Which ONE player should the Rockets be targeting this offseason?

Larry Hughes is also an option.

Unrestriced, and off an excellent season. Also what we've been lacking. He's a better version of G. Wallace, IMO.

 

I guess you are right, but I it does make a difference who we go after. If he is going to stay a 3 then we need a better swingman for b/u and if he goes to 2 we don't have a 3 at all. JB is OK for the two but is really light for the 3. I still think Luke Walton might be a good pickup. LA is top heavy with 3's and would probably not meet a moderate offer or maybe a S/T.

Question? Why not sign Mutombo as a coach, save 4mil, sign a young center, use the extra money to bring someone else in? I Love Deke, but will 1 year make that much difference. We could have Deke to tutor Yao full time. Can q coach come on the team midway through the year?

 

Simmons would be my choice. He is a solid 3 who could back up T-Mac well. T-Mac can also move over to the 2 spot at times with Simmons continuing to be at the 3 spot.
SAR is an improved version of Juwan Howard who doesn't address our defensive needs at the 4.

 

"improved version" that's debatable. SAR is a version of Juwan Howard who doesn't address our defensive needs at the 4 and got burnt by yao on the dribble now that's fact

 

Let's see. SAR can shoot 3s, play two positions, and is a career 20/8 player shooting at 47% and 81% in FTs. JH is 17/7 at 47% and 76% in FTs. SAR averaged over 9 rebounds for 4 times. The highest JH averaged was 8.4 rbs for once in his rookie year. SAR is career 0.8 shot blocker, and JH 0.3. The numbers speak for themselves.

 

Ahh dharocks, thank you for stating the obvious.

Again.

Next time why don't you try: much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much better.

mix it up a little.
be creative.


just a thought.

 

I think EVENS from sonic, also Daniels

 

No they don't. When comparing Howard and Abdur-Rahim it makes no sense to go back more than 3 years tops given the changes in the rules. There is no significant difference as I have already pointed out. 20/8 for the Vancouver Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks and off of the bench for the Jail Blazers impresses me as much as Abdur-Rahim's playoff minutes....0.

 

Do you mind elaborate on that?

This is a subjective statement. For example, Elton Brand played for the Bulls and the Clippers, and has zero playoffs minutes, I would take him in a second if he's available at the MLE. Our players also did well given that they are from losing teams.

 

Say no to:

Kareem Rush--he can hit the open 3 all day. But he couldn't quite hack it as one of the Bobcats' main players and if you can't put up monster numbers on an expansion team, there's something weird about that. And I would imagine in our 2 spot, we need someone that can do a bit more than just knock down 3s.

SAR--sure he would be a slight upgrade over Howard but why do we need an offensive minded PF? Did we not have trouble rebounding and defending against the Mavs? Everyone says we need a 'bruiser' or a 'workhorse' but then would casually slide in SAR...

Miles--i doubt he can put up the same numbers again. period.

Kittles--injury prone and cracks under pressure


Keep on dreaming:

Artest--I'd love to have him on the team. But realistically the Pacers aren't going to cut him loose. They'll look for a trade but what do we have that would entice the Pacers that 20 other teams don't?

Chandler--I doubt Chicago is ready to give up on him. Curry is the better player of the two, but he spends more time in street clothes than Chandler does.

Simmons--he's going to get more than the MLE.

Swift--see Simmons.

Hughes--I doubt the Wizards would let him walk.

A chance? Perhaps:


Jaric--"best FA pg". why does 6 assists and 2 turnovers per game don't sound too thrilling to me? Sure he could be an upgrade over Sura and James, but a coveted PG should put out more than 6 assists even if he's on the Clippers. And he's never had a season where he's played over 66 games....

Joe Johnson--of course Phoenix can't afford Marion, Johnson, Q, Amare and Nash so Joe Johnson could be the one that gets shown the door. But he's obviously worth more than 6 mil a year.


I'm wondering if Dalembert is available. After all, the Sixers mortgaged their future with the Webber trade. I know they want to keep Dalembert but aren't they over the salary cap?

If we can get Damon Stoudamire and Dalembert in the offseason, I'd be ecstatic.

 

so in other words, he's just a slight improvement over Howard. difference b/t a 20/8 player that plays no defense and a 17/7 player that plays no defense is almost zero.

Would I lump Brand with SAR even though they've never been to the playoffs? Absolutely not. Why? Because he plays on both ends of the court.

And I wonder why you didn't bring up the fact that Howard has a higher assist avg than SAR and he also has a lower TO avg than SAR. Those numbers speak as well.

