Mike James Says Houston is His No. 1 Option

DALLAS - When the Rockets weigh their free-agent options, one will stand out.

He is not the perfect fit. He might not be the first choice. But he is in the books as the first to make his preference clear.

Mike James, whom the Rockets sent to Toronto before last season to get the more traditional point play of Rafer Alston and because they did not want to lose James this summer as a free agent, wants to come back. More than that, he believes the Rockets should want him as much as he wants them.

"Houston is my first choice," James said. "Seriously, Houston is home. My wife is from Houston. We just bought our house in Houston. I want to go home."

James can even argue he would be a good fit, believing his shooting range and ballhandling would be ideal to take defenders away from Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady and pressure off Alston.

"I definitely could see myself on the court with Rafer," James said. "I think I could help him out a lot. And could you see me, Rafer, Juwan (Howard), Yao and Tracy on the court together? Teams could not double off anyone.

"Everybody talks about my point-guard play, says I'm not a pass-first player. I'm not. I'm a make-the-play player. Whatever it takes to make the play, that's what I'm going to do. Whether it's scoring or passing, I'm going to make the play."

Though the Raptors were among the league's worst teams, individually, James had a career year, averaging 20.3 points and 5.8 assists. He was fourth in the NBA in 3-point shooting, making 44.2 percent.

That, however, could make him a hot commodity in an offseason short on point guards. Atlanta, in particular, has money to spend and a need for a point guard. The Rockets have a mid-level exception, likely worth about $5.4 million to start, but James will be 31 next season. This could be his last contract. He will look for more than mid-level.

The Rockets, if they are to give their mid-level to one player, rather than split it among several (perhaps in a run at younger former second-round pick Vassilis Spanoulis) would likely look for younger and bigger help than James. But he made it clear who he believes would be the right choice.

"I would love to go straight from my home to the arena," James said. "If I can do that the rest of my career, that's what I want to do.

"I'm back in the gym already. I'm back working out with John Lucas already. I know if I want something better, I can't do the same things to get different results. I have to do different things to get different results. Now I'm boxing this summer. I'm training in different ways because I want to be better.

"This season, every part of my game got better. Now, my main focus is coming back to H-Town."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3861692.html

What a douchebag. I'm guessing he's just trying to get Toronto to ante up on the money, but Colangelo's not that stupid. I hope he realizes what he's getting himself into and good riddance to him if he leaves. This prick is selfish; he is only after the money and used Toronto to propel his career; you can tell by the way he played near the end of the season. Anyway, if this does happen, I hope that Houston has a fun time trying to find playing time for David Wesley, Luther Head, Rafer Alston AND Mike James. That backcourt can rival that of New York's.

"Everybody talks about my point-guard play, says I'm not a pass-first player. I'm not. I'm a make-the-play player. Whatever it takes to make the play, that's what I'm going to do. Whether it's scoring or passing, I'm going to make the play."

I don't really follow the Raptors that closely, but living in Canada gives me Raptors NBA TV, so I've watched a few of those Raptor gamedays and all that stuff. Mike James is trash. To him "hoisting up retarded 28 foot jumpers" is what he must think is good play.

that said it says something about the raptor's future. This team attracts less free agent attention then atlanta. Not because toronto is a bad place, but because there are better options. I don't understand why any player would move or stay in toronto where its cold, they make less money, and are further from their family when they can intead play somwehre warm, make more money, get more coverage, and live close to their family or where they grew up. if vancouver still had a team even that would be more attractive imo where its warm, prettier, and is the model capitol of the world.

as of right now i am very doubtful whether the team can retain bosh. toronto is almost like a developmental team as it stands.

Low-ranked teams are often trapped in a perennial postseason drought because developing players such as Joe Johnson will go there to get more touches during games and emerge as stars and once a decent team shows interest in them, they're as good as gone.

The only way to get out of this is to basically have what happened to the Hornets and draft someone phenomenal like Chris Paul. This guy's going to be, if not already, one of the best point guards in the league right now.

good riddance, get the fuck out of toronto. be someone elses problems, i'd rather watch calderon grow. am i the only one that still gets infuriated (putting it lightly) everytime this dudes name pops up?

good riddance, get the fuck out of toronto. be someone elses problems, i'd rather watch calderon grow. am i the only one that still gets infuriated (putting it lightly) everytime this dudes name pops up?

Sorry to dissapoint you, but you're not.

I can't stand the guy. I've watched Raptors' games all year, and the guy's getting as many touches as Chris Bosh. It's ridiculous, he's ridiculous, and the whole organization will be rediculous if they resign him. Okay, I'm done my ranting.

Honestly, though, as long as he leaves Toronto, they'll be in a better position come next season.

