I've read every post for almost an hour now! Finally made it! This is all great news as I feel he is not one of the elite PFs in the league, or even in the West-- yet, I feel he is an excellent peice to the puzzle called the Houston Rockets. His strengths cover our weaknesses at the position and also his age is perfect to grow with our 2 stars. The huge bonus is signing him for only the MLE!?! Wow. My respect has increased for Stro, at his age accepting less money is almost unheard of. Also, to see T-mac as excited as he is- amazing. CD Got'r done!
I think if Stro brings what Cato brought to the Rockets during the Francis era Houston is in great shape. My bets are that he is a little bit better then Cato. I haven't watched him play but from what i've read and heard his main thing is athletism. So he will be a faster more athletic Cato (Perhaps with a little bit of a jump shot?). I say start the twin towers of Yao and Stro for max defense and then go with Howard for stability off the bench. My opinion, this team still needs another scorer and a guard that can shoot the ball well from the outside ( 3pt range) and play good defense.
This is a great day to be a Rockets Fan! I wanted Stro since the beginning of last season. Swift has the tools we need for a power forward. It will be interesting to see if Yao can stay on the floor and not get into foul trouble like last year. Yao can have a 22/10 year. That alone make the addition of Swift neccessary for us. The Wagon is parked at Toyota Center. Come on everybody jump on!
The good thing about this is that we have a boat load of expiring contracts. So there will be a pretty good amount of cap space. If I were the Rockets I would get as many role players we can that fit our needs instead of just one good player
That may not be such a bad thing...Mo's problem was his lack of consistency and dedication. But when he was on his game, it was pretty. By the way, how did Taylor do after we traded him?
This is a great move by both Stromile and the rockets. Both Tmac and Yao are great passers so hopefully he should be among the league leaders in field goal percentage.
Just imagine how many fun blocks Swift will collect helping from the weak side ... Or fun dunks if they leave him to help against the T-Mac and Yao pick and roll ... Best of all, the price is right.
Well that was just completely random.... Another thing that Swift will allow us to do now, or a side effect of his presence here, is that it will free up Yao. Yao won't have to work as hard on defence, saving some more enrgy for offence and we can possibly get another 5-10 minutes a game out of him. That's dependant on Swift being able to draw some of the defence away from Yao, block a few shots and take some of the fouls from Yao.
Actually those Mavs fans are not near as dumb and arrogant as you guys make them out. Certainly not Spurs level or anything. A sampling of their comments http://www.dallas-mavs.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=3&threadid=23131 May be the best move in FA so far. Swift for the MLE is a bargain and he fits perfectly in Houston. Depending on what Dallas & Phoenix end up doing, I move Houston right behind the Spurs. Nice move and kudos to Swift for taking less. Good pickup and good value for the Rockets. Good decision for Swift, too. The Rockets are as nice a fit for his talents as he could hope to find. I'll be interested to see how Houston addresses their situation at the guard spots, because they're still quite undersized and/or underskilled in the backcourt relative to most of the other top teams and are now dependent on trades to get the rest of their work done, but IMO this is the first real impact offseason move made by any of the Mavs' close competitors. They may not scare you... but they were one game from knocking us out of the playoffs. And this is a great pickup for the Rockets. Color me concerned. Houston was better than we were in the second half of last season and they have now added talent while we are losing(waiving) it. Yao and T-Mac in year two together should not only concern us, but concern the whole league. Swift is a huge upgrade over Juwan (at this point in Howard's career) and I don't think Houston is done. Getting someone like D. Stoudemire on the cheap would be a good move for them. I don't think they really need a big time SG with TMAC on the team. TMAC can play either 2 or 3, and they can survive with Sura/Wesley if need be. They got the best value for the MLE by far. Thought Swift would get more. Remember he's been stuck in Memphis where nobody but Gasol gets major minutes. He should easily be a 15/10 guy in Houston. It's a good signing for Houston, and one that helps them, but does Swift even start there? To me, he looks like their first big off the bench. He's a decent PF, and he'll fit well in Houston, but I don't see him as a difference maker. The most interesting part of a Swift signing to me is what it might signal regarding Mutombo's future in Houston. He is EXACTLY the kind of backup center I want Dallas to sign. Go get him, Cubes. So that leaves no one. Looks like everybody is taken. I certainly put us behind Houston in this devision now. This is very bad news. AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE: Wow...this really sucks.
I hadn't realized that SAR signed with the Nets for $29mm for 5 years. That's quite a bargain for them, too.
