No misrepresentation is going on here. It was clearly stated that the Rockets aren't ready to do anything yet. It also said that they are going to be watching film.... a safe assumtion would be because they haven't been watching film to date.
From Chronicle article: Doesn't sound like they were prepared to implement plan B. Sounds like they're just formulating one. I wonder how much money these guys earn. I agree with previous post saying this is all about shaving payroll. That would also explain them drafting that Israeli guy who no one expects to play for at least 2 years in NBA, if ever. There were other guys on the board at that point that the Rockets could have drafted, brought into summer league, and then made a decision. It's not "Win Now", it's "CUT PAYROLL NOW"
Yao is still relatively young and healthy (assuming that his foot is healing as great as how is being reported). I think/hope he will get a chance for the title eventually. On the other hand, I feel really bad for Tmac. He forced his way out of Orlando to come here to win a championship. But now the management is not helping him at all. Tmac's window is about to close, may be in another 2-3 years? I really feel sorry for this guy. It's sad to see such a great player does not even have a chance to make a run for the title.
THE Win Now Policy was a LIE to make an excuse for JVG and CD on their bundeling of the Draft.Proof is what they have done since and are about to do!!
Wow. My bad. That is kind of sad. Meanwhile, Dallas signed Greg Buckner within a few hours of Mike James announcing he was going to Minnesota. Clearly they had plan b all lined up. Yeah, it's definitely odd that the Rockets are just now looking at film and discussing their other options. It doesn't even seem to add up to what has been stated elsewhere. We've seen it reported various places that the Rockets have spoken with the agents of Flip Murray, Fred Jones, Marcus Banks, Trevor Ariza and Jared Jeffries. It would seem like some of that would have to be working on a plan b.
LOL!! JVG/CD continue to screw up the Rockets!!! This is going beyond pathetic now. It's actually getting comical.
Maybe Plan B is the 2007 Lottery. Keep the salary as low as possible, surround Yao and McGrady with the worst supporting cast in the Western conference, and hope McGrady misses many games again this season. The Rockets could easily end up in the lottery again and next year's draft class is supposed to be much better. They could get a coach who's better than VanGundy and evaluating and coaching rookies. It might be the best plan at this point. [I'm not being sarcastic.]
Side effect of this Plan B is Yao and TMac might ask for a trade. This is a turning Rockets into Magic plan. Anyway, don't take this for real. I believe Rockets management messes up the off season accidently more than anything.
Cut payroll now makes more sense. Why cut payroll? To sell the team. Consider: 1. The Rockets CEO just resigned in the last season to found a company specializing in sports venture transactions. 2. Morey hired as the upcoming GM. 3. Les has just reportedly 80 millions in personal assets, aside from the Rockets that worth much much more than that. 4. Saving 2 millions a year by shipping away Gay and Swift for one contract. 5. Low balling Mike James so it seems they really pursued him while they didn't. The full MLE is now untouched and apparently without plan B they are content at letting valuable FAs slip away while taking the sweet time to begin evaluating them. The whole MLE story is a stall process to expire the part or the total of MLE. 6. Drafting Eliyahu who wouldn't play in the next couple of years or never make it in the NBA. 7. Refusing to trade down for Brewer/Redick and another pick. The plan is to add cheap pieces like Battier(Wesley's repalacement at sf) and Novak(a cheaper Redick) to maintain the competitiveness of the Rockets, while the more important goal is to shed financial weight. When the Rockets are still competitive, and the financial sheet looks clean, it's ready for selling. Coincidence? I hope it doesn't turn out to be like this. The Rockets should not screw the fans like this. I hope this is not true.
All offseason I've heard CD and JVG talk about the need to add length and athleticism in the backcourt. All offseason I've heard them talk about the need to add a third scorer. So far we havent accomplished any of these things. Mike James turns us down, now I'm hearing about guys like Fred Jones and Trevor Ariza. Jones is athletic but he's 6'2. If we wanted a player in the mold of Ariza(6'8, 210), we just traded him away. My prayer going into this season is that neither TMac or Yao miss any extensive time due to injury, because if they do we are screwed. As far as I'm concerned this "Win-now" policy dosent exist. I've tried to be as objective about the offseason moves and lack of so far but it appears as if we have regressed while teams like the Hornets go out and get players like Peja Stojakovic and Tyson Chandler.
Good point. Its just hard to fathom he actually meant it in that context, even though he probably did.
And it seems much more logical to already have your research done by the time free agency happens. That way you can actually try to sign someone instead of researching while other teams are signing them. But I guess that is something you should only be allowed to expect if you are a Mavericks fan.
are you talking about CD and Morey or the guys the rockets sent here to try and spin this? Rocket River
FOR THE RECORD: Have the Rockets ever said they were in WIN NOW mode. The 1st person I recall using it was DaDakota and I found it funny that fiegan/justice/etc started using the Term I think we thought it was the only logical explaination for the battier trade however .. . it is still speculation Rocket River
Can someone please define 'win-now'. Seriously, the Rockets are trying to win for the next 4-5 years. Look at the contracts and the ages of T-mac, Yao, Battier, and Alston. All are for the next 4-5 years. To me a 4-5 yr window is not a win-now mentality, what it is is a definite window for being a championship caliber team. With that 4-5 year time frame, every move must count. We can't afford another bad contract especially since Yao and Tmac take up so much of our salary cap. We also can not leverage our 4-5 yr window on the hope that a rookie will develop because if he doesn't then our chance at a championship is seriously hurt. We also can not afford to have a potentially untradable aging miscontent on the team eating up 6 mil in cap. Next year the Rockets are not competing for a championship, everyone knows that; but they will be better than they were in '04 assuming injuries don't kill this team again. Since the available talent on the market is not great, they need to sign a solid bench player (Banks, Vspan, DeShawn) who is young and can still grow as a player. But they can not overpay! I am less mad at the Rockets than I am at the constant irrational complaining from Rocket fans. Only some of you have backed up your unhappiness with rational thought. On another note, I think the Rocket's true window for a championship team is about 3 years away. Other than Dallas, Phenoix and San Antonio are aging pretty fast; so in about 3 years there could be a absence of power in the West for the Rockets to capitalize on.
Guards under contract: Luther Head Rafer Alston Bob Sura (IR) xxx (John Lucas III - FA) xxx (David Wesley - FA) ________________ worst set of guards in the NBA no matter how much you hate Mike James. yes, Tracy can do spot duty against slower opponents, against his will, and his and JVG's better judgment. But that doesn't change the fact that this team is at square zero. Head and Alston are OK back-ups, maybe. That's it. Gaping holes, limited options, no willingness or ability to trade or draft solutions = no real chance to win now or later unless one of the previous things changes.
