Chandler would be a nice option, but I'm still sold on Camby. As much as we'd all like to see a younger team put together to compete for several years, we have to face the cold hard facts. That is, we have a veteran team (starters) with a few young players (backups) mixed in. We don't have a lot of chances left with our nucleous of stars (Yao, McGrady, Scola) to make a run at the championship. Here are the ages of the players by the end of next season. Starters McGrady (31 y/o) - Add 2-4 years to McGrady (straight out of high school) Yao (30 y/o) Ariza (25 y/o) Scola (30 y/o) AB (25 y/o) Backups Andersen (30 y/o) Landry (27 y/0) Battier (32 y/o) Hayes (27 y/o) Lowry (24 y/o) ??? ??? If the team has decided to keep McGrady this year, then they have to put the talent around him that'll give us a chance to win this year. Because, there's no way I can see them resigning him for any more than the mid-level exception next year. He's just too old to committ franchise money to for several years & I don't believe McGrady's pride will let him accept anything less from the Rockets. Yao is also moving towards the twilight of his career & with the repetitive foot injuries, he's only got about 2-3 good years left in him. Camby is no spring chicken either (36 y/o at end of next year), but he brings another veteran presence & he's very athletic for an old guy. In spite of what some of on this board try to state as fact, he is still very productive on the court. He's a double double player & still averages 2+ bpg. In my opinion, he's a Mutombo type of player with a much better offensive game. He gives us the flexibility to play both the 4/5 & his contract expires at the end of the season. We're currently very deep at PF (Scola, Landry, Hayes, Dorsey, Pops), so we could stand to trade one of them. I believe that Landry is as good as he's going to get. However, another team may very well believe that they can get more out of him. He does bring the energy off the bench that every team needs. The Clippers have been reported as wanting to trade Camby in order to get something for him rather than have him walk for nothing at the end of the year. It's my opinion that Landry would be the kind of talent they'd like to get back in return for Camby. So, with that having been said, I propose the following trade. Houston sends Landry/Barry/Cook to the Clippers. The Clippers send Camby/2nd round pick to Houston. The Clippers get a high energy, athletic PF to come off the bench & add to their young nucleous of Griffin, Thornton, Gordon, Butler, & Telfair. They also retain most of the cap relief that Camby's expiring contract would bring. The Rockets get a veteran 4/5 that fills a huge hole going into this season, additional cap relief at the end of the season, & a high 2nd round pick for their troubles.
Don't forget that the Rockets signed Taylor (23 y/o) and Budinger (22 y/o) to long-term deals, so they'd be on the team next year. Also, Joey Dorsey's (26 y/o) contract is partially guaranteed for next year, so he may be on the team if the partial guarantee is large enough and/or he plays well enough to stick. Before this offseason, I would have said that this trade made sense to both teams. But the Clippers traded for Craig Smith, who provides many of the same things that Landry does. With Blake Griffin getting the bulk of the PF minutes, and Smith and Thornton (in small-ball lineups) providing additional minutes, I think the Clippers could hold out for better offers than Landry and expiring garbage. Nice try, though.
Tis' true budget wise but Les could go over the cap, if we offered scola, Shane, and a rookie we'd be a little under even from Amare's contract. ... we could just wait for his free agency, hes a good guy to have on a team, he is loyal to phoenix, wanting to stay their and all, sure he is problematic with coaches but Adelman is good at dealing w/ hot heads Artest, Wafer, Sheed
Looking at this list is sad. If it was 15-20 years ago, that list would have Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, McHale, Shaq... Now all the youngsta all wants to be like Dwade, Kobe or Lebron. Everyone wants to be guards and slashes down the lane and dunk on a big guy. Even Dwight Howard is nowhere near Hakeem, Ewing, David Robinson or Shaq when they're in their prime. Even if D.Howard is in his prime, I don't think he would be as good as them.
i just read that Larry Brown has been complaining about his lack of depth and skill at the 4 spot for most of training camp .i think we could get Nazr Mohammed or DeSagana Diop with landry and a player or pick.
First of all its Kaman and his contract is too long to be a back up center once Yao returns. 1st year at 10 mill, 2nd at 11 mill, and 3rd at 13 mill. Plus he's too injury prone, I think we'd see a trade for another wing or PF player before we see one for a center this season. IMO
