This has got to be one of the most confusing set of posts I've ever reponded to. First....Taylor signed a 1 year deal because he and his agent miscalculated the market. What sealed the deal is that both Taylor and the Rockets knew Olajuwan was coming off of the books the following summer and if he performed well in the test drive, the Rox would reward him. Other than being UFA's, that is where the similarity between Taylor and Swift ends. Secondly, why do you "have to throw 6 years 36m" at Swift? Since we are in agreement that he is UFA then the logical conclusion is that he can do whatever he wants. 1 year @ MLE...6 years @ MLE...it's entirely his choice. What impacts Swift's decision are the following...the big money of playing for an under the cap team like the Hawks or Hornets vs a Sign & Trade that MEM will agree to (that doesn't make him BYC) vs a teams MLE for 1 to 3 years with the latter meaning his signing team has Bird Rights. This is the only way I can't think to state it because I clearly can't follow your points.
Taylor signed here with a 1 year deal in expecting to get a bigger deal the year after, ok, we agree. I said throw 6 years at him because i can't see him taking anything less than 6 years. I can't think of 1 young UFA the last couple years who has signed a 3 year deal expecting to get rewarded with a huge deal after they get his bird rights. Too much could happen. Why risk it. If there are players that have done this, please do tell. I figure that a bigger, longer guaranteed contract is a better option than short term contract with the possibility of a raise. That is way too risky, given the physical nature of the league. One bad injury and you'll regret having signed that 3 year deal instead of that 6 year one.
Define "bad injury." Why even step on the court for that matter? Too risky! That could happen to any player signed (Howard). The benefit of getting Swift is better than the risk of not playing him due to a possible injury. 3 years or 6 years. Doesn't matter. He'd still be in the IR. Do you think that an injury will last longer than 3 years? Why sign anyone for any length of time?
SAR is a loser he puts up numbers on bad teams and the only time he was ever on a decent team he did nothing.I would take Swift over him anyday,the type we need is a young OT or Charles Oakley someone that will rebound like a mother and one who could ideally hit the 15-18 ft jumper on a regular basis.
I remeber Lance saying something that the Rockets arent considering SAR coz he cant play Defense and has week Knees. Anyone have any info on this???
If Swift is eager to come to the Rox, get him. If not, forget him..I think he does not rebound enough which we really need. But he has the athleticism and shot blocking that we need
I think Udonis Haslem is probably the best choice for PF for our system in the entire NBA but being restricted means he's returning to Miami and who could blame either side for wanting to keep what they have together. If Kwame Brown can right his ship with a change in area codes I think he'd be ideal but he comes with a noted risk. Does the change in area codes mean he becomes half the player Jermaine O'Neal became when he got out of his bad situation or does he pull an Eddie Griffin and continue to suck regardless of location. I don't know if Jeff Van Gundy has the patience to mold a young player with little to no current direction into a serviceable player so I'll leave that decision to him and Carol Dawson and be happy with their choice based on their track record together. It is amazing how smart Carol Dawson looks now that Rudy is not around gushing over spare talent leading us to sign a plethora of bad contracts. I love Rudy with the best of them he gave us our two championships and delivered probably the most clutch teams in NBA history but the game had passed him by. I will always enjoy seeing his jersey in our rafters because no single person has given more to our organization than Rudy T.
if donyell wasn't turning 32 on may 18th, i would be all over him. he got 6.6 rebounds in 25 mpg compared to 5.7 in 26 from juwan. not that juwan really hurt us that much with rebounding, but donyell is better. and he even blocks .7 shots a game. but of course, his best attribuate is his 3 point shot. an amazing 41.6% this year and 35% for his career. even with his age, this would be hard to pass up. hopefully he's in love with the thought of having a billion wide open 3's a game because of tmac and yao and would like a 3 year, MLE deal from us. man, now i kind of hope the new CBA (if the bastards don't have a lockout) only allows 4 year contracts so then we won't have to worry about having him when he's old. he's not the athletic freak we'd like at pf but damn he would be nice. like having padgett but with other skills than 3's. stro has lost a lot of his luster recently and, after seeing that he's not that great of a rebounder, i'm not sure i'd want him even if he'd take an MLE offer. i kind of just hope we either get marshall or find a nice, young pf in the draft since so many are in the draft this year. and i guess i'm one of the few who wouldn't mind SAR. he's like a deluxe version of juwan.
Juwan had a good season but not nearly his best by any stretch. I want him to be a part of this team but I'd like to see him come off the bench for scoring punch but I'd like to see a bruiser, hustler, rebounder out there who also can score when needed to help Yao down in the post. That is not Juwan Howard's game and never has been.
Would be nice and we'd likely be unstoppable if we got a decent passer to get the ball into the post well but it is as likely as us making the trade of Sampson for the #2 pick in the 1984 draft some 21 years later. Thankfully our future is f'ing bright even in the real salary cap constrained world and I haven't said that about the Rockets since about 1997.
Dude i agree with you about needing a Bruiser helping Yao down low. i just thought, the Comparision of SAR to Howard was to say, even some supposed soft players, can fine tune there game into JVG game plan. having said all that, i rather see Chandler ahead of SAR.
I'm 50/50 on Kwame Brown. He could be a good pickup on a team that already (hint, hint) have two stars. Jermaine O'Neal took 5 years to start improving. Maybe Kwame would be similar. It's not like we need him getting 17-24ppg right away.
My scouting report on Stro Swift: Big tim athlete, elite shot blocker, very good rebounder, jumpshot out to 18ft, average on defense, poor rotations, some times he tries to block every shot, below average post player, good off the dribble, average passer, undependable, misses too many games for minor ailments (eye abrasion 3 games, sprained ankle 3 weeks...etc) He grew really frustrated in Memphis because he never really did get a fair shot but I can't say if it was the coaches or the player. Could easily do 15 and 10 as a starter and block more than 2 shots. Top 10 PF when motivated and playing. Drifts a little. I am a big Stro fan but all you guys need to know about him is this: if you guys signed him, I wouldn't consider you bigger threats than with a healthy Howard. Classic all or nothing decision: he will either put you over the top or be the next Mo T. P.S. Chandler is a pipe dream. Sort of like trading for T Mac ...lol.
SAR isn't a major upgrade over JHO. Unless Rox can move JHo I'd rather they tried their luck with the draft with players like Wayne Simian or Hakim Warrick. David Lee & Uros Slokar are intriguing.
whats the big deal with Stromile Swift? The guy isnt great at defense or offense...he has no midrange game nor is he a great rebounder...all he can do is throw down a fancy dunk every now and then...plus he is injury prone
