Actually he is more athletic than both of them and appears to be a better shooter than both of them. He can slash better than Batter albeit not great. Overall he is not as good as either but definitely has more upside than Battier and probably has more than Ariza as well. He is still a major work in progress. But if Tmac comes back he would be a great fit along side of him. I wouldn't rule out White. Morey only said there was one spot in the rotation for those guys including Wafer if he should choose to accept our lowball offer. That doesn't mean they won't keep two of them on the roster. The sad thing is Taylor is probably the odd man out. As for Budinger, he is better fit with Ariza or battier early on but unless his defense gets a lot better our may not be able to handle 2 weak defensive players at the wing.
White definitely has the edge in terms of raw athleticism, but I don't think he shoots the rock nearly as efficiently or effectively as Battier and Ariza. While Battier struggles to create his own shot, he's an outstanding spot-up shooter, and Ariza proved throughout the regular season, and especially in the playoffs, that he's lethal from long-range. I agree that White probably has the highest ceiling, but we're judging White off of his performance in the summer league, whereas both Battier and Ariza are proven swingmen in the league. I'd personally take Budinger before both White and Taylor.
if we can't get anybody for Tmac for next season, then I'm going to look at the season as one of the early Francis/Mobley years. no expectations.
c'mon now I expected at least one francis to mobley or francis to cato alley oop per game during that time
Right now I would take Budinger over White and Taylor especially with Ariza and Battier as our starting wings. Morey said himself that Ariza and Battier are very similar. And Budinger would compliment both of them better. But all indications seem to be that the Rockets want to take one more look at Tmac and if he comes back healthy I could see a player complimenting him better than Budinger. Although Ariza and Battier do also. Okay I just made a case for budinger... and proof why I really don't know what I am talking about. How you make this roster work is beyond me but I do like White and Budinger more than I like Waafer and Barry at this time last year. The only answer seems to be a trade to clear some wings. We just spent millions on Taylor and I think he will be euro fodder uness we do so. And Morey is still talking about another trade were we will be taking 2 players for one and sounds very confident that Tmac will be here to stay, at least for now. C-Andersen, Yao, Dorsey Hayes PF-Scola landry Cook Sf- Battier, Ariza, Budinger SG-Tmac,White,Barry Taylor PG-Lowry,Brooks We have 7 wings on the roster without Wafer. If we send taylor to europe that leaves us with 6 but tmac will be on the inactive list to start. I guess that would work. I am curious what Morey is thinking for the trade option. Could Rubio still be on the horizon. Flynn hasn't impressed nearly as much as hoped. Perhaps Minny wants brooks. Total speculation as I digress. Right now we have an overstuffed, imbalanced Roster.
Here's how I see the roster situation playing out (assuming no further player movement/signings this summer). DD is right that Taylor and Budinger are almost assured of making the roster (even if as the 14th and 15th men) due to (a) the money Les invested in acquiring their draft rights (and, no, Yo_Yo, the Sergio Llull situation is different, since his rights were acquired with the specific intention that he STAY in Europe to get better for two more seasons at least), and (b) with a portion of the MLE available, the Rockets can lock young talent up to longer-term deals and reap any rewards of their improvement with minimal downside. James White is probably the odd man out, simply due to the fact that he is the only guy (other than the draft picks) without a guaranteed contract. BUT . . . I think he may end up back on the roster before the end of the regular season. Let me script out exactly what's going to happen with Brian Cook. Come February, the Rockets will approach the Memphis Grizzlies (much like they did last season with Francis) and offer up Brian Cook, a future second round pick and cash (enough to cover Cook's remaining ~$1.7M in remaining payroll obligations, plus a little extra for the Grizzlies' troubles) in exchange for a "future second round pick" with so many protections that it is essentially a non-existent obligation. (For reference, it is standard practice in these situations that such picks--Memphis's pick in this instance--are top-55 protected for one year, and unless they are lower than the 55th pick, the obligation goes away thereafter). The Rockets will save several millions in luxury tax obligations, and the Griz get a future pick and some cash. THEN, depending on what the Rockets' current team situation is, they may look at bring back James White (that is, if he hasn't already caught on with another NBA team) or perhaps a promising big man from the Vipers or elsewhere. Or maybe they add no one. BOOK IT that Brian Cook is dealt this way. Unless another team absolutely HAS to take on his contract to make salaries match in another trade next year, this is how he gets dealt. That is, unless he becomes a positive contributor to the Rockets next season. But I ain't holdin' my breath.
