when ariza signs there wont be anything left to spend but the minimum salary exception to fill out the roster. since the rockets are focusing on adding young players and shedding older ones, here are some young guys with good potential who might be had for the minimum this summer: Robert Swift - 24 years old. 7'1" 270lbs. in only 13 minutes per game, averaged 3 point and 3 rebounds with almost a block at 51% shooting with 75%ft's. those per minute numbers are similar to gortat's at a fraction of the cost. Shelden Williams - 26 years old. 6'9" 250lbs. in just 11 minutes, averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds with a half steal and half block. again, per minute production is really good, especially if it only costs the minimum. Gerald Green - 23 years old. 6'8" 200lbs. admittedly the stats don't look good, but he's an athletic freak and a good kid. might be worth taking a flyer on once again for the minimum. plus, he's never missed a shot as a rocket while scoring 6 points for every 4 minutes of play i would add rodney carney and rashad mccants to the list because they will be signed for very cheap, but most likely more than the minimum.
Hell to the no for Gerald Green and Shelden Williams. Robert Swift looks promising though, if the stats are credible.
Also the following... Morris Almond (SG-23 years old, 6'6) Johan Petro (C-23 years old, 7'0) Cedric Simmons (PF/C-23 years old, 6'9) Shavlik Randolph (PF-26 years old, 6'10) Channing Frye (PF/C-26 years old, 6'11)
i would take a chance on Gerald Green and Robert swift, but only pay $250,000 each, if that! ....Gerald green can replace Von Wafer!!!
Interesting topic. A couple of other under the radar names to throw out there: -- Solomon Jones. 6'10'' F/C. Athletic but unskilled. Didn't he also injure T-Mac with a foul at one point? --Sean May. Former lotto pick. Has been in the league 4 years and averaged about 20 games a season. Was really productive (12-7) when he played in 06-07. Will be 25 years old all season. --Maurice Ager. Former first round pick. Has not produced 3 years into the league -- career high is 2.2 ppg. Also, worth noting -- our roster as it stands: Hayes/Dorsey/[Yao] Scola/Landry/Cook Ariza/White/(Budinger) Battier/Barry/(Taylor)/[McGrady] Brooks/Lowry That's a full 15 man roster. Any player we would sign for the minimum would have to make it worthwhile to cut one of those guys. There is some flexibility -- White is only partially guaranteed, and Budinger and/or Taylor could spend the year in Europe. Trades can of course factor in, but keep in mind -- any TMac trade is likely to result in more players coming back to us. Other teams would have to stack contracts to match his salary.
IF we could get both Channing Frye and Johan Petro for less than $500,000 that would get us the size that were missing.
Frye would be worth the risk. He had some good games early in his career with the Knicks. It was too bad that He ended up in situation where the Blazers were loaded at the front court positions.
He played for the Hawks this year. He was pretty good in limited minutes for them being ZaZa's/Horford's backup. No offense, but a good energy rebounder and is a decent shot blocker. For a 9th/10th guy in limited backup minutes I was pretty impressed.
I think we're going to have to wait until August to get anyone for the money we have to offer. A lot of those guys believe they will get more.
NIKE: great points. tanks for the input. i think white may not make it to opening day. at 27, he's not exactly an upside kind of player. this is his peak. on a contending team he would be nice to have, but on a rebuilding team i'd like to see younger players. also, what are the chances that les buy's out cook's contract or just cuts him?
We should have brought Almond on to our summer team. Frye looks to be the best remaining, but my guess is he gets more than the minimum.
He's a restricted free agent, and the Mavericks have already stated that they will match any reasonable offer. He's probably off-limits to the Rockets at this point.
Is Channing Frye really going to take the min? Petro, maybe. But he is not a starter. Houston NEEDS a starter right now.
D-Rock, I was talking about Ryan Hollins. The Mavericks would have three centers in Gortat, Dampier and Hollins if they match a deal for Hollins and if the Magic don't match a deal for Gortat.
While I do think that Frye could get more than the minimum from someone, the Rockets can offer something potentially more valuable . . . a starting spot. Some players would be willing to play on a one-year minimum deal (maybe a two-year deal with a player option on Year 2) for the opportunity to start, play big minutes, and set themselves up for a bigger payday later. THAT is probably the biggest selling point for the Rockets at this point. They have no money to offer, just playing time. This is also why I think that, if Von Wafer cannot get a decent-sized offer from another team, Wafer could possibly sign a minimum deal (two years, with the second year a player option). He would play even more minutes than he played last year, will likely average double figures on the Rockets, and will take his chances next year in free agency when (a) more teams will have cap room and (b) the Rockets will have Wafer's Early Bird rights and can sign him to a more lucrative deal. Plus, Wafer's cap hold would only be about $1.2M, so he wouldn't be a major roadblock to the Rockets clearing enough cap room to go after Bosh or another free agent first, and THEN re-sign Wafer to a multi-year deal.
