Brooks and possibly Camby on a full roster; Something's gotta Give!

What's the point for Portland to trade LMA for Asik and Ilyasova? If LMA is too old for their rebuild, Asik and Ilyasova are not much younger. They will prevent them from tanking for now, while aren't as talented as LMA to keep for the next 5+years. Basically that will make their position worse for the future.

If Portland actually trade LMA with 2 years remaining on his contract, it has to be for top-10 rookie/pick(s) and/or 2nd/3rd year players showing all-star potential. See Jrue Holiday trade for example. Of course they may not find such a trade now, but they are not in such a hurry.

 

Post #86 is excellent.

 

I don't think Portland wants to trade LMA because he's too old, but rather he doesn't want to stay. In that case, Asik and Ilyasova would be a very decent return, especially when next trade deadline or offseason comes.

 

Very insightful post indeed. There is only one point I don't agree with. Morey will exercise patient with DMo.

7-footers with post moves do not grown on trees. When was the last time you see a 7-footer with DMo's post abilities coming in the league??

It was unfair to judge DMo based on his rookie season. We only had glimps of what DMo can do. He thrives on low post but Mchale had him standing at the corners. We didn't need a 7-footer to make corner 3's. Anyone who can hit 3's better than DMo couldve performed better. His abilities weren't utilized properly.

If DMo bulks up like he said he did and holds his position on D, McHale needs to design plays for DMo. Until then, we all should exercise patient.

 

+1. This will be his breakout year. No homer.

 

Agree. He had some good analysis, but I dont quite agree that D-Mo played himself off the team already. Im FAR from a fanboy.

I dont think every raw young player is getting swapped for an old crusty vet. Yes its likely that D-Mo is high on the list of excess asset who can be dealt for some decent return. But remember the Rockets made some investment in D-Mo as well. I dont think he David Andersen'ed it already. Not every rookie is gonna come out hard.

 

why would you give post ups to the 5th option while dwight howard is on the court? dmo is better for the bench.


canaan is a project. d-league

convington is a project. d-league

bj young is a project. d-league

the other guy from SL is another project - d league.

camby and brooks are there for the juwan howard roster. chances are they wont play much. just there as "locker room" guys/insurance

 

DMo is 10 time better than Dwight posting up. He is 5th in the league in efficiency (1.05 PPP) posting up while Dwight ranked 121. That tells you how talented DMo is and he was a rookie!

 

The Rockets bench worries me as much as their lack of a legit four, but I have zero doubts about Morey's ability to acquire depth, but we must remember that Morey can't trades assets for depth until other questions have been resolved.

Patience.

 

who's going to get the ball in their hands with harden, howard, parsons, lin, and whatever PF is on the floor?

those possessions take too much time and if anyone is going to get the ball in the post on the starting 5, it will be howard. mostly because he makes 20 million dollars.

you need a guy who can be effective without the ball in their hands with that starting 5.

 

The others things I can understand. But not these two trades. If Morey has shown anything in his years here, it's that he only trade established rotation player for the purpose of obtaining assets like picks. He never trades potential for potential, only production for potential. This is because production is always more valued than a latent "potential" player on a different team. TRob the perfect example of a player losing value because he has not produced yet.

In the case of our PF situation, Morey will keep everyone until someone emerges from the group. Then that player will get traded, and they promote within. For example:

Patterson/Morris->Jones/Smith/DMo
Rafer->Brooks->Lowry->Dragic
Battier->Budinger->Parsons

Morey will always trade away the established player rather than the prospect. If Greg Smith is worthy of being a backup, Asik will be traded. If Beverley shows he can be a starter(and Brooks/Canaan as backups), Lin will be traded. Until then, Morey will keep everyone as long as a star isn't available.

 

Casspi has a great hands and is going to have a role in this team...

Williams also can get some minutes at 2 spot

 

Reggie Williams will surprise a lot of folks. He can flatout shoot the 3 and score.Very underrated signing and sound move by Morey.

 

Ersan led lg in charges

 

What people have to understand is that Ersan led lg in charges and will put his body on the line for the team, much like a Battier

 

People need to understand this when Dwight is 34 and Asik is 34 Asik will be a better player why? Because Asik never relies on his athletic ability and his longevity is ridiculous he hasn't missed an NBA game in his 3 years in the league. #DON'TTRADEASIK

 

Dwight has a chance to be a Hall of Famer. Asik doesn't. But I completely agree about his durability. He's a rare big from that standpoint. He's also one of the grittiest bigs in the league. Durability and grit can take you a long way. Big Asik fan!

 

Well IMHO what people don't understand is you can actually pay 38M for the C spot. I find no issue with Asik splitting time at the C and PF, the center spot is the rarest commodity in the NBA, the jump between Asik and say, Greg Smith is ridiculous.

I find that guards and Cs tend to differ in the NBA regarding playing time, guards tend to get better with more PT as they can put up more touches etc. But for big men, these guys are battling it out on the post and most of the time they end the game doubled up and clutching their shorts. If we want to create a dynasty and preserve Howard's health/longevity, we should splurge on a backup and keep Asik. It'll allow him to keep his mins per game to just 30-35 instead of 38-42, and that'll be a big help. Howard didn't have back problems until Orlando traded his very capable backup to PHX.

 

fairly good points...and in the past I might even agree.

That is no longer moreys strategy. Morey is no longer about the "you can never have too many assets" mentality. Neither are we signing camby and miller to trade our rookies for less then we their value if they do anything significant this year.

Morey might trade all the players you named but it wont be for draft pics. It will be for a player that can help this year.

We are not in the business of collecting assets any more. We might try and upgrade assets like. Turn Dmo and a future 1st into a lowry type pick that we got from the raptors.

But that will just be to give something to trade for a 3rd star.


So although your though process is in line with moreys historic behavior. We all know, and morey has stated that has all changed. He is no longer trying to hord up assets and draft picks for swing for the fences moves ( like royce white).

But move our assets for talent to put around Harden and Howard now in their prime window.