This is a very interesting post I found on RealGM:<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>our expiring contracts *Sura, Snyder, **Spanoulis, **Head, **Lucas, **Novak * = only 1M guaranteed ** = team option total of about ~10.7M x 125% + 100K worth ~13.5M trade value possible candidates 1. Rasheed Wallace 2. Troy Murphy 3. Drew Gooden 4. Marcus Camby 5. Kwame Brown 6. Vladimir Radmanovic 7. Stromile Swift 8. Antoine Walker 9. Udonis Haslem 10. Dan Gadzuric 11. Zaza Pachulia 12. Chris Wilcox 13. Nick Collison 14. Tony Battie 15. Kenny Thomas 16. Shareef Abdur-Rahim</div>Now, of course for many of those players they will want more than just those contracts, but the Rockets also have other trading chips (Alston, Battier, future draft picks, etc..). I feel that a number of those players could be had without giving up Battier, which would be huge.There is also FA's the Rockets can sign like Mikki Moore, Andres Nocioni (although likely will go over MLE), Darko (likely to go over MLE), Anderson Varajeo, etc...
I hope the ROckets try to trade for Antoine Walker, you don't know how happy I would be to get rid of him.
BTW, out of all those PF's listed, the ones that stick out to me that are likely reachable and very enticing are Kwame Brown, Udonis Haslem and Marcus Camby. Lakers need a PG now that Smush is out, and Rafer would fill that void very nicely. Unfortunately we would still need about 3 million more dollars worth of contracts to make it work, so we can throw in Sura's expiring contract. This gives Lakers cap relief and the PG that they need, and gives us a legit PF with great defense. I am not crazy about his offense, but we have too many PG's, and with Mike James back, it wouldn't be a huge loss if we deal out Rafer.With Kapono gone, and with Posey likely to be gone, the Heat could really use a SF. Battier and Haslem is a fair trade from a talent standpoint, and their salries are almost identical (Battier 5 years left for $5,393,300 per year, and Haslem 4 years left for $5,525,000 per year). If they want, Rockets can also throw in a draft pick or another player to make Miami happy. Miami gets a pretty young player who is an awesome defender at the SF position (something they desperately needed vs Deng and the Bulls) and also gives you a great 3pt shooting threat, while Haslem gives the Rockets a legit PF who can defend the PF's of the West, is young, and is not an offensive liability. This also allows T-mac to move to the 3, Bonzi/Head to start at the 2, and if need be, put James at the 2 for short amounts of time if Bonzi is hurt.Denver needs cap relief, and they have 5 legit big man. Camby, due to age and contract, is the odd man out. With Blake becoming a FA and JR Smith having an uncertain future due to his accident, they will be looking to add a PG/3pt shooter to their lineup. Rafer Alston, Sura (for cap relief), and maybe a draft pick or 2 would possibly do the trick. Camby, while naturally a center, is athletic enough to guard the likes of Amare and Boozer, and his shotblocking ability is desperately needed by the Rockets. He is also an awesome rebounder and is not an offensive liability. I think it would be a nice fit.
Well, potentially big development. Rashard has agreed to the Magic's offer, which means that Darko will likely be available for the MLE or lower. With great shotblocking and a great body to take on the PF's of the West, along with not being an offensive liability (his passing is perfect for this offense). He could be a great fit for the Rockets without giving up anyone. The Rockets would still have the $13.5 million worth of expiring contracts (all guards) to sign another big guy if they feel the need.
