[Chad Ford Insider] Hou working on 4 team deal [Update: Done Deal - Ariza for C Lee]

None of those players had four years remaining on their contracts at the time.

 

I woke up, got on twitter, and see a thing from chad ford saying the hornets are trading Collison. So I was like "Oh, wonder where hes going" and first thing on the page is "Rockets send Trevor Ariza" and I was just like wait what

took me like an hour to process the whole thing because i totally didnt expect it

 

I LOVE this trade.

Firstly, the Rockets needed to dump Ariza to maintain the team's chemistry. He came to Houston to be a feature player, or else he would have remained as a role player on the Lakers who were a championship team. With Brooks, Martin, Scola, and Yao, we don't need anymore scorers in the starting line-up, particularly inefficient ones. I think Ariza would have become disgruntled with not being a feature player. Plus the rumors about him being a locker room disruption suggest that this scenario was possible.

Secondly, the complaints that the defense will suffer from the loss of Ariza are not recognizing the real centerpoint of the D: Yao. Our defense was poor last year (allowed 102.7 points per game, 22nd in NBA) even with two talented wing defenders. With Battier and Yao in the line-up, the defense will return to its former level. And yes Battier will start, Adelman generally displays deference to the vets.

 

My thoughts EXACTLY. People need to stop overreacting and do some more research...

 

Teams also wanted Stromile Swift. Look where that got the Rockets. Some players live off hype.

 

I'm gonna go sacrifice a chicken to change our luck. Maybe if I kill a goat that will end the curse of the Hakeem the Dream to Toronto?

 

You keep on reaching but I'll bite. If teams want a player that makes him a good trade asset. That "hype" is good for the Rockets in terms of trade value. Who cares how Ariza pans out for the other team.

 

I think it is a good move.
At least~C-Bud can have more playing time.

However, I love to see Ariza to play with Yao...to test their chemistry

 

What's the true height of CLee? 6-5 or 6-3 as someone mentioned above?

 

Artest hasn't gone off in some time. Lee has a better shot of slowing down Wade than Ariza does. Battier is still the same guy that played Bryant the best out of anyone. LBJ never went off on the Rockets with Battier guarding him and Yao down low.

 

nba.com has him listed at 6'5

 

He did not attend the pre-draft camp. So his true height with and without shoes will be hard to look up.

 

How about Morey holding onto Battier's $7 Mil contract and sending out ariza instead.

Yao, Battier, and Jefferies all expiring next season =$32 Mil (somewhere in there)

Seems like a little yao insurance, dumping a slightly over payed young talent, and going two deep at all 5 positions all while holding onto the knicks picks....

Flexibility.

 

The curse came when we traded for Barkley.

 

Eventually, you get stuck holding the bag, when other teams realize the player sucks and the trade value sinks. Then, you are left with a crappy overpaid player. Look at James Posey, Elton Brand, and Okafor. Other teams now view these players as toxic assets. New Orleans was only abe to get rid of Posey by giving up Collison.

 

You forgot Morey's favorite word that starts with an A. Everybody, all at once......

 

True. It was like adding a fat Bald Satan to Hakeem's land of Holiness.

 

Kobe/Artest? Come on... don't get me wrong, Kobe is a beast, but I'm ok with putting Battier on him and giving Lee spot minutes to defend him. As far as Artest goes, if we got the Lakers looking to him for major points, then we've won the battle already.

LeBron/Wade, I'll give you that one... but let's be honest. Even a team of Battier/Ariza couldn't stop those two, and there's no way in hell Battier and Ariza are putting up the points Wade and LeBron will be putting up.

I'm not even going to comment on Butler and Beaubios (I assume that's who you're talking about), because I don't even know why you brought those guys up.

My question is... why does it matter? They signed Ariza, paid him to play one season, then flipped him for Courtney Lee and a $6 million trade exception.

And honestly, when the Rockets signed Ariza, they didn't fully expect Budinger to turn into the player he is. Not that he's a superstar or anything, but he's pretty decent and worthy of getting solid minutes in the rotation. And now they have the opportunity to give him those minutes.

Nobody's asking Lee to sit on the bench. The Rockets had a log-jam at SF, so they uncluttered it. Battier can return to the starting lineup. Budinger can play his natural SF position with a solid 20-25 minutes, and Lee can play 15-20 minutes and give Martin some decent rest.

Lee has the defensive versatility to guard natural shooting guards as well as bigger PGs (like Deron Williams, Rodney Stuckey, Tyreke Evans, etc.). And he is pretty decent on the offensive end.

I really don't see why so many people have a problem with this trade.

 

And to further elaborate on my "Nobody's asking Lee to sit on the bench" statement... I meant sit on the end of the bench. Obviously, he's not going to start, but I get the feeling he won't have a problem with it as long as he's playing 20+ minutes on a playoff caliber team (aka, just like he did in Orlando).

 

No official heights. He never showed up to camp.
He is definitely taller than 6'3" though. Devin Harris measured 6'3" in shoes. Lee is at least an 1" standing next to him.

In the 1st picture and 2nd picture, Lee's chin is even with Devin's nose. In both pictures, Lee's eyes are level with Devin's hairline. Lee is at least an 1 1/2" taller than 6'3" Harris. Lee is about 6'4.5"-6'5".