I posted early this morning before I saw that article. It certainly still could happen if Miami keeps Damon Jones though.
Not a Wesley fan, he always seemed to make meaningless shots and miss critical ones. Defense was O.K., but he was often eaten alive by quicker and taller players. Seems like a nice guy, but he is my choice to move. I love Sura, but health-wise he is a weak link. James is a bit of a hotdog, but I think he is a keeper. Barry is definitely a keeper off the bench. Head may help, but we need a pass first, playmaking, quick guard who has a "money" outside shot. If the Rockets land one, look out: the table will be set and the Western teams are on the menu. If they don't, second round may be the ceiling.
That because there are quite a few (typically new) members posting out of their behind, rather than using their brains. As another said it was one play. One play in an extremely frustrating game for every Rocket and Rocket fan. Knee jerk fans make a big deal of it. Mike James has his flaws, but he is one of the better back-up ones in the whole league and it would take real good offer for us to trade him. I have to say I like all four of last year's playoff minutes guards--Sura, DW, James and Barry. I think they are all solid role players when put in the right situations. Unfortunately all of them had to stretched way too thin last year, even having to man three positions at times. The above said, I think probably only 3 of the 4 will be back. If we pick up a new player via the LLE (Stoud, Finley, Kittles, Demarr, Buckner, Houston, Spree?)--I think Barry is probably not resigned. If we do a trade (say for Stoud), probably Wesley or James goes, and Barry comes back. The only way all four (Sura, DW, James and Barry) return is we feel their is no other free agent guard available to us via LEE who offers much above what they already do, and the cost of a trade is just too high. Honestly I don't think the Rockets have it settled either, lots of market events will determine what will happen (maybe no team offers Spree significantly more than the LLE so he signs with his former coach). Swift was imperative we moved swiftly, now we will be patient, calculating, and see what the market brings to us. It is a great position to be in except for us anxious fans.
I prefer Mike James to David Wesley, though I'd rather have Wesley as a starter between the two. But in pure value to the team, it's got to be James. You can afford to have that one guy off the bench that's not supposed to do anything but score and be energetic. James fits that bill. Wesley, meanwhile, is slow and inconsistent.
I think Barry has the best chance of coming back, he has a plus 14 scoring boost when he is on the court.
Yeah, well I'll grant you I doubted we'd get Swift for the mid-level, so it COULD happen. But it won't. Someone'll offer Mighty Mouse more than the LLE. Shoot, someone'll probably double it, if not more.
Actually, I'll be surprised if he beats the LLE. If he does 3/$9mm tops. BTW - what's the dilemna with DW? He's good to remain, and a fair piece for a trade. He gave us all he had. He needs fewer minutes next season, for certain, but I hope he's back or gone for something better. Either way, dilemna? Nah.
Would anyone mind replacing Wesley with Greg Buckner? I haven't see the guy play much, but I hear he's a similar defensive specialist. His offense game isn't as good, but as a taller perimeter defender that can take defensive responsibilities off Tmac's shoulders I'd appreciate him. He'd probably be cheaper than Wesley, too. BTW, I've seen Buckner play against Tmac and Kobe and they both destroyed him. Wesley slows down even the best players while Buckner didn't do much at all. Is this common of him or just two abnormal defensive games against great players?
I really believe DS will be a rocket next season. He has made it clear he doesnt have intentions to play in Portland next year (maybe not Terrell Owens clear) he loves Houston its a second home to him. Also smart organizations such as the Rockets dont make alot of public statements about players they are foregoing unless they really think they have a good shot of getting him. Also didnt DS agent say there were really to major considerations, Miami and us? I might be mistaken.
I think most people on this board are underrating our own players and overrating others. Trade DW? I think that is a pretty bad idea unless we have a definite upgrade on the way. Don't forget we were around 33-15 with him as a starter. I do agree that playing DW would definitely benefit us in the long run. I also think it is funny that people are down on Mike james as well. He is exactly what we need off the bench, a spark plug scorer that can also defend decently. All these team chemistry issues are overblown. (BTW is you hate mike james, you will absolutely hate damon stoudamire 10 times over) My take on the matter is that if we fielded the exact team we had last year with a healthy howard, we win ~50-55 games. With the Stro upgrade we are probably in the 53-57 win area. We shouldn't try to trade this back court away unless we are guaranteed some good young players.
