I think I remember that debate. Duncan imo is the prototype PF. We sure aren't getting him. DavidS- For your giggles, I'll quickly run through and pull out the 13.9+ ppg FAs from this past season. Michael Redd Larry Hughes Antoine Walker Cuttino Mobley Joe Johnson Zydrunas Ilgauskas Shareef Abdur-Rahim Bobby Simmons Eddy Curry Damon Stoudamire and.... Lee Nailon Redd, Ziggy, Johnson and Curry are absolute impossibilities imo. Hughes is a real longshot. Simmons is a longshot. Mobley probably doesn't want to come back. You're left with Walker, SAR, Stoudamire, and Nailon. Nailon would be really easy, if you want a guy who can score 14 ppg and do nothing else, by all means. Stoudamire would love to come to Houston I'm sure, so he could be had. SAR is a possibility. Walker is kind of hard to predict right now. Jeff McInnis, Raja Bell, and Bobby Jackson scored 12-13 ppg if you were interested. I've said before, I wouldn't mind adding Raja Bell for fairly cheap as a nice defender who can score on the wing, provided we can do some other things as well. I do like the depth in this draft at the PF slot. The fact we can even talk about Simien at 24 is a good sign. This is a very mid-late first round heavy PF draft, so if we plan to target someone, it's psosible he'll slip or we can move up/down for him. Out of college, I like Simien a lot better than I liked Boozer.
I actually picked McInnis in a GM thread. I like Damon as a PG. But I don't like his defense. We're already slow enough laterally with Yao. The last thing we need is a weak man-on-man defending PG letting his man get by or shoot over him. I'd rather have McInnis (6'4") with his length and height; at least get a hand in the shooters face for god's sake. So far, Jeff McInnis, Raja Bell, Bobby Simmons are my favorites. Lee Nailon seems like a good FA. And of course Wayne Simien for our draft pick. I like him better than Sean May. I wonder how much Larry Hughes would ask for?
More than the MLE thats for sure. A guy entering the prime of his career that can put up 18+ pts on any team as a #2 scorer AND is first team all defensive team is going to get a much better deal than what the Rockets can offer. Unless this guy really wants to come to H-town (I see no reason why he would want to) he is not going to take a huge paycut.
Haslem wasn't drafted. There are plenty of players that fiit the description of the players who were on my list in this draft. It is not difficult to find a quality big man in the latter parts of the draft as my list proves that every year 1-3 are available. Super star? no. All star? not likely. However, if you are looking for someone to simply rebound and block shots, more than likely you can find him. If you are looking for someone better than Juwan Howard, it is not likely.
actually players that i consider prototypical PF are not necessarily superstars. the model we can all understand is otis thorpe. pj brown if he were 25 would be the ideal PF next to yao, marcus camby who was the knicks PF alongside ewing could also be considered 'protypical PFs' but not superstars. we're not going to get these type of players in the draft in my opinion, as its very hard to get a quality big man that late in the draft. the haslem reference was to prove just that - big men rarely fall through the cracks - i know he wasnt drafted
If we are talking about adding guards with our MLE I would rather have Antonio Daniels than McInnis. Daniels to me seems a bit more level headed. He doesnt force his shot and plays good defense. I think McInnis looks for his shot to much. I would stay away from Raja Bell. I dont like the idea of adding any role players from Utah. They always look a heck of a lot better in THEIR system than they do in other systems. Bobby Simmons is a solid talent, but he is more of a 3 and that's where Tmac is locked in. Larry Hughes would be a DREAM addition. Really the perfect type of player to add at the 2 guard spot. Can play great defense, has nice size, can hit the jumper and create his own shot with the ability to be our 3rd scorer. But there is no way we will be able to get him.
