The Case For Josh Smith
by Patrick Harrel on Jun 21, 2011 10:21 AM CDT
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PrintAs Mike Kerns pointed out this morning, reports are flooding the internet that suggest that the Hawks are looking to move Josh Smith as they look for cap relief after some interesting financial decisions over the last year. While Mike pointed out all the reasons why Smith would not be worth all that it would take to get him, I'm going to take the other side of the argument and make the case that Smith would not only be a worthwhile acquisition, but would completely turn the Rockets' fortunes for the next few years.
Read on after the jump to hear what I have to say.
Since Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady went down with their respective injuries (bum foot and bruised ego), the Rockets have been searching to fill the roster with quality players while also scouring the trade market for impact talent. In acquiring Kevin Martin, they were able to add a dynamite scorer and leading offensive player, but they have fallen short of the playoffs for consecutive years because they lack another impact player.
In Josh Smith, they could finally have that impact player who is not only young (25 years old), but a two-way player capable of affecting games on both ends of the floor. A natural small forward, Smith would transform the Rockets defense with his propensity for game-altering blocks and solid man-to-man skills. If the Rockets were able to hold onto Patterson in a Smith deal, a lineup of Lowry, Martin, Smith, Patterson or Scola, and Hayes (I know...) would be quite fearsome.
With a trade exception large enough to swallow the contract of Marvin Williams (a likely necessity to drive the price of Smith down), players like Courtney Lee, Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill, and a bevy of draft picks at their disposal, the Rockets have all the assets needed to make a Smith deal. If the Hawks required Patrick Patterson, the deal would be tougher to swallow, but with the other assets the Rockets have, they could probably work around giving up Patterson.
The fact is that the Rockets are operating from a wealth of depth and a lack of impact talents like Josh Smith. If the Rockets want to be a championship contender, they obviously need a talent like Dirk or Kobe, but they must surround him with top-notch complementary players like Kevin Martin and Josh Smith. The Courtney Lee's and Chase Budinger's of the world help those teams, but you only need so many of them to get by. Adding Josh Smith to this team would not only make them a sure-fire playoff team in the Western Conference, but it would lay the groundwork for a championship squad in the future.
Piling up assets only takes you so far, at some point you have to cash in your chips for the big prize. Josh Smith is not perfect by any means, but he'd be a tremendous addition and would sway the Rockets away from a situation where they would almost be forced to completely rebuild. Rebuilds can be painful on fan bases and often tough to recover from, and Smith is a sure thing to inject some much needed energy into a squad that has struggled to get traction for years.
No cursing in title. No pirated material, such as links to online game streams. Do not cut/paste entire sections of content from other websites. Thanks.
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I agree with this
Also, I’m new here so what does the “rec” button do?
It stands for recommend
after two or so it places the post in the recommended section and if two or more people rec a comment it is highlighted green and draws peoples’ attention.
The BANHAMMER delivers the real justice
That's just turrible
The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence
Bill, Bull and Clyde will be taking their talents to South Texas
Patrick I agree with you 100%
about the cashing in on the chips. One of the best aspects of this particular deal would be that Kevin Martin is likely staying put. WIth Johnson, they don’t need Kevin. Look at Shawn Marion at 33, being impactul in the post season just because of his athleticism, defensive ability, and limited offense. I think that Smith could bring all this to the table. The small forward position would be solved.
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
Lee, Bud and Hill aren’t even chips they’re replaceable with low 1sts which we can buy.
Essentially, I would consider this trade buying Smith for $9M, 1sts and having to take on Marvin Williams (he isn’t that bad, is he?)
Geez that's tough...
Marvin does 0.0 for me honestly. Not a big fan of his contract. With only 9 players under contract for ATL and Crawford probably not coming back, perhaps he would stay put? One can hope right?
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
No it is...
but with only 9 guys, you would think they would need 3 players coming in to every 1 going out. Maybe not, but I don’t see them making a big splash in free agency this year, signing more than 1 player. Either way, it’s not like WIlliams couldn’t be used, it can be justified.
