Okay, anybody with common sense realizes this team has some issues and that this "contender" assembled in the off season still needs some fine-tuning. We have a serious lack of athleticism, the production we are getting from our PG's is despicable and I have confidence my grandmother could start at PF against us and put up 20 and 10. Now I am as guilty as anybody when it comes to putting together trade ideas, but honestly even I am having a hard time doing so. Why? It's simple: our tradable players (everyone except Yao and T-Mac) aren't very appealing. Let's be real folks, when you are basically hoping to showcase Mo Taylor and Juwan Howard as your primary trade bait, two one-dimensional PF's with lengthy contracts: DON'T EXPECT MUCH TO HAPPEN. As for the rest of the roster...... 1)JJ - Solid player. Trade value, but where is the logic in moving such a cheap & efficient player? 2)Sura - Injured, nobody is going to deal for an injured player plus he deserves a chance before we panic and deal for a PG. 3)Mutumbo - Solid, no reason to want to deal him. 4)Weatherspoon, Ward, Padgett, Lue, Bowen, Barrett - Who is going to want them? What about our two "project" guys? 1)Nachbar - We didn't pick up his option, and for good reason. Barring some kind of miracle turn around, he wont be a Rocket next season. Because of this, CD may get more motivation to pull the trigger on any offers for him (KEY: if there even are any). He's been a bum for us, GM's will notice.....any trade value??? 2)Reece Gaines - There's a reason he isn't playing right now and I also don't think its any coincidence Orlando so willingly included him in the T-Mac deal as a throw in player. The plan is obviously to develop him and slowly work him into the rotation. If all goes well, he could be under contract with us until after the 07-08 season. Because of him having so much time to develop and with a good idea of his abilities/strengths, I can see Gaines having a solid career as a Rocket eventually. So where is the motivation to move him? So where does that leave us? That leaves us with little trade bait. The only real bait we have is our draft picks, in which case, it wouldn't be a season without us trading away our 1st round pick so I am sure it will happen. Now, at risk of coming across as somebody who just points out the problem, complains about it and doesn't offer a solution: I will offer some ideas that I think make sense. 1) Taylor for P.J. Brown Brown is a JVG type player and widely recognized as one of the toughest players in the league. His numbers are down a bit and New Orleans has David West waiting in the wings. Their contracts are nearly identical. He doesn't get hurt and I could see him averaging double figures in rebounding. Taylor would thrive in New Orleans, being possibly the 2nd option on offense. 2) Howard for Clifford Robinson It makes sense if we want to get rid of Howard's contract. Howard is probably the better player but Robinson could possibly end up being a better fit because of his 3 point range and the upgrade he would provide defensively. Neither can rebound. The plus is Robinson's contract comes off the books at the end of the season. 3) Pursue Tyson Chandler, Kwame Brown, Troy Murphy All three are young and could possibly be perfect fits at PF. I would be happy with any as long as we don't give up too much. 4) Pursue Kurt Thomas I don't have a particular deal in mind, but he's a solid defender and rebounder
Trade them both. Neither Mo nor Howard does anything useful next to Yao. JJ is finished. Ward and Lue are failures. Boki is a zero. The season is over. Dump as many contracts as possible and start over next year. Try to steal talent from other teams looking to dump. Finish the season with the end-of-the-bench stringers and tank. At the trade deadline or shortly before, it will shake out. There are other teams that need to move players, too. I'm hoping CD isn't sitting there staring at the phone hoping it rings. He needs to pick it up and make the calls. As Yao is a poor rebounder, we obviously need that skill at the 4. As Tmac is a surprisingly good ball-handler, we need shooting and defense more than assist proclivity at the 1. A really good wing 3 that can rebound, pass and score off the ball or on the catch from the outlet would be the final piece. It ain't happening this year, guys. Start scouting the future. Tmac and Yao may as well learn the supporting cast are replaceable, and they only need to develop with each other. Each needs to find his go-to move and his sweet spot, on both ends of the floor. They need to learn how to feed each other and funnel the opposition into a trap. No need to make things too complicated this year. Just develop the stars' skill set. The rest of this sorry cast don't matter.
baller4life, Excellent post! I have also looked at trade possibilities, and there isn't anything out there at the moment that would seemingly work. For us to get something done we will have to take a bad contract or two. On the Kurt Thomas front, is there a better 4 for us in the league that is possibly attainable - I don't think so. One thing that is COULD be possible with the Knicks, would be either Mo or Juwan, Lue, Nachbar or some other combo for Thomas and Norris or Sweetney, Williams, and Norris. I don't have the hatred that some do for Norris. Yes, he has a terrible contract, but I would be willing to take him back to improve the 4. There are rumors about the Knicks wanting Curry and trying to trade Sweetney to get him, but Curry's number are terrible. Mo and Juwan are significantly better low post scorer than Curry. Maybe something could get done there.
I don't often think this about a trade thread..but decent post. Although the logic behind Trade #1 seems viable, I think PJ Brown could net them more if they really wanted to trade him. #2 sounds great to me...Robinson is old and washed up, and he probably can't contribute much here. But if we play Mo for 32 mins or so, Clifford can just hit the 16...if he should rediscover his solid-playing-days form, he can increase his minutes a bit. But like you said, the key is him coming off the books. Your guys at #3 are nice thoughts but unattainable. Other teams would offer more..and Murphy isn't gonig anywhere. Kurt Thomas in #4...overvalued and on the downside of his career. He's been more inconsistent in the last year and a half or so if you've watched the Knick games.
