still, I don't think Rashard will opt out for less pay, but to do the opposite.

 

On the contrary, Bonzi is all about the money, which is why he held out in Sacramento b/c he thought he could get more money... which is why he fired his agent when they both realized that Bonzi wasn't worth more than what Sacramento was offering.

 

Compare bonzi and swift isn't fair. Van Gundy has always been known as a player's coach, if you can't play for him, then most likely, it's the player's fault. Do you really want some of the players that had issues w/ jvg on your team? Francis, Anderson, Swift comes to mind. Bonzi should realize that it's for his own good, getting himself in shape will only help himself in the long run.