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
Eh
Williams doesn’t deserve that much money, but it’s not a truly debilitating amount. basically 7.5 million. Now that does depend on the salary cap, but a buyout is possible if that’s really what we wanted to do.
www.TheDreamShake.com Co-Founder and Writer
bud and hill id say are replacable
But lee, an excellent 2-way player with a starting finals apppearance, great attitude and work ethic at his age, is not so easily replaced.
Even budniger is something special. He has considerable athletism and an excellent shooting touch. Were he to bulk up, develop a post game and passing and improve his defense, he’d b a quality starter.
As it is, the opportunity to have dragic, lee, bud, pat and thabeet comin in off the bench woulod be fantasic were we able to package hill, williams, miller and a plethora of first picks.
Honetly then taking miller is a wet dream but, realistically, those slaries should match and those contracts are far more digestable than what smith’ll command for the hawks.
As the idea for them is to save money I’m not so sure that it’d take much more than what I’ve proposed, provided we give em enough picks.
I think with mia arround they are not realy gunning for a ring, otherwise why would u even consider giving up smith? He has the tools to realy pester lebron and outside artest, whose gotten much slower, if that were possible, is the only legit answer for lebron out there, outside ofcourse, lebron himself (who has proven time and again he is the best at shutting himself down)
If the goal were to win a championship, you’d never break up horford, smith and johnson as that’s a pretty damn good big 3 as it is. Its a damn shame atl never bothered to find em a real coach in all this time. If u got atl a rick adleman, they’d kill it.
As its a salary thing I think we can grab him for prefferial talent and a glut of picks.
"Never underestimate the heart of a champion"- Rudy T, all up in that azz
by ShookednShanghaied11 on Jun 22, 2011 3:22 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Step back and read that again.
“Budinger is something special, he could be a quality starter if…”
-He changed his body by bulking up
-Learned to pass
-Improved on 50% of the game that he currently has little interest in playing
So basically, Budinger becomes a quality starter if he makes about 100 miles of progress into a complete basketball player.
You’re arguing Atlanta is willing to trade because of finances but you focus heavily on Miami’s presence. If we follow that logic then anyone outside of Chicago and Miami is available. The goal is a championship but it’s a championship while not losing money. Atlanta shackled themselves when Joe Johnson got paid. Smith understands this team won’t compete with that contract on the books. Atlanta believes they can get something for Smith by selling while his value is still up there. It’s a calculated risk mixing finances with playing the market.
Your proposal can’t work because the league has rules about consecutive first round pick trades. It’s nice in theory but it’s not allowed under current CBA regulations. You’re overvaluing what Houston has to offer.
My beingadick-butnotbeinganannoyingdick skills, they're impressive.
-TCWIR paraphrased
Josh Smith is better than any player on the Rocket's current roster, period.
when u have the chance to increase talent level in the west, u gotta take that shot. the 2 caveats in this deal are: what will it cost us, and how bad are his attitude problems? will we be crippled by trading for him? doubt it b/c atlanta’s looking to shed money and taking on a kevin martin or scola would nullify the purpose of letting smith go. martin/smith/scola would make a very solid trio to serve as a core. if we manage to hold onto lowry and any combination of the developing players we have, that’s a playoff team, barring injury. i think attitude has a lot to do with the player’s personality and his environment. he goes from being the hawks player with most seniority to an organization with solid veteran leadership and a winning tradition.
Let's be clear
It’s not a trade rumor,it’s a list of teams Smith is agreeable to being traded to.
They allegedly are Boston,Houston,New Jersey and Orlando.
One of these teams is different from the others. Pierce,Garnett,Rondo and Deron Williams and Dwight and…and…and?
So his list includes 3 teams w/All-Stars and one that doesn’t. Sounds more like an Agent doing a favor/paying back a favor for Houston.
Unless it’s a long-range plan to unite Dwight and his good buddy Smith,and Lee who also happens to be good friends w/Dwight.
I think part of it might be that Josh Smith may see himself as franchise/centerpiece material.
Like you said, teams with all stars/franchise level players and Houston. Then again I think Smith also understands that this Houston roster, if paired with Martin, can be a legitimate team in the West.
My beingadick-butnotbeinganannoyingdick skills, they're impressive.
