What finishing touches would you put on the Rockets?

Taylor to: Cleveland, Chicago, NJ, or Seattle makes sense for everyone.

Howard to: Chicago, Miami, Sac, Seattle makes sense for everyone.

Spoon to: Chicago, Cleveland, Seattle, Boston, Miami makes sense for everyone.

Pike to: NJ, Denver, LAL, NO makes sense for everyone.

There are countless ways to make countless deals. For guys like Crawford or Daniels or Battie or countless others.

I am ready for some action, as is everyone else here, I'd say. I want good fits with good contracts, guys who have won, and/or ready to break out. If that means patience, I can wait. I want to be home court realistic in play offs, tho at the moment no less than nine teams might lay claim to that.

 

Every player you just mentioned is interchangable.

I'm not saying we MUST do this deal or anything, but it makes a lot of sense. Kittles has Finals experience, is a smart player and could provide some leadership for our younger guys. We deal for him, he plays here for a season, he's off the books. No more crying or moaning about Taylor's bad contract.

21 years old, 7'0" 245 lbs. Long arms, good shooter...this guy has all the tools necessary to become the next Gasol or a poor man's Nowitzki---or if we're really lucky, even better. Skita's addition, as I stated in a post in a different thread, gives us youth at every position. Not to mention, our 1st round picks are going to become less and less valuable the better we get. Kiki could simply resign Jon Barry if he wants a shooter near Pike's level and keep Skita. The future first rounder gives him the incentive to make the deal---if he would even consider it in reality, that is.

48% from the field
38% from 3 point range

Good enough for me. Not to mention we wouldn't be adding Posey for his shooting, but for his athleticism and defensive ability. Imagine the terror TWO 6'8" athletic G/F's could cause teams? However, I don't think Jerry West would give him up essentially for free---despite the fact that they have like 300 other G/F's on their roster.

And Eric Williams would be a nice addition if he would sign for the minimum. Good defender, excellent locker room presence.

As for Swift, one can only hope....

 

Kittles would be nice. I would love to have one of my former favorite players back..James Posey..I don't think they'll give him back...Stromile sounds good. Eric Williams also sounds good. Is he a FA?

What happened to our PG? Kittles does sound nice though..but we would have to get Stromile..

I don't think any of this would happen.

 

We need a starting point guard and a backup center, obviously, and there are a ton of ideas here for getting both. Booth and Daniels is one. Battie would fill two needs, if we could get him. Jones would be adequate, James is a bit better. So, yes... there are still options.

What I'd like to see us do, and it probably won't happen this offseason, is get a good, long, rebounding 3 who can hit the midrange jumper. Wouldn't hurt if he could play some defense, either. I have seen McGrady penciled in as our starting 3 here many times and my ideal would be to have him start at the 2 night in and night out, playing most off his minutes there.

The guy is just a rediculous mismatch at the position he prefers playing. Jackson was outstanding last season, better than we could have hoped for, but he started to wear down towards the end and I think that showed up in the series with LA. He would be tremendous with fewer minutes as a backup at the 2 & 3, instead of starting at either one of those spots.

Who should we aim for? I don't know who could end up filling the bill, but Rashard Lewis would fit just fine. Like I said, it's probably something to do down the road, but it's something I salivate over... T-Mac as our starting 2.

 

Trade taylor for battie/wagner
Trade pike for eric williams
Sign Eddie Grffin( i think its worth another shot)


pg: lue/gaines/wagner
sg: tracy/wagner/a. griffen
sf: jj/eric williams/boki
pf: juwan/eddie/spoon
c: yao/battie

 

It looks like now we're just filling in our roster with replacable pieces, which is just fine. But what I'm excited about is when we make our next big trade for an impact player (upgrade at PF, PG, etc.). It'll happen eventually and with all the random pieces we'll have filling things out, there's plenty of trade fodder when someone good goes on the market (Damon Stoudamire, Wilcox in a year or so, etc.)

 

The key to having a good bench, in my opinion, is having a guy that brings a new dimension and energy to the team. Someone who just changes the complexion of a game the second he steps onto the court. Ginobili does that. Bobby Jackson does that. Desmond Mason does that.

That's why Taylor was so valuable as a sixth man, as his game was the polar opposite of Cato's. With Juwan Howard manning the 4, that's no longer the case. I think we should move Taylor and his fat contract right away.

Tony Battie makes the most sense. Taylor to Cleveland for Battie and Ollie is doable, I think. Batman is a wiry shotblocker who was the enforcer for the C's and Cavs, and it always helps to have a big who can ply both power positions.

We should then add another former Celtic/Cav, Eric Williams. He's a hustle player who plays tough, physical defense, can nail the open shot, and is a great lockerroom influence. He would allow JJ to play closer to 28-30mpg.

I'm really torn over who should be the point guard. My heart says Eric Snow. Even with his age, contract, and lack of a three point shot, I think he's just too good a player to pass up. He's a great playmaker, a steady influence, and the best defender at his position in the league.

