I thought the Rockets might benefit from a small change, if not a big one. So here are some deals that I thought would be interesting: - Amaechi for Rodney White (maybe throw in a second rounder) - Chunk of the TE for Jonathan Bender Reasons: we need some scoring/athleticism help at the F positions. These guys are both athletic, are both natural 3's, but can play the 2 and the 4 in special matchups. I'm guessing Denever does it because White's going to walk after the season, and he's not lpaying this season. Camby is an injury waiting to happen, and their next C after Camby is Nene, which leaves them weak at PF. I'm not saying that Amaechi is anythign close to the C that Nene is, however, he'd get some minutes here and there, definitely more than White's getting, and his contract expires at the end of the year. As for the second one, Jonathan Bender is getting paid and not playing. I can't see where he'll get minutes with Croshere, Harrington, and Artest all playing SF this year. Harrington is a candidate for best 6th man, so I expect his minutes to stay high. Basically, Bender is not needed. We could really use his athleticism, length, and scoring ability. Great finisher, not so great rebounder, but JVG will make him work on the floor, and once that happens, he can be great. Oh yeah, he's 6'11.
i like the second trade, i think bender can be very good player. so if we can get him a'm al for it. the first i do not know, i haven't seen white play alot, so i do not knowif he can play, but why would any team want meech?
Rodney White has improved his shooting and can rebound fairly well but I don't think he can match up defensively well with the tall 3's and 4's who are giving us so much trouble. Bender hasn't lived up to his promise. We need proven players on the team.
Interesting trades. I think we need one more quality big man to go with Yao, Cato, and MoT. Stupid Eddie would have been the man. Nevertheless, we need one more quality big who can stick the 15 foot J and can defend and rebound. I don't know if Bender fits that description. I know Amechi doesn't. And we need a bigger version of JJ, a 6-8 to 6-10 SF who can defend other SF's well, pass to the post well, and hit the 3. Don't know if White is the man either. His jumper looked fairly decent last night and he is 6-9 so he's got the size. I just don't know if he has the ability to pass to the post and get down defensively. I don't see CD and JVG making any trades for players that they don't feel can play defense. The backbone of Van Gundy's gameplan is defense. He wants to contest everything and wear the opponent down. I think he would rather have the outstanding defensive player with mediocre offensive skills as to have a player who doesn't play D but can light up the scoreboard. Do Bender and White fit that mold? Haven't seen either of them enough to know. But there should be some quality role players become available soon. I don't see us giving up any of this group: Yao, Steve, Cat, Cato, MoT, JJ. Van Gundy is a loyal coach. I think he is gonna give these 6 more time to mesh. What does that leave us to trade with? Not much. Boki and some draft picks maybe. Nobody else has any value and Boki has very little. You may be able to swing a Boki and draft pick deal for White. Would it substantially help us? I kinda doubt it. I think we are gonna wind up looking for some better used parts on the junk heap of free agency, released players list.
For me, the best thing would be to release Alton Ford and Moochie Norris, sign Mark Jackson and Charles Oakley, and make the first trade (throw in a pick or Boki if needed). Yao/Cato MoT/Cato/Oak JJ/Rodney White/AG Mobley/Pike Francis/Mark Jackson We really need to get smarter and tougher, I think Oak and MJaxx would do that for us.
Signing Charles Oakley and Mark Jackson would be great imo. The only logical reason I can think of as to why this has not happened yet is that these two arent interested in playing the whole season. Other than that, you lose absolutely nothing by signing them, and they fit JVG's system very well.
I love the idea of picking up Bender. He's a 7'0" small forward with athleticism. He can stick the 3 and he's a very good shot blocker. In theory, a frontline of Cato, Yao and Bender would be awesome.
Jackson and Oakley wouldn't get too many minutes anyway, it's just for Francis and Ming to have someone in their ear all the time, teaching AND showing them how to do things right. If Oakley can still stick that 15-ft jumper the way he used to, he'll be an asset come playoff time. However, that skill was very diminished in his last few years in the league.
I think the ROx need an overall good offensive PF player like Zack Randolph that can not only score, but play tough inside, rebounding, banging, has great touch from outside. Taylor is a good shooter, but not a good rebounder. And Cato can't shoot, but very tough inside. So it's like these players are one-dimensional player, what the Rox need is a multi-dimensional PF that can do it all. I think the Blazers found a gem in Zack Randolph. Man, I can only dream what it would be like to have someone like Zack playing along with Ming. It will be incredible. JVG would not have to deal with who he should put in to complement Yao during crunch time. He would not have to deal with the question of wheather he should put Cato in to help Yao rebound or Taylor in to help score if says for example, the Rox are behind. With a player that can do it all, he does not have to worry about that.
With 3 1st round picks in 2001, Rox had two chance to pick Randolph who was the #19th pick. Rox had the 13th, 18th and 23rd pick. If CD can close his eyes, and throw TWO darts on the names of these draft picks, he might just be lucky enough to hit Randolph or Troy Murphy. In any events, these 3 darts might just land at least 1 servicable player.
