I see Pap as the creator for others in the second unit,I think Cannan is a better fit especially if him and Pap split second team ball handling duties. Cannan shooting is more valuable to the team then Ish's PG skills. I think Pap will be the player that always does the smart play when ball handling,he has a bunch of experience.
This is exactly the reason that we should cut Garcia and keep black or adrien if it comes down to 1 out of 3.
From a pure basketball move, I would cut Ish, Dorsey, and Garcia...though I find it very hard to believe that they would cut two players with guaranteed contracts. If Canaan doesn't develop, then the backup PG spot can be covered by committee. Dorsey had one decent game last nite, but still looks like a player with a very low bball IQ. Would much rather have Adrien and Black. Garcia's role has been taken over by Papa...he's no longer needed.
I'm with dobro if we are depending on Terry to handle the Pg backup for the year, then we are in trouble. same thing as garcia as the main 3 backup
Pop is the main 3 back-up We aren't a contender this year. I think we will have a worse record but go further in the playoffs T. Jones has looked terrible throughout this preseason.. Im worred about PF and backup Point
Right now, we have Terry, Daniel, Garcia are considered as one trick pony, who can shoot some 3s for you but all very terrible defense and not reliable at this stage of their career. Daniel is still young and with a new contract so he may have a bit more upside, but as for the backup of Harden, you really should not expect anyone will get more than 12-13 minutes out of the backup SG spot. Combine with the mix lineup with the rising of Nick Johnson, even Daniel's minutes will not be that much assuming he is the first in line. If you will believe Garcia is more like the backup SF, well than I have this news for you : the Rockets will try even ways they can to play Papa as much as possible because his contract situation. He got basically a one year mid lvl contract, either the Rockets will keep him or trade him away next year, he need to prove if he will be worth anything. Judging from the preseason games, Ariza is playing excellent and probably the best Rockets in all those games. So its reasonable to believe he will still play major minutes and Papa will for sure eat up all the backup minutes and even played into the 4th spot. So, my prediction is still the same, other than the 3 names are for sure, the last two spots now will be coming from 4 players : Garcia, Black, Canaan, Ish. I still believe Garcia is the first in line to be cut. As for Black, Canaan, Ish, originally I think the Rockets will keep either Ish or Canaan but not both, but now when Dorsey is playing better and both Ish and Canaan are playing worse, I think the outcome will be probably come down to the last game or practice.
I still think we are likely to see some type of consolidation trade. Something like Canaan and Adrien for a 2nd. That leaves: Beverley / Ish / Johnson Harden / Daniels / Terry Ariza / Papanikolaou / Garcia TJones / DMo / Capela Howard / Dorsey / Black We should fix the "bench facilitator" problems next year by adding Llull and Gentile. 2015-2016 Bench Unit Llull Daniels Gentile Papanikolaou Dorsey
I realize this .... BUT my thoughts on the position have more to do with how bad the other options are than anything else. We have to hope that Terry can find the fountain of youth .... or we're in trouble at the PG spot. Smith cant shoot and cant shoot FT's .... Did I mention he cant shoot ?! Canaan is a SG in a PG body. He reminds me a lot of Lin accept he doesn't create as well for others and is smaller & might be a worse defender. If Terry can give you 25 minutes a night that leaves 35 minutes each for PatBev and Harden at the guard spots. I don't know if he can deliver that or not , but I don't think Smith or Canaan are good enough players to take those minutes on a contender ..... and at this point in time , they don't have any other options. Smith , Dorsey , Adrein & Howard ..... the all crappy FT shooting team.
Who are these magical trade participants that want to give us anything or even facilitate a trade for our scrubs? Maybe adrien would draw some interest just to secure him, but doubt it. Dorsey wasn't even in the league, he isn't drawing interest. Ish no. Canaan no. Cisco no. Only way we get rid of these guys outside of cut is through combo trade with a nicer piece.