But my brain tells me that the Rockets won't add another big contract to the roster, and I can't help but remember how our offense stalled when Mark Jackson was bricking three after three. So, that means Antonio Daniels. The Rockets should push hard to acquire him, and if possible try to pry Radmonovic from the Supes while they're at it.

Daniels/Lue/Ollie
McGrady/Pike
JJ/Williams/A.Griffin
Howard/Battie/Spoon
Yao/Battie

 

I don't know why so many want to move Taylor instead of Howard. Taylor is 28 with 3 years remaining on his bad contract. Howard is 31 with 5 years remaining on his bad contract. With Yao and Mcgrady as the cornerstones, I think the most important thing the Rockets must have is flexibility. Meaning no 5 year contracts on old role players.

I would trade Howard for either Tony Battie, Jahadi White, Derrick Coleman, or any other serviceable big man that can backup at the 4/5 and who's contract is 2 years or shorter.

Trade Pike to Denver for a 2nd rounder, just to get rid of his salary. Why bother paying 3 mil per for a player that's not going to get any PT.

Sign either Bob Sura, Damon Jones, or Mike James for 2 seasons @ 2.5 mil. Whoever comes the cheapest.

Any other moves I would make would be small moves to get some serviceable players to fill out the rest of the roster (ie. Padgette, etc.)

We should have a lot of cap room available in 2 years, which is right about the time Yao and Mcgrady are ready to take this team to another level and make them contenders.

 

As far as I am concerned, you are the new asst. general manager. The insight and knowledge on this board never ceases to amaze me. The Rockets would have been well served to have studied this board over the last few years. They would have perhaps made better personnel decisions. Most people on this board were shocked at the drafts of Collier and Langi, the bloated contracts of Cato, Taylor, and Norris, the trade for Rice, etc. Hey Rockets, read the board and learn, Feigan does.

 

Ehh, I'm a newbie, so I may have done the whole quote thing wrong, my bad if I did...

But Denver really likes Skita...if anyone has NBATV, on Real Training Camp they talk about how much they enjoy having him...he is to Denver what Boki is to Houston...they expect good things from him...

 

I think they may just be "talking him up" so they could get something better in return. I'm not really sure, but i think they are looking to trade him. He's just being featured right now.

 

in response to your first post..

1. I would love to move MoT's contract to Cleveland for Battie/Ollie. Battie would fill our need at backup 4/5 while being able to step up and provide quality minutes. Ollie as insurance makes sense since Lue could probably opt out.. but we do have Gaines whom I would love to groom into a starting PG.

3. Personally I dont think Mike James is that much better than Lue and hes kind of small too. With MJames and Lue we may have the shortest PG's in the league. If thats the case we may as well start Lue and focus on bringing along Gaines by midseason. (I think bringing in another PG and putting Gaines on the IL will ruin his confidence)

4. Isnt Keon Clark a FA? I dont know why no one is talking about him. If healthy the guy is presence in the paint (reboiunds/detering shots) ..Steven Hunter is our Cato of last year can play defense (block shots) but liability on offense. If we can get him for a reasonable price sure why not. Better than what we have now.

5. I like SSwift too.. but at 6 ft 9 he is kind of small and what would his function be? If we replace MoT (redundant w/ Howard) with Battie our front court is stacked. But Swift would still be a quality guy to bring off the bench I just dont know what his role will be?

people have posted aquiring Daniels/ and a backup C from Seattle may kill 2 birds with one stone but i like the 4/5 contributer idea better, I think it makes substitutions smoother.

*I dont mind taking on bigger (bloated contracts) if they contribute. Kind of the way trading Rice for Spoon, spoon was overpaid but at least he was useful to us.

im wondering if were looking at bring in EG? I know people are set against him but there are still alot of people supporting him to.

alot of the other pieces are set..

lights out 3pt shooter (Pike) came off a bad season but should rebound well this year.

PF positions are pretty well set, even though they are kind of redundant. Moving one of them I would be nice I prefer to keep JHoward (more complete) and Moving MoT may bring us back something nice.

for the enforcer PF types we should look into the NBDL .. and grab a mean/nasty hungry player who will lay his body on the line and bring us energy/ toughness and defense. I liked TBraggs maybe we can bring him back in.

J

 

Considering current contracts, the below PGs are the ones I would pursue via trade...

Jamal Tinsley ($1.5M 04-05, $2.3M QO 05-06)
Antonio Daniels ($2.2 M 04-05, $2.2M PO 05-06)
Earl Watson ($1.4M 04-05)
Raul Lopez ($1M 04-05)
Speedy Claxton ($3.3M 04-05, $3.6M TO 05-06)
Marko Jaric ($2.1M 04-05)
Keyon Dooling ($3M QO 04-05)
Bobby Jackson ($3.1M 04-05, $3.3M TO 05-06)

No surprises, but other FA's to consider include...
Damon Jones
Mike James
Charlie Ward