It's always a good move to mortgage away your future by acquiring an aging veteran point guard whose best days are behind him. Where do I sign? Artest? Hell yeah! I know he'd kick Jerry Sloan's ass at some point. I'd like for him to get a hold of Van Gundy too.....maybe when he is commentator and comes to town one day.
While were at it lets trade Yao for Bradley. Thats exactley what this team need; just get rid all our best players and get better players.
shhhh..... wat kinda trade is that? francis for payton, then mobes for artest????????????? come on, propose something more beneficial to the rockets.
Two problems with your scenario... First, Payton isn't going to a non-contender just to become a free agent at the end of the season. Second, even if we dropped that portion of the payroll, we will still be well over the cap and not close to having the kind of $$$ needed to acquire Kidd.
The year we got Barkley, there was some talk that summer of getting Payton too. That would have been great, but it was prevented because of money. Now it is too late, Francis is every bit the guard Payton is, and he is younger. Payton is too old to add to this team if we expect to win championships.
Payton, this year: 40.7 mpg, 21.1 ppg, 9.2 apg, 2.5 to Yeah, he's over the hill. Look, the point is that it's hard to believe Steve will ever put up these sorts of amazing point guard numbers. He can score like a 2, but he is a fish out of water at point. That's going to mean his assist-turnover-ratio might never climb as high as 2.0, which is just pure crap for a point guard. Look, I didn't propose the trade, but getting Payton's last few years, with Yao Freaking Ming, is not necessarily worse that having Steve act sort of like a point guard for his whole career in Houston.
Except that, by the time he retires, Yao will be matured and then we'll have a giant gaping hole at point guard and very likely no cap room to sign anyone else. You make trades for veterans if you have a veteran team and feel like you will contend right now. It is why we went after Barkley and Pippen. You don't bring in veterans when you are young and learning. Besides, Payton wants to play for a contender in his remaining years, not with a young team.
So...what's wrong with Ron Artest? He is a great player...defensively...and offensively...but has a very bad attitude. He is like Cuttino Mobley. James Posey showed some signs of Ron Artest in him yesterday...I would like to have Ron Artest.
They showed nothing last night. NOTHING like Artest is....Artest belongs on the Jailblazers...and Jerry should be the coach. The rocks lost their attitude last night...wouldnt of you if that happened to u in the 3rd quarter? still....these trade ideas are way unreal.
I did not say Payton was over the hill, I said he is too old to add to this team IF WE WANT TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS! He would be a great addition if you want to make some noise in the second round this year, but I still would not trade Francis for him. BTW, how many times has Payton taken his team to the finals? 1. Has he ever led his first seed team to a first round exit? Yes, in 94. Will he still be in the league in 3 years, when we should really be dominating? I doubt it. If you do not like Francis that is fine, but he is an excellent guard. All this TRUE POINT GUARD stuff is nonsense, did we have one in Cassell, or did the Bulls have one in Harper?
I sort of agree and disagree at the same time. I think Payton is a fabulous player but I agree that he is best served on a veteran team needing the final piece for contention - San Antonio would make a great fit as would Philadelphia or Indiana. I also agree that the concept of a true point guard can be overrated. Payton is certainly not one of those and he struggled like Francis early in his career. What IS important, however, and it is not best reflected in your Harper or Cassell comparisons, is that the purity of your point guard is not nearly as important as how that particular player compliments the others around him. Having a pure point guard isn't necessary if Michael Jordan is your two guard and Scottie Pippen is your small forward. Cassell was a spark plug who balanced out a rather stoic veteran team (outside Maxwell of course). Both Harper and Cassell just fit the other personnel. In the case of Francis, I just think there are times when the other guys on the floor don't compliment his game. Yao does. Posey does. Cato does. I think Griffin probably will. Mobley does AT TIMES but also causes real problems for Steve as well. Mo Taylor can cause some problems for Francis. Frankly, I'm not sure even Rice works that well unless he is draining three's. It's more about the way players compliment one another than what their specific skills are on the floor.
If we make Yao Ming as our potential championship winning main player (I think we all agree that at the moment), then the prime of the players around him or the players we consider trading for should be at the same time as Yao's prime. Otherwise all the proposed moves would be just meaningless panic moves. Take a long term approach and see the big picture please!
Good point about chemistry Jeff. I think we will have it the latter part of this year, and certainly we will have it next year. We showed signs of good chemistry earlier this year, and have since then, in flashes. How long had MF, uh I mean MJ been in the league before he won a championship? I'd say six years off the top of my head. Give Francis a little more time. The guy is getting better all the time.
