Stay or go?

[Dinky Bits]

As our postseason dreams have once again gone up in smoke, there are clearly some changes that need to be made for us to get to the next level, or, in our case, second round. So who do we keep, and who needs to GTFO?

Tracy McGrady- Showed that he's still a superstar, and capable of great things on a bad shoulder and bum knee, but still can't get it done alone.

Yao Ming- While he has had several serious injuries which have cost us the past couple of years, he's still probably the best center in the game, and won't be going anywhere. For marketing purposes, of course.

Rafer Alston-He's been solid all year long, but can he compete with the stacked All Star calibre level players that the West has to offer? Well, the answer is no, but he's really the least of our problems. He fits in Adelmans system, and proved his worth in the Playoffs, so he stays.

Shane Battier- Playing on a bad foot, great defender, hustles, and all around class act. That being said, he needs to go. He's just too much of a liability on offense, and puts so much pressure on the rest of the starters to score because you never know how bad he's going to suck. He can hit the corner three, but other than that, you're really going 4 on 5.

Luis Scola- I love him. Plays with passion, heart and intensity. Also possesses some nice skills and footwork in the post. Needs to cut down on the flopping, and has about zero athletecism, but makes up for it in how hard he plays. Perfect compliment to Yao.

Carl Landry- Biggest surprise of the year. Hopefully we can hang on to him, and barring some ridiculous offer from another team, we will. Great athlete, nice outside touch, but he does have some knee problems, which is a concern.

Bobby Jackson-Old, worthless, chucker. He was brought in for the playoffs, and was abysmal. Thank God his contract has some value.

Dikembe Mutombo-He's been amazing, but I think it's time we move on.

Aaron Brooks-He might have some value around the league. He had a decent rookie campaign, but his size is always going to be a problem. He almost netted us Ron Artest, so I'd shop him, and see what we can get.

Loren Woods-Who?

Mike Harris- A poor mans Landry. Should be cheap enough to keep.

Luther Head- Short, poor defender, no basketball IQ, lacks handles, and chokes in the playoffs. Yup, he's a keeper.

Steve Novak- I'd trade him if someone wants him, but wouldn't mind keeping him as a spot shooter.

Steve Francis- Could prove useful next year. Looked good in few games, but health has been a major problem for him. With his contract, it's a low risk, high reward type situation. Don't expect anything from him at this point, but he could surprise.

[dream34]

It really depends on who we can upgrade them with.

I'd like a lot of the team to stay, but if we can upgrade their positions I wouldn't mind seeing them go.

[McGrady2Head]

Alston: He should Stay

Battier: Trade him in a package for a 3rd scorer, he does nothing in the playoffs

Brooks: Don't really care. We will keep him because hes young, but he will never amount to anything

Francis: Keep him, one more chance. maybe he can be a decent back up still

Harris: Scrub, Cut him

Hayes: Scrub, Cut him or trade him

Head: The worst player in the NBA, trade him in a package for a 3rd scorer.

Jackson: His expiring contract should be used in a package for a 3rd scorer.

Landry: Keep Him

McGrady: Proved hes a top 3 player in the league in this series, keep him.

Mutombo: Scrub, but there might not be any backup any better. so i guess keep him.

Novak: Scrub, Cut or trade him

Scola: Keep Him

Woods: Scrub, cut him

Yao: Keep him, hope he stays healthy. hes starting to be more fragile than T-Mac lol

[camron1269]

all i want is for hayes and jackson to be gone. if we cn package them and battier or head for a better third scorer like an artest or JO or miller (not all 3 for him) id be happy.
ive said it before and ill probably say it a million times this offseason but i hope we draft roy hibbert and then richard roby in the 2nd (he has the potential to be basically a much upgraded luther head)

[tha_rock220]

Novak needs to get his ass in the gym this whole summer and work on getting stronger and more able to be on the floor for long stretches. Right now, he's good for spot minutes. Bull said this last night, he needs to make himself able to get on the court and shoot his jumper.

[Ribalding]

Luther Head: In the league for what reason, exactly?

Bobby Jackson: With Francis, Alston, and Brooks, why should he be on the team?

Loren Woods : Might be a necessary evil, if Deke isn't around next year. Cut him if you can.

Mike Harris: Nice player, but he'll never create a matchup problem, so why keep him? He's got a little value. Trade him if it'll help.

Novak: If he puts on 20 pounds, keep him. He plays on the cheap and is a specialist. ("The NBA is a league of specialists." : Michael Jordan) No tears at ALL if he gets traded.

Battier: He does so many things right. So many things we don't notice. ONLY trade him if you can get back somebody who creates matchup problems and plays D.

Chuck Hayes : Package him with Luther Head for Cynthia Cooper and a bottle of Tito's.

Yao and Tracy : Give 'em one more year together. Because when you trade a superstar, you never get equal value in return.

Rafer: If you can move him for value, move him. But Francis and Bobby Jackson should go before Rafer.

[jove9]

Luther Head: In the league for what reason, exactly?

He can shoot... sometimes.

[DraftBoy10]

Bobby Jackson: Land a **** 3rd scorer with this bitch's contract.

Luther Head: Package him as a sweetner in any deal, he may suck monkey balls, but bottom line is he's a shooter. And a great one at that during the season.

Carl Landry: Keep his ass here. And DEVELOP!

Steve Novak: If he needs to go, let him go. If not, wouldn't mind keeping him.

