I've been thinking up what I think would be a very nice offseason for the Rockets. There are some moves I'd like to see them make that could perhaps propel them to title contenders, but I'll leave you to judge that. No doubt that the moves I have in mind are stretches, but not by much. If the Rockets play this right & the dominoes fall our direction I think we've got the division. Move #1: Rockets trade 5.9 MIL of TE for Eric Snow & Samuel Dalembert. Why for the Rockets: With Francis out of the mix the Rockets are in need of a veteran point guard who can run the team according to JVG's system. Snow is a great fit for JVG's scheme in that he defends well, has very good passing skills, and doesn't make many mental errors. The three knocks on him are that he is old, with a huge contract, and cannot hit the 3 point shot. However, he's a consistent 12-18 foot threat and can be utilized effectively in the pick & roll with Yao. Also, his veteran leadership will be a welcome addition to the Rockets. The Rockets also add a guy in 6'11" Samuel Dalembert who is 23 years old, and coming off his best season. Last year for the Sixers he averaged 8 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 2.3 BPG. Dalembert would be the "price" for the Rockets taking Snow and his contract. He would provide much needed shotblocking with Cato's departure & would be used as Yao's backup, providing high energy off the bench. Dalembert is in the final year of his contract. Why for Philly: First and foremost, Philly gets rid of Eric Snow's contract giving them flexibility to make additions to the roster. While they gain cap room, they lose Dalembert. Why would they let him go? If the incentive to get rid of Snow was not enough, there is no guarantee that they would be able to keep him after next season. Given the scarcity of big men in the league, I'm sure Dalembert will test the FA market. This 5.9 MIL in cap relief would allow Philly to find replacements for both Snow & Dalembert. Move #2: Sign Brent Barry to a 3 year $15 MIL contract. While Barry played the PG for Seattle last year he is still a natural SG. I don't envision Barry playing more than 3-4 years, and I think that he'd be willing to play for 5 MIL per season for a chance to win a title. This move would allow the Rockets to move Tracy McGrady to the SF & then add depth to the bench with Jim Jackson as the 6th man. While Barry lacks defensive prowess, I'm sure he could be transformed into a decent defender under JVG. Also, he would add the coveted 3 point threat from beyond the arch. Move #3: Sign Keon Clark to remaining 1 MIL from TE. Clark remains a serviceable backup C & could provide depth for the Rockets. Clark should not be demanding too much in FA since he just came off an injury layden season with Phoenix. Move #4: Remove the dead weight. Unless Les Alexander has no problem with having such a roster the Rockets would need to move some dead weight. While Mo Taylor and Weatherspoon are prime targets they are the hardest to get rid of given their contracts. The easiest would be to move Piatkowski and Adrian Griffin for future draft picks, but having 3 deep at every position is a good problem to have. Your 2004-2005 Houston Rockets Roster: PG: Eric Snow/Tyronne Lue/Reece Gaines SG: Brent Barry/Jim Jackson/Eric Piatkowski SF: Tracy McGrady/Bostjan Nachbar/Adrian Griffin PF: Juwan Howard/Maurice Taylor/Clarence Weatherspoon C: Yao Ming/Samuel Dalembert/Keon Clark I think this team could immediately compete in the West & provides a nice mix of young and old. The Rockets would be in position to win now, but the window for this team would be 2-3 years at most.
Yep... i like the TE for Dalmbert and snow. this trade Automaticly improves our defense by a couple of notches!Also the Keon Clark is another good move. With Dalembert and Clark you have to Genuine Shot blockers!
Yeah, I also wouldn't stray from playing both Yao and Dalembert side by side. I think this kind of roster gives you some flexibility as far as different lineups is concerned.
The 76ers ARE trying to dump Snow and his salary. That is no secret. But I doubt they would use Dalembert as the sweetener to do it. He is a big part of their future! However, as I suggested in the Snow thread, you might be able to send them Spoon for Snow. Spoon makes around the same money but the LENGTH of the contract is much shorter. They might be interested in that.
Good thinking. But I think the window ought to be a little longer than 2-3 seasons for a team like this. Role players can be replaced or upgraded along the way. As long as TMac and Yao are here the window will be open.
