As I rethink about the trade, it does not seem too bad. I'm glad that something like this happened this year instead of 2002. We could've sent a high-risk high-reward Yao and maybe Mobley together to Dallas for a proven veteran Shawn Bradley AGREE.!!!!!!!!
arrgghh!!! why is the front office so trade happy? they could have at least waited till training camp to make a trade. i'm reminded of when Portland traded away Jermaine O'neal to Indiana for Dale Davis. This might be even more lopsided. At least Dale Davis was just coming off of an All-Star year in a very PF weak conference. But Jermaine still outplayed Davis his first year in Indiana. After his second year, it truly became ridiculous. my biggest gripe is why do "they" (Les, CD, Morey, Van Dummy) think that it's written in stone that the "window" is only 3-4 years at most. Yao is only 25 (not 26 till December) and who really knows how long TMac can play? Miami just won the whole thing with a maybe 60% Shaq. When you factor in his offense it's probably even lower. The Rockets still might not be a championship contender in the next 3 years with just Battier and no Swift. If Gay becomes a TMac level player in the next 3-5 years, when Yao is just 28 and still in his prime and the Rockets have put in some true role players around those two by then, they could actually WIN multiple titles instead of only contending for one or two.
You know amazing part of this deal. If we wanted to get older fine, but why didn't we try trading with seattle for Rashard Lewis. Rashard LOVES HOUSTON (probably the city more than the team because team passed on him but he grew up here) and his salary is pretty high but we could have easily swung in a JHo and gotten some of their dead weight back. If I'm seattle management and I know I have to rebuild I would've done this trade and it would've been very beneficial to both. Rockets would get a very good outside shooting big man (who can if he wants be a very big 2) and seattle would get a player in swift who isnt great but will at least get some minutes over there and they would get Gay who within 2-3 years will be a beast. Ah Rockets management really should explore options like that before they just give up guys for really very little return...
Something else to consider... Unless I'm mistaken, first round draft pick contracts are for three years... then they become free agents. If Gay starts to shine with all the colors of the rainbow, then there's always the possibility of a trade, or picking him up later on in free agency. If, on the other hand, if he's still failing to live up to his potential, the Rockets will have lost very little. In other words, there is still plenty of time to get Gay when it really counts.
The 10/5 figure in no way captures the value of Shane Battier and Stromile Swift. A more useful stat: individual player wins (from basketball-reference.com, derived from offensive rating, defensive rating, % of offensive possessions used, % of defensive stops made): Battier Code: [COLOR=Navy]PW PL PW%[/COLOR] 2003 7.0 1.4 83.5% 2004 7.0 1.2 83.3% 2005 7.9 1.4 84.7% 2006 9.0 1.3 87.3% Swift Code: [COLOR=Navy]PW PL PW%[/COLOR] 2003 3.7 3.1 54.1% 2004 5.1 1.9 72.7% 2005 3.2 2.9 52.6% 2006 2.7 3.4 44.1%
Memo to Dick Justice: San Antonio got Parker and Ginobili through the draft and I can guarantee you they wouldn't be trading a prospect like Gay for Bruce Bowen. Stop trying to rationalize this f*cking deal. Battier is a great fit and we'll win 50 games. We know that. That's not the point. It's about getting value and taking risks to be great. You don't let yourself get raped that badly for a "good fit."
A lot has changed since the 04-05 season. The league didn't just stop and say "were gonna wait on Houston."
I'd be thrilled if the Rockets acquired Shane Battier for Juwan Howard and our second rounder or even Stromile Swift and our second rounder, but I trading Gay for Battier straight up is insane. Let alone trading Gay & Swift for Battier. I say this not because I'm convinced Gay will be better than Battier but because I'm convinced he had more value. I just can't fathom they couldn't have worked out a better deal for him. If they traded Gay for Battier and their 24th pick, I'd still be disappointed but I'd atleast understand because we lack depth. If they thought we could get two players that could contribute rather than just one, that would make sense. Rather, we exchanged two players (and two of our only valuable trading chips) for one solid but not spectacular player. It's mind boggling. I won't even get into how I think it's insane to move Tracy McGrady back to the 2 guard so that Shane friggin' Battier can take his spot. How exactly am I supposed to believe Shane Battier is going to be a better small forward for us than Jim Jackson was a few years ago?
Swift + Gay > Battier Why do we keep on taking all of the Memphis rejects, and instead of getting more depth we get less.
Of course they have a choice. They can fire this fool and get a real coach. The game has changed and the league is moving towards more athetic, offensive players.
Guys who think there's gotta be more to this. Forget it. It's a straight up deal. I've had it with JVG as well. I'm officially throwing him under the bus. He no longer has the benefit of the doubt with me. He'll get every criticism from me unless the team makes it to at least the WC conf finals. Until then he officially sucks in my book period. Sounds like CD is covering is butt. Quotes from the chronicle: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/justice/ /4011170.html
Hey I like getting Battier but couldn't we at least get a future 2nd round pick also, if not a 1rst rounder. I don't care about Swift, but I would hate another Richard Jefferson scenario where Rudy Gay becomes a stud player and, well I don't imagine Shane shooting at his wife but what if he really doesn't make a difference for us and is another Shandon Anderson/Derek Anderson type of player just passing through.
"Unfortunately" Rudy was the coach in 2002 and not JVG,or else we would have a proven veteran Shawn Bradly instead of Yao Ming.
I like this trade. Stromile stepped on the court and our team was automatically worse. Shane Battier does the same and things improve. So, we traded a rookie who is going to have a learning curve(Gay) and a negative player(Swift) for a guy that will definitely contribute. Swift and Battier are roughly the same age. Battier can shoot and spreads the floor. Stromile can't spread melted butter on toast. Rudy Gay probably can't(yet). Battier has trade value. Stromile is tough to trade. Rudy has future value, McGrady does not. Shane plays the 3 and plays a lot of minutes. Tracy had back trouble last year playing the 3. The move to 2 for Tracy makes the Rockets strong at the 2 again. Very strong. Our starting lineup will be pretty good. Alston McGrady Battier Hayes/Howard/FA Ming Our depth is still hurting, but Swift was not going to help us in the long run. Shane is a role player and does everything we need him to. Yeah, he'll never be a top 10 NBA player, but what are the chances that Gay will? Slim. Plus, depth doesn't matter that much in the playoffs. This was a safe trade. We got rid of risks. Now our only risk comes from health issues. We also might get more from this trade(it's not over until July 12th). Maybe use our TE for another player? This move makes sense right now. I like it a lot after thinking about it for a while.
