Deshawn Stevenson has informed the Magic that he is seeking the full MLE and has targeted Houston because he's still friends with McGrady. He's requesting a sign-and-trade
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Chuck:</div><div class="quote_post">Deshawn Stevenson has informed the Magic that he is seeking the full MLE and has targeted Houston because he's still friends with McGrady. He's requesting a sign-and-trade</div> Who does Houston have that we could want? How about our pick and Stevenson to move up to their pick at 8??? We still save cap space and it gives us a better chance to land one of our targeted players. I wish Stevenson would have stayed and I'm shocked that Houston would want to give him the MLE. Why is he complaining about 3 million dollars and a starting role?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GatorsowntheNCAA:</div><div class="quote_post">Who does Houston have that we could want? How about our pick and Stevenson to move up to their pick at 8??? We still save cap space and it gives us a better chance to land one of our targeted players. I wish Stevenson would have stayed and I'm shocked that Houston would want to give him the MLE. Why is he complaining about 3 million dollars and a starting role?</div> Houston would be ripped off in that deal. If Deshawn Stevenson is definitely going to sign with them as a free agent anyway, they're not forced into this sign and trade, and thus there's no incentive to trade down. Like I said in the Rockets forum, there's not really much difference between the talent at #8 and #11, but GM's won't see it that way, and Dawson (or whoever the Rockets GM is these days) will look at it as trading down your pick for a player you'd already get in free agency regardless. I really think Vasquez has to be added to sweeten the deal. BTW - @ the thread title
DeShawn has always been a selfish player. He complained about playing time under Johnny Davis and now that he is given the chance, he wants more money. He did a great job improving his game, both offensive and defensive, last season but he is replacable. This just means we really really really need to draft a shooting guard to replace Stevenson.
Now is the time to get a shooting guard who can come in and start from day one to me. DeShawn was selfish, but he still was a great role player for you guys and he really stepped up his game to a new dimension.
I wouldn't have really called him selfish until now. I mean who doesnt' want playing time? He had proven to us the year before that he was a good role player and then Johnny Davis only used him in garbage time. Chris Jent and Brian Hill have realized that he was a good player and could do good things for the franchise and he proved it. He's a very valuable role player for our team and seems to have great chemistry with Dwight. He is actually a pretty good offensive player, he is a pretty good slasher and has really improved his jump shot, before I would scream whenever he shot it, but at the end of the year, I was expecting his shots to go down. He also has to stop the best offensive player for the other team. He had a very good year last year, while being injured the majority of the year. I honestly think losing him will be a lot worse than you guys think. Depending on the amount of money he is demanding though, I would probably do the same thing. For once, I actually trust the front office, although I bet whereever Stevenson goes, he becomes a star(just the Magic luck)
And let's for some strange crazy reason, we can't draft a good replacement foe Stevenson. Kareem Rush is still a Free Agent. Who imo, would make a pretty good fit with the Magic comin off the bench perhaps.
I think this is good actually. Honestly I'd love to keep him, but this essentially has made a decision for the Magic that they didnt have to make. Now they re-sign Trevor Ariza. I kinda have been looking at it as Ariza or Stevenson, sooner or later one was gonna have to leave. We all think the magic are gonna draft someone to play the 2 or the 3, well now it's a little less congested up there.
Stevenson is a decent scorer, but a full MLE from the Rockets. Id have to walk into toyota center and shoot someone if we gave him the full MLE.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">Stevenson is a decent scorer, but a full MLE from the Rockets. Id have to walk into toyota center and shoot someone if we gave him the full MLE.</div> Scoring isn't everything. He can play great defense and scores when the Magic needed it. He had his fair share of points. He would be a perfect role player next to Tmac. I wouldn't be too disappointed if I was you if you give him like a 4 million deal(assuming he will start). He gives great energy every game. He put up 11 ppg as the 4th/5th scoring option for the Magic last year while shooting 46% from the floor. All of that is with him playing with a messed up knee and he missed some easy layups because he couldn't get up enough to dunk it. He is having surgery this offseason and supposedly it was a success. Oh and he's only 25. He plays within the offense and rarely forces shots, while giving it to the other players. Also another thing you might want to consider is how good players are right after they leave the Magic, so who knows, he could be a great player(knowing the Magic's luck). Ben Wallace, Matt Harpring, Corey Maggette, Chauncey Billups just to name a few.
