Vescey: Reef on block

true, but hey, with that set-up you knew it was coming. It makes interesting talk, but I still don't trust the guy or his rumors.


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snap crackle pop

 

I think Chicago is the team that will land Reef' not us. I'm pretty sure Chicago has some first round picks and also they could throw in Artest and maybe Benjamin. Im not sure if that works out capwise but it seems like Krause will make a move for a team lacking any real star power

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That's right about Chicago. But it depends, too, on just how much cap room Vancouver wants to clear. The team wants to stop its financial bleeding. And I'm also sure that the team will, in two or three years, find itself in a new city.
The Grizzlies don't like being saddled with Bryant Reeves' contract. For us to land Shareef (and I think it's possible), we would have to consider something sacrilegious. Maybe Hakeem and Walt and our own pick, Milwaukee pick, Detroit pick, and Orlando pick, in exchange for Shareef and Big Country. Maybe the change of scenery (close to home) would do Big Country some good. I know he's overpriced, but damn, a chance for Abdur Rahim. And, perhaps, a change of scenery for Hakeem as well.
But what would we do with Mo? We'd have no dough-re-mi left to re-sign him.
Maybe move him and Los to Detroit for JYD?
I'll stop now, this is getting too far afield. Still, intriguing.

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I think Vescey needs to trade his freakin brain for one that functions properly. Why the hell would the Grizz be trying to trade Shareef?!?! Why do they need caproom. They already have the talent...they just SUCK!

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SUCK POLICE!!!!!!

To point out individuals or teams that have managed to reach the pinnacle of SUCKINESS!!!!!
-----
ROCKETS 4th quarter defense SUCKS. The offense SUCKS as well!
Absolutely no excuse for the loss against Sonics at home!

 

I've read this in some other places as well but the Rockets have very little shot at the guy.

First off, they want cap room. They would most likely want to dump Reeves along with Reef in order to create that space. They won't want to take on any long-term contracts so Cato is out and Williams still has a year left on his deal so he is probably out.

Second, the only real trade bait we have with regard to Reef is Olajuwon and that is also assuming we also get a second player in the deal because Reef's salary is about $6 million shy of Dream and I think Reef is a BYC player meaning he's about $11 million shy. If that is the case, we lose our shot at keeping Taylor or even taking a shot at Webber because we'd have to take on extra salary for next season and leave us with no cap space.

Also, take away our draft picks as part of the deal and we are a team with no cap space and no draft picks. Ouch.

Yes, Reef solves our problems at SF and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have the guy on the team, but it definitely limits our options when it comes to nearly every other position on the floor because of the different salary structures.

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The way to use life is to do nothing through acting,
The way to use life is to do everything through being. - Lao-Tzu

 

Vescey is on crack! Why in the world would they want to trade Rahim? Clear up cap space for what...to attract prized free-agents like Webber to Vancouver? Who else besides hakeem wants to play in Vancouver?

[This message has been edited by ChenZhen (edited December 30, 2000).]

 

Now w/ Dream's injury, this trade is awesome (for the rockets ).

p.s. The Rockets still have the topt on Shandon.

C - Yao Ming
PF - Chris Webber
SF - Rahim
SG - Michael Jordan
PG - Steve Francis

-off the bench-
Charles Barkley
Bryant Reeves (we hvae to take him w the strade).
Walt Wizzzzard boooyyyiueee!
Cuttino Mobes.
Wilt Chamberlain.
Matt -the hitman- Bullard!

yeeeeeeeeeeeee----------hoo!

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You don't normally see a shot-blocker out there shooting 3s like that. - Matt Bullard

 

The problem is, to move enough salary to cover Reef's means moving players and making holes in the line up. Besides, Vancouver WANTS cap space and we only have a couple of guys that could give it to them: Anderson, Olajuwon, Rogers or Williams (but only after another season for Williams).

Even a combo of Williams and Anderson isn't enough to satisfy the salary issues and Dream's salary is too much.

We just have the wrong combination of salary and players to make a deal work with Vancouver even if they were willing to take what we had for Reef in the first place. Considering his abilities, I'm sure there will be PLENTY of others vying for his services.

