What do you guys think about Nick joining the Rockets. He said he wants to finish his career with a title contender from Texas ( Espn). I think he could help in Dallas he brought this swagger to their team and they almost made it deep in the playoffs. I am pretty sure we could get him using the LLE as well. Your thoughts ?
He's actually going to be waived through the Amnesty Clause. Here Anyways, he's not too much of an upgrade over Sura at this point in his career. If we were to get a point guard, I was hoping we could do it by trade so we wouldn't be stacked with point guards that are all capable of starting. Plus, Van Exel is too old for my taste so it wouldn't really help us contain the faster guards of the west. I honestly can't see Van Exel guarding the likes of Terry, Nash, or Parker all that well.
I agree! Van Exel would be a nice addition. The guy has ice water in his vains. Just imagine Mcgrady, and Van Exel on the court at clutch time. But we would have to get rid of somebody on our BLOG of guards first. But I would give it the green light!
signing Nick would be a good thing (though I rather take Payton)...waive moochie and our pg position is fixed
I wouldnt want him. Way too old now and like aznxballer said, not much of an upgrade at this point of his career. All he can really give you is maybe 11 points, 4-5 assists.
If we can get Van Exel with the LLE it wouldnt hurt signing him. But we got too many guards right now, so we would have to do something about that.
yo! nick van excel is an amazing superstar who will guarantee the rox a championship...oh wait i forgot this isn't 1994.
Rockets Interested in Nick Van Exel <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Rockets moved quickly after the Trail Blazers' cost-cutting release of guards Nick Van Exel and Derek Anderson on Wednesday with preliminary conversations with Tony Dutt, the agent for both players. Dutt said the two players are interested in the Rockets, and that Van Exel could be especially open to considering the Rockets' smaller salary-cap exception.</div> Source - http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/s.../bk/bkn/3295677 And an audio interview of him talking about his interest in us can be located in the Video Thread!
Nick isn't quite Nick the quick anymore but if we can get him for the LLE then why not? After that, trade some of our guards for a decent, taller SG.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Eduardo:</div><div class="quote_post">Nick isn't quite Nick the quick anymore but if we can get him for the LLE then why not? After that, trade some of our guards for a decent, taller SG.</div> agreed!! Personally I wouldn't mind seeing Moochie, Wesley or Ward go first. James is only good as a back up, but is very replaceable. Sura has heart, and will have to be replaced with somebody just as tough which will be hard.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jazz SUCKS.</div> Uhh. What? That was random. Stick back on topic next time, it has nothing what so ever to do with Nick Van Exel coming here.
I can argue that the Jazz were injury ridden for all of last season. They started out good, but then injuries pounded them. Anyways, I'd be fine with Van Exel coming here if we trade away some of the current point guards for a better shooting guard. That would work out fine for me. Not much of an improvement point guard wise, but that move would make the guard position better.
Van Exel sucks right now. He puts up less assists than bob sura, not a high scorer any more, not a better defender than any of our gaurds, and is 6'1. Not to mention how old he is. The biggest thing is his assist numbers. Get someone who can spread the ball. Payton is really old, but he can still dish out assists like crazy, is 6'6 for the point, and a legendary defender.
[quote name='AznxBaller']He's actually going to be waived through the Amnesty Clause. Here Van Exel's $12M contract is under the team option so it's not guaranteed if the Blazers waived him. You can only apply the Amnesty for only one player per team. The Blazers used it on Derek Anderson. Van Exel has been injury prone the past couple of seasons. Although he can provide help offensively as well as make some occasional plays he's already a step slower. His defense and speed might not be adequate at all. I know he's still deadly especially on his floaters but it's a risk for the Rockets. If he can be signed for the minimum that would be great but don't expect him to be a starter. He'll be good coming of the bench just like what he did in Dallas.
Uhm, as far as I know, Payton is 6'4..Hmm Nick has been injury prone as of late. I wish Rockets management would go for younger players, but then again, the younger players wouldn't go for the LLE. Argghh I'm too excited to wait for the midseason to trade the expiring contraacts! I want to see the best lineup we could possibly get now! lol
Well looks like Nick likes Houston According to a Dallas Article on the web " Nick is leaning towards Houston, He sees it as a good fit". I cant get the darn link to work but if you go to the Houston Rockets website through NBA.COM look at the latest web articles you can find it there.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"Nick Van Exel, who became a free agent Wednesday when the Trail Blazers did not exercise their option on his contract, has expressed interest in playing for the Rockets, and Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson did speak with Stoudamire's agent Tony Dutt. But as of Friday, the Rockets had not offered Van Exel the salary-cap exception Stoudamire turned down, indicating they might not be in a rush to land him. Teams have until Aug. 15 to make cuts designed for luxury tax relief, potentially adding free agents to the market."</div> Houston Chronicle <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> "Free-agent guard Nick Van Exel apparently is leaning toward signing with the Houston Rockets. Van Exel told a Houston radio station that he considered the Rockets a good fit. Soon after Van Exel was waived by Portland, Rockets officials talked with Van Exel's agent, Tony Dutt. So did Mavericks officials, but Van Exel has long had an affinity for Houston."</div> Hoopshype/Dallas Morning News (Scroll Down)