He brings a lot of energy and he is a pretty good defender. He gets to the hole pretty easily, but has trouble finishing around the basket. He has steadily improved his shooting, but it still isn't really that good. He would be pretty good when you have a guy like Tmac and Yao where someone would leave him to go double team them. He is very good at the wide open mid range shot(which he should be). He's not very good with a hand in his face. He has a couple of big games, but you pretty much know what you will get out of him every night. He's still only 25, so he's getting ready to reach his prime and he will be healthy after his surgery. I honestly like him, which I am one of the few Magic fans that like him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting THE DREAM:</div><div class="quote_post">is he worth the MLE?</div> I think he would be a very good fit for the Rockets. Considering we gave our MLE to Hedo Turkoglu 2 years ago and Hedo is way better than Deshawn, I would say no. I would give him a good 4 million though. Probably something like 11-13 million for 3 years. Would he be your starting SG(move Tmac to SF)? I think playing alongside Tmac again would be very good for him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting THE DREAM:</div><div class="quote_post">is he worth the MLE?</div> Not quite, but you would probably see teams offering him that much. As for Stevenson, I've liked his game as a slasher/midrange shooter, and he has become a steady role player who can give you points on a whim. However, playing with Yao and TMac, he might give Houston the same problems Mike James and Derek Anderson did: take shots away. On offense, Stevenson is a guy who needs the ball to have an impact, and he might clash with the Rockets' philosophy. In all, I definitely won't mind him on the Rockets but we have bigger needs we need to fill with the MLE. Definitely would like the deal if Houston gets Vasquez as well. Like VC said, there's no point to Houston doing the deal if they're going to sign Stevenson anyways, unless they want to save their own MLE.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Locke:</div><div class="quote_post">Not quite, but you would probably see teams offering him that much. As for Stevenson, I've liked his game as a slasher/midrange shooter, and he has become a steady role player who can give you points on a whim. However, playing with Yao and TMac, he might give Houston the same problems Mike James and Derek Anderson did: take shots away. On offense, Stevenson is a guy who needs the ball to have an impact, and he might clash with the Rockets' philosophy. In all, I definitely won't mind him on the Rockets but we have bigger needs we need to fill with the MLE. Definitely would like the deal if Houston gets Vasquez as well. Like VC said, there's no point to Houston doing the deal if they're going to sign Stevenson anyways, unless they want to save their own MLE.</div> That's where I disagree. I don't think that Deshawn Stevenson really needs the ball on offense. With Tmac and Yao getting double teamed, that will open up plenty of opportunities for him. I don't think he really will take shots away, he didn't really take shots away from the Magic's players. I hear him and Tmac are really good friends, so I don't think Tmac would want him to come to Houston if he doesn't think he will get the ball. Stevenson definetely won't hog the ball like Mike James did. Stevenson was the 4th or 5th option in Orlando and didn't really complain about getting enough shots, I'm sure he would be about the same in Houston.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GatorsowntheNCAA:</div><div class="quote_post">Stevenson was the 4th or 5th option in Orlando and didn't really complain about getting enough shots, I'm sure he would be about the same in Houston.</div> I agree with Gators and towards the second half of last season, Stevenson really stepped up his defensive game and wanted to contribute more on defense than on offense. He knew that he wasn't a main offensive threat and only averaged 7.4 shot attempts per game in the last month of the season. He was fine with that role so I doubt he would take shots away from McGrady or Yao.