I won't rehash my thoughts on Kurt...but Sweetney is very highly valued. There's no way they'd give him up for a fat contract with little upside. Curry has a huge upside still...he's very young and raw (though he may never develop)
Ballergirlyman4life, you are a clown... Here are some jokes for your clown act next time some unlucky soul hires you for their child's birthday party: #11 Why did the baker rob the bank? He needed the dough. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #12 What do you call a fly with no wings? A walk. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #13 The portrait fell down from the wall, And struck the young man's head. "A striking likeness!" was just about all, The rueful punster said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #14 In Washington D.C., helicopters are often used to monitor the traffic conditions. Frequently jammed is the Francis Scott Key bridge, named after the man who wrote the national anthem. The bridge's traffic problem is notorious; among some, it's known as the Car Strangled Spanner. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #15 Knock knock. Who's there? Banana. Banana who? Knock knock. Who's there? Banana. Banana who? Knock knock. Who's there? Banana. Banana who? Knock knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad I didn't say Banana? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #16 Ask me if I'm a tree. Huh? Ask me if I'm a tree. Are you a tree? No. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #17 Where did Napoleon keep his armies? In his sleevies. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #18 What do you call a horse that likes arts and crafts? A hobby horse. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #19 What did the dolphin say to the whale when he bumped into him? I didn't do it on porpoise. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #20 Where did the kittens go on a class trip? To the meow-seum.
Nice analysis, but I don't agree with your assesment of Nachbar. The guy is a slasher, and would be a very good player on Utah or Sacremento, but is basically lost on this team. Though he has found a decent niche with his 3pt accuracy. DD
and to add to this......there is a outside possibiltiy that Boki could be picked back up after this season if he shows he is worth it. the option not being picked up is not necessarily a indicator the Rockets dont want him....as explained by other previously....with the new CBA coming up for negotiation this offseason...some teams are unwilling to commit to contracts for marginal players or role players until they know more about what the salary structure is going to be like. At the time the option was due...he hadnt really shown much more than flashes of good play....but then again...he hadnt really had a bunch of good minutes to show for his 2 years of being a Rocket.. Now that his shooting has finally made a appearance...I wouldnt be surprised to see the Rockets attempt to work out a deal to keep him here....he has size, speed, shooting ability...and if he can get those hands under control..he isnt a bad defender. anyway.... one more point to the original poster... this team was never billed as a "contender" by anyone but the fans... Im quite sure the management knew that it was going to take a few more oplayer moves to honestly be considerd a "contender" Just because a bunch of over-enthusiastic fans decreed that we were contenders cause of TMac and Yao...doent mean the team is ready...and management knows this. FA signings and a trade or two will be required before we can honestly proclaim this team as "Ready For PrimeTime"
I think that getting rid of 2 big contracts (Williams and Norris) along with getting a proven player (either Howard or Taylor) MIGHT be enough to get it done - probably not. You could maybe throw in Nachbar. There isn't alot out there right now. On Curry, he probably does have pretty good value, but how long does "upside" last. I would factor in upside IF the guy had a decent work ethic, which Curry doesn't. He supposedly got into shape (for the first time of his career and suprise it's his contract year) and still isn't performing. Additionally the Bulls have very few veterans, and I don't think you can win in this league with some veteran presence.
baller4life315, I agree to alot of your post but, at the trade deadline, players' values go up. If a team is looking to really move a player and get some decent parts in return, the Rockets have them. There are teams that would love to have a scoring PF in thier rotation. There are some GMs who are enamored by Euro-players, especially when that player has shown more slashing ability that those that come from Europe. There are teams looking to create cap space and would love the TE. So on and so on. And lets not forget about Spanoulis and Badaine who could help swing deals by trading thier draft rights. All I am saying is there is no telling what goes on in GMs heads dring the deadline. Remember, the Rockets essentially got Drexler for Otis Thorpe at the deadline.
I would give this team until the trade deadline before pulling the trigger. It's only 12 games, after all. Even the Spurs for the past years have played pretty mediocre ball in the first month. We should be patient. That said, I think our best chance at upgrading talent comes after this season. Deke comes off the books(although likely retained at a lower price). Weatherspoon, JJ, and Gaines will represent about $10 mil of expiring contracts. We can use that, plus maybe Howard's reasonable $6 mil contract, to get an overpaid star/semi-star. Sure, whoever we get will be overpaid, but the Rockets are over the cap for the forseeable future anyway with T-Mac and Yao in the fold.
If you really feel this way, why are you even bothering to post here ? do you think that the Lakers or Denver feel this way too ? I guess in your mind, the Sonics are going to win the West ...is it November or March ?
I'd trade Mo and a pick for PJ Brown in a second. If they want one of our "projects" too, pull the trigger. Howard for Uncle Cliffy would be great, too. But I'd only do the second trade if we were able to pull off the first one. Neither trade, however, would address our lack of team speed and athleticism. I think Antonio Daniels should still be our first priority, though I doubt the Sonics are looking to deal him right now.
so at 6-6 you are saying that our season is completely over?? . we dont need to change our whole team up. just need a decent PF who can rebound and play defense and a point guard who can make 3s and drive to the basket once in a while
and what is the point of tanking it...is there someone in the draft that can come in and make us contenders right away next year.
You know this is funny. We won't give up much if we do not trade Yao or T-Mac. We pretty much have nothing to lose if we can make any deal.