Exactly why he is the pefect 6th man for the team! Everyone's concerned about the starting 5, but James kept us in some close games with his shoot 1st attitude. It seemed to me he was only out there throwing up shots because they were going in and the rest of the team was struggling to find a rythm or a bucket. That's what you're 6th man is for. To bring that spark in when your team is floundering. Just ask the Kings why Bobby jackson was so vital to their team.
If we could trade Sura and sign Damon,plus keep Wesley I'd do it in a heartbeat.But if it takes trading Wesley to get Damon I'd do that too.But Wesley is a lot better than Sura period!
I wouldn't trade James over Wesley. James got a lot of talent, after JVG has enough time with him im confident he'll mold him to a great team player. B/c James came in the middle of the season i don't think he got the opportunity to Van Gundized like the rest. He should be 6th man at the beginning of the season and use starting position as an incentive to learn.
Here's the way I see it. The Rockets have a commitment from Swift and they want Stoudamire. 1. They have a S&T proposal on the table with Memphis for some of our expirings and a pick or two for a resigned Swift and either Posey, Battier, or Mike Miller.......probably Posey or Battier. 2. If they get Memphis to bite on a S&T, they are going to offer Mouse around a couple mill for around 3 years and sign him to a partial MLE deal. 3. If they can't get Memphis to bite on the S&T, then they are gonna go sign Swift to the MLE and then go after Portland with the S&T deal for Stoudamire and Patterson or .............................MILES! Memphis is probably holding up the works because West is trying to exhaust all other possible trades to dump Williams or other salary for talent/picks/expirings. West is probably wanting to dump Cardinal and Jason Williams along with a resigned Swift for all our expirings and multiple picks. I hope we don't do that. Cardinal is nothing but more dead weight. I just think something is gonna break sooner or later. If not, then we should hold tight into the season. I don't think we should take on albatross contracts. The cards are in our favor. There is going to be another influx of talent on the market when the luxury tax cuts come. Besides that, teams that are strapped because of the lux tax ain't exactly freeing up cap space to bring talent in. The only "bad" contracts that we should consider are highly talented, highly skilled players that are still young enough to maybe turn their career around, eg Darius Miles. Cardinal is what he is.......a 10 minute a game reserve on a marginal team with no upside and a horrid contract. A player like Miles on the other hand, despite his antics, still has upside that hasn't been tapped by solid coaching and management. He is a player that we could bring in and possibly develop or we could see fairly quickly whether or not he wants to change his ways, and if he doesn't, then peddle him off to the next hopeful without making a lot of waves about it. If we can't get a player of that caliber along with a decent point like DS, then we should hold 'em until midseason. There's too much talent out there. There's too much talent that will be available. There's too many players that are willing to play here and win some rings with us. And we're too close to being a complete team to screw it up. I think Wesley will be gone either in the next month or two or by trading deadline for a backcourt upgrade.
Although we need an upgrade at the 1 and 2, I wouldn't be distraught if we stand pat for now. Come February, we might be able to get a very good player at one of these positions with a combination of expiring contracts and draft picks. We can live with a glut of guards for now, especially if there are the usual injuries. Of course, if Portland wanted to do a sign and trade of Stoudamire for Wesley, I would jump all over it. I'd rather keep Sura and James than Wesley. And re-sign Barry, too.
As one who definitely is not comfortable with our backcourt as it is, we must do something this summer when there are more options available. Waiting until Dec/Jan/Feb to add a key player is a very risky move. Unless DS wants too much money and too many years, we should get him. Many ideas have been presented for a SG upgrade. Knowing how tight-lipped the Rockets are about trades, I hope CD has some surprises cooking. JVG talked about being "bold". Fine; back it up. Now that Swift is in the fold at the MLE, let's see a bold move! I'm 99% sure we will not have the same backcourt within 4-5 days of the CBA becoming effective. One or both of the starters will be replaced. We are too close to having a championship roster to not press on with more changes.
