What about Rice, MoT and Cato for Riley, Grant and Jones

First Post on CC.net and it's a doozy.

Here's a trade proposal that will either make the rox into contenders for many years to come or completely ruin them. First off, we hire Pat Riley. The Heat will gladly let him go because paying eight figures for him to coach and run a rebuilding team is a waste of money. The Rox would do it because with Larry Brown possibly going to Detroit, Les will look pretty silly if he doesn't bring in a big name coach. Riley might not do it though because he'll make more money and have more power in Miami. But I can't see how he could turn down some substantial cash (in the neighborhood of 8 million they had earmarked for Brown) to coach on a winning team.

Next, trade Rice, Cato, and MoT for Eddie Jones and Brian Grant (it's been checked on realgm). We bolster our club with two veterans that are still effective and are probably itching to get backing into the title hunt. Also you always judge trades by who gets the best player. Well in this scenario we get the two best players in the deal. This will also help in the transition to Riley to get two guys that have played under him for the past few years. Miami will do this because they will have approx 20 million dollars of cap space in 2004, and they aren't going anywhere with BG and EJ anyway, so they might as well cash out. Rice gets to finish out his career in Miami and MoT and Cato get to be starters.

Next we either resign Posey to a qualifying offer or sign him to a long-term contract for MLE money. This will give us a solid seven man rotation (Riley tends to use a short bench) of:

Francis
Jones
Posey
Grant
Yao

Mobley
Griffin

with
Nachbar
Moochie
getting some minutes

and everyone else getting garbage time

Grant will backup Yao. With a 4, 5 rotation of Grant, Yao and EG, they can split practically all of the frontcourt minutes.

Mobley will be instant offense off the bench, taking over MoT's role. He'll be like a poor man's Van Exel, right down to being left-handed.

Pros:

1. The rox depth and flexibility would rival anybody in the league.

Imagine the lineups that we could put on the floor:

Smallball Lineup:
Francis
Mobley
Jones
Posey
Yao

Big Lineup:
Francis
Jones
Griffin
Grant
Yao

Three Guard Lineup:
Francis
Mobley
Jones
Grant
Yao

Jack up Threes Lineup:
Francis
Mobley or maybe Nachbar
Jones
Griffin
Yao

We could deal with pretty much any matchup problems that the opposition can throw at us and create some mismatches ourselves.

2. I think Jones and Francis would complement each other really well. Jones doesn't need the ball all the time. He gets a lot of his scores off of spot ups and curls off of picks. Also Jones would be a great 3rd option. He isn't a number one go to guy, but as a 3rd option he could be really effective.

3. Our defense would be substantially better. Grant and Jones are definite upgrades defensively, especially Grant. We'll finally have a PF that can body up some of the big PFs in the West. Also Riley will bring his imposing, complex defense schemes to Houston and improve team defense as a whole.

4. If it's discipline and toughness that you want, then Riley is the man for the job. Nobody in the league is tougher in practice and as mentally hardening as Pat Riley. A stern teacher is exactly what this team needs.

5. I think sending Griffin to the bench will help out his development. He'll still get plenty of minutes, but the pressure to start would be gone with Grant around. And maybe Grant can show Eddie what a real PF is all about: play defense, hustle, don't jack up threes, get under the basket and crash the boards. And by the time Grants contract runs out, Eddie will be 25 and ready to take over the position.

Cons:

1. If Jones and Grant don't work out, then the Rox are on the hook for about 110 million dollars worth of contracts (though they would have jettisoned 70 million dollars of dead weight in Rice, Cato, and MoT). Also depending on if Posey is resigned and for how much, then the rox will probably be a little over the luxury tax for the next couple of years. Also it will be very difficult to maneuver with 3 max contracts (SF, EJ, and BG). So this is the basically the core that we would have for the next few years. (Although that could be a good thing because sometimes the best thing to do is to let that chemistry build over a couple of years)

2. Can Jones and Mobley coexist? Both Jones and Mobley are used to play 40 mpg. Is Mobley willing to take a backseat and come off the bench? And what if Cat outplays Jones, is Riley going to bench Jones' 50+ million dollar contract.

3. With MoT gone, we will have a grand total of 1, count 'em 1 legitimate lowpost scorer. It'll be Yao and that's it. BG isn't a lowpost scorer, and neither is EG (although maybe this will be the perfect opportunity for EG to develop his lowpost game). That'll be a lot of pressure on Yao to have to be "the man" in the pivot (Although I believe if Yao could develop a reliable jump-hook and add the jump stop to his repertoire, he would be absolutely unstoppable down low. And it's not as if pressure is anything new to Yao.)

4. I mentioned this earlier but it bears repeating, this could be a financial disaster if these trades don't work out. And by "work out" I mean the Rockets have to make the playoffs next year and become bigtime contenders within two or three years. Otherwise Les will be eating some major losses and heads will probably roll.

I admit this is sort of a risky proposition. EJ and BG aren't worthe the max money that they are getting and you wonder about locker room issues. But just imagine the possibility if things go right. In four years you might see:

Francis- with the guidance of Pat Riley, he becomes a tremendous combo guard that knows exactly when to get his teammates involved, and when to just take the game over with his scoring. He is one of four people in the league that averages at least 20 ppg, 5 rpg, and 5 apg.

Jones- the perfect compliment to Francis. EJ locks down the opposing SG, nails down open 3s, scores a decent amount on a minimal amount of touches. He gives the rox 15 ppg, 6 rpg, and 3 apg.

Mobley- a perfect guy off the bench. He comes in with his fresh legs and he blows by the defenders and can take over the game in the 2nd quarter. He's a 13 ppg scorer off the bench.

Posey- guy that hustles, plays good defense, and has developed an outside shot. He does a lot of the nitty-gritty stuff that all championship teams need. 9 ppg 6 rpg.

Grant- a hardnosed enforcer that hustles, gives up his body defending the opponents best frontcourt player (allowing Yao to roam and help out on defense). He can knock down an open 12 ft jumper to keep defenses honest, and he crashes the offensive and defensive boards. He's good for a double double at 10 ppg and 11 rpg

Griffin- a guy that has developed into an excellent lowpost player. He's bulked up his body and makes use of his great athleticism to pound it down low and is able to take a pounding in defense. He no longer jacks up 3s, but prefers to make his living on high percentage hook shots and layups. He also takes the place of Cato as the designated alley-opp slammer on the team, as well as becoming one of the top rebounders per minute in the NBA, and is in the top 10 in blocks. He is totally ready to take over the starting PF position the next year. He gets 8 ppg, 8 rpg, and 3 bpg at about 24 mpg.

Yao- one of the top 2 players in the league (Shaq will have retired by now) with two unstoppable shots, the fade away jump shot, and a towering jump hook. He's bulked up his upper body as well as strengthened his lower body, so he can back down anybody in the league in order to get great position for one of his unstoppable shots. He is perfect in Riley's funnel style defense, where the offense is sent to specific spots on the floor where Yao can come over, help, and control the paint. He is in the top 10 in PPG and top 5 in Rebounds and Blocks, with 23 ppg, 12 rpg, and 3.3 bpg.

Houston Rockets- with a blend of tremendous defense and effective offense, the Rockets are finally able to channel all their talent and win the NBA Championship.

Hey it could happen.