Simple question. Comments welcome. Now that we've had a chance to cool off, reflect and get to know Shane Battier a little better, it's time to take our pulse. Will do it again maybe after the pre-season.
watching him play in the WC games changed my view of him completely. He is exactly the type of player this team needed. Sure we gave up a lot of athleticism for him, but stro like it or not was a bust. I will eat crow about stro I was a big support of him hoping he would turn the corner but he never seemed to get it. Gay is still unknown chances are he will become a good player, but this team wasnt suited for him right now. A rookie SG? I dont really care if both swift and gay blow up in memphis as long as the rockets improve in the playoffs i will be more than satisfied with the trade. Battier isnt going to be a star but he is an above average team player that understands the concept and will make everyone around him better
It was a good move for us.. I'm eagerly anticipating how the team will do this season. One thing to add.. some people will say we are 1, 2 pieces away from title contention (assuming health). I think it's better to say we are several decent roleplayers away from it. Right now we have TMac, Yao, Battier, and..?? If VSpan, JL3, and Novak make an impression, the next 3 years look bright. Hayes and Head also need to continue the path they're on. Rafer will get the job done at point, even if he's not the best PG in the league. All we need from him is good passing. Gay will in all likelihood do well, but he is basically an undeveloped TMac at this point. We have TMac already. Just need to keep our fingers crossed that he stays healthy.
From watching his play during the World Championships, he is our Bruce Bowen and can sub at the 4. Even if we lost Gay, I like it. Definitely will help the team.
The more I learn about Battier, the more I like the trade, and now I'm definitely on board as supporing it. I think he's going to be an outstanding defender and spread the floor for Yao and T-Mac with his outside shooting. It's still questionable whether Gay will turn out to be a superstar, so at this point I think we got the better end of the deal. We probably could have had a straight-up trade of Gay for Battier, but we were also able to unload Swift's salary, which was not worth it for the level he was playing at. I was intially really disappointed in the trade because of all the pre-draft hype of us getting an outstanding rookie, but now that I understand what Battier brings to the table, I think it was a great move.
Battier is proven. Gay is a question mark with potential and Swift, huh? I think Rockets does not want to take a risk and in a way, I agree. At least now, we get a player in Team USA to support. Yao, McGrady and Battier sound good.
Don't mind the trade, but should have gotten Memphis' draft pick in the deal. Hell at least their 2nd round.
I love and always did love the acquisition of Battier. I do think we overpaid a bit, but that was our choice to be rid of Swift. Why couldn't we have asked for a 2nd round pick or two and stashed away some more Europeans?
I am fine with Battier, but we should have at least got a 1st rounder and thats why I voted it was bad.
69% are in favor? WOW! Rudy Gay was my #1 pick in the draft for the Rockets. When Foye went at #7, I told my son the Rockets were about to get the steal of the draft. After the trade rumor slipped out, I was so hurt and disgusted I just knew there had to be more to the story. There wasn't. I'm fine with the trade now. Dumping Stro was good for us because he is unsalvageable. The shine has worn off of Gay. Shane reminds me of a "rich man's" Bruce Bowen. He's better than Bowen ever has been and clearly steps in as our 3rd best player. One more impact starter plus a healthy Yao and Tracy would make us a championship contender. Or maybe one of our backcourt players will step up and play beyond our wildest dreams.
I really like the move I am very happy we now have a proven NBA player over a project like Gay. Getting rid of Stro is like addition by subtraction and yes we still have some (if's) but we also have two true superstars and what I think is a perfect third scorer who will accept any role. BTW-I have liked this since day one.
Getting Battier was a great move as he is a significant role player. He will assist this team as it builds into a Championship Contender in a couple of seasons.The question still burns in my mind is that we still have a coach who does not like to develop the young talented player. I am glad that we moved Swift as he was an albatross who couldn't find his niche on the court,[the nice way of saying a BAD CD mistake] but to give up him and a high draft pick still lingers as a high price to pay for Battier. If this was the Rockets plan then I would have had an under the blanket agreement already in place with Mike James to sign as soon as appropriate. I would never have let the situation arrise where Coach Avery Johnson and Mavs owner Mark Cuban bad mouthed the Rockets, so much so that the irate and half crazy Make James was turned into a Rocket's hater, thus interferring with the Rocket's 'WIN NOW PLAN'. Since the episode of Swift, Gay Battier & James, the Rockets management have turned the other cheek and have gone with a youth movement. Will this mean that Coach JVG will have to develop young talent or is he now in a precarious position of thinking that we are still in the 'WiN NOW' mode , yet will be doomed if he doesn't develop the young talent?
Wow, many people consider Stro not worth the MLE we gave him last year. I think Stro's talent cap might've been around Cato's before we shipped him out. He's pretty cheap when you consider him like that. I'm still not happy with the trade. Battier's the real deal, so it's getting better day by day. The season will end all the guess.
I still hate the trade and try not to think about it. Battier is a decent player but I've never been a fan of his game even when he was at Duke.
while i am excited to have battier... the trade still left us depleted. i don't care what anybody says, it wasn't a good move. we coulda gotten more and that hasn't changed. still a bad trade. bad trade now, but in the next year or two as we continue to re-tool it will probably be a great trade. i just don't like having to wait... AGAIN. i'm just mad that we won't contend this year. cause we won't. there are too many question marks. each year it's like the rockets have a new team and while that can be exciting, it's bad for chemistry. this team CANNOT win next year. they'll have to at least have one year under their belt together before they will truly contend. i do like battier though and i hope that next year offseason is kinder to us all. i mean, we've been through hell since 95!!
i voted bad because i feel like we gave away too much. however, i also think that management must have really wanted shane battier at the cost that we had to pay, so i'm thinking he might be a really good fit for us.