-TCWIR paraphrased
Fact is
he is not going to be THE MAN in Atlanta. That might be a motivating factor. Come here and throw down some of those dunks and he could get real popular real fast.
That's what I'm sayin'.
He wants to shine, sees a decent team he could vastly improve and be hailed as a freakin’ savior if he helps land us a marquee guy or he pairs with Martin to deliver a deadly 2/3or4 punch.
My beingadick-butnotbeinganannoyingdick skills, they're impressive.
-TCWIR paraphrased
Larry Drew has called him out a few times publicly
whether it was about his attitude, shot selection or what. Mike Woodson was more a players coach, and probably would have handled it differently. ATL isn’t big enough for the both of them, and I’m pretty they want to move Horford to the power forward permanently.
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
So, Smith and Williams for Battier exception, Lee, Bud, Hill and picks?
I don’t call that steep at all. I’ll sign right now.
I'd do an irish jig
If we pulled that off…. if you could then flip scola for a higher pick or a center then I’m in all day and twice on Sunday.
You sure you don't want to throw in Thabeet in there
All kidding aside, with a team option, he’s essentially a 5 million expiring contract next summer. I think dumping payroll for this time next year is their goal. Not to mention transitioning Horford to PF, leaving Pachulia their only current option there.
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
I'm not high on Thabeet, but honestly I'd like to see him get one fresh chance with a big man great coaching and evaluating him.
If still he sucks, pick up his option the next and trade him as a expiring contract then.
I don't think ATL is going all New York Knicks or Miami Heat
clearing cap space for next summer, but they kind of are. That’s where Hasheem could be valuable to them.
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
Does that work? Who was our capologist? I thought you can't combine TPEs and Players to make salaries match.
Smith would have to have his salary equaled by either the exception (Won’t cover) or Lee, Bud, and Hill combined (And I’m not sure they do). It seems like a great springboard for a discussion, not sure I’d be sold if I were Atlanta.
My beingadick-butnotbeinganannoyingdick skills, they're impressive.
-TCWIR paraphrased
you can combine players and draft picks with the TPE
because trade picks have no value when it comes to dollar for dollar.
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
Or in that case straight up, as long as it doesn't exceed the amount coming in
(Battier TPE for Marvin Williams).
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
I think it would have to be two separate deals processed at the same time
www.TheDreamShake.com Co-Founder and Writer
probably right.
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
This is what it is, that's what Minny did in the Jefferson swap. TPE absorbed one player, salaries made the other one pan out.
Second round picks I know don’t get a price assigned to them because they don’t get guaranteed contracts. First rounders, I’m not 100% sure about. TPEs are stand alone and can be broken apart to accommodate for lesser salaried players but you can’t combine a TPE with a player to make it work.
My hitch on the whole thing is if we’re looking at 5 million short on filler it becomes a what, potentially 7 for 2 swap? This is my gripe with “value” contracts. You throw a LOT of baby out with bathwater to make any deal work and then you have to consider diminishing talent returns.
My beingadick-butnotbeinganannoyingdick skills, they're impressive.
-TCWIR paraphrased
If you plug it into the trade machine
you can make it work with just Smith in the equation. Question is, can we offer a good enough deal to make it happen. Notice I did not say the best deal. Remember the other contestants are in the East, trade him to one of them and he gets to come torch you several times every year not counting the playoffs.
Le Sigh...
We’re all entitled to our own opinions, sure. And I’ve already listed mine for not wanting him here. But it isn’t a big deal, really. I’m used to no one agreeing with me. I have written at Battle Red Blog for three years now, after all.
In honesty Mike
I don’t know if this is a good deal or not. Depends on what it would cost us. Problem is, we might have to trade assets that we really don’t know the value of to get it done.
I think most of here are like the guy that got caught up the tree with the bobcat. He’s yelling for his buddies to shoot and they tell him they can’t get a clear shot. He yells back, “shoot up here among us, one of us has GOT to have some relief”! Yes I stole that from Jerry Clower.
Mike I just want to know what exactly turns you off about him
besides his attitude and poor shot selection?? I mean don’t you think he would be an upgrade over Chase and help out the team defense? Rebounds, blocks, steals, pass deflections, his ability to close out jump shooters with a hand in their face. I mean I know most people know him for his transition dunks, but to me he’s a starter on a championship caliber team.