"Lethal" is the right word for Ariza's regular-season long-range prowess: .319 last year and .299 for his 5-year career. With a weapon THAT lethal, he'll kill many a possible regular-season victory. As for the playoff, sure, he hit .476 this year. Let's hope that means he's a guy who steps up big in the clutch.
both budinger and taylor will make the roster.....white will be the odd man out with the non-guarantee contract and quite honestly, i think there is a reason why he never really got a chance in this league. i would think morey will try his best to ride of contracts of both cook and barry to create roster flexibility.
Overstuffed, imbalanced roster? Not if you only include guys who will get most the playing time. The PF, PG, SF, and C positions are pretty much set up. C-Andersen, Yao (out), Dorsey (maybe), Hayes PF-Scola, Landry, Cook (maybe) Sf- Battier, Ariza, Budinger SG-Tmac (out),White (maybe),Barry(maybe), Taylor(maybe) PG-Lowry, Brooks so it looks more like C-Andersen, Hayes PF-Scola, Landry Sf- Battier, Ariza, Budinger SG- Barry, Taylor, White PG-Brooks, Lowry
Very Astute observation and it makes great sense since that is exactly what they did last year to stay under the tax. As for White you are probably right but I would only add that very few people are looking at White's defense. He has worked awfully hard this off season and as a result he has looked stellar on defense. This is from who has watched all 4 games at least twice and a couple 3 times. White shutdown a couple of lottery picks in curry and Gerald henderson and last night Sikma put White on Bayless to slow him down. White quickly responded with a steal jumping out in front of Bayless who then barreled over white and the refs chose to overlook a very bad foul. White's handles are better than advertised as he brings the ball up on many occasions and he has a very decent stroke. He is way ahead of Budinger and Taylor on defense and after starting off with a couple of poor games where he was trying to act like the reincarnation of Tmac he has adjusted to hitting open shots slashing to the basket and finding the open man. And as poorly as some claim he is playing he has managed to shoot above 50% overall and almost 40% from the arc while getting to the foul line quite a bit. So while you may be right about White. I don't think that decision has been made yet. Clearly he is in the discussions of who to keep. And unless Taylor starts to show more and wouldn't count White out.
PG- Brooks, Lowry SG- Tmac, White, Barry, Taylor SF- Battier, Ariza, Budinger PF- Scola, Landry, Cook C- Yao, Andersen, Dorsey, Hayes When a roster like ours gets overcrowded is when I wish the NBDL was more like the MLB's minor league/farm system. If we simply had the flexibility to keep our players' right and have them NOT count towards the Rockets' roster, this would be beneficial. We could simply send them, any of Budinger/Taylor/White, down to develop and keep Barry/Cook as expiring deals for any future package/blockbuster (being a bit optimistic) deals if need be.
Morey may not be done dealing, but I value his feelings of not getting screwed on trades.... It will be interesting to see where the $$$$$ is at the start of training camp. OMR, I think White has an uphill climb because of the $$$$ paid out to acquire Budinger and Taylor.... DD
he was around 36.5% for the entire season last year if i remember right. he shot a huge amount of 3's in the playoffs and that large sample brought up his overall 3pt shooting a lot. hopefully, that playoff sample shows that he has significant upside with his shot and outside shooting.
Are you sure last season we were watching the same scola? Because I saw a scola finding the open spot and shooting deadly from the field as well as giving his 110% effort whether we were down by 20 or up by 20. i'd say give up landry and somebody else
Pretty money efficient roster, I don't think Buddinger, James W., and Taylor will all be on the team come Game 1. If we put Taylor in the d-league does he still get a roster spot?
No way Budinger and Taylor stick. They need to develop and the only develop they can get is in the D league. James White will get a seat on the bench at least to show what he can do.
