he's just 31 years old.. how old is Nash, Cassell? I guess the Suns and Clips value winning more than the rox.. are you saying if Battier was on the Raptors he'll be number 2 option? who is more athletic, quicker, better defender, better shooter, and 3 pt shooter? it looks like everyone thinks rox did the right thing because dallas did the same thing.. guess what, dallas is stacked and a ton better than the rockets.. they didn't even need mike james.. the just wanted to make sure the rox don't get him.. a lot of us feel the same way.. and not getting mike james because of a 3rd year player option (which doesn't really mean anything because we're already giving him a 4 year deal) and a trade kicker makes it worse..
Are you really comparing James to Nash and Sam? James has had ONE good year stat wise for a poor Raptors team. Nash and Sam has lead their teams to the playoffs mulitple times, not to mention their games are not similar. Nash and Sam are true point guards with scoring abilities, MJ is the exact opposite. I would have loved it if MJ signed with us, but its not the end of the world.
Before Nash went to phoenix I thought he was a nice player, but nothing special. He certainly wasn't on a whole other level than James is now. Nash's ascension was a surprise, not a given. But fine, don't compare James to Nash or Sam. Instead, compare him to the rest of the FA crop. None of them can have the impact James would have. He brought shooting, defense, and some semblance of a decent bench to our 04/05 team. Now we're going to be loading up on crap.
I'm tired of people saying that Mike James was on a bad team.. so what.. when he was on the rockets he was the third leading scorer.. why will he have been the first choice of minnesota, dallas, and rockets if he is just a fluke? v have you gone to the fonde games? I've seen Mike James play street bal with the best of them - posey, arters, cassel, cat and he is one fast, strong and athletic baller.. who said I was comparing them as players.. they are in different leagues.. Nash and Cassell are three times better than James and also paid three times as much.. I was making a point regarding their ages.. people keep saying for Mike James age, he does not deserve a long term contract.. so it's okay to give longer term and bigger contracts to older guys who have twice as much risk in terms of deteriorating?
so whos gonna boo Battier on opening night? I hope that isnt the case, our GM needs to be booed not the player we acquired.
Yes, as those two are obviously better than James. Both are former stars (well one is still the MVP).
Is the prss conference going to be televised and if so where? Is one of you youtube specialists going to capture that for us?
What annoys me is that MGMT says they want to get younger and more athletic...so they trade Gay Then they want to win now...so they don't give Mike James a better offer
so its more likely that they'll be healthy longer since they're superstars and one is an mvp (after the trade)..
Actually, Steve Nash gets paid about twice what Mike James gets paid and Sam Cassell gets paid pretty close to the same.
It's more likely that they are better players (obviously) and former stars (one currently), so they cost more (dollars wise).
I'm not questioning their cost.. they are three times better than James so its okay to get paid 3 times as much.. I'm questioning their age.. how old are they? cassell is 37.. so hell be 39 at the end of his 13 mil contract and james will only be 35 at the end of his 4 year mle contract not 36.. he's the best FA available and best fit for the rox.. i think it was just a metter of stupid principle not giving 3rd year player option and trade kicker..
The bad team argument is somewhat valid. Despite having Chris Bosh they still performed a lot worse than the Rockets did - just 7 wins ahead of New York. At the end of the season even Chris Bosh was complaining about Mike being a ballhog. Sometimes stats don't tell the whole story. I still think he would have been a nice addition to this team, but he really overrates himself, and unfortunately a lot of people do as well. He actually thinks that he's worth more than the MLE (that was why he demanded the player option to begin with).
i guess it depends on how people perceive him to be.. he'll be an automatic third option giving double digits in points.. I think that's already more than MLE.. where can you find a third scorer for the MLE in the FA market.. thats what the rox,wolves and mavs thought of him.. thats why he was their first option.. so the trade kicker is 15%.. adding 15% to the MLE IF he is traded is too much? that will just be around $1M.. at MLE + 15% hes still a good value.. I guess we'll see who the rox endup sigining if there is and make sure that we underpay him because that what the rox are all about.. was he a ballhog in houston? did you see the comparison of the yao's and tracy's shots with james in the lineup? they actually had more shots with him.. do you think at the end when the rox already offered him MLE 4 years and james asked for trade kicker they thought remember bosh saying he was a ball hog and he was on a bad team so he might be a fluke so they didnt offer him the trade kicker?
And he only got a 2y yr deal. He has shown he can be productive at 37 and his game doesn't have too much to do with athleticism, etc. He just had a great season at 37, and was the key to transforming a doormat to near elite team. Not comparable to Mike James at all.
It's done now. Battier's officially a Rocket; and Memphis have annouced their acquisition of Gay and Swift.
again I'm not comparing him.. I'm just trying to make a point that age does not matter.. its either you're good or not.. he was pretty good to be the first choice of the rox, wolves, and mavs.. he was good for the 4 year MLE.. but he's too old to be offered a trade kicker?