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
Poor work ethic, bad attitude, poor shot selection
Besides that? You need more?
Saying he would be an upgrade over Chase at about 1000% his contract isn’t a bold statement.
I’m not saying the guy is trash. I just think all you guys saying it is a “no-brainer” might want to look at more than a couple of highlight reel dunks. Because it is far from a no-brainer when you’re dealing with a knucklehead of this magnitude.
All I can give is my opinion and you know it isn’t a homer opinion because I AM a Hawks fan and there is no one on the Rockets roster I wouldn’t move in the right deal. So there is no emotion involved here at all.
Remember when we all wanted McGrady and all the Magic fans were telling us his faults and no one wanted to listen?
Just remember that if Smoove ends up in a Rockets uni.
The thing is
If you take a look at his production in a vacuum, it’s pretty damn impressive. His efficiency numbers, even with the poor shot selection, are at least average. If a new coach or change of scenery can help him (though that may be unlikely), then this guy could be even more special than he is.
The fact remains that if Smith were a level-headed, unselfish guy, there’s absolutely no way the Rockets (or anyone else) would be able to acquire him. The Rockets have to take some chances on imperfect players because LeBron or Wade isn’t coming through that door anytime soon.
Oh and I would re-do that Magic trade in a heartbeat. A million times over.
by Patrick Harrel on Jun 22, 2011 7:06 AM CDT up reply actions
Then we must agree to disagree
For lack of a better term, Smoove is Fool’s Gold. And other teams fans greatly overrate him.
What of the guys that accept his flaws but recognize that this kind of talent is rare in the NBA and he fills a major need for us?
Fool’s gold is one thing but if we’re not depending on him to be a franchise stud and take 40% of our possessions what harm is there? We’d be trying to acquire an athletic freak who can play lockdown defense, punch shots, soar to the rim, and take a few ill advised jumpers. Granted he was notoriously in a shitty mood because of the way Atlanta ran things, change of scenery can make a lot of difference.
My beingadick-butnotbeinganannoyingdick skills, they're impressive.
-TCWIR paraphrased
by BD34 on Jun 22, 2011 9:02 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Blarg.
I give up.
Who cares, Orlando will give a good package away to get him so they can keep Dwight. Him and Smoove are boys.
How?
Who is Atlanta going to want off that roster? Nelson is a nice piece, but he’d only be a marginal upgrade over the duo of Hinrich and Teague. Redick is decent but slightly overpaid, Anderson is a nice bench cog and maybe a starter in the Troy Murphy realm but not an impact player, Bass is similar to Anderson in that he’s stretched as a starter, and the rest are way overpaid or are Dwight Howard. They don’t have draft picks to offer, and I don’t see how they could realistically make it work.
Honestly, I see the Nets and Rockets as the two most likely teams to make a deal with the Hawks (assuming they stick to his preferred destinations, which is a pretty big assumption to make).
by Patrick Harrel on Jun 22, 2011 10:30 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
I think you're overrating our "assets"
As all Rockets fans seem to do. Who/what do we have to offer that is hands down better than Orlando?
Another point
Orlando is MOTIVATED to do what Howard wants to keep him there. They are way more likely to push “all in” to get Smith than we are. At least I hope so.
Patterson is one if he's on the table
He’s the one blue chip young guy on either team. We have a wealth of young, cheap talent that Atlanta would look for to bolster their depth if they moved Smith. Considering Atlanta played Damien Wilkins something like 15 minutes a game last year (you’d have to check me on that), they could use some good cheap pieces like Bud, Courtney Lee, and Jordan Hill. If you put Patterson in the mix, it might be a price some might not want to pay, but he’d definitely trump any Orlando offer.
To me, the Magic have 4 tradeable guys as I laid out above: Anderson, Bass, Nelson, and Redick. You could make the case that Nelson and Redick are overpaid (definitely Redick), and Bass and Anderson are both good but not great and moving one of them would only weaken an already very weak front court for Orlando. Honestly, the Magic are so opposite of us in that they have absolutely no depth that it would be impossible to field a decent team and make the deal. If they trade one of Nelson and Redick and one of Bass and Anderson they have absolutely 0 depth in the frontcourt or the backcourt.
