Swift is over rated. Look at career numbers vs both Taylor and Howard: ..........G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG Swift...... 340 69 21.2 .467 .059 .713 1.80 3.30 5.10 .6 .75 1.48 1.32 2.40 9.0 Taylor.... 428 212 27.1 .466 .161 .719 1.60 3.30 4.90 1.3 .49 .55 1.95 3.20 12.3 Howard.. 781 741 36.3 .470 .133 .757 2.30 5.00 7.30 2.9 .87 .35 2.61 3.40 17.2 Howard is by far the best player statisic wise except in blocks. I would rather have the older, more experienced player who fits better than the younger player with potential. Barry, Sura and Wesley are great examples as well. Swift has not shown he can guard Duncan, Webber, KG, etc. No one can. So why worry about it. I would rather get offense.
and who just happens to have a $6.2M expiring contract? us with weatherspoon. this has been my proposal for a while. spoon is at the perfect salary range to go above the MLE/TE's (including our own) out there without being too high. plus, unlike the TE, you can go 15% over spoon's contract like you mentioned with gives un another 900K or so to add on to the base salary. now our draft pick might be in the 19-22 range so, i don't know, maybe we have to kick in another one (though i am wary of trading away draft picks, a great fit for the spot we've been looking for a solution to forever may necessitate it). and if memphis is less than thrilled about paying spoon for a year to help us out, maybe les could pull a mark cuban and offer the max cash allowed in a trade, which i think is $3M. so essentially, we present a perfect matching salary for stro's salary demands that can beat out all but the most under the cap teams, present memphis with an expiring contract S&T where they only pay half the salary and give them a pick or two, and present stro with a good team that really needs a pf. does that mean we're the most likely place he goes. i don't really think so, but we certainly have the means to get a deal done and several things that make us attractive to both swift and memphis. as for the swift vs howard/mo comparison, the number i like is that 1.48 where mo and howard have a .35 and .55. that would be blocked shots. and that's in 21.2 minutes a game. that's a very healthy rate given 30 minutes a night. and even though he's not a rebounding monster by any measure, he's quite adequate and he's got enough of an offensive game (i was really surprised the first few times i saw him this season, he was posting, showed some real moves, and, like he always seems to do to us, hitting the mid range jumper) that he's a great fit for us. throw in athleticism and being the perfect age, and we have to make a run at this guy.
Who need Swift when we have Badiane and one of great college PF within our reach I am sure that by this time on labor day, the PF and PG will not be areas of worries for us anymore. I am loving it!
yeah really we have Tmac and Yao and we have a great system..great job to JVG and company..and yeah all we need is a poewr forward like Swift...and gradually replace our old guys with younger versions.. Sounds good
Unfortunately, most of the young stars are going after the payday, then scramble at the end of their career, ala Malone/Lakers. I like the way Deuce adds possibility, but I'm thinking DM would make more since. Frankly, I'm so proud of JH that he can have all the minutes he wants until the end of the season. If we do nothing but ship Mo off for DA (by the deadline) then that is fine by me. I know, I know we're talking after the season.
Absolutely horrid argument. Using the career numbers to compare a guy who is clearly on the downside of his career (Howard) to a guy who appears to have peaked (Taylor) to a 25 year old whose potential is one of his strengths is unbelievably flawed. Whether he's an upgrade is debateable, but not with that. Desert Scar- I agree that Memphis wouldn't want Swift going here- but is there any particular Western team they'd want him going to? I heartily disagree with the idea that Memphis will take a $6 mill 1 year contract plus a pick for Swift- they're likely in lux tax. zone, so you're talking about potentially $12 mill to pay for a future mid first rounder. Even if it's 6 mill- would you pay that much for a non lotto first rounder? Most teams wouldn't. Only one team I can recall has paid even 3 mill for a first rounder - being Cuban's Mavs (Courtney Alexander, the year the Magic dumped salary to chase Duncan, land TMac/Hill). I don't think landing Swift will be easy or even probable, but if the cards land right, it should be possible. I think the easiest and most likely of the guys out there is Marshall. Deuce - re: SAR...I don't think people give him credit for as good as he is, because he's always played on garbage teams. He's a lot quicker than Howard- he averages around 2 blocks+steals for his career. I think he could provide us with what Howard has done over this streak on a much more consistent, and larger scale basis.
I would like Swift just so Yao won't have get fronted by him while playing (what will likely become) a conference rival. Be a lot of good practice for Yao, too.
i agree $12M is too much for a low first rounder. and even $6M would be too much. but are we even sure there will ever be another LT? and if not, and we pay half of spoon's $6M, and possibly throw in another first rounder, is $3M for 2 first rounders (even low ones) that bad? of course it has to be balanced with helping us out, but it still seems like a workable situation depending on how badly we want it to work.
