I heard calvin murphy talking about SF being out of shape yesterday. I didn't catch the whole conversation but if he is overweight hes done.
I'm a Franchise fan for life, I know he's not gonna come back at full form but I really hope he atleast gets the opportunity.
I agree, because we've let many contracts expire in the last 7 years. This year, however I think we're really putting this year's run based on a deal we hope to make near the deadline. Otherwise we know we're not likely to do much in the postseason. I think Morey's getting some latitude and Les isn't exactly thrilled with zero splash effect this offseason. I just don't see a roster spot being that precious unless SF3 really screws the pooch again this year... which he might.
Actually, I think the Rockets will NEED Francis's expiring contract to still be on the team come February. If a team just wants expiring contracts and draft picks in return for a good player with a long-term deal, then Bobby Jackson and Luther Head might not add up to enough expiring salary to get a deal done. Remember, the Lakers don't get Pau Gasol if Kwame Brown doesn't have a HIGH SALARY expiring contract. The Rockets need the combined expiring salaries of both Bobby Jackson AND Steve Francis to get any sort of similar deal done.
He will most likely not even be part of the team's plans for next season since the team had so much of its success without him last season.
He is an available resource so let's use him... During timeouts, Adelman can always use his back to place the whiteboard on while he draws up a play.
SF3 is aware of how the fans feel about him, he knows that if he wants to keep playing in this league he is going to have to have the season of his life. He has got the talent ,he will be in shape the, question is Whether or not his heart is up to the challenge
He's playing for not only a contract...but his CAREER...you guys tell me how much harder he'll be working next season
He had some nice games just limping around for us last year, if he gets health he will be an asset........ He has uncanny chemistry with Yao on the court as well, keep him if healthy.....
Well, I was very convinced he would play amazing last season...So now I'm not sure...I would love to see him play at a high level again, but only time will tell...Either way Steve will always be one of my fav Rocket.
I'm predicting he won't care about anything and end up out of this league and I think most GM's feel the same way or they would be trying..... unfortunate and I hope I am wrong.
The problem with you theory is that the Rockets don't have hardly any big contracts and only one expiring (Bobby Jackson). You used Weatherspoon as an example, but he was only released because the NBA allowed teams to waive one player without his contract going against the cap because of the CBA was just signed that off season. We have a lot of small contracts which is good and bad. Good in that we get quality for what we pay for our small contracts, but bad in that we would have to give a lot of players for a moderate to max contract in a trade. Morey is talking about getting pieces for a good trade for a third scorer, for someone like that you are looking at least 9-12 million probably more. Let's take for example this past season that when we were talking about trying to get Mike Miller, Memphis wanted Scola in return, but you can't make that trade straight up, we would have needed to send more players to Memphis to make it work and Miller only makes around 9 million a year. Think if we were going to trade for a guy like A.I. or Michael Redd, I realize that's the extreme but they have max contracts, we would need as many contracts as possible to even come close to matching. Steve's contract is actually large on the Rockets roster right now. The Rockets have most of their money tied up in Shane, Rafer, Yao and T-Mac. Other than Bobby Jackson, we don't have much in the way of money contracts. Scola makes around 3.1 mil, AB makes only a little over 1mil, Luther is getting to the end of his rookie contract which he makes a whopping 1.9 mil., Chuck is a BYC guy and he makes a little less than two million. Brent has the LLE contract which is less than two million, Carl probably won't get much more than that. If we just out and release Steve, we still have to pay him and he still counts toward the cap. There's no benefit in that.
are you including harris in the 15 spots? even if francis doesnt pan out, his expiring is worth than harris productions. i agree, i too think it depends on that minor trade morey is talking about. if francis is traded... thats that. if francis is not traded, and the deal was 2 for 1. (or any trade that opens up one roster spot.) that would mean, it'd open up a spot for harris and francis. if the deal is 1 player for another player, then it'd depend on which player we get. of course, i'm just thinking about all the players we have in my head, including deke, landry, and dorsey, but i might be forgetting someone.
I hope Francis can at least play like what he did against the Suns if not better as his injuries are healed.
anyone else see steve during the hbo fight last week in germany? he was a part of tony thompson's entourage and was hamming it up for the cameras during the trip to the ring. i was surprised to see him and did a double take. i wonder how they know each other.
My guess last season was if he continued to play well, Adelman was planning to bench Rafer for Steve. So I guess he will be a starter sometime next season if he doesn't get hurt.
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