They also don’t have a trade exception big enough for Marvin Williams, a pretty big asset in our favor if we look to deal with Atlanta.
Give me one offer from Orlando that they could legitimately make that would trump Bud, Lee, Hill, Thabeet, and the 14 for Williams and J-Smoove.
by Patrick Harrel on Jun 22, 2011 2:49 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Here's the problem
Patterson better untouchable.
pish-posh
In 2k11, he’s great to have on your team as he can rebound, block shots(in the paint or on the wing), dunk and knock down an occasional 3.
That’s all I need to convince, fie to your ‘watching every game’ and ‘concerned about attitude’ nonsense!!
"Never underestimate the heart of a champion"- Rudy T, all up in that azz
by ShookednShanghaied11 on Jun 22, 2011 3:42 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
ya man the T-Mac
trade was a deal that I would do over and over again. His first 2-3 years here, he was an elite player and put this franchise on the map. It sucks how things turned out, but the trade was well worth.
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
Really?
I remember everyone shitting on him for lots of his character stuff. It’s on me, It’s my fault, having season ending surgery without consulting the team, etc.
I've been a ticket holder since '01.....
the buzz from Francis/Mobley to the buzz from McGrady was off the charts. He made this franchise relevant. It wasn’t the Jon Berry and David Wesley acquisitions that made this franchise a 50 game winner. During the end of his tenure here, yes, T-Mac did and said some things he regrets, but in hindsight, you do that trade over and over again.
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
I am talking about his game on the court
Fuckk all the other shit. That shit is irrelevant.
Me against the world is a mismatch in my favor.
I can't say I've watched every Hawks game this year
But I’m guessing I saw between 30 and 40 (I’m a night owl with League Pass, and I love watching the Hawks play because of Smith and Jamal Crawford), and I think he’d be worth it. It’s perfectly fair to think otherwise and there’s no reason to argue about it.
And, to be honest, I was lying about all the reasons why I want Smith. The truth is that I want him because of this.
by Patrick Harrel on Jun 21, 2011 7:38 PM CDT up reply actions
I hate to be that guy, but....
The Magic would, of course, have interest in Smith, given his close relationship with Dwight Howard and his ability to defend almost anyone. Howard was the best man in Smith’s wedding last summer, and Smith would certainly help keep Howard (or should we say GM Howard?) in town beyond this season.
The “four first round-picks trade rumor” has still got me thinking.
A 76er “insider with cred” stated the Rockets were involved in something much bigger than Iggy.
And now Smith’s naming the Rockets as a preferred destination?
If Orlando likes someone at 10, this could be connected to the Bucks rumor.
Let me do this…..
Lowry
Martin
Smith
Patterson
Howard
….ahhhhhhhhhhh!
by willieboyd on Jun 21, 2011 3:50 PM CDT reply actions 4 recs
If this goes down I will fly to your location, buy you a beer, and rub your feet.
Even if you don’t like me having the balls to be “that guy” and if you turn out right, you’ve earned it.
My beingadick-butnotbeinganannoyingdick skills, they're impressive.
-TCWIR paraphrased
already got my tickets....
Welcome to Houston Kevin McHale. Just remember "It was Minnesota" is no longer an excuse.
The RealGM "insider with creds" post.
Things I expect to happen:
Iguodala to LAC for Aminu and Kaman by Wednesday. We may include Speights and they may include Willie Warren in one variation. Also in play is a swap of pick #37 for pick #50 as part of the deal. Deal has many variations but it sounds like one of the above is most likely to get done by Wednesday.
I still think we draft a big man like Vucevic or Markieff Morris regardless of if deal is done for Iguodala this week or if maybe Donatas if he drops. They could go Faried if both Vucevic and Markieff are off the board but they expect one of them to be there. Not interested in Bismarck. Think he is too much of a project. They like Singleton but see his as more of a glue guy and not a guy you build around.
Will probably add a SG/SF in round two. One that can also defend.
Have some interest in Vince Carter if he is bought out.
