whats a reasonable free agent we can sign nxt yr at the 4?

Yeah, Chris Anderson's good. He might be too high priced, though, since other teams will be looking to him as a C vs. a PF.

That might also price us out of Curry, though I still say he's more achievable than Ty Chandler.

Desert Scar asked:

Obviously, I'd choose SAR. Why wouldn't you take the better overall player? Still, wouldn't it be nice if there was a Charles Oakley circa 1993 floating around somewhere? Hell, even OT from that era would more than suffice.

 

I don't think Walker can be had for an MLE. Boston is playing well with him. Surely they will offer to keep him with an amount out of our range.

I see SAR as the most viable one. Either full MLE or S&T. He is a capable starting caliber 4 and is 28. I'd much rather spend the MLE on him than split it among 2 PFs, neither of whom is a legit starter. Lets not forget JH is 32 and coming off an injury. We need to think about a starter.

Use the full MLE for a PF (or S&T), resign Deke (early Bird) and resign Barry (vet min or 1 year deal with the 1.6 exemption if needed). Fill the rest of the roster with flyers, draft picks, minimum, guys etc.

We can always use the 1.6 exemption for another guard or swingman if Barry leaves or we think we have a better option at that cost, but now is the time to address the PF spot for the next few years. Sura, Wesley, James, Barry or other 1.6 mil guy is fine for next year in the 1-2 spots. Will re-evaluate and add FA pieces there with the MLE after the 05-06 (Wesley and Ward contracts will expire, James might opt out).

 

He can even bring back the slam dunk championship trophy that we have never gotten!!

 

dude...that was hecka funny.

 

I consider Juwan Howard just as much a starting caliber power forward as Shareef. The reason Howard is not the permanent solution at power forward for this team is not because of a lack of talent. It's because of a lack of fit. He's not the type of 4 that is an optimal fit next to Yao. His strengths and weaknesses overlap with Yao's strengths and weaknesses. For that same reason, I don't see why the Rockets should persue Shareef. The results will be the same as it has been with Howard.

 

New Jack:

I don't think signing SAR will render no difference at the starting pf. Also, overall impact at the pf position should also be considered.

SAR is an upgrade over Juan in this stage of their career. Juan is 4 years older in his early 30's, is less of a rebounder, is of less speed, is less of an individual player, and cannot play sf.

SAR > Juan

Juan > Spoon or Padgett

SAR + Juan > Juan + Spoon/Padgett/backup banger

We shouldn't significantly lower our talent level for a backup banger. Who doesn't want studs like Tyson Chandler, but can we get him?

We should learn our lesson from the current absence of Juan Howard as well as prepare for his decline. We have other spots that are getting old but IMO big men should take priority over guards. The roster moves this season showed that cheap and quality guards aren't as hard to come by as quality big men.

Besides, when SAR played 50+ games in Atlanta before traded to Portland he averaged one rebound at every 4 minutes. He was rebounding at the same efficiency of this year's Chris Bosh. SAR is not only an upgrade in talent and age, he is also an upgrade in our need of rebounding.

Juan isn't a bad fit for the Rockets, when he's rebounding and shooting his jumpers like he did before the injury, the Rockets were winning games. The Rockets are showing how much they are missing him now. What if Juan is out again next year? The man has viral infection in his heart. I'm not comfortable picturing a cheap backup banger stepping up as the starting pf if that happens.

BTW, D.Marshall will be nice too.

 

When our team was healthy we had a darned good team. If SAR is just a slightly superior player to JH, and now we have JH as a fine back-up, we are in great shape. (I think SAR adds other dimesions too, like easy baskets via a quicker and more athletic team when Yao is resting)

Hey I prefer a young Otis Thorpe or PJ Brown too, but they don't grow on trees and they are not landed through MLEs.

I just don't see any options better than locking up SAR and then drafting or taking on flyers with the hope they become the next OT/PJ. Maybe Swift, Chandler or Kwame--but except for Swift those are long shots to put it mildly.