I agree Duece, but I don't think its asking too much from them. With the contracts of Snow/McKie it seems that they don't have much room for improvement. That is why I think they would listen. With a team like Philly, I think money talks. While Dalembert is a nice player I think they could use the 5.9 MIL to replace him in FA. Also, there is no guarantee that Dalembert would stay in Philly, and I don't know if Philly is in a hurry to sign him long term since he missed an entire season with a knee injury. He played a full season last year and put up nice numbers, but I think they would listen when it comes down to it.
Arent they After Corie Blount? So if we trade them the MLE, they can use it on blount!. i can see how they would be interested!
I don't know why everyone's so into Snow. He's a decent point guard at best, definitely not worth the 6-7 million he makes. There's no way Philadelphia gives up Dalembert, who has nothing but upside. The Rockets' best bet is to pick up either Fisher of Barry and also pick up McDyess, who would be a steal with the MLE.
Snow makes a little over 4 MIL next year, but the contract runs into 2009. Taking that contract off of Philly's hands would be like taking them off a respirator and allows them to put pieces around AI. I think that gets their attention even if it means Dalembert coming our way. Philly doesn't start to see breathing room until 06-07, and lifting Snow from them could also allow them to go after a guy like Kenyon Martin. Unless Philly thinks Dalember cannot be replaced I think they listen to the offer. As far as McDyess for the whole MLE? I would rather not venture spending 5 MIL on a player who has had major surgery in the past couple of years. I'll take a chance on Dalembert's knee's because he is young, but the most I give Dice is 2-3 MIL if that.
Dalembert is in the final year of a 4 year 4,087,510 MIL Rookie Contract. So a little over 1 MIL per. http://www.dfw.net/~patricia/contracts
Dalembert is a pipe dream. Focus on barry and clark (maybe get his dad transferred to a prison in Houston (couldn't resist).
Dalembert could be attainable, but we'd have to take McKie and/or Buckner's contracts as well as Snow's. We'd be better served sending the Sixers Spoon for Snow and a 2nd rounder, and keeping the full TE for someone else.
I think we are better off with Barry, bc yao and tmac are going to be doubled and tripled teamed. While Snow is a good PG and good defender, he is not very good shooter, hence the defense will back off from him to congest our 2 supastars. 76ers are not going to give u Dalmbert. Young cheap big man that showed great upside in his first or second year. No way. Y in the world you want Keon "im on a gain weight program" clark? Toronto didnt want him, Sac-town didnt wont him, Utah Jazz with NO INSIDE PRESENCE dont want him, y in the world do we want him. I rather have Ostertag instead. Free agent. Should not command more than the vet min. Good backup. Protect Yao when someone throws an elbow and drop them to the ground. Remember he used to get into shuffle wit Shaq when the Jazz were kicking everybodies butts.
Sixer fans seem to believe Dalembert is more untouchable than Iverson. So he's probably staying with Philly.
I agree that Dalembert is highly unlikely and I believe there would be a big problem in moving McGrady to small forward. That problem being that as I understand it, he doesn't like playing small forward. He likes playing the two. Coaches generally don't push superstars out of position if they can avoid it. That said, I would love it if all of this happened and McGrady didn't mind playing small forward.
I am from philly. There are only two players of 76ers basically untouchable.. AI and Dalembert. AI.. probably no other team really wants him at his current career stage and salary.. so they are stuck with him.. Dalembert... I heard numerous times from local media.. is the only valuable player they are going to keep around... I just don't see this will happen... no way.. I love Eric Snow.. he should be a good fit for Rockets... And I remember once Snow and Macgrady threw punches at each other on the court.... they seemed to hate each other since then (Snow can play hard and dirty defense.. and he always got T-Mac mad... hahaha) And also I remember once Larry Brown and Francis had some intense arguement when Rockets visited Philly... Francis kept shooting and pushing the ball even after 76ers were down about 20 and only less than a minute left.. Larry Brown thought Francis did not show any "Sportsmanship"... they yelled at each other at the end and Francis tried to jumped onto Larry.... This happend a couple of years ago... But as a Philly fan, we know what kind of person Larry Brown is. He is a good coach.... but he don't forgive people that easily.. so that's maybe the reason this US Olympic team won't even listen to Francis's begging of joining the team.... Anyway. Just my thoughts. Go Rox
