Well, they blew it again. He wants a PO for a THIRD year. A 3rd year? You don't give it to him? Are you f**king crazy? Trade kicker? That's nothing. Give it to him!!!! I am so pissed right now. The man is the only FA we can get that's worth a damn. If his requests are reasonable, GIVE THEM TO HIM!! I thought he was demanding 5 years. I would have given him that. We need Mike James. We don't have a third scoring option. We don't have a starting 2. There isn't one to be had now. Look forward to Bogans and Head manning the 2-guard position. If T-Mac goes down, we are f**king screwed. Look at this lineup: Alston / Lucas / Moochie (You laugh but watch it happen) Head / Bogans T-Mac / Bowen / Novak Battier / Howard / Hayes Yao / Deke Don't give me crap about how Mike James isn't that good. David Wesley, Keith Bogans, Rafer Alston, Luther Head and Richie Frahm couldn't hold his jock. MLE was a bargain for any amount of years.
The trade kicker is not that big of a deal guys, it means that he can still be traded however we would have to pay him 15% of the contract which is like $3.6 million..... big deal, he is worth it, i believe he wouldve accepted the 3 yr only and the trade exception....we just would have to cave to 1 of his 2 demands and he would have accepted our offer but we didn't offer either
I'm so sick of this 4 years is risky for James crap. Your job as a GM is to think towards next season first, not 4 years down the road. If you can get players that fill both obligations, great. And especially considering you have T-Mac and Yao, you better be trying to win now. The Rockets are trying to compete for the championship, and Mike James was the best player available willing to sign with them, when they do not have many assets to acquire the talent they need. When the best remaining alternative is Marcus Banks, you don't mess around hoping that he will take a lesser offer just because he loves Houston so much. But they did. And excuse me, but you act like a trade kicker is the worst thing possible. Like it will make a guy not play hard for you so he can get dealt. In real life would you move from a job you like to a new city, for the exact same benefits/salary you had before. I sure wouldn't. The Rockets were going to get a player better than regular MLE material at MLE price and they blew it over a trade kicker and a unwillingness to go to a 4th year. And yes, the Rockets are further away from the championship than Dallas, which is why it is explainable that Dallas wouldn't budge on their offer. However the Rockets actually needed James especially considering the alternatives, so it is inexcusable that they would gamble in this situation.
Maybe Banks is a good young pg and maybe not. But if he is such a commodity then why did Minni just pick up Mike James when they already have Banks.
The Rockets can sign ppl like Mo Taylor, Mochie Norris, and Kelvin Cato just to name a few, but they can't decide to give James an extra year so that he would come to Houston. The front office never ceases to amaze me with their moves. I understand that 4 years may be one too many for James but he definitely fit a need for a team and would help us win now when our superstars are in their prime. I'm tired of hearing management talk about how he need to win with proven veterans. If this is really how they feel, then they should have done it by signing James instead of washed up Knicks players, etc.
For him to take the Minny deal was a no brainer especially if you read the Chronicle article. Yes, he had to have been looking at what happened to Swift. In the end, though, it's never about loyalty only money. Teams may talk all they want to about loyalty but it's really a one-way street. They want the player to be loyal to them and not the other way around. When it's in the team's interest, it's a "business" so why can't it be the same for the player also? I won't even start about the Rockets' management - no use beating a dead horse.
Look - Mike James would've made us better. Like Rocketball said, there ARE other players that can make us better - they ARE out there. Like the other poster said PERFECTLY - Mike James is a fruitcake. Enjoy the snow, MJ.
Doc - ARE the Rockets Management going to sign any of these players in the next 24-48 hours??? We need some good player transactions!!!
guys who want these pro athletes to give up millions crack me up. so they are supposed to go and say "hey (any team), I'm all about the money". get off your freakin high horses. I'm sure most of us would take jobs that gave us more security and more money, and I'm sure none of you would be in the interview saying, "hey, this is a great company and great opportunity, but you know I'm all abou the money".
I'm surprised by this news. I've basically been assuming Minnesota was the dark horse in the running and that James was only really considering Houston and Dallas. I'm atleast relieved it's Minnesota and not Dallas. Minnesota will still be terrible. Dallas isn't any stronger. I'm also relieved it's over. I was sick of waiting around for this. I think now the Rockets need to be looking at the following players: Free agents: Marcus Banks Jared Jeffries Trevor Ariza Fred Jones Kelvin Cato TE candidates: J.R. Smith Michael Sweetney I know Mike James was our best option, but if we ended up with a combination of two or three of those free agents and then acquired either of those guys from the Bulls, I'll be excited. We have the superstars. We need depth.
I told you guys I told you! That guy is about money all of his talk was to get the best offer I am not surprised and I'm happy with his decision rockets ****ed up first so he had the right to be cocky, even tho he always was but who is gonna play with in minny...noone he will be on the market soon I promise!
So still no worries? Hey even if you had some inside info I could see how the deal James got from Minny came outta left field at the last second. If they want players they have to outbid every one else.
