The Glove is leading the league with 9.3 assists per game and scoring 21+ ppg. NBA.com tonight features a Seattle newspaper article hinting that he's on the trading block. Would anyone else out there like to see him at our one and Franchise at our two? Who would we have to lose to make that happen?
i just can't imagine a deal for Gary Payton could be made that would be benificial to the rockets. I'm sure they plan to trade him someplace that needs him this year. I'm thinking a team like Boston or Indiana would be a great place for Payton. He'll command a high price though and why would we want to give up many of our young players for an old guy who doesn't have too many years left? I'd personally rather see our young talent stay together and develop together. not to mention that you'd be taking a huge risk in offending Steve Francis by telling him Payton does his job better than he does.
Yeah, you're probably correct on all those counts. He's 35, right? But his game looks as fine as ever to me. Perhaps Stevie would be the one to OK such a move; perhaps he'd be glad to move to the two. I'm tired of opposing guards scorching us with new-career-high scoring outbursts. Ah, well, it's merely wishful thinking.
Doesn't even need to move to the 2. We can start the same, and GP can play 30+ minutes off the bench. 96 minutes divided by Mobley, Francis, and Payton. Wow, that's probably the best backcourt in history, isn't it? Of course, there's one problem: There's NOTHING we have that Seattle would want for Payton.
Teams that aren't contending do not trade for aging stars. That is for teams who feel that they are still in contetion to do, not teams on the upswing of a rebuilding process.
May be with Griff and Rice (Seattle might bite an ending contract - even though there is one more season to pay for).
He doesn't look like he's aging yet, that I can tell. He is still one fast mofo. Would he be worth looking at as a free agent after this season?
If Rudy & CD told them: Rice Yao <i>salary filler</i> Seattle would probably stay on the phone for at least another minute.
He's slowing down. He's still damn good because he's extremely talented. But he's the kind of pickup we would look at if we were 28-8, and at the top of the Western Conference. The kind of pick-up we make if we're hoping to solidify our title challenge. It doesn't make sense to me, at least, to give up possibly very good, young talent for a guy who'll probably only extend our first round series from 4 games to 5 games. For the return, it does not appear to be a good investment for the Rockets right now.
Weren't there rumors about Payton coming to the rockets in the mid 90's? Anyways I wouldnt want Payton right now he will be retired fairly soon so its not worth a young player. Plus it will tick off Franchise. " I know we dont need a Point Guard" and thats the truth.
Even if he is 35, Payton is still an ALL-STAR NBA player. I'd take Gary Payton anytime over our favorite Glen Rice.
I would never give up Griff for Payton. No matter what the deal, we will lose Payton after the season, so whatever we trade has to be expendable. Someone we don't need beyond this season. MoT, Moochie, Rice.... Sonics would be very smart to trade Payton this season. Next year, they have no PG on their roster. Payton and Kenny Anderson won't return to a rebuilding team. If the Sonics are REALLY smart, they'll try to pull something off with the Bulls before the trade deadline.A 3-way with a Westernt eam that wants Payton.
hmm, bring payton in and move steve to the two. it's been 4 years and steve really hasn't matured. why not waste another 2 years with payton running the offense and then when he retires steve can go back to being the point...and learn to mature all over again. i think not.
There is way to much upside in our younger players to be talking about any kind of trading right now.
Although Seattle prolly wouldn't do this trade, it would work salary wise. Houston sends: Glen Rice Maurice Taylor Jason Collier Houston receives: Gary Payton Jerome James
I guess I'm a purist. Just as I had hoped to see the Dream retire as a Rocket, I hope Gary Payton retires as a Seattle Supersonic. When a player gives the great bulk of his career to one team, then it's a real positive for the hometown fans.
Thumbs, I agree--but GP's made it clear he doesn't want to return to Seattle next season. Apparently the organization doesn't want him back, either. Money, always money. I wonder if they'd take Cat, Mooch, and Rice for him, with other sweeteners as needed. At least we'd be losing some serious defensive liabilities there... We really need to D up.
I'd give up Cuttino and Eddie if we could get assurances that we'd have Payton for at least 4 years. I'd also want Radmanovich. Hell, throw in Rice and TMo and Brent Barry. I'm not really thinking exact numbers here. But Payton would instantly make this team 3 times better on both ends of the floor.
I like Payton alot. Personally, I think he is the BEST PG in the league over Kidd, Francis, Marbury, Nash and everyone else. He can do EVERYTHING. Pass, score, DEFEND, rebound, POST UP etc. I agree that he is a bit old but he is the exact type of veteran we that we need. It makes ZERO sense to have a bunch of players around the same age. In this era of NBA basketball, you can not have more than 2 premier players for a extended period of time. Assuming Eddie G matures and becomes an all-star as most of us believe, there is NO WAY we will be able to keep Yao, Francis, Mobley and Eddie G. With that said, I say we move Mobley, Moochie and Cato for Payton and a contract they want to get rid of. I like Moochie and Cato but I think the Sonics will need talent like them to part with Payton. They will have Cato Lewis Mason Barry Moochie Not too bad.. Definitely a young team for the future...
