Since the Lottery drawing is about 2 weeks away, I thought I'd ask the question, What if he's available when we pick? This is assuming that we get the #1 or #2 pick in the draft. Everybody is drooling all over Ming & it may be for good reason. I've seen & read some things about him & I'm intrigued as well by his potential. However, there is potentially, one big monkey wrench that could affect the acquisition of Ming. China's government! They want him to be drafted by a high profile city with a large Chinese population. Chicago, New York, & Golden State are the 3 teams that Yao has reportedly, indicated that he would like to play for. NY & Chicago are the only teams that have been given private workouts with Ming so far. CD stated the other day, that no private workout had been set up with Houston. So, this brings me back to my original thought. If we got the #1 pick & all the teams behind us pick in their current slots, would you consider trading his draft rights for this deal? Houston sends Rice/#1 pick to New York. New York sends Sprewell/Camby/next year's #1 pick to Dallas. New York sends #7 pick to Houston. Dallas sends Van Exel/Manning (expiring contract) to New York. Dallas sends LaFrentz/Avery Johnson to Houston. Depending on what player is available at #7, we could then pursue a trade with Indiana & Atlanta like this: Houston sends Moochie/Collier to Atlanta. Houston sends KT/#7 pick to Indiana. Atlanta sends Crawford/Email (expiring contract) to Houston. Atlanta sends Dion Glover to Indiana. Indiana sends Artest/#14 pick to Houston. Indiana sends Brezec to Atlanta. Atlanta gets a true PG & two 7 footers on their roster. Indiana gets some depth at the SG position to back up Reggie, KT, some relief at the SF glut on their team, & with the #7 pick, could draft a future replacement for Reggie. Houston gets our starting SF in Artest & SF depth in Crawford, while retaining the #15 pick & acquiring the #14 pick. We could then send the #15 pick to Memphis to satisfy the Francis obligation & with the #14 pick, pick the best available big man. Thus, giving us a lineup of: C: LaFrentz/Willis/#14 pick(Marcus?) PF: Griffin/Taylor SF: Artest/Crawford/T-Mo SG: Mobley/Torres PG: Francis/AJ/Brown/Email (waived) With a front line of LaFrentz/Griffin/Artest, who needs defense from the guards? Oeilpere better start giving us some inside info, or I'm going to keep this up. Oh, yeah...... ....Trade Accepted!!!
Either keep the pick and take Ming or...trade the pick (Ming) to Chicago for Eddie Curry. Curry Griffin MoT Cat Francis Then maybe we could package our 15th pick and someone Rudy T veiws as excess for a vet or we just keep our pick and select the best available player.
Why would all those teams want to make those moves (in one offseason)?...very unlikely. Plus I think we will draft Ming (if we get the #1 pick) no matter what China says (remember Mirsad Turckan).
If we get the opportunity to draft Ming, we will do so. To me, we would have to absolutely have our socks knocked off. to the point where we think the other team might be joking (ie- Ming/Moochie to Chicago for Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, and their #1 pick). I'd have to absolutely get blown away. Lafrentz/Avery/#7 for Rice/#1 doesn't do that for me. I don't think Lafrentz/#7 is worth what Ming can garner, considering you'd have Ming under a cheap contract for 5 years, while Lafrentz would start getting something pretty near to the max now.
No. Basically, we're getting rid of Rice's contract, trading for LaFrentz(starter), Artest(starter), AJ(veteran backup PG), & Crawford(veteran backup SF), paying off our #1 pick obligation to Memphis this year instead of next year, & ending up with the 14th pick in the draft. In summation, we get 2 starters, 2 solid backups, dump Rice's albatross contract, trade down to the middle of the first round, & avoid having to give up our #1 pick next year. All for the paltry price of the #1 overall pick, 3 backups, & one old, high dollar star that's coming off a major injury. Next time, try reading the whole post.
I'm not saying that we wouldn't take Ming, but even if he turns out to be everything that everyone is imagining, you have to figure that he's probably 2 or more years away from being able to play the physical game of the NBA. Then, there's the uncertainty of what China's government will do. If they don't like the team that drafts him, they might decide to not let him play here. If that happens, then we're going to get nothing but crap offers for him. Frankly, a lineup with the addition of LaFrentz & Artest on the front line, would be a major improvement for this team, imo. Also, getting AJ to backup & teach Francis could be worth it's weight in gold. Just my opinion though.
As much as I would love to see the Rockets find a sucker, I mean, team to take Rice's contract, I like crash's idea better. It's nothing against LaFrentz, but I would rather see the Rockets either keep the pick if it is Ming or trade it to Chicago for Eddy Curry, a young C who has the chance of being a star. We trade Ming and maybe Moochie if we are lucky to Chicago for their pick and Crawford. We then use that pick on Caron Butler and keep the #15 pick and get Marcus (if he's still around). But you bring up a good point, Hottoddie. It is one that worries me very much in that the Chinese government may feel that Houston is not good enough for Ming and they keep him in China. I would hate for us to try to keep him (and hope that the Chinese government changes their mind) when it's obvious we can get something big for him in return.
I don't think Dallas will mess with the team they have. That's an incredible team they've put together. Lafrentz Nowitzki Najera Finley Nash 6th man: NVE the only trade they'd make would be to upgrade the SF spot without touching the above players. That's tough.
I really love the idea of trading the #1 and Moochie for Curry and Chitowns number 1 (using it on Q. Woods). If Chicago like Ming as much as they seem to then I dont think its out of the question to that they'd offer Curry to move up. We sweeten the pot by adding Moochie who can start until Crawford is ready. We pick up Woods with their pick, which is who we want anyway. Screwston 1-Franchise 2-Cat 3-Q 4-EG 5-The Catomic Bomb Chitown 1-Mooch 2-Rose 3-TC 4-Marcus Fizer 5-Ming
i like ut baller's idea and it's not that far-fetched if krause is really in love with ming. i wouldn't mind getting curry who could become really good, but i might pick caron butler over woods.
Houston Trades: Moochie Norris #1 in 2002 Chicago Trades: #3 or 4 pick in 2002 #4 pick in 2001 TRADE REJECTED DUE TO LACK OF REALISM Come on guys, there's no way Chicago trades 2 top 4 picks for a top 2 pick and an overpaid backup point guard...
Ming will be a nice player in this league (notice I did not say great), but he will also major post skill training. Freakin Christofferson pushed him around like a rag doll in the Chicago workouts and this probably will not change much unless he gains about 50-75 pounds. He does not have the size/bulk like Sabonis, which would make him a for sure #1 pick. He has the all skills of Sabonis, but lacks the bulk required to play the paint. So, I would draft the second coming of Tracy MCGrady....Q Woods. We need a three that can handle the ball, shoot with high efficiency and play rangey defense more than an iffy post player. Do not get me wrong, we need a post player, but Ming is not the immediate answer. I think Q would bring higher and faster dividends for this team.
Suppose Ming & Butler, for example, were stood side to side. You were allowed to do some Star-Trek-Vulcan mind-thing where you could touch Butler's shoulder for 1 second and forsee his future in the NBA. From your visions, you saw Butler was going to be a superstar. However, you don't have the option of doing the same to Ming, nor was their any indication of how Ming will fare when you touched Butler. Who do you draft?
I have never heard or read this anywhere. Can you please provide a link? Chistoffersen made a few shots.. so what? Even Cato blocked Shaq once upon a time!