Yay go Mike James! He'll be an all star next year. I'd rather see him go to Portland though, then He could start at the 2 with Telfair, James, Miles, Randolph, and Pryzbilla, but they could trade Telfair for Marbury and Jerome James, imagine how good that team would be!

Jerome James
Zach Randolph
Darius Miles
Mike James
Stephon Marbury

I smell 3peat, lol.

He is a good 3pt shooter though, he might be valuable if a coach limited his play to spot up jump shots

Yessssssss, he's gonna go!!!!!!!!!!!

So he wants to go to Houston, the team that traded him for Alston. I don't think Houston will be that stupid since they could get Marcus Williams in the draft.

I'd love to see the Raptors sign-and-trade James & move their franchise back to respectability they could definitely use Marcus Williams & there's a good chance they'll stretch on him if he works out well....

Those are definitely sentiments intended to burn bridges rather than bucking for a raise. I'm with X, if I were Colangelo I'd try for a sign-and-trade. I know cutting him loose would leave a satisfying "good riddance" feeling amongst Raptors fans but love or hate him, Mike James does have some talent and surely Toronto could get something in return for him; draft picks, an up and coming player, a decent veteran with an expiring contract. These days it's worth weighing up all the possibilities before going the "screw you, good riddance" route.

NBA should make a new franchise called the Jacksonville Jackers where players who have qualities (jackup shots, dikhead shoot 1st pg's) like James and also rejects should play.

Starting 5

Kandi Man
Araújo
Walker
Marbury
James

ROFL@ artestfighttrainer...
Yeah seriously...Bosh would have got like 25PPG if it wasnt for Mike James...I think first of all he should leave, second whoever gets him(even the jacksonville jackers) should make him into SG because he cannot pass for shit, and yea its all because he is iPG...he hogs the ball he thinks he is #1 and starts shooting 3s and gets pissed w hen he misses and its people like mo pete who have to put up with him by always running back to defend when you just got posetion of the ball, mike james wasted it.
Yup I would also like to see calderon grow, I think he could be a future playmaker(if not atleast a good passer), he can shoot but he'll definitely need some help this offseason to bring his confidence backup, so when raptors face the jackers he can own mike james

Why the hell does Mike James call Houston home? I guess he doesn't want to be associated with his real hometown, New York.

sounds to me like james is just a smaller version of antoine walker

other than the fact that he has said that he wants to get a lot of money this offseason, he's got a good attitude towards the game. Unlike Antonie Walker, James works hard, great to the media, and the fans... but again, that could be a stunt to get more money.
I've been hating him all year, but now i just don't care anymore. He's worked hard to get where he is, and i can understand why he wants a huge raise. He just didn't express it the right way. I'm sure he'll get the money he wants this offseason, and i wish him the best.

also sounds to me like he is a typical player during a contract year

he works hard? all he does is take advantage of being PG and hoist up retarded threes as umh i forgot his name would say...by the time bosh gets ready in the paint and has fought for agood spot james would have already wasted the posetion...yes i am a hater blame everything on MIKE JAMES!

he works hard? all he does is take advantage of being PG and hoist up retarded threes as umh i forgot his name would say...by the time bosh gets ready in the paint and has fought for agood spot james would have already wasted the posetion...yes i am a hater blame everything on MIKE JAMES!

All you said in that quote doesn't say anything about him not working hard. He works hard during practices, and he can actually hit a lot of the shots he take. He shot pretty well throughout the year. It just that he didn't pass the ball. Don't get me wrong, i'm not big fan of him either. I'm hoping for a sign and trade.

I hope Mike James crawls back into his mediocre shell after he recieves a gigantic raise. Then maybe he'll shut the hell up and stop acting like such a dick that needs to be sucked by the media.

Bosh burns James:

Meanwhile, Bosh took what appeared to be a veiled shot at free-agent-to-be Mike James when he was asked about what the team needs in a point guard in the radio interview.

"I think it's very important to have a pass-first point guard, somebody who can make plays down the stretch of a game," he said. "When (he says) make plays, I don't mean making shots for themselves because I don't think that makes anybody better."

Source: http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archi ... _a_banger/

LMAO, Bosh pwnz no0bz

Good job Bosh. I heard that Mike James also apparently flipped out on the media after that comment made by Bosh.

Edit: http://www.fan590.com/gallery/hotAudio.jsp Click on the "Mike James on Hoops" interview.

Skip the first few moments of the interview, its just him talking about boxing.

From what I heard in that interview, he seems pretty high on himself. He even went so far as to compare himself to all of the elite point guards in the league. And, as far as I'm concerned there isn't a team in the league where he can be a leader except maybe Charlotte. Even Toronto has CB4 who's more of a leader than James.

I don't know, as far as I'm concerned, he's still a jacker.