Good points everywhere, but I wish people would look for alternatives rather than moving Francis to SG. About Lamar Odom, the reason his assists are down is obvious: The Clippers have a pass first, shoot LAST PG. He doesn't need to be the distributor he was before. I can't even remember who their PG was which is a statement on its own. In addition to that, like MManal said, it's a contract year and the Clippers won't be paying. Meaning, Odom is just playing for a contract. He knows he's not coming back, because they won't pay him. One last point, I think this scoring spree he's gone on is actually good. We KNOW he can distribute the ball, we've seen it, and at a much younger age. There were 2 questions about Odom, his scoring ability (%) and his health. Now I'm sure he's a very capable scorer, and the only question is health. He's looked very good so far, but only itme will tell. It may be a risk worth taking. It would dynamically improve this team. Chicago might be interested in taking Rice's contract. It looks like they're ont he verge of a breakthrough, and Rice's experience and occasional scoring may be exactly what they need. Plus, his contract is only 1.5 years. So a 3-way betwen Chicago, LA, and Houston maybe?
It was Jeff McGinnis. His contract expired and Sterling didn't want to pay him. What a shock. In their defense, they knew they were getting Jaric from Europe who's going to be a fine player. I agree that Miller can be had because Jaric is cheaper, they have too many contracts, and they're just plain incompetent.
Those of you that want to trade for Miller or anyone else from the Clippers need to reevaluate your thoughts. If I were a GM, I would never trade or sign players from the Clippers. Once a Clipper, always a loser. Just look at Mo.
Sane, the other main option to make a move and keep Steve at the 1 position would be Brent Barry. Odom is a very talented player, but Barry would help this team more in its biggest need area. Barry averages about 5 APG and is responsible for a whole lot more. Its amazing the way a team starts to run and move the ball once Barry is in b/c he does an excellent job of directing traffic. Its a good thing Seattle lacks the interior beef otherwise they'd be tough to handle.
Miller doesn't want to stay with a team that doesn't have a chance to make it to the playoffs. Hence why he wanted out of Cleveland, and why he wants to leave LA as well. We've had Steve through the best of times and the worst of times. He has put the same effort through both. He could have acted like Miller and asked to be traded, but he descided to try and make this team work. I think Miller will end up being the next"Quitten." He'll stay with a team as long as they are winning, and when he when doesn't think the team has a future, he just skip to the next team. By the way, the Clippers are 12-22 vs the rest of the league.
Why everyone wants Clippers players is totally beyond me! If their players are so good, why don't they win more games? Their current record must prove something. And history always tells us that Clippers players all put us nice numbers but they are no winners. Mo Taylor anyone? Miles anyone?
The reason Miller didn't want to stay in Cleveland was because Cleveland wasn't going to pay him the max deal. That is the reason. Don't kid yourself!
And now we are back to why Miller is playing for a big contract. With his stats he does not deserve the max, but then again Steve doesn't really deserve it either...yet. Anyways, I think the Rockets biggest problem is not the PG position, it's the SG. Cat really needs to step himself down from the starting rotation and let Posey in. Cat doesn't have enough self control to be starting right now, he proves it each night when he trys to beat the whole opposing team to the basket, only to be shut down well before he gets there. Even when he is shutdown he still trys to score on them usually resulting in a turnover of a missed shot.
Brent Barry would be all right.He could share the ball handling duties with Francis and Mobley could come off the bench and still get big minutes.
I like Brent Barry but the chance of getting him without giving up Yao, Francis, Mobley and Griffin is next to none.
You have got to be joking, right? Do you even know the situation in Seattle? They have a young guy by the name of Desmond Mason that could take over the starting 2-spot in a second. Brent Barry is not worth 4 players. ****, Brent Barry would be attainable if the Rockets still had Kenny Thomas to trade along with Kelvin Cato. You could even get a complimentary scrubby big man along with Barry, Jerome James. Too bad the Rockets dealt Thomas.
They needed Thomas to get Posey. Glenn Rice will be gone after next season and Nachbar needs some seasoning. Also, who knows if Rice could stay injury-free an entire season. That wouldve left Terrence Morris who will one day be the CBA MVP.
They jumped the gun on trading for Posey IMO. They should have waited for other things to open up around the trade deadline. I think they would have had a legit shot at Barry if they would have kept Thomas. Adding Barry would take Posey's spot and then some. The fact that Glen Rice will be playing in Houston for the next year and a half to ALLOW Nachbar time to develop is the reason you got the guy in the first place. They got him as a bridge, not as a solution. Most teams aren't ready to deal main parts in December.
The Rockets think Cat is doing a great job though, which is why I don't that that trade would have ever happened. Even though Posey is playing much better than Rice, he still has to play behind him. The same would have happened to Barry he came to the Rockets. Anyways, we already have our Barry -- Nachbar. If the Rockets give him a chance, I think we would have our consistant shooter that we've been looking for.
I don't know why the hell they think Cat and Francis compliment eachother. Their games are exactly the same, Francis is just more athletic. No matter how good the two guards are you need a cerebral player handling the ball if you want the team to operate correctly. They currently do not have one, and their inconsistent play is a GLARING sign of this. I don't think Nachbar will be anything like Barry. Barry is a guy that can handle the ball a lot in an offense without getting an alarmingly high amount of turnovers. He doesn't need to shoot to be in the flow of the game. Nachbar is more of a sharpshooter. He will NEED to shoot the ball to be in the flow of the game. It comes down to what I've been saying for months, a new PG or a smart SG. To get "over the hump" they will need one of these to surface.
How many games have you seen Nachbar play? At this point we don't know what type of player Nachbar is. We know he can shoot and does well on fastbreaks. At least that is what we have been told by the Rockets. Your speculations about Nachbar's game is just that, SPECULATION!