I like SAR. Have nothing against the guy. But what this team needs is a defender and rebounder at the 4. Not another offensive player.

 

Keep in mind SAR shifted between sf and pf in his career. If he played solely at pf, his rebounding and shotblocking numbers are likely to be higher. 20/8 is very good numbers and You sound like SAR is a liability on defense.

You keep on wanting a stud defensive 4 and there's two things I think you should consider:

1. That should not come at the sacrifice of offense. See Ryan Bowen.

2. They'd better be realistic, a stud like Chandler doesn't grow on trees. I don't see how the Rockets can get Dalembert either.

So what's your suggestion?

Also, one way to wear out the opponent is to make them play defense. Why only adjust to the opponents? Why doesn't make the opponent to adjust to you? SAR does that for you.

Game 3 was a very critical game for us. The Mavs outscored us 20-0 in the fourth qtr. The Rockets at times faces scoring droughts due to a lack of a third scorer. Juwan can help but he gets most of his points in the flow of the game.

 

This is a stab in the dark.. but does anybody know anything about Indiana's JEff Foster's contract? That guy can rebound and is unassuming enough not to have to be in the lime light...besides - he's a TX State grad (the only one in the NBA)...He's a center but could be a nice compliment to Yao underneath...

 

Sorry I forgot to say that the difference between JH and SAR in terms of Tos and Assists are marginal. 2.6 Tos and 2.9 APG for JH, 2.8 Tos and 2.7 APG for SAR, respectively.

 

Great points...couldn't agree more. I really don't think any of these young PF's available through FA really fit what we need, not even really Swift. That doesn't mean Swift wouldn't improve our team, but I don't know if he'd be what we need to get to the ultimate level (championship). I think Swift is somewhat of a pipe-dream too though...a lot of people are excited about him but some team is going to overpay him.

I still like the idea of getting Mobley back though. I wasn't even a huge fan of him before, other than the fact that he was a Rocket. I do admire the fact that he really did seem to buy into Van Gundy's style, really sooner than anyone else.

I'm not dead set on Mobley, though he would be ideal. I honestly don't know much about Simmons, but as long as we get a SG that can create, hit the open 3, and play solid defense it doesn't really matter.

 

You keep on wanting a stud defensive 4 and there's two things I think you should consider:

1. That should not come at the sacrifice of offense. See Ryan Bowen.

2. They'd better be realistic, a stud like Chandler doesn't grow on trees. I don't see how the Rockets can get Dalembert either.

So what's your suggestion?


So getting SAR is realistic? Please, that would involve doing a S&T and if I'm going to trade away expiring contracts, that player better be:

1. Badass
or
2. Young and about to be badass

And being a defensive force don't mean you have to be a Bowen. And Bowen is not an end all be all defensive player. He doesn't block and he doesn't create steals. What he does is play up to his level--major hustling and getting in front of the other player's face. I'm not even asking for a Ben Wallace. If I can have a poor man's version of Otis Thorpe, I'd be more than happy. Give me a guy that can average 12/10 and about 1 block or 2 per game. That's all I ask.



Also, one way to wear out the opponent is to make them play defense. Why only adjust to the opponents? Why doesn't make the opponent to adjust to you? SAR does that for you.


Because we need a PF and not a 1st or 2nd option on offense. We rely on Yao in the post and Tracy on the perimeter. The only chances that the other players have is:

1. Yao/Tracy passing out of a double team for an open 3
2. Getting an offensive rebound and getting a putback

Sure SAR can do the former but Juwan Howard proved that, before he went down, he could be a serviceable PF for that option. And I think that in order for the Rockets to have success, they have to get Yao and Tmac in the flow of the game. Having that official "3rd" option just makes things more difficult.

What's my suggestion? It includes not getting SAR but I also think that the only way we can get the player that we really want is through a S&T. That's if we want to win it all next year and don't want to waste any time. And that's if there's a player out there that can be part of the TMac/Yao tandem for years to come. Because if we're betting on signing a Swift or a Chandler to the MLE, we better hope we can get Joe Johnson for the veteran's minimum as well.

 

Are there that many teams under the cap? I'd love to have Joe Johnson, as an Arkansas basketball fan I was hoping he would fall to us in the draft, but I doubt he could be had for the MLE. I don't expect him to be back with the Suns though, with Marion and Nash making big bucks, Amare's max deal coming up, plus they gave Richardson alot of money last summer, I doubt they'll be able to match a deal someone will offer him.

 

could they do S&Ts with a restricted FA? I mean if they could I highly doubt they would want to trade Johnson away.

I think Utah, Charlotte, Atlanta are the ones that are under the cap.