Very quietly, despite being held out of games, Troy Murphy is shooting very efficiently. His boards are down along with his minutes and probably a little bit of desire has left him as he has seen some of his minutes disappear. I have felt that this guys was not an accurate enough shooter to fit in with the Rockets but I am beginning to change my mind. He is obviously on the trade block so here's a simple deal that Golden State may take to cut salary and salvage something for him. Juwan to the Nets. Troy to Houston. Collins to Golden State. Novak or Lucas to Golden State and a #1 pick. Golden State gets a smaller contract in Collins, a young player in Novak, and a #1 pick. We lose our pick, Novak, and a bad contract and get back Murphy. NJ gets Juwan for Collins.
I would do that deal if we didn't have to include our #1 pick. GS clearly has to know that they overpaid for Murphy so if moving him is their goal, they should take what they can get. In this case, a serviceable player in Collins with a much smaller contract. It's still a sensible move. Murphy would fit JVG's model of a shooting PF and although his rebounding numbers are down a bit this year he is still an above average rebounding big man. 49% from the field? 46% from 3-pt range?! Sign me up.
I like Murphy but I'd pass if I'm the Rockets. Murphy would give them a good shooter at the 4 but they would be run out of the building with him and Yao in the frontcourt together. The league is going towards combo-forwards playing the 4 now and Murphy just doesn't fit that. His contract is HORRIBLE as well. Nice player but just the wrong fit in Houston.
San Francisco Chronicle - Troy Murphy has been mentioned heavily in trade rumors since last December when he cancelled his gym membership, thinking that he would be dealt for Ron Artest. This season, his name has been popping up again in trade rumors. "When you come up in everything, it makes you wonder," Murphy said from Southern California, where he was seeing a foot specialist for his sore Achilles. "If you think the fit isn't that great and your name comes up in rumors, you think that maybe the front office feels the same way." [READ]
GSW are just a fraction over the LT threshold. There was talk of them buying out Foyle's contract but he's been playing now. Whatever the case, Pietrus and Ellis are going to want at the least contracts starting from 7-8 Mil (like Dunleavy and Murphy). They've taken some bad losses but are only a few games away from catching the Rockets.
His game is a good fit for what the Rockets want to do. He'd be a good 4/5 who shoots the three. Yao is gonna wear down sooner or later anyway. He can't do it all alone. As far as Murphy's contract, I gotta say, Chris Mullin needs to take better care of the pocketbook over there. Adonal Foyle, Mike Dunleavy, Murphy, etc. If it came down to losing Juwan and, say, expiring garbage like Bowen and Padgett, good. But wouldn't it take more?
