and we only have one guy at 6'9". scola. the rest of our front court is really tiny; landry (6'7), dorsey (6'7), hayes (6'6), harris (6'5). we have really nice size on the wing (which has been an issue in recent years, and our power forwards can hold their own at the 4, but the problem is when one of them has to slide to the 5. a legit backup center/forward would do wonders. a guy who is a shot blocker (since we only have one of those), and who can slide to the 4 and play next to yao at times, would be awesome.
I agree! Although I am extremely excited about Landry, when I heard the news, all I thought about was Deke. The final and obvious missing piece to the puzzle.
In response to questions on his latest blog, Jonathan Feigen has said that the Rockets and Mutombo might wait out a few months into the season to allow the team to get back under the tax. Also, he thinks the Rockets will look to move Luther Head to cut down costs. So I think that's how it's going to go. Hopefully by December, we find a new home for Luther Head to free up some money, and use that to sign Deke. Not sure if that will be enough to get us under the tax threshold, though.
We definitely need the presence of the 63 year old Deke in the rockets roster. He is one of the motivator that this team needs. The old man has no fear!
So are we going over the luxury cap for this? With the signing of Carl we have no choice unless 1) Deke agrees to the vet min (which he has stated he wanted more....which he could prolly get from another team) or 2) we let go of another player to make room on the cap. If neither then were above the cap.
If Deke is set for signing with vet. minimum, there wont be too much difference in salaries for waiting a few more months. If Deke wants more than minimum, the Rockets will be over LT anyway. Ask Deke to wait a few months b4 joining the team is strange. I like to see Deke starts training camp with the team. Deke has an obsolete engine and it takes time for Deke to get his engine starts. Les shouldnt be counting pennies if he thinks this is the year.
I have a dumb question... is there any reason, other than not wanting to practice without a contract, that Deke can't be part of the team in every way other than being in uniform for the first part of the season? If he just does everything the team does because he wants to and then when there is room sign him to take a roster spot? I'm just curious if there are rules against this.
This Rockets team wouldn't have the same feel without Deke. There has been alot of talk of Dorsey taking Hayes role, but I'm more comfortable with Dorsey filling in the backup center spot and taking more of Deke's role. Not that Dorsey could actually fill Deke's role, Deke brings all his veteran leadership skills to the table, plus his shot blocking and finger waving. What I'd like to see is not signing Deke for a few weeks until after the season has started and placing him on the injured list until we need him, as the "Great Insurance Policy".
Deke is too old to play on a team like Houston, we need size, speed and scoring ability and he can not provide any of that on the offensive side.
I agree he and dorsey and hayes are our best three big defensive players. we need him here because frankly, he is the best avaliable option on the free agency market.