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The way to use life is to do nothing through acting,
The way to use life is to do everything through being. - Lao-Tzu

 

PRO BASKETBALL
From News Services
Sunday, December 31, 2000

Abdur-Rahim bides time, wants to leave Vancouver

Problems have arisen in Vancouver.
After getting benched for the fourth quarter in a two-point loss to Phoenix earlier this week, star forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, a native of Marietta, has expressed his frustration with the franchise and indicated he wants to be traded.
Grizzlies general manager Billy Knight did concede, ''We know he's not happy because we're not winning. We've lost 11 games this season by four points or less.''
But Knight stopped short of saying Abdur-Rahim ''demanded'' a trade. Sources say Abdur-Rahim will lie low for a while, giving the Grizzlies some time to get a deal done. But as the trading deadline approaches, he's expected to make his feelings known publicly.
An ideal situation for Abdur-Rahim would be Portland, with the Blazers packaging Dale Davis, Bonzi Wells and another player, possibly Will Perdue, for the Grizzlies forward. But Vancouver almost certainly would balk at such talk.


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Peter Vecsey 
HOOP DU JOUR
Sunday,December 31,2000


TRYING TO SHIP THE SHAREEF


OPPONENTS are unsure if the rapidly-declining, faster-decaying Grizzlies are sincere regarding their intention to trade their highest scorer/salaried player; nonetheless, sources reveal Olympian Shareef Abdur-Rahim has been tagged and his price is not unreasonable.
Just tricky, that's all.
What they want, says one acutely aroused executive, is a player earning in the vicinity of $10 million (Shareef makes $10.125M) who's on the end of his contract.
The catch is, the Grizzlies want to be able to move that player somewhere else for an exceptional first round pick or two. Their immediate goal: Stockpile draft picks, subtract long-term contracts and create as much cap room as possible.
"Where are you going to find a team with $10M worth of cap room?" laments the same executive.
Clearly, more ingredients must be added to the mix in order to satisfy salary requirements and not make it look as if the Grizzlies are about to go out of business and/or leave Vancouver.
I can assure you, the Hawks are doing assorted variations of the Mutombo in hopes of bringing Shareef (just the man they're looking to build around) home to Atlanta where he spends his summers - this might be a way for the Knicks to get in on the back end of the deal for Mutombo.
At the same time, the under-capped Bulls, top heavy in succulent picks, are desperate for a marquee name to reward their vast loyal following. Surely genius GM Jerry Krause must be capable of concocting an offer Grizzly owner Michael Heisley, a Chicago-native and no doubt a Bulls season ticket (suite?) holder, can't refuse.
Why would Shareef suddenly be expendable? Fifty-two million reasons. His guaranteed contract over the next four seasons is incompatible to how few fans show up to witness the Grizzlies. Heisley is losing a ton, which is doubly disturbing when parlayed with his team's protracted act of submission.
Already the vital trade signs have begun flickering. In Tuesday's two-point home loss to the Suns, the Grizzlies one and only appearance on national TV, coach Sidney Lowe removed Shareef (10 points, five rebounds, four turnovers and no assists in 34 minutes) for all but the team's ultimate defensive stand (a failure; Jason Kidd tapped in the game-winner) of the fourth quarter.
Heaping insult upon insult, Lowe then yanked Shareef - who averages 20 points - for the team's final offensive play. If you can believe it, Kevin Edwards, out of the league as long as Grizzly boss Dick Versace, wound up aborting the last shot, a 3-point attempt designed by Toni Kukoc.
To Shareef's eternal credit (you don't suppose management told him as long as he takes the high road, it'll do its best to get him to a good team?) he massaged the crisis with dignity. Wisely waiting a day to face the media, he had nothing remotely disrespectful to say about his coach.
"I'm a man, I can deal with it," Shareef said.
On the other hand, you've really got to question the way Lowe handled Shareef, conspicuously disrespecting his star for all to see . . . a player, by all accounts, who's not a prima donna, a punk or a problem. Why embarrass him so publicly? Why display such a glaring lack of trust?
In comparison, Paul Silas showed nothing but love throughout Wednesday's 4-point loss at Sacramento for a struggling Jamal Mashburn. Despite his futile 0-9 start from the field and 4-17 misadventure, overall, the Hornets coach designed the most important play (down three, four seconds left) for the probable All-Star forward.
No, Mashburn's open 3-point wayward try (slammed against the backboard) did not force the Kings into overtime. No, he did not validate Silas' confidence in him. At least in that instance, but is guaranteed to pay off big time long term.
Just as Lowe's lethal dose of non-support in his leading man can't help but come back to bite him in the backside. Especially if Shareef (29 Friday in Portland's rout of Vancouver) remains a Grizzly too much longer. How's a player supposed to have confidence in himself when his coach doesn't have any in him?


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Rahim wants to play for a contender. If we can get Rahim do you still think it will be a chance for us to land Webber?


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President of the Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford,Larry Hughes, and Charles Woodson fan club.

 

3 first rounders and a couple of players ? Reef is good, but one of those 1st rounders may be as good. I think that's a little steep.