Phoenix also approached us about swapping Nocioni for Josh Childress but we are not a fan of the Childress contract…but we do like him and feel he fits into our style.
Sounds like Lou isnt going anywhere.
Monta deal not dead but Warriors seem to be shopping for a better deal. They were insisting we take Biedrins back and thats not something we are interested in.
Stefanski probably looking elsewhere for a job and Levien will probably co-run the ship with Thorn in someway. Not sure what the titles will be.
Sale of team will not impede a trade this week. If deal doesnt get done, it would be for other reasons(such as teams couldnt agree on compensation)
Priorities are Trade Iguodala, trade speights and try to find a scorer/better fit for Nocioni in that order. May have to take a worse contract in the Nocioni deal to get a scorer. Team concerned if they cant get a scorer for Iguodala that they will be able to get one at all.
Also trying to engage Houston about Iguodala for Kevin Martin but Houston has their sights set on bigger players than Iguodala right now. Not sure we will wait for that to resolve.
This will be my only update.
Also trying to engage Houston about Iguodala for Kevin Martin but Houston has their sights set on bigger players than Iguodala right now. Not sure we will wait for that to resolve.
2nd to last paragraph.
They had their chances the last two seasons to give us Iggy
They can kick rocks for all I care.
Me against the world is a mismatch in my favor.
Willieboyd for GM!
Me against the world is a mismatch in my favor.
by batman713 on Jun 21, 2011 7:07 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
That lineup would just be nonsense it would be so good
But the odds that this comes to fruition are a solid .001%
by Patrick Harrel on Jun 21, 2011 11:10 PM CDT up reply actions
Actually, I think the only way we sign Howard is if he *doesn't* agree to a sign and trade.
Orlando has no chance of re-signing Dwight according to his latest comments. He wants a championship team, but they lost in the first round, are riddled with bad contracts and have no 1st round pick this year. Basically, there’s no chance of turning that mess around in one year.
So they may decide to do the smart thing and cut their losses. They’d be trading him unsigned and have to take pennies on the dollar. We’d still probably have to take Turkoglu’s contract and give up a bevy of picks and young players, though. Orlando would only lose Howard, which is inevitable, but they’d clear a horrible contract and have a decent haul of potential to start their rebuild. The tough part would be selling the move to their fans.
For salary purposes, we’d have to wait until after July 1st (for Scola’s BYC to expire) and turn the Battier TPE into a $7M player with an expiring contract (so we could use the $7M in a trade without the normal TPE limitations), but we could then match Howard and Turkoglu’s salaries without trading Martin or Lowry.
After that, we’d have one year, maybe two, depending on the CBA (he might pick up his option), to prove to Howard that Houston is the place for him and re-sign him.
Trading for Smith would then probably fall into place. He’d pressure the Hawks, the situation would come to a head and they’d eventually fold and trade him to us for what we would have left after the Orlando trade.
This would be the ultimate all-in strategy, we’d literally be left with nothing if Howard didn’t re-sign.
To expand...
We’d trade:
Scola ($8.5M), $7M expiring, Thabeet ($5.1M/expiring), Miller ($4.7M/expiring), Derrick Williams ($4.7M) and draft picks (our 2012 3-14, maybe?) = ~$29M
for
Howard (17.8M/expiring) and Turkoglu ($10.6M) = ~$28.3M
That’s $16M in cap room a solid vet, a potential all-star and young talent for a guy walking away for nothing in 12 months. I think Orlando has to take that.
We’d be left with (minus what we trade to get Smith):
Lowry/Dragic
Martin/Lee
Bud/T-Will
Patterson/Chuck
Howard/Yao?
A sign-and-trade is when a player is a free agent and agrees to sign with a team but his team helps facilitate it
by Patrick Harrel on Jun 22, 2011 10:03 PM CDT up reply actions
Yeah, he wants to keep his 2012 options open, so he doesn't re-sign with Orlando before the trade.
We then have a one year rental of Dwight Howard.
It is our job to use that one year to convince him to re-sign with us in 2012.
We have given him (a) a championship caliber team (b) a great FO © his friends (C. Lee and J. Smith) and (d) hopefully some advertising contracts with some of Houston’s Fortune 100 companies. If he still balks we hit him with the “don’t leave us in shambles” guilt trip. If he still leaves, we’re tanking!
