How convenient to just skim past the fact that Lowry's Raptors have flamed out two years a row in the playoffs and Lowry hasn't exactly helped that cause much. Two years ago he was just above average. Last year he was horrible in a first round sweep to Washington. Any trade involving as the key pieces Harden for Lowry is moronic. Harden for Lowry+DeRozan? Maybe... but still probably not. You just become the Raptors of the West, and that's not that good. At least with Harden, you know he can be an MVP candidate.
Why? Why for the love of god would you want to trade away Harden to become the new Craptors??? Derozan will get paid much more than harden this summer and lowry is 30. Its a team that slowly but surely is heading to the treadmill. Masai would sell his soul if he could trade them for Harden.
We could probably get Derrick Rose. He's not the same player he was what seems like 10 years ago lol but there have been reports that Chicago has lost him and is ready to move on, dating a couple of months back. If that's still true, and we know they are looking for wing players, maybe we send a package like so: Ty Lawson+Corey Brewer(Wing)+KJ(Wing) Those 3 for Rose would financially get it done. If picks are involved I wouldnt know how to gauge that. At any rate Rose is oft injured, no secret. So maybe hes not the best candidate to go alongside two questionable leaders in H&H. Perhaps H&H provide him with a foundation to not be as intense. That may not be a bad thing considering his injury background. Fit- He kind of doesn't fit. Career 30% 3pt is not a good indicator of morey ball. He takes 5 shots a game for 14 points, that's pretty good. This season hes also getting 5 assists. I thought that Ty Lawson would enable Howard but that hadn't really happened. In Ty's defense he hasn't looked in form until recently. Here are his stats: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/rosede01.html It seems like a lateral move to me, though he has great potential. He's a 6'3 point guard who plays defense. If you wanted to get Taj Gibson too, that could be had by adding in TJones and Sam FutureHOF Dekker. Again, im not sure about picks. We lose some depth there though, so I'd expect Tony Snell to be added. Rose/Gibson/Snell for TJones/Dekker/McDaniels/Brewer/Lawson. That's clunky imo, so I doubt something like that could be done. Beverley/Rose Harden/Terry Ariza/Thornton Gibson/Motiejunas Howard/Capella Lawson/Brooks Butler/Hinrich Mirotic/Brewer? Jones/Portis Gasol/Noah ...that Chicago team looks like garbage. I think I overthought this.
Terrence Jones and a protected 2nd round pick for Thomas Robinson and filler. Robinson is a top 10 offensive and defensive rebounder.
Yes, I'm sure Thomas Robinson would love to return to the team that dropped him like maggoty trash so they could get Dwight.
Twist on your 3 team mega trade: Rockets get: R. Lopez, Justice Winslow, and fillers (keep Lawson or get Calderon) Miami gets: Melo, Calderon/Lawson Knicks get: Howard and Dragic
We thought the Rockets were a win now team, but they aren't. Need to limit options to players under 30, because there are no quick fixes for this team, at least for winning championships.
I think they were looking for shooting (basically, a 2 guard / wing). Have fun on the ESPN Trade Machine with that one. It'd have to be something 3-team-ish; we could use Gibson especially, but I don't know if they'd buy what we're selling.
I think our SF rotation is a major issue as is. Honestly, forget about Durant. Harrison Barnes and Nic Batum are the two guys I want here next season. Both upgrades over Ariza. Both quality players who are above average three point shooters (Barnes shot 41% from three last season, Batum is above 40% this season). Whilst Barnes is younger, I believe Batum would be a better fit as he is a sneaky good playmaker off the dribble and can make plays for others. He's also a solid defender and he gets to the line. He does all those little things that don't show up in the box score. He should be one of our major priorities this offseason. Perhaps Charlotte even entertains trading him for Ariza by seasons end (depending on how things play out from here on).
Probably easier to get Batum. Barnes is a restricted free agent. If Warriors don't get Durant, they probably just sign Barnes.