Cousins is pretty much a taller Z-Bo that plays defense. When he's right, he is the next great big man.
Say what you want, but Pau Gasol is the best choice to be Harden's 2nd fiddle. Gasol is a better choice than Josh Smith, Al Jefferson, and all those guys who are the "popular" choices here on CF. Gasol is like an ageless oak. He will be still dominating the league even after guys younger than him are over the hill because Gasol does not need to rely on his athleticism to be effective. He can pass, score, rebound, defend, and has excellent height and can play multiple positions. Having him next to Asik would form one of the best frontcourts in the NBA. It is not a co-incidence Morey pursued him so hard last year. Trouble is, we'd need to involved a 3rd team into any trades for Gasol because I just can't see anyone the Lakers would want from us apart from Chandler Parsons. So I would say a trade like this could go down... Rockets trade Chandler Parsons Toney Douglas 2013 top-5 protected pick Patrick Patterson Utah Trades Paul Millsap and receive Rockets 2013 lottery pick and Patrick Patterson. Lakers trade Pau Gasol and receive Paul Millsap and Chandler Parsons Rockets receive Paul Gasol and Steve Blake/Chris Duhon.
I know some of you are gonna start flaming and go "oh thats terrible value for Houston!!!!!" But you gotta give up something to get something. We get the best player in the trade by a mile and thats definitely a winner for Houston.
To everyone advocating for DeMarcus Cousins: yes that would be a great choice but so would LeBron and Bosh. There is no way Sacramento would let him go and we have nothing Sacramento would want anyways. You really think their GM would let the best young centre in the NBA leave as soon as he finishes his rookie-scale contract?!
Meh Pau seems to be on the decline, he really dislikes physical play, irritatingly soft. All he mostly seems to do now is scream on every possession.
I think just like everyone else that we are one back to the basket dominant power forward away from contention in the next 3-5 years. Gasol would command a max contract that he is no longer worth. The only power forwards in the league I would pay max to right now are Griffin, Aldridge, Love, and maaaaaybe Zach Randolph if healthy. Others that would help us would be David Lee or Josh Smith, but I wouldn't pay them max.
Yeah, you gotta give up something to get something, but I just don't think getting Gasol will get us a championship and you're giving up two young starters in our team to get him. I'd rather let the young guys develop and if/when the right time comes to execute a major trade, do it. But Lin/Harden/Delfino/Gasol/Asik is not an immediate contender. And why get an aging (and expensive) veteran if he won't make us contenders?
Thats fine other than the gaping hole at the 3 spot now. I don't think Morris or Delfino are starter material. Also, I think the Rockets only make this trade to "win now" and they are obviously planning for the future. The problem with getting Gasol is by the time Lin and Harden reach their prime, Gasol will be pushing 40. Very very bad idea to go after him. We need a power forward under 25 to go with this team. The good thing about it is that we have about a 10 year window assuming we keep our backcourt in tact. If we don't land that all star PF today, we still have time. Gasol doesn't help you win now, he eats up cap space, and he will be too old to help us win/compete in the future.
How about we just wait for a pick rather than getting Gasol for that kind of value? Fact is, we already have capspace to sign someone. Why trade Parsons and a top 5 protected pick if: a) You can lure a max FA in here next year or after b) TJones/DMo could develop into amazing PFs c) If you end up stinking you get a lottery pick, just draft another PF with that Saying we get the best player isn't really a good justification for any trade because you end up absorbing his max contract. For the Lakers, you just cleared 20M off their books and gifted them with a really good player and a pick. You talk about Gasol being an ageless oak but he still an ageless oak making the max. If we wanted ageless oaks on the squad then we wouldn't have amnestied Scola and wiped his 9M on the books. I'm not against getting Gasol but if he's coming it has got to be at a bargain price, not Parsons+lottery pick.