I can never get behind the one year rental suggestions.
You kiss a guy’s ass after giving up what you’re gonna rebuild with and he walks leaving you in pieces. If the free agent money is there for them to walk they have no obligation to bail your team into a slap in the face TPE. I don’t care who the player is, you never rent because (a) no guarantees exist of a championship team because you deplete to get Dwight or Josh and what magical fairy will replenish all the guys you have to move for one to get the other? (b) the front office is solid, wouldn’t say great, they’ve been handcuffed and made some good moves but we’re still last in the welfare line, © Lebron was friends with Jay-Z, how’d that work out for New Jersey? There’s friends all over the NBA, doesn’t mean they play together, and (d) Dwight Howard suffers no drop in endorsements and most likely the only place that will actually enhance his endorsement options are LA and NYC.
Guilt trip or not he can walk a free man and force us to eat shit. Rentals suck.
My beingadick-butnotbeinganannoyingdick skills, they're impressive.
-TCWIR paraphrased
How the flux are we supposed to sign both smith and howard??
"Slammed that hoe on the counter like I just got 35 on the domino table!!"
Sherrod Harris
Gutting the roster, tanking, and then selling off everything you have to lose it all at the finish line?
Don’t think that’s the route Houston is taking, we got players signed.
My beingadick-butnotbeinganannoyingdick skills, they're impressive.
-TCWIR paraphrased
we do have players signed
actually, we have the most, at 11 players under contract
by Samarth Sulhan on Jun 22, 2011 1:39 AM CDT up reply actions
Sign and trade
You’d have to dangle about 10-15 million worth in salary to the Magic, but the Rockets could make it happen if Howard wanted to come to Houston.
by Patrick Harrel on Jun 22, 2011 7:00 AM CDT up reply actions
thats a championship roster
Esp if our bench remains more or less intact.
Let’s face it, that team couldn’t pull through with brad miller coming in to save the day.
I kid but oh what irony if this comes to fruition, dwight fouls out with 2 secs left in tripple OT of game 7 in the finals, houston down by two and then……..miller drains the three on a broken inbounds play…..excuse me for a moment, that is a mastabatory worthy fantasy and I shall not waste it
"Never underestimate the heart of a champion"- Rudy T, all up in that azz
by ShookednShanghaied11 on Jun 22, 2011 4:09 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Hey, What ever happened to...
The fact that we were heading towards a direction of rebuilding? With what you’re suggesting, we’re trading and giving up young assets, shouldering a heavy contract for a position we are naturally two-deep in, for what exactly? Josh Smith? A player described as a poor man’s Lebron with half the skills but three times the joke?
I understand rebuilding can be slow, agonizing and painful. But when done right, well the roast won’t taste like rubber. You can inject all the flavors and juices you want during the cooking process, but it will all mean squat if you rush it and end up with a ruined dish.
Josh Smith isn’t an answer, he’s not even part of the solution. He is one of those things that teachers annoying put besides the problem, as a way to distract you from the true way of solving things. We don’t need that. We don’t need detours, sideshows, and wrong turns to screw us up on our path to rebuilding.
I’m vehemently opposed to acquiring Josh Smith, because frankly I can’t stomach the image of him in a Rockets Jersey. I respect him as a player, and the Hawks were one of my underdog teams that were going to give the NBA finals one hell of a championship series with the Grizzlies, but I just don’t see him as a contributing piece especially to the Rockets.
Any other team, he’d be a great addition, just not us. Call it a hunch, or a gut feeling or whatever on my part. We’re better off keeping our hand for next year, when the free agency throw down apocalypse starts counting down. Daryl Morey might pull off the dirtiest, nastiest, craziest, ridiculous draw. Give it time, lets see what this young Rocket’s team can do.
I don’t think there’s anything else we can do more than to just watch this season unfold with our hearts in one hand, and a cyanide pill in the other. We owe it to the young players that much. So I vote, neigh to Josh Cornelius Smith, A.K.A. J-Smoove, A.K.A. his middle name isn’t really Cornelius, it just sounded like it fits.
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