 

At this point I think that realistically we are looking at someone like Reggie Evans. The player that I want the most is Udonis Haslem. He'd be a very good fit on this team because of his rebounding abilities and great ability to knock down a 15 feet jumper. The Heat will not be able to match contracts over MLE due to Haslem's second round draft pick status. However, we can't offer more than that either.

Players like Chandler and Swift are out of our price range. So is SAR.

 

I would still love to get Swift. Maybe with all the injuries he has had lately his market price will be a little lower and he signs with us for the MLE. Chandler would be great also but I dont see the Bulls letting him get away. Iam not too excited about SAR but he could still help out at the 4 and also at the 3. I just wouldnt want to sign him to a really long term deal though (nothing over a 3 year deal).

I guess looking at it realistically the Rockets will probably wind up with a guy like Evans who will help but isnt the complete package.

 

FAs like SAR, Marshall, Swift, and Chandler would be perfect for us, and like most of ya'll said, I'm sure they will get a lot of better offers than what the Rockets can offer.

A dream scenario is for us is to pick up one of those FAs for a reasonable price (whatever that maybe) and then draft an athletic young PF, ex: Warrick/Turiaf.

 

Does anybody think Vlade Divac might have a couple of years left to play some 4 for us?

 

Panda- Why do you refer to Juwan Howard only as Juan Howard? It's weirding me out. I feel like there is some sort of joke I'm not in on.

 

This is probably a little off topic: Can we get Chris Anderson from NOH? Also, I like Dan Dickau. Is there any way we can get him? The guy has great passing abiltiy as well as a pass-first mentality which a lot of point guards lack. He's gonna be the next-generation Kidd or Nash. It would be perfect if we can get a real point guard in Dickau.

 

You kinda answered your own question on Haslem. Only teams over the cap will be in play for him, otherwise Miami just matches with their early Bird rights. Same deal with Evans, but with Seattle having to fend off offers for Lewis and Radmanovich, we could make it very painfull for them to match. We might end up overpaying for him though.

Swift is probably out of our price range, but perhaps not. Depends on what happens with guys like Kwame, Chandler, Curry, Dalembert, etc. There may not be teams under the cap left that want to bid on Swift--leaving Memphis or an MLE to land him.

Chandler is only a possibility to the degree the Bulls don't want to lose him for nothing but don't really want to committ big long term dollars. Unlikely, but within the relm of possibility.

SAR is unrestricted and Portland has little reason to retain him as they have Zach and are in rebuilding mode. Portland thus has a lot of motivation to sign and trade him somewhere, might as well be us.

I think SAR is every bit as realistic as Evans, because Seattle can control what happens with Evans and has more of an incentive that he does not go the Rockets.

For Swift we just have to wait out the market and interest in him relative to the other young big men available. To the degree his percieved value has freefalled (I thought it was almost impossible 2 months ago, not I am not so sure) and the degree Memphis and him have burned bridges, it is possible.

Evans is big but he seems pretty athletic for his size. His limitation is range, but he seems quick enough and handy enough around the rim to make teams pay for leaving him (trying to double off of him). Rather have the jump shot too, but then we wouldn't have a chance to land him through the MLE if he did.

Agreed. If we resigned out own FAs (Deke, Barry), got SAR or DM or Swift, and drafted Warrik or Diago (possible Evans-type with a jump shot)--that would make for a great offseason.

No. If he has anythign left it is at center, and only on the offensive end. And I like what Deke brings more as a back-up center.

 

chris bosh...his rookie contract end next year like yao..you think bosh wanna stay in toronto ?

 

Wow I agree. I wouldn't mind having a Cato (but needs to be able to shoot)..like Jerome James lol..

But yeah all these 4's are acutally 3's. Well not Kmart sorta..and Dirk well plays like a 3 in 4's body. So who can we get? Haslem would be great.

Anderson Chris ideal but I don't really like him.

Chris Bosh.. I WISH

SAR is good..but don't know

 

I agree with you about splitting the MLE, but I don't see Simmons, James, Gadzuric, or Marshall available for anything but the full MLE, if not more. If we can get another Sura-type signing, great, but I don't think many legit starters are available for part of the MLE, certainly not a good big man.