Packaging Lou and say our 45th for the 31st (Hawks) is about as high as I can imagine Behind the 31st/Hawks, the next team I see who could be interested is the Bulls at 38, and from 38-60 I think there would be at least 5+ picks/teams we could do a straight Lou for pick swap for without having to including one of our own 2nds. Perhaps Lou and Harrell for 31st and 60th.
Lou strikes me as a type of player you want on the roster in the playoffs. He's cheap and the need he was brought in for hasn't changed. I wouldn't deal him for a pick, only a veteran player (1+ years of experience).
I'm staying with Portland (especially if they're able to dump Turner or Crabbe) or OKC then, maybe Memphis. Which teams do you see having some interest for...let's say a low 1st btw? The problem with Lou is that he has always been pretty bad especially in the playoffs, he was big for us against OKC (they had zero backcourt off the bench though) but if you look at this career numbers you can't stop wondering if that was more a case than anything...the problem though, is more that he's also going to expire next season, and there's a good chance you'll be forced to pay him around 15Mx...which i'm not sure it's really worth it since we already have Gordon...
Yeah, but he's worth keeping for now rather than trading for a project player. I mean, if you're getting a difference maker like Anunoby for him, sure. But to trade him for anything below the 17th pick is kind of a bad risk. I guess it all depends on the situation, but I can see your frustration with him. He wasn't jack in the San Antonio series the later it got. I get that and he's historically a poor shooter in the playoffs, but at 7 million he's still ok to me. You can't rely on the guy, but our team was never going to hang their hat on his performance. To me, if you're not getting a rebounder out of him or a defensive player, it's a lateral move but I could be wrong.
I think the bigger problem is needing another 7-8m for a 2nd tier player in FA like Ibaka reportedly in the 20m/per range. Not to mention it would be freaking from a position of strength and getting a return on an asset before it expires.
We should have 2 real all stars 20 pts 10rebs players in our team. Otherwise it is unable to beat warriors
We need small tweaks and health. Harden is Harder; coach is coach. Our success starts and ends with them and them alone. Harden will melt down if a challenge for leadership is brought in. Coach is going to shave 2 or more years off of a superstar's career because of overuseage --> so no superstar is going to want to play for him along term --> costing a superstar money to play for coach. Back to tweaking. Another serviceable big was the lacking factor in this year's playoff performance. Nene is was great but really just a band aid for the real problem. Harrell and Lou found success in the season but not trusted by coach in the playoffs--> Moves around them are our best bet. Dekkar future as Rocket is hard to understand. Was his lack of playing time in the playoffs trust or health? If trust then move him too.
I dunno if we can get a first in this year's draft for him. That's why I asked. I'd like to see a deal agreed to but not necessarily executed for him at the draft that would get us a high enough first to nab Mason. I'm just afraid Mason is going to be gone before our two picks and I think he's the most critical piece we could add to help our rotation while at the same time saving about $6 million in cap space..Then I'd love to trade Harrell and 45 to move up high in the second and grab Bell and get Bowen at 43 in the second. That's three rookies plus Xi. Sounds like a lot. But there's two extra two spots to fill and we need the salary cap flexibility to chase free agents. And frankly, it's time to move on from Harrell. And if we get Mason he is an immediate upgrade to Lou with his added defense and playmaking. And Bell can do everything Harrell can do and more (defense) and we'd get a fresh three to four years to work with on a rookie contract. Then later in the summer if you find a deal for Anderson, you could potentially turn it into an even bigger deal by merging Anderson's and Lou's salaries.
I agree that it is probably time to move on from Harrell. I just dont see a clear path for him on this Rockets roster. He is a backup C on this roster and cant rebound and defend the paint. I am fine packing him with a 2nd rounder to move up some if needed.
One trade and you completely rethink what you do in the draft. Crazy how that works. If we move Lou, we better get a player like Mason or Thornwell to replace him. But if you stand pat on trades, you have to think about depth at center and someone to spell Trevor's defense. Interesting offseason.
My thought is with Mason replacing Lou in the rotation and with Bev and Gordon pieces we'd like to keep in the rotation, that Harden would move up and pay minutes at the three, spelling Trevor and allowing Ariza to move to the 4 some. That imperatives our defense automatically by being Harden out of the backcourt and get him defending threes where's he's a much better matchup. But you've gotta have backcourt guys that can get over the screens without switching which Mason can do. With the added cap flexibility, no telling who we could get to go along with those guys. But if we didn't get anybody we'd still be way ahead with Mason taking Lou's rotation minutes and Bell replacing Harrell in the back end of the roster and possibly breaking into the rotation.
Lord no! Doesn't fit. Would rather attempt to trade for George using Anderson, some of those prospects, and future firsts. Or would rather sign millsap and draft that that Lithuanian 7-footer. Or exec trade for Lamarcus. I'd rather sign Aron Baynes for 4/60 then sign Blake. The ONLY WAY I'd sign Blake is if he agreed to play center for extended minutes including crunch time in our line-up of death. If he wasn't willing to do that, forget it.
I can't say I understand that at all. He can score from the outside or around the basket, he rebounds, hits his FTs. He's not amazing on defense, but he plays it. I'm not saying he makes us the best roster in the NBA, but another player paired with him and you might say that.
http://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/ What a nice list for us. I think any combination of these players would make us better: Paul Millsap Jeff Green Serge Ibaka Amir Johnson Kyle Lowry Stephen Curry Jrue Holiday Tiago Splitter Taj Gibson Jeff Teague Ersan Illyasova Sergio Rodriquez George Hill JJ Redick Shaun Livingston (though his longball leaves something to desire) PJ Tucker Darren Collison Tony Allen Jonas Jerebko Patty Mills Kris Humphries James Johnson Zaza Pachulia Shelvin Mack Marreese Speights Jeff Withey > Clint Capela Adreian Payne is due to blossom Dante Cunningham does a little of everything and plays the SF/PF Anthony Morrow is a bit of a 3 and D guy (I think he's like a career .417 3pt shooter) All of the above are unrestricted. If the Warriors pay Curry, they may not be able to hold onto James McAdoo even though he's restricted. So even without trading anyone, we could get better. At least on paper.
Blake Griffin is a lot of things, but a bad fit on a Mike D'Antoni team he is most certainly not. I'd take him in a hearbeat, flaws and all, but I highly doubt he comes here. And if we're trading Anderson for George, which bad contracts from Indiana are we taking on? Monta? Big Al? Because we both know that's the only way this sort of deal goes down. Asking Indiana to both let go of a top 15 player AND take on a massively overpaid player like Anderson is a tall task.
He's not efficient from the outside. Takes way too many of the shots we don't like. (Over 53% of his FGA from midrange where he his less than 40%.) He used to have around 20% of his shots were dunk steps. Now he's down to about 8%. Look at how his dunk count has fallen and his midrange jackery has skyrocketed. And he likes to post up high and jack around with the ball. Griffin has totally clogged up the Clippers offense by demanding superstar touches, which he is going to demand and get agreement to before he signs with anybody else. This is precisely why Chris Paul doesn't want him. Unless Griffin is rolling and dunking and rebounding he's bogging down and clogging up the offense. And his defense has become progressively more non-existent as he has aged and become more ball dominant. Don't want any of that. He'd have to agree to play 5 and run pick and roll almost exclusively to possibly be a positive in MDA's system. Good luck getting him to agree to that.