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"We don't have any plans. We just plan to win." Mack Brown

 

How about this deal(grizz will never have the guts to do it though since they care more about the draft then about winning):

Rockets get: Big Country,their own 1st rd pick back(via Steve Francis trade

Grizz get: Kenny Thomas, Scottie Pippen,Bonzi Wells, Jason Collier,Blazer 1st rounder 2001,Will Purdue

Blazers get:Reef,Orlando future 1st rounder from HOuston (via Francis trade)

Rockets Lineup:
C- Dream, Big Country
PF- Mo Taylor, Bullard
SF- Walt, Langhi
SG- Shandon, Cat
PG-Francis, Moochie

Blazers Lineup:

C-Kemp,Sabonis
PF-Sheed,Davis
SF-Reef,Augmon
SG-Smith,Anthony
PG-Stoudimire,Gary Grant

Grizzlies:

C-Ike Austin,Purdue
PF-Swift,Harrington
SF-Pippen,Kenny Thomas
SG-Dickerson,Doug West
PG-Bibby,Kevin Edwards


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President of the Pete Chilcutt Fan Club.

 

I think the Grizzlies will try to attach Bryant Reeves as a poison pill to Shareef Abdur Rahim to unload slightly over 20 mil in payroll. If a deal happens from the Rockets side, it will likely have to involve Olajuwon imho b/c the Grizz would absolutely love to free up 16 mil in cap space. There is no way the Grizz will deal Rahim for some of the deals discussed in here. Sorry New Guy but there is no way the Rockets keep Olajuwon AND acquire Rahim. That achieves nothing for the Grizz. I have read before that the new owner Michael Hiesley wants to free up payroll b/c he is losing money. Lets be honest here, a 48.2 mil payroll for a divisional dreg is a waste. The plan actually isnt a bad one to clear cap room, acquire talent through the draft then fill in the remaining spaces through free agency somewhere down the line. I dont think their goal is to attempt to land a Chris Webber or someone of that ilk, I think they feel with Bibby, Dickerson and Swift plus a potential top 5 pick this summer that the nucleus will be in place.

There is a pretty major downside for the Rockets in this deal tho. Reeves and Rahim will completely cap the Rockets out which means Mo Taylor will bolt in the summer, and Shandon Anderson will become an iffy proposition if he opts out. I think they could convince Shandon to play one yr for the mid level exception (soon to be 4.1 mil) but Mo Taylor is gone. Also, depending on how many draft picks the Rockets had to deal, it could hamper their future efforts to create depth in the frontcourt. This deal by no means is all roses, there are some serious question marks involved.

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Check out the Best Source for Draft Info

Draftsource.net

 

Here it is.
1.Reef wants to play for a winning team.
2.Vancouver owner wants to cut payroll, not to atract free agents, but to save his money.
3.For Rockets to acquire Reef, Olajuwon needs to be traded, plus draft picks.

End of Story.

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The next time I have meat and mashed potatoes, I think I'll put a very large blob of potatoes on my plate with just a little piece of meat. And if someone asks me why i didn't get more meat, ill just say, "Oh, you mean this?" and pull out a big piece of meat from inside the blob of potatoes, where ive hidden it. Good magic trick, huh?

 

RealGM.com is down (hmm, wonder if something has caused its server to become overloaded!), but

Hakeem, Mo Taylor, and Shandon

for

Big Country, Shareef, and Harrington

seems to be a workable deal, even figuring in Shareef's BYC status.

And it might even be a half-decent deal for Vancouver.

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Here's what Frank Hughs of ESPN has to say. Looks like there might be a fire sale in Vancouver soon.

Around The West

There is some talk up in Vancouver that Sidney Lowe already has lost some of his players, the reason they have swooned to an 8-20 record after an impressive start.

The general consensus is Dick Versace is going to have to make some change, and it does not seem as if it is going to be Lowe.

Mike Bibby's name has come up on several occasions, but Versace may nuke the whole thing and even deal Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Abdur-Rahim has proven to be a weak link in the fourth quarter of games and is not super enamored with the city.

One thing is certain: There is too much talent there to be so many games under .500.

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One factor everyone's forgot. Reef and Olajuwon and both muslim. Reef looks up to Olajuwon. Reef and Olajuwon are friends. One of the reasons Reef would want to come here in the first place would be to play alongside Olajuwon. Your destroying any hope of Reef playing here if your gonna send his buddy for him.

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Francis out top, 9 seconds on the clock, he gives a no look pass to Cuttino Mobley, 4 seconds left, Mobley passes to an open Langhi in the corner with 1 second left! Langhi at the buzzer.......YES!!! How Sweet It Is!!