Gasol has never dominated the league. He's a skilled, finesse big who shies away from physical play and has under-achieved to an embarrassing degree throughout the vast majority of his career. It's really sad seeing him float around the perimeter like a PG, shooting jump shots. He might as well be a foot shorter. Which might explain why at 7'2" he averaged fewer than 10 rpg during his first 8 seasons in the league, despite averaging 36 mpg.
we would benefit from having an all star pf with length and a great shooting touch in the post? you wouldn't say?
yeah when harden comes into his prime at 25, 26 the ostrich will be what 36? at least he rocks a beard
Gasol's one of the most softest bigmen in nba history. We have these conversations every year but you guys seem to never get it. Now his brother's a different story
FWIW, I'd be all in favor of trading for Gasol and wouldn't be the least bit surprised if that is one of the alternatives the Rockets' front office is exploring. However, I think it will be very difficult to trade for Gasol during this season. A much more feasible possibility is for the Rockets to pursue Gasol next summer. Right now, the Rockets' five "top draft prospects" (Patterson, Morris, Motiejunas, White and Jones) all play the power forward position. For as much potential as they each have, it is highly unlikely that any of them ever becomes as good as Gasol is, even right now. (FYI, Gasol will still "only" be 33 when his current contract ends.) I could envision a scenario in which the Rockets once again barely miss the playoffs, then trade their late lottery pick (10-14 range) along with 1-2 of the above-referenced PF prospects in exchange for Gasol, who will then be entering the last year of his contract at about $19.3 million. The Rockets will have the cap room necessary to absorb Gasol's giant salary without sending out much salary themselves. Yes, the Rockets will first explore trades for guys like LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMarcus Cousins, but those guys are highly unlikely to be available at all whatsoever. With Gasol, you'd be banking mostly on Jim Buss balking at paying the RIDICULOUS marginal luxury tax that will be entailed with paying all their players (assuming they lock up Dwight Howard to a new super-max contract). Hence, he's probably the best player who might realistically become available next summer. With Gasol, the Rockets would be getting a nearly-ideal big man to play with Harden and Lin. He is great on the low block, in the high post or out on the perimeter. He's one of the best passing big men in the league, if not of all time. Remember, you'd still have probably THREE of the Rockets' PF prospects still on the team with Gasol, so you'd really lose very little in terms of longer-term rotation productivity elsewhere. Gasol would only have one year left on his deal, after which the Rockets could either choose to re-sign him (obviously for less than $19 million per season) or perhaps even take the resulting open cap room and make a run at Lebron James or Chris Bosh if/when they opt out of their deals with Miami. Best player (realistically) available. Avoids asset saturation among the PF prospects on the team. Perserves some cap flexibility. Seems like something Morey would at least consider.
Harden is rising, Gasol is fading. It doesn't make sense to pair the two together unless we were on the cusp of a championship. We are not. We need to be patient folks and get the RIGHT player. With the youth we have, time is no longer an issue.
All that goes to zilch if we can win the lottery. I'd rather trade one or two of these guys that look decent this season for the opportunity to switch picks in the lottery to get our MITTs on Cody Zeller. Zeller and Harden. That's the foundation for a championship competing team for the next decade or more. I really suspect Gasol may be a fall back option if Morey can't acquire one of Zeller, Cousins, or possibly Lamarcus or Love (the last two aren't feasible).
With the addition of Harden, I think the window of the Rockets having any real chance to win the lottery has pretty much closed. This season is probably the last in which the Rockets will be bad enough to even have a remote shot at lottery luck. (jopatmc, recall that my trade idea for Gasol presumes that the Rockets do NOT win the lottery. Of course, if they win the lottery and get a top-3 pick, that changes the calculus.) Another thing to consider in all of this is the recruitment of star talent. Sure, Harden putting up video game numbers is great; but if you really want to attract talent to Houston, the Rockets will need to WIN GAMES. Gasol would certainly help them do that. Make the playoffs. Win a round or two. Establish a national identity. Plus, who knows? Maybe Gasol falls in love with the idea of playing on another perreniel contender in his last few years of relevnance and works out an affordable long-term deal that preserves flexibility to add other talent. The downside (if you can even call it one) to getting Harden is that the days of relying on a high draft pick are likely over. Time to explore other alternatives to improve significantly.
