The Numbers Are Clear, The Rockets Have A Big 3 Now

Funny stuff : I remember last year around December CP3 was at the top of this list with probability around 90% and he hasn't been even voted to All Starr game nor to All NBA team.

One of the places in All NBA team has been taken by DeRosan

 

For Boogie, in a deal that also allows us to unload Ryno's contract in advance of next summer.

 

Any time you put ball dominant stars together, one or both of their stats will suffer. The phrase "there is only one ball" exists for a reason. You talk about Kyrie, Love, Bosh, etc, but all these guys are (or were) superstars that typically play with the ball in their hands. They can play off the ball, but they shine the brightest being the focal point of the offense. Bev, Ariza, Anderson, etc... these guys are all role players. Their jump is to support the superstar (Harden) on offense, so of course Harden makes them better. Chris Paul's stats get worse as he plays with Harden just as Harden's stats get worse when he plays next to CP3. Even if they are playing off each other beautifully, sacrifices were still made.

 

Still not sure about how I feel about Boogie on this Rockets team.

The production would certainly be there but man I sure would hope that CP3, Nene, and to an extent Harden would be able to wrangle in that wild stallion of a brain he has on & off the court.

Cousins +Diallo for Anderson + Capela works.... hopefully our PF depth of Tucker and Mbah A Moute will help carry us at the PF spot. Diallo is not a stretch 4 by any means.

 

keep Capela, and try to upgrade the SF position with a star...that’s more important and would do more for the team than adding Boogie IMO

going from Ariza to a Paul George would be huge if Morey could pull that off...the forward positions are the weak links for us

 

I agree to an extent. But look at Jimmy Butler this season as an example: his overall stats are down because he is focusing on what this team needs: defense, grit, hard play...instead of making others around him a bit worse in order to keep his stats up, he sacrifices a bit of his play in order to make others around him better.

 

If Cousins is willing to re-sign at seasons end then i'll trade Clint for him ASAP and that is something the Pelicans will more then entertain.I'm sure Harden would be happy with Cousins.

 

Historically, how often does this actually happen? I'm trying to think back on "talented-but-troubled" big men who have found peace with a particular team and were no longer considered a problematic presence afterward?

Benoit Benjamin? Joe Barely Cares? Michael Olawakandi? Larry Sanders? Roy Tarpley? Robert Swift?

There aren't many positive examples. Benjamin is probably the closest match to Cousins, but none of the above guys were as talented or consistently productive as Boogie.

 

Harden should already have two MVPs... And once Chris Paul is worked into the lineup more thoroughly, he's probably going to see to it that Harden gets robbed of yet another such award this season. *sigh* The two are still a net negative when they play together. I expect them to figure things out to some extent, but I also feel fairly confident that Paul, regardless of the numbers he puts up, will smear those odds for Harden.

I love both Harden and James, and I think that argument is overblown. The argument both for and against each player is that Harden has never played with the caliber of offensive talent that James has, at least not as the clear #1 option. All-stars always have to sacrifice to play with each other. You could certainly argue Dwight got "worse" (although post-Orlando Dwight was also a shell) playing with Harden. It's also pretty obvious that Chris Paul is going to be worse this year, and he and Harden still have a negative +/- when they're on the floor together.

 

Sheed Wallace is probably the best example. Possibly followed closely by Zach Randolph. No coincidence those two came from the Portland Jailblazers era, but it worked for them with their new squads in Detroit and Memphis.

Could be the same case here if Boogie land in the H.

 

We already had a big 3 with Harden, Parsons, and Lin they said

 

If two superstars complement each other, noone of the two has to sacrifice its' play in order to coexist. Stockton and Malone for example. Pippen could focus on defense instead of doing everything on offense like he did when MJ was playing baseball.
LeBron was a great defensive player years ago. When Love joined him and Irving, instead of him focusing a bit more on defense and letting others do hard work on offense (he could always take over when needed), he marginalized Love and put Irving into SG role.
How can Curry and Durant coexist? They still have great stats, but Durant is focusing a bit more on defense now with increased blocks and defensive rebounds.

 

We should chant "MVP! MVP!" whenever Capela has the ball.

 

How is it even remotely possible to criticize what he did since it led to a chip? (and should have been two if not for injuries in 2015... even three if Durant wasn't a b**** in 2017). Irving also fits better into an SG role. He's showing he's still a scorer first in Boston this year (not to mention he's arguably getting a bit too much credit on that team -- they were already 1st in the East before he joined, and Al Horford is stupidly underrated.

Durant is "focusing" on defense because he doesn't have to spend as much energy on offense. He still put up unbelievable offensive numbers last year because of how much easier the game is when your'e not one of the only one or two guys they have to guard closely. If anything, his teammates made him better, not vice versa. Not to mention that Lebron's numbers have changed in at *least* as significant of a way as one would expect given his role in Cleveland. His scoring is down as much as Durant's, and his assists are up. What exactly do you want from him?

To continue my thoughts above: Jimmy Butler is not Lebron James... It's in nobody's best interest for Lebron to sacrifice anything on either end. He's generally the best player on his team... At everything.

If anything, this debate has convinced me even more that this is just not valid Lebron criticism.

 

That changes nothing. We can easily reverse it and say KAT or Wiggins is causing Butler to play worse. It simply comes down to superstars personal stats will always suffer when playing with other superstars. They get less possessions and that cuts down on things like points, assists, etc.

 

I'll try to simplify then: LeBron marginalizes Love to get his on offense while sacrificing his defense. With Irving and Love being bad defenders as is, that's not the most logical thing to do.
Don't want to take away what he had done, but...he won his chip because referees suddenly remembered what is a moving block, Curry was banged up and Green was ejected (could have been ejected at least two more times before Finals, but no...). Love is a great offensive player and LeBron is not taking advantage of it.

 

I've seen enough!!!!!!
Time to build around Capela!!

 

I don't think that would sit well with our "Real" MVP. Kudos should be given to Capela for being a huge benefactor of Hardens greatness! Let's leave well enough alone...
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You can make silly excuses for the Cavs winning those finals, but there are even better ones for the Cavs NOT winning in the other years (especially 2015).

Lebron sacrificing his defense has nothing to do with playing with Love. As he's crossed 30, Lebron has increasingly obviously saved his greatest efforts, especially defensively, until late April, May, and June. He is so far and away the best player in the world come playoff time every year, and he doesn't need to "sacrifice" anything to anyone.

Love is also not *that* great of an offensive player these days. He's not good enough to average 20+ PPG on a contending team with two other ball-dominant, all-star scorers next to him. He's a great complimentary player, and nothing more.

And again, this same pattern has been seen with plenty of superstars. You're going to lose something when you join forces with players who are clearly better than you. Watch what happens with Paul this year.