Sure. He looked in decent shape for a 37 year old, and shot the ball well, but still.... Let's be realistic with our expectations for CONSISTENT contributions. Look... my only point is, if you are relying heavily on any NBA player in their late 30's to play a significant role with your team, I would say that those positive outcomes are going to be short lived. I actually think there is a higher likelihood that Terry has a great impact on the Rockets postseason than the likelihood that Terry is a constant contributor for the Rockets throughout the whole season. IMO, getting to the postseason first is key. Its not going to be easy for the Rockets to even make the playoffs this year in such a loaded Western Conference. I would temper your expectations right now for Terry. There is potential value I see, but I don't see someone who can give the Rockets a consistent core guard. I see a veteran who can help the Rockets AT TIMES (probably more like the playoffs if they can get there in one piece). The Rockets really NEED something from Canaan/Smith/Johnson/etc. this season during the season if they are going to get themselves in good enough position to make a run in the postseason. If not, its going to put way too much on Harden's plate this year, and has the potential of burning him out come the playoffs.
If it wasn't for Terry, we would have zero at PG off the bench with all these guys who cannot play. We should've signed Ramon or AB at least. Morey dropped the ball on this one. He definitely needs to look to trade for another PG or sign another veteran. Rafer Alston anyone?
How exactly did he drop the ball? First off- AB likely CHOSE the Bulls over returning to the Rockets. The Bulls have a great situation for him, and with the Rockets he would have been in exactly the same situation as last year. Sessions would have helped, and the Rockets reportedly were going for him, but they didn't have the cap space, and had already used their mid level exception. The Rockets could have used their BAE to sign him, but I'm pretty certain that the sticking point was having guaranteed money next year. Albeit a small amount, the fact is the Rockets would have had to guarantee him money next year which... if you care about signing a 3rd all-star level player might be pretty important to consider with these types of deals. The Rockets could have used their Mid Level Exception to sign him with enough front loaded guaranteed to compete, but that would have kept them from signing Papanikolaou weeks before. If you think the Rockets should have passed on bringing over Papanilolaou to sign a PG like Sessions than that's your opinion. The fact is the Rockets realistically only had the veteran's minimum to sign Sessions with, and he simply decided to sign with the Kings for more money. Not sure what the issue is here with Morey (other than prematurely trading Lin).
I don't disagree with any of this .... I fully expect them to acquire a PG at some point that fits the Lin TPE. I just don't see Ish Smith or Isaiah Canaan playing significant minutes for a team that expects to contend in the West. Simply put , neither is good enough. This is next to nothing on the FA market at the position .... and I just cant see Rondo being a fit tho I think he is traded. Hell , his FT numbers alone make it difficult to play him with Howard. Don't see Minny moving Rubio either ..... They have some assets to work with to improve the position .... but I don't know if they can fix both PG & PF with their current assets. I pretty much expect them to make a move at PG for a guy on the final year of his deal that a team doesn't want to lose for nothing or that they don't believe they can afford once he goes into RFA/FA , even if they don't do it right away. They just cant go thru a full 82 game season with Smith or Canaan playing significant minutes ...
This would be a much more convincing argument if the NBA Finals hadn't just been won by a team getting 29.2 min/gm from a 38 year old Tim Duncan and 22.8 minutes/game from Ginobili who was a couple of months from turning 37 and the other finals team was getting 26.5 min/game from Ray Allen who was about to turn 39.
Your argument would also be more convincing if you can name 5-10 more players over 37 that can still command a salary like the ones you mentioned above. Just because your neighbor hit the power ball doesn't mean its a good move for you to quit your job and put all your saving on it also.
Right, but I think you're missing the point. Even if the Rockets acquired those two players on THE ROCKETS CURRENT TEAM, I still would not recommend relying on them for a key and consistent large role. The Rockets, would need more support from their support players during the season as does San Antonio. Well... maybe Tim Duncan of last year can play a larger/more consistent role, but Duncan surely had help last year and rest throughout the season regardless. Like I said before though, your likelihood of them being a key contributor in the playoffs is probably higher than a key contributor for 82 games a season. Just as Ray Allen all the sudden decided to show up during the playoffs. During the season, its not as if his role was vital to that Heat teams success. And that's considering he's one of the most physically fit players to ever play in the league as well. I love the idea of a healthy Jason Terry in the playoffs for the Rockets just as I would love for the Rockets to have someone like a healthy Ginobili for the playoffs, but unfortunately we have to get through the West this year first and get 50 games+. That's my main point. You need young work horses and depth during the season in the West to get yourself in a position to make a playoff run. The main guard coming off the bench to be the main facilitator & creator in the back court needs to be there consistently every night IMO. Do you really think the Rockets can rely on a late 30's Jason Terry for 80 games this season to play a key role as a backup PG/SG (basically the Jeremy Lin role)?? If so, please show me where I am wrong.
