Hello ! This is my first time posting on the boards, but i've been a long reader of this forum. I cant say I dont get excited about the idea of rumors circulating about the rockets. Some come to fruition ,most of the time, some dont. But all in all its great for the rocks. My trade proposals are usually based on salaries so it's not like i'm stabbing at water. Trade proposal no.1 : Memphis: Pau Gasol (3.4 million roughly) Jason Williams (6.2 million) Houston:Cuttino Mobley (5.4 million) Eddie Griffin (2.4 million) Plus 1st rounder Analyses: Grizzlies take: They get an unknown commodity that has definite possibilities In Eddie Griffin. Jerry West(the gm for the grizzlies ) knows alot about unproven commodities aka vlade divac for the draft rights to kobe bryant.Plus a consistent slasher like Cuttino who is dually capable of pulling 20 nights seems even more sweeter.Cuttino needs the stage all too himself to really shine.I'm sure he'de love to be the center of an offense.Plus They use their lottery pick on a PG.Dont forget a possible 1 rounder(ours) to help Jerry with the building phase.For the talent groomer like Mr. West it would be really good. Rockets take: Pau Gasol is the main thrust of the deal. A seven footer who can shoot face up or go low block or slash is errie. If you think about it with the tandem of Yao and Steve added to that its really errie.Sure, Gasol needs more development but he is far closer to being polished than Eddie.Plus the Rocks get a point guard to back up moochie. I honestly think moochie can be a starting pg somewhere else ,why not here?Plus getting Jason williams some real outlets to pass to isnt a totally bad idea for a backup. Plus any defense issues we can play zone.(hehe) Our Starters: 1Moochie noriss 2Steve Francis 3James posey 4Pau Gasol 5Yao Ming Their Starters: 1(lottery choice) 2Cuttino Mobley 3Mike Miller 4Eddie griffin 5Lorenzen Wright Sounds good to me personally both teams dont lose points.The part of this deal thats makes me sour is the defense were giving up in Eddie and Cuttino. But the offensive promise we get in a Gasol is too hard to resist. i dunno , tell me what you guys thinks?
Welcome to the Board. Although I like the idea of getting Pau Gasol a lot, I don't think there's anyway that Jerry gives up Gasol for the potential of E.G. I don't believe that Eddie is going to be much better than Gasol is right now, and even if he does get better, it's obviously going to be a long while before he gets there... Also, I don't think the Rox can ship out there 2005 first round draft pick due to league rules that help teams protect themselves against their own stupidity (like the Clippers and Mavericks of old).
No. Defense win championships. I do not understand why people still do not understand defense win championships. Is that too difficult to learn ? In the last superbowl, so many people predicted Raiders won the superbowl. They totally ignored that Tampa had a dominating defense. Ohio state won the national championship by defense as well.
.....Football? you also need scoring in basketball. But...Gasol's D is horendous. but yes....Defense is a main part. Though...Look at Dallas. I for one dont think they have a very good defense, but they can outscore u, and that gives them the win. (but like you said, Defense wins Championships, and i am a doubter about Dallas winning the Championship.)
Thanks guys for replying to my post. I look at the stats and Pau isnt really so bad at Defense. He got 7 blocks against Indiana three games ago. His point production really wouldnt be missed if we gave them Cuttino though. But i kind of agree with you guy. Defense does win championships. In most cases it matters almost all the time. I read in a magazine and online that Pau is untouchable but not too untouchable. He could be pried away if a proposal was too good to pass up.
Even if the Grizz would trade Gasol, we'd have to pay him eventually. Griff won't hit his stride, IMHO, before we extend his contract and we can probably sign him for a reasonable contract. Gasol will want the Max. So will Yao. There's no way we can build a good team with 3 guys comanding the Max salary. Also, Gasol's defense sucks and our offense will be fine by next year.
Take a look at the Pistons. That is a team built around defense. Say what you will about them playing in the (L)Eastern Conference and whatever, but you cannot say that they have bad D. Everyone pays attention to the Nets and Pacers in the East, but who is on top? Detroit. I think they can make the Finals, based on their D alone.
Gasol wasn't traded, Gooden was. So, Gasol was the keeper. Gasol can block shots, not play D. There is a difference. West will try to dump out of JWms and/or Dick and to do so he will have to ponder the going going gone of Pau Pau. However, it will take a mega deal to account for the base year problems of the Grizz' backcourters. My summer questions are: Will JPo be resigned and/or will there be an attempt to use the MCE? Either/both could put the Rox into luxurlyland. How will Rice and his expiring contract be used by the Rox, either over the summer or in February?
The thing about trading Drew Gooden: Sam Smith writes in today's Chicago Tribune about the GMs who were not afraid to pull the trigger on draft picks they knew wouldn't work out for them. For example, Jerry West knowing Drew Gooden would never be a 3, and had no spot at the 4, and Gasol not being a center....so Gooden was dealt for Mike Miller (which works well for both teams, IMO). I wouldn't be surprised this summer if we actually revisit that EG and Glen Rice for Shareef Abdur-Rahim. True, defense wins championships; but offensive firepower doesn't hurt, especially against the Kings and the Mavs. The Hawks won't trade before the summer, until after they screw up on their promise to season ticket holders that they'll make the playoffs; and the Rocks won't mess with chemistry or the fact they gave up so much to get EG.
Gasol is as near an untouchable as Memphis has. IMO, Cuttino and Griffin would not be enough. A large part of whatever future trades the Grizz perform will largely be dictated by who they draft this summer. My understanding is the Grizz will have Bryant Reeves off their books next summer. Obviouisly, it wasn't February as the deadline has passed. If the rumor that they supposedly passed on an Abdur-Rahim for Griffin and Rice trade at the deadline, they obviously think Rice's expiring contract is worth a bunch.