It's all going to come down to money. And a guy with Swift's potential will probably get better offers from other teams. There are a bunch of PFs this summer that would be a nice fit here: Donyell Marshall- good shooter and rebounder Tyson Chandler- excellent rebounder and defender, no offense SAR- low post scorer, good rebounder, questionable defense Stromile Swift- athletic freak, good defender, not much of a rebounder just to name a few
Old Man Rock, But irregardless of supply and demand and cap problems, the Griz's will do nothing to make the Rockets a better team unless there is no better offers in the east. If Swift were still under contract to the Grizz for more years or even a restricted FA, then that argument would have merit, but he isn't. Swift is an unrestricted FA and he has the final say so on where he goes. He's not going to agree to a sign and trade unless it's to a team that he wants to play for. Sure Memphis would hate to make the Rockets better, but if the alternative is that he walks and you get no compensation anyway, then what would you do? Would you take a 1st round pick (who relatively speaking makes very little money) or stick to your guns and get nothing for him? If you are correct that they or trying to cut salary because of cap issues (which you should acknowledge is pure speculation on your part unless your are a member of Griz Staff) then draft picks would be better. But draft picks cost money too and it is also clear that Houston's draft will only get worst as they will most definitely be a playoff team for years to come. The fact that the Grizz have cap problems and need to cut salary isn't any big revelation. That's been widely discussed in the media.Yes draf picks cost money, but they are substantially cheaper than what they would have to pay Swift. And a draft pick will be locked in at that low rate for 4 years (assuming the new CBA is similar). As far as the Rocket's pick, yes it could be low. Hopefully, it's the last pick of the first round. It all goes back to the question that I posed earlier. If you are Jerry West do you just let Swift walk for nothing or do you take a low first round pick in return? I think most people would agree that a 1st round pick, no matter how low, is better than nothing. Also I don't pretend to know the cap situation of many teams but I expect there to be at leat a few under it enough to offer more than the MLE, correct me if I am wrong. And I also don't see a whole lot of better PF's on the market. Again correct me if I am wrong. SO to project that are TE and a low 1st round draft pick will get us Swift is still a pipe dream I believe that the teams under the cap are Cleveland, Clippers, Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver,Seattle and Washington. Let's think about those teams: Atlanta - The Hawks just acquired Al Harrington, Josh Smith and Josh Childress this year. I don't believe that they're going to be in the market for a PF. Cleveland - Cleveland already has Gooden and they need to resign Ilgauskus. If Cleveland frees up money by not resigning free agents, they'll most likely go after Michael Redd, not Swift. Clippers - Already have Brand and Wilcox. They don't need Swift. Charlotte - Still don't have their full cap, so they're not expected to be players in free agency until the following year. Denver - They have Camby, Keynon Martin and Nene. They need a shooting guard, not a PF. Seattle - They have to resign Ray Allen and Radmonovic. If they don't resign Allen, then they'll be a player in free agency, but they'll be in the market for a shooting guard. Additionally, they've already got Fortson and they've drafted Nick Collison and Robert Swift in the 1st round the past two seasons. Washington - They've already got Jamison, Jefferies and Etan Thomas. They may resign Kwame Brown. They are also going to have to spend quite a bit to resign Larry Hughes. So, which one of those teams is going to sign Swift for alot of money? I actually believe that Tyson Chandler will end up signing for more money than Swift. Chicago may match, but Chandler is going to be more appealing to alot of teams because he can legitimately play center for you in addition to PF. Last year alot of teams had cap space and they overpaid to get players in order to spend that money. Teams saw what happened with Okur, Foyle, Cardinal, Dampier, Fisher and Alston. Don't you think that they're going to be a little more careful this year? It's certainly not a lock that Swift could be had for a deal slightly over MCE, but it's also not a pipe dream.
I think when it is all said and done, Swift will remain a Grizzlie. Just a hunch on my part but I have a feeling West will move Gasol to center (especially the way the league plays now) to open up the starting 4 spot to Swift, rather than see him eslewhere. If West really wants him, they'll match anything out there for him.
Certainly a possiblity, but West still wants a true center. He's been trolling for Curry for over a year now. If they can make a deal for a center, then they'll have a tough time keeping Swift. If they don't trade for a true center, then they still have cap problems. Even if they let Bonzi Wells and Earl Watson walk, they're way over the cap and still paying luxury tax (assuming all things are similar in the new CBA). If they did resign Swift, I think that Swift would play center before Gasol. Gasol has length, but he'd get beat up most nights at center.
True, true. You know, with all the depth and split minutes Memphis has to deal with, it may actually help the market for Swift. Being that he has never played a ton of minutes, thus not putting up comparable overall stats to other PFs, his price range could be lower. So, I guess Houston then could have a legit chance at him then.
Donyel Marshall is probably cheaper to chase than having a high profile kid with big prize tag. No thanks, I'll rather have Marshal backing up Howard.
I really want Swift or Chandler..maybe Kwame.. But Donyell Marshall off the bench for Howard would be okay for a few years. Padgett should get about 20 minutes a game at the 3 and 4 spots... Badiane..and our first round draft pick. And Spanouilis.. I think if we can't get one of the guys like Swift power forwards..we should get a solid decent PF with Howard and get another guard to fit in the system. Mobley
I actually wouldn't mind this either. Swift hasn't shown enough to me to throw all kinds of money at. Besides, who knows what Badiane can do once he gets here and gets some experience. Badaine is suppose to have all the athletic talent and skill Swift has on a longer frame. Seems to me, if you were to sign a Swift or Chandler, then you would probably have to find somewhere else he could play.
The Stro-Show is a damn good utility player. Good shot blocker, quick leaper, and he hustles. I doubt the Rockets have the cash to get him, but I would try. His home town is only about 250 miles from here, so his folks could come see him play. I am sure there is a grandma in Shreveport saying "Boy, why don't you go to Houston so I can come see you play." I'm grew up in Shreveport, so I guess i am a little biased....
A pipe dream, a longshot, certainly not a lock, words of semantics now. But anyway you word it, it's highly unlikely to happen IMO. Of course I could be wrong.
Thank you... exactly. Swift's greatest strengths is his potential. Potential. Potential. I don't want potential. I want someone who can produce. Swift hasn't produced.
