Seriously, assuming we do draft Ming #1, there is going to be a MAJOR logjam at the 4/5 postions next year: Ming: Regardless of whether or not he will make any difference next year, the more we play him, the sooner we will start to see some returns. If he doesn't start, he still needs at least 25 mpg. Griffin: Same situation. If we let more developed PF's play majority of mins, we might do better this year, but at the expense of developing a potential All-star a year or two from now. With what he showed last year, I think he's earned 25-30 mpg. Taylor: Even if he's an overweight pothead, he's still making way too much $ to sit on the bench. Most likely the starter at PF, probably plays as much as Griff; 25-30 mpg. Thomas: For whatever reason, CD and RT insist on keeping him. If he rots on the bench in a contract year, you know he won't be happy. Could take some mins at SF, but won't be happy with less than 25 mpg or a trade. Cato: Based on production, deserves the least PT of anyone, but like Taylor, his contract demands more court time. With the arrival of Ming, can't expect more than 15 mpg. So, the combined totals for all 5 is about 130 minutes per game. The total available for the two big positions is only 96 mpg. Obviously, someone is going to get shafted. But who? Are we going to stunt the growth of Yao and EG by giving priority to veterans? Or are we going to piss off established NBA players by allowing the kids to learn on the court and ensuring another losing season heading into a new arena? The easy way out would be to trade someone. Assuming Ming and Griff are untouchable, the most valuable commodity we have is KT, but for some reason the Rocks are being stubborn by refusing to deal him. Which brings me back to my original question: Who's going to sit: The future or the payroll?
Good points! I definitely think that it is important that Griffin be giving some good minutes next year. I don't want his growth stunted because of a log jam. If we don't make any trades I see the Rockets easing the PF log jam situation by giving SOME back up minutes to Griffin and KT at the 3 and Mo and Griffin at the 5. If that means that Cato sits, oh well. Last year Griffin got thrown to the wolves because of injuries. I am sure the Rockets were not planning on playing him that much. But while the injuries sucked, the silver lining was that Eddie did get to play and it PAID OFF with experience on the court. He really seemed to shine. So I think we have to continue with getting him on the court. He is the future for then at the 4 so we need to continue his growth. As far as Yao is concerned. He definitely needs to get some minutues so he can learn on the court but unless he comes in like gangbusters right away I see him starting off with low minutes and then increasing as the year goes on. Chris
Kenny Thomas should be traded this offseason no matter what, even if we don't get exactly as much in return. He does not fit into our rotation next year. I would prefer to package our #15 and Kenny Thomas for the #12 or #13 pick.
I don't get this "Griffin was thrown to the wolves" stuff. Richard Jefferson was playing in the NBA finals. Was he thrown to the lions?!!!!! Griffin played limited minutes in mostly meaningless games. How is that being thrown to the wolves?
Griffin started games. He started playing serious minutes in January.He hardly played "limited minutes in mostly meangless games" Griffin only played one year in college and was 19. So he was young. Jefferson was a college senior coming out, correct? There is a major difference in basketball knowledge between the two I am sure from all the experience. That is what I was saying. Chris
One of the upsides of having so many front court players is that when the injuries hit, there are people we can rely on. For example, when Kelvin Cato got injured in the 2000-2001 season, the then rookie Jason Collier had an increase in minutues. Collier played well off the bench, scoring 10-12 points in just 15-20 minutues. When Cato, Collier, and Hakeem Olajuwon suffered from injuries, we did not have anyone to really fill the center position, so we played Kenny Thomas at the center position, who is not only undersized for the power forward position, but the center position as well. One game in particular the Los Angeles Lakers' center Shaquille O'neal scored 46 points against a Rocket team without a healthy center. It is always good to keep some players around. Because of the many injuries that Houston Rockets' players have suffered in the past couple years, we need that assurance for someone to step up if the injury bug bites.
We've talked about this quite abit, which means that Rudy and CD have discussed this a ton. There's definitely a logjam, and I think they will work a deal, packaging 15, 37 and one of KT, MoTay, Cato and Collier. Collier's worthless, except as a throwin for salary purposes. I think Cato is a reasonable backup, but perhaps expensive. As much as I like KT, I honestly think that he will not duplicate his numbers from last year on a good team. On a good team, he is an excellent bench player. If we trade Cato, we can use Ming and find out whether Collier is totally worthless. If so, we can find out whether Eddie can play spot minutes at C. If not, KT and MoTay can play spot duty. It will be interesting.