I think the Rockets will be fielding offers for both Cato and Rice this summer. Rice can get the team a quality player, although we'd have to take back some bad contracts. Then they'll look to trade Cato for a less expensive backup center to offset the bad contracts we'd take in the Rice trade.
This and the Gooden read are excellent points. Further, there's something on an intuitive level that tells me the Rockets feel EG + Rice is worth more than that offer as there will be more teams in the market in the summer.
Just how true is the 'defense wins championships' cliche anyway? There always seems to be a strong bias towards defense in our major sports. But isn't the goal simply to outscore your opponent? Why should the way you outscore your opponent matter? Also, defense is one of those things that's hard to judge objectively. A lot of the defensive stats, like steals or blocks, never tell the whole story. So you have to rely more on scouting reports, reputation, defensive schemes, coaching. Basically nothing that you can quantify. And stats like point scored against depends a lot on the playing style. When you have an up-tempo team like the Mavs, your defense *seem* bad because the opponents get more posessions. So opponents will score points even if they don't play well. At the opposite end of the spectrum you have teams like the Heat or the Pistons. Both play at a snail pace, so they don't give up many points even if the opponent's shooting lights out.
Well, I still think that the Rocks need to address the SF position. I mean, either Boki is the real deal and makes a solid offensive contribution next season, or the Rocks go shopping for a good to great SF\swingman. The SF position isn't the absolute key for the Rockets, but when their SFs play well (& shoot well) the Rockets are unbeatable. Granted, the SFs are probably the 4th option in their system (and if your 4th option is lighting it up, the opposition has no chance), but that only highlights the fact that the Rockets need more consistency and well-rounded play from that position.
Bingo. In today's finance-first NBA world, we're actually LUCKY that Griffin is progressing slowly. Unless he has a breakout year NEXT year, we should be able to wrap him up for 4-5 years at a medium salary. Then, like J. O'Neal and many other young guys, he can become a force around year 4 in the league.
I think that is the point. The Rockets DO feel that EG+Rice is worth MORE than Abdur Rahim. Case in point.....it was rumored that the Hawks were trying to offer SAR for the Spurs Steve Smith and his "expiring contract" (plus they wanted to add another big guard to the roster). Steve Smith? Is he really that much better than Rice? So with that in mind, the Rockets probably would be better off offering Rice for SAR straight up without getting EG into the mix. Again, the trade is completely lopsided but in this day and age of the LUXARY TAX and teams trying to trim down the payroll MANY trades get made not for BB value but for the "books" and to trim payroll. The Hawks, owned by AOL, are trying to trim payroll so someone has to go. Teams that manage their payrolls well or aren't afraid to dabble a bit in Luxary Taxdom can fleece some teams of their talent via pawning off an expiring contract. I am not saying that Rice for SAR is going to happen this summer but Rice (and his expiring contract after next year) can fetch someone else that has BETTER "B-Ball value" for the Rockets. Rice and his 9M expiring contract is a huge asset! Moving onto Live's take on Boki and the SF position on the team. My feelings are that Boki at best will probably be a nice off the bench guy in the same way as Hedo is with the Kings. I am not so sure Boki will ever be good enough for season long starters minutes at the 3. The Rockets do have to address the SF spot at some point. Perhaps not via the draft but via a trade. With Rice's expiring contract the Rockets should look for either a combo guard (i.e. Brent Barry) that can play the one and the two position, or a rugged enforcer rebounder at the 4 that can do a decent job of guarding other western conference 4s (P.J. Brown etc), or a versitle scoring 3 that can hit the 3 point shot and slash to the basket. Chris
As well as Cato's played this year, and as much as we're paying him, I think you're right. It's just too big a luxury having him on the bench. With Yao getting more minutes next year, Cato's main value will be as a backup in case of injury to Yao (please, no!!). This summer, we should definitely use him as trade bait. Wishful thinking, but I would LOVE to see David Robinson agree to be Yao's backup for a year. He could still be a force for 5 minutes a game.
Actually, I wonder if this was an actual proposed trade. Getting players off the books is one thing. But giving up SAR for pure cap space....well, AOL can't be that desperate. For God's sake, they own Warner Bros (Harry Potter movies) and New Line Cinema (LOTR films). I read a question/response in Chad Ford's ESPN chat. He said that the teams unwilling to go into luxury tax land have little to no chance of winning the championship. Not an astute observation, but I hope Les doesn't play Sterling on us. I mean, it's his $$$, but if he really wants the team to succeed, remember the old bromide: you gotta spend $$$ to make $$$. Anyway, as I said, I think a lot of trades were explored and set aside for the summer. Rice's expiring contract will come in very handy. It's easier to explain to fans (who don't waste their time on sports web sites ) that "we traded for so-and-so because he has one year left on his contract and will free cap space." It would be tougher to do the same with a player whose contract expires in 1.5 years. As much as I would like to see the Rockets acquire another great player, I guess that we probably would not have been any better if we had thrown another monkey wrench into the system now(bromide #2: don't change horses in mid-stream). They'll wait til the summer. Besides, I'm sure they want to give Eddie his opportunity. I don't think he's quite up to it yet, but you gotta give the guy a reasonable amount of time before you say, "Well, we think this would work better."
The Rox need at 4 is not an undersized never-on-a-winnerSAR. He would have to play the 3, which I think he does better than the 4. He is a load at the 3, overmatched on D at the 4. This league is about match ups. Rudy understands that, hence the ISOs. Hence the Hakeem back-to-back rings. So, let's get the players here better or get better players from somewhere to give the Rox mismatches all over the court.
