[USA Today] Rockets rolling since McGrady injured knee

With Yao hedging on re-signing, a move must be made to get us in the hunt now.

There are a LOT of teams that are struggling financially and want to dump salaries, even if it means losing good players. Some want to get in on 2010. Others want to use 2010 as an excuse to cut costs. Others just need to cut costs, period.

I'd think we'd have to add some draft picks that we acquire or a player we don't want to lose (Landry?) or maybe those waiting-in-the-wings 2nd round foreign players to get a deal done.

 

He did get $9 million the next year, so may have been one of those wink wink deals??? Unfortunately, he was also the primary reason that Clyde retired early....

But for all his faults, you can't say he didn't want to win and was willing to put his money, where his mouth is. You have to admire that!

 

1. Steve had two years ~33M left on his deal, and they saved ~3M buying him out.
2. They were able to get rid of an even WORSE contract in Zach Randolph.

 

g'imme baron davis + chris kaman for mcgrady all day.

just saying...

 

Wally and LaFrentz's expiring contracts weren't traded this season. LaFrentz had a 80% return of his salary because of insurance. Expiring contracts are overrated because of the Pau trade. Plus the huge size of McGrady's contract makes it even harder to trade.

Yes, many teams would like to dump their Radmanovics, Dampiers, Diops, etc but I dount the Rockets want to take on any of those contracts.

 

We can definitely get artest for 10 million less a year than what tmac makes. He is not looking for a max contract but a fair contract on a competitive team. Also, a LOT of teams will be willing to trade for tmac's expiring contract to make as much cap room for as possible for the 2010 sweepstakes. Artest would be worth a contract for 4-5 years at 10-12 mil each. He plays hard, defends well, and is way above average offensively. If I was morey, I definitely would sign him for 12 mil.

 

^Gotta agree, award the guy for sticking with us. At least you know what you have with him as a player.

 

I find your lack of faith in the 2010 sweepstakes disturbing.

 

Les didn't give him his 9 million, Chuck has complained about it on TNT before.

 

Maximum contracts start from $12M. McGrady makes around $20M this season, $23M next.

 

We would be overpaying at 12M/60M for 5 years. The economy is going to affect NBA salaries, average Joe's are getting no raises and their salaries cut, it's going to happen to NBA players as well. I would make him an offer at 4 years/36M, I would risk letting him walk for more than that.

 

There is no way we should touch those two HORRENDOUS contracts for McGrady's expiring:

Baron Davis: 4 more years, $54MM AFTER this season, ends in '13 @ age 34
Chris Kaman: 3 more years, $34MM AFTER this season, ends in '12 @ age 30

Exactly where is Kaman supposed to play with Yao on the team?

Do you want a $12M/year backup center for a $17M starting center, when you only have a CAP of around $60M??

Camby with an expiring deal, instead of Kaman MIGHT be tolerable, but I'm still not sure I'd do it.

 

the new 21st century version of the houston twin towers.

okay, g'imme davis and camby all day...

 

Team with $42M or over in guaranteed salaries in 2010.
Players with MLE contracts or over in 2010.
* Untouchable in trade or not for expiring contract/s.
<table border="0">
<tr>
<td>Celtics
Kevin Garnett*
Paul Pierce*

Bobcats
Emeka Okafor*
Boris Diaw
Gerald Wallace
Vladimir Radmanovic
Nazr Mohammed
DeSagana Diop

Pacers
Danny Granger*
Troy Murphy
Mike Dunleavy
TJ Ford
Marquis Daniels
Jamaal Tinsley
Jeff Foster</td>
<td>Bucks
Michael Redd
Richard Jefferson
Andrew Bogut*

Magic
Rashard Lewis*
Dwight Howard*

76ers
Elton Brand
Andre Iguodala*
Samuel Dalembert

Wizards
Gilbert Arenas*
Antawn Jamison*
Caron Butler*</td>
<td>Mavericks
Dirk Nowitzki*
Josh Howard
Erick Dampier
Jason Terry

Nuggets
Carmelo Anthony*
Kenyon Martin
Chauncey Billups*
Nenê

Warriors
Monta Ellis
Andris Biedrins
Jamal Crawford
Corey Maggette
Stephen Jackson</td>
<td>Clippers
Zach Randolph
Baron Davis
Chris Kaman

Lakers
Kobe Bryant*
Pau Gasol
Andrew Bynum*

Hornets
Predrag Stojakovic
Tyson Chandler
David West
Morris Peterson
James Posey
Chris Paul*

Jazz
Andrei Kirilenko
Deron Williams*
Kyle Korver</td>
</tr>
</table>

 

how can you read those bolded quotes and not infer exactly what the OP inferred? morey isn't going to just come out and say "we're trading mcgrady!"...

 

We are screwed now, whenever outside media reports, we lose....