Chuck Hayes: screw you guys who don't want him, we need him for match ups.

Luis Scola: Keep him.

Dikembe Mutombo: Force him into retirement

Yao: Keep him

Tracy: Entertain the idea of trading him.

Rafer: Entertain the idea of upgrading.

Shane Battier: Keep him.

[HTown_TMac]

Why do you all want to get rid of Hayes?
Also.. If there is a possibilty to keep rafer and have him as a backup I rather that..
And try to keep our core together
Landry
Tracy
Yao
Brooks
Battier
Scola

[dontel]

if we could just land baron davis without giving up tmac and yao,, if just if..i mean, this team needs a PG that can outscore, outplay the opposing PG's. i mean look at deron and cp3 those 2 are on the league of their own, but IMO b. davis is up to par with both of them. alston IMO is just to thin and always get outplayed no matter what. but im probably asking too much!

[TMU]

Can Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady stay healthy?
Otherwise, trade one or the other, or both....

[Alex_De_Large]

I like Brooks but i would trade him if we can get the demanded third scorer, trade Brooks before Battier is the obvious thing to do for me.

[camron1269]

i want to get rid of hayes because he is HORRENDOUS. this is absolutely not just bashing or blaming because we lost i truly think he is garbage.

[YoungMoney23]

T-Mac should stay since hes our best scorer and best playmaker.

[moofs]

Hayes can play backup PF and C very well, for all his problems of hitting point blank, unguarded shots, still shoots over 50%, and costs under 2 million. He doesn't space the floor at ALL, but he's also a decent defender, especially for his size, and is a great emergency insurance policy. Why exactly do we want to get rid of him for nothing? I'm glad he's not starting anymore, but still.

[DraftBoy10]

Hayes is much better than people give him credit for. His man on man defense against post players(given that the natural defensive structure is there for the team obviously) is superb. It's premiere infact.

[grond]

Hayes can play backup PF and C very well, for all his problems of hitting point blank, unguarded shots, still shoots over 50%, and costs under 2 million. He doesn't space the floor at ALL, but he's also a decent defender, especially for his size, and is a great emergency insurance policy. Why exactly do we want to get rid of him for nothing? I'm glad he's not starting anymore, but still.

This post is entirely too logical.

Add to this, that with a healthy Yao in the lineup Hayes' minutes were already dropping to zilch anyway. Landry/Scola were playing the PF and Hayes was either not getting off the bench, or only coming on to matchup during key defensive sequences (like the one against Durant in the final seconds of the Seattle game for example).

Bottom line. He makes nothing, and is useful in certain situations. Keeper unless there's a GM out there with a good trade for someone else that feels that Hayes is (*snort*) a (*guffaw*) deal-breaker (*rofl*).

[camron1269]

so he is decent defender FOR HIS SIZE and we should keep him? he commits way too many turnovers and fouls. you might want to bust out stats proving me wrong but look at the minutes he plays. also the turnovers he costs us are perfect passes he drops or terrible passes he makes. when he is up at the top of the key with the ball in his hands he wastes at least 10-15 seconds because he just stands there with the ball above his head because he doesnt have good vision and cant pass. he also lets way too many easy rebounds and loose balls go through his hands (something that use to never happen to him). he gives the other team way too many free throws they dont deserve because of stupid fouls. his so called good defense that scola landry yao and deke can all do is not worth keeping him. yes, deke might retire. diop and krystic are there in FA along with others and hibbert and hardin and others are there in the draft. harris is better than hayes

[jove9]

so he is decent defender FOR HIS SIZE and we should keep him? he commits way too many turnovers and fouls. you might want to bust out stats proving me wrong but look at the minutes he plays. also the turnovers he costs us are perfect passes he drops or terrible passes he makes. when he is up at the top of the key with the ball in his hands he wastes at least 10-15 seconds because he just stands there with the ball above his head because he doesnt have good vision and cant pass. he also lets way too many easy rebounds and loose balls go through his hands (something that use to never happen to him). he gives the other team way too many free throws they dont deserve because of stupid fouls. his so called good defense that scola landry yao and deke can all do is not worth keeping him. yes, deke might retire. diop and krystic are there in FA along with others and hibbert and hardin and others are there in the draft. harris is better than hayes

All pretty good points, except for that last one.

[PocketRockets]

-= original quote snipped =-



All pretty good points, except for that last one.

Harris might not be better than Hayes but they're on the same level IMO. They're both trash and comparing the two is as useless as comparing the value of a used diaper or condom. They need to be let go for a decent backup 5, like diop or someone along those lines (not too good offensively, but big enough to play adequate defense). Woods will probably be gone if we get another backup D. Francis will be back so I hope we can develop Brooks more, but wouldn't mind packaging him up to get a better PG (starter/backup). Isn't Chicago shopping Hinrich? That would be an upgrade from the bball IQ standpoint and he passes enough to where whether Rafer or him is in, I wouldn't be cringing in fear. Those two would shore up our bench enough i think.

Which leads us to the 3rd option argument. If bringing in someone that can drastically change the face of the franchise a la KG-boston, then I wouldn't mind gutting the team (trading battier, whole bench). But that is very unlikely b/c I can't think of many/any trades that could happen. I say give picks and our bench to get a good shooter/slasher, hopefully w/o losing battier. W/O battier our defense would be one of the worse in the league, you can quote me on that. Plus with yao back, battier doesn't need to create offense and will be very useful just spotting up on the wing.