HPbasketball Hardwood Paroxysm Pretty sure the Yao thing has sent Rockets fans off the deep end. They're acting like this trade makes them a top-three seed. #uhigh He must be following this thread. :grin:
I actually went to high school with him. He didn't have a great attitude back then, but maybe he has changed. I know he can't shoot for crap though.
All I here from everyone is complaining. No matter what you people are never happy. There's only so much Morey can do with what the Rockets got. I think he's done a pretty decent job so far.
Gasol was traded to LA in the beginning of his prime. They gave up on him in MEM just like people gave up on Zack Randoplh. Now look at him.
A couple of 50 win season in a tough Western Conference. We saw Toronto with Bosh as the franchise guy.
Could we separate the debate of the quality of the trade with the updates of the trade into different threads?
I feel like we as NBA fans in general are missing the boat on this trade. You can always attribute NBA championships to "superstar" play, but there are 10-15 "superstars" in this league. What sets some apart from others? It's not just accumulating superstars, like Miami did. At its core, basketball still requires some STRATEGY. Dallas did have Dirk, but no way they win last year without Dirk AND Chandler in the frontcourt. LA had Kobe, but no way they win without the size of Odom, Gasol, Bynum. Boston turned Perkins into a defensive force and, combined with Garnett, really did have the toughest frontcourt that year. There's a theme here people. The superstars do matter at the end of games when you need a bucket and everyone knows it yet STILL cannot do anything to prevent it (see Dirk last year, Kobe two years ago, and Lebron's FAILURES each of those years lol). But they matter a lot less than the size and post domination that carries a team for the other 98% of each game. That frontcourt size is more difficult to acquire than the late game moxy, and frankly it's not a mutually exclusive endeavor either, as your dominant post player can also be your go-to guy in the crunch. Dirk was that guy last year, Garnett when Boston won, Duncan when SA won, and Shaq when LA won. There's a precedent for building championships this way, people. LA never gave Gasol full rein to try this out because Kobe wanted the ball at the end no matter what, but who's to say he could not have been the Guy? I know I'm always defending stuff like this, but I'm just trying to see all the angles to this deal that are makign it worth doing, if our front office thinks it's worth it.
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/...ris-paul-los-angeles-lakers-trade-resubmitted The New Orleans Hornets' three-team trade with the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets that would land Chris Paul in L.A. has been resubmitted to the league office for approval, according to sources close to the talks. The Rockets' part of the trade is exactly the same, with Houston sending Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and a 2012 first-round draft pick to New Orleans, while receiving Pau Gasol from the Lakers. The rest of the specific changes to the original trade scenario were not immediately available, but sources told ESPN.com that a reconfigured trade has been presented by the league-owned Hornets to NBA commissioner David Stern in hopes that he'll approve this construction after vetoing Thursday's trade in principle.
Best case scenario. Martin/Scola/Dragic for Gasol/Nene/Max Mid Level Player Worst Case Martin/Scola/Dragic for Gasol/Dalembert/ Still about 5 Million cap room for somebody (after amnesty cut)/Max Mid Level Player Either scenario not too bad. Prefer the first option but either way drastically changes our front line
Whats the bigger picture we are all missing here? If they sign Nene, they are better immediately. They also have enough talent at the 4/5 to trade youth aggressively for contender like pieces to fill out the starting lineup.
