When you can play one on one against the post and have a center and pf who can't finish at the rim your toast. As a result, OKC can play the 3 point line and not worry about the center and pf finishing at the rim. Plus neither Asik or Smith have a reliable back to the basket game or 15 footer.
The problem is our young PF's are all at least 2-3 years away and there's a good chance that some of them may never pan out. I don't see why getting a proven veteran contributor is a bad idea. Sure I'd love to hit a homerun as much as the next fan and land a Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, Josh Smith etc but if we're unable to we should be looking to add a proven player. The odds of all our young bigs (Smith, D-MO, Jones, Robinson, White) panning out are slim.
Exactly. Imagine if we had someone like Scola or Landry leftover to use in this series. Sure, they're a liability defensively but they're scrappy and Scola could provide post moves and help us resemble a halfcourt offense and Landry can finish around the bucket. I wished we could magically have one of them.
Those two guys would not be the end all be all by any stretch. Just because you have a guy who can score in the post, doesn't mean they can facilitate the offense in the post... which is what this team needs desperately, and would be key in taking pressure off of Harden/Lin on the perimeter and allow them to play off the ball more for easier buckets. Neither of those two guys, nor even someone like Millsap or Jefferson can have the offense run through them at the post like you can with a Yao, Hakeem, etc. where you allow him to create for others by sucking in the defense, and creating open looks for his perimeter players. If you give the ball to the post with Scola/Landry, etc. you are giving it to them to score, not to create for others. However, there is a guy out there who still can do some of this for a few more seasons... this guy should be available via trade this Summer as well.
I agree completely. I'm just saying at this point it would be a luxury to have Scola or Landry as opposed to Greg Smith traveling left and right or looking like a deer in headlights on defense and Asik trying a crossover to get to the bucket from 15 feet out and fumbling the ball. Players like Hakeem, Yao, Howard come about once every decade. I'm all for going after that guy via trade this summer.
Not so sure why there is so much debate for this. Any 7 foot loser has a good chance to become our PF of the future.
Based on what exactly? There whole half a seasons sample size of what they can do on the court and experience... ??? What I'm saying is that we should definitely consider trading any of these potentials for a current proven commodity star or at least borderline. All we'll be doing is further compromising the experience that our youngs would be gaining and also decreasing their trade value. Plus what's the rush? Our entire core is complete with nothing but youngins, it's not like we're right on the cusp of becoming title contenders or anything. Without that second star we won't be anywhere close from the current team outlook. That's what our focus is on now and however that 2nd star comes into play will pretty much depend on the development of our young bigs and the moves Morey makes between the draft and the beginning of next season. All I'm pretty much preaching is patience, something that's been extremely hard to obtain here at CF.
Agreed. Out PF's just aren't ready for primetime yet. Scola especially would have helped out a bit down the stretch to add some diversity to the offense. He also is very much a big game type of player who can elevate his game. If only he would have been available to keep around or coming off the bench for a "Delfino-like" contract & role.
Patience? We've advanced to the 2nd round of the playoffs once in the last 16 years, that's a lot of 1st round exits also mixed in with a lot of playoff omissions. Every team needs good veteran presence. You look at all the playoff teams and you'll see a nice mix of veterans/former stars mixed in with players in their prime or old but still good (Spurs). Clippers: Odom, Hill, Butler, Billups, Crawford, Barnes, Turiaff Nuggets: Iggy, Dre Miller Grizz: Zbo, Tony Allen, Prince GSW: Lee, Landry, Jefferson, Jack, Bogut Heat: Ray Allen, Shane battier, Birdman, Haslem, Miller, Lewis Spurs: Everyone outside of Leonard and Green are all old. Bulls: Boozer, Rip, Deng, Hinrich, Noah Knicks: Entire roster basically Lakers: all key players are old with the exception of Howard. Nets: Everyone is right around 28 or so. Thunder: Everyone outside of their big 3 is older than 28. Our oldest player is a 30 year old Delfino who's a journeyman which we didn't count on to contribute very much but has been a pleasant surprise because he understands the game and has been around a while. My point is if we land a 2nd star and sign some key veteran pieces while a couple of our young assets continue to develop we will be closer to becoming title contenders than you may think. We do not have room or time to groom Smith, Jones, Robinson, Dmo and White. We should look to keep 2 at most and package the rest.
Yup. The bright side is there probably will be players like that available this summer which we can and should pick up. Right now it's kind of baptisim by fire for a lack of better terms for a lot of our players. Good learning experience.
I think you are right on the money here. If for some reason Morey can acquire a 2nd piece, you might be surprised how quickly someone like Greg Smith gets replaced by a veteran player almost overnight. The main reason why this team is full of young players is that Morey was trying, and is still trying to wheel and deal. Young, high upside guys on rookie contracts are much more valuable in trades than someone like Grant Hill on a vet min contract. Once the core is set, I can guarantee you that there will be more veteran pieces added almost immediately although I dont think Parsons, Asik, & Lin will be replaced in the rotation if they are not traded in the deal. Anyone else is not named James Harden or whoever Star #2 is would be free game to replace. If Morey can stash a high upside player to develop Im sure he will try to do so, but you wont see someone like Greg Smith in the starting lineup getting 25 minutes a night almost ever.
Someone else mentioned him in this thread... Sorry I forgot the posters name... The only problem is he's going to want a butt load of money. T_Man
Im not sure if he's worth max dollars, but he would be worth max dollars to the Rockets given he's pretty much a perfect fit moving forward. He has two more years left on his contract at a respectable 14 & 15 mil the year after in 2014/15. Thats not terrible given the production he gives you. If Portland is going to trade him and they want to get top dollar, most likely you are looking at either February of 2014 or Summer of 2014 assuming good health. From a basketball standpoint, LMA or Kevin Love are almost perfect fits on this current team because of their abilities to space the floor from the PF or even Center position at times in a smaller lineup. I like LMA possibly even more than K Love because of his ability to also post up PF's. He's not quite the passer that an elite post passing big like Gasol is, but he's a better floor spacing big man & has far less mileage on his body. I would be all for the Rockets going all in on trading for LaMarcus Aldridge anywhere between this Summer and the Summer of 2014. After that, you have to evaluate what his health is like, and other options before you make a run at him in free agency in the Summer of 2015. long story short, the front office is most likely focused on acquiring him in the next year on his current contract if they are inquiring about him at all. I think they should if they aren't already.
LMA and KL are the best two options outside of getting D Howard. Out of the two, I think KL would be better for Houston, he sets great picks and his offense are jumpers, threes and putbacks....
I completely agree with you regarding requiring vet presence(s) for major playoff pushs. But that all comes with becoming a title contender. There's really no point in signing those guys now as opposed to building on our assets now and finding that 2nd or even 3rd star with the peices we've accumulated over the years. I'm definitely not saying we don't have patience as far as the entire scope of the franchise goes, because it has been some time since we've been legitimate title contenders but this is the team that Morey rebuilt into a younger and potential filled squad within the last 5 years of losing our two biggest stars, it's still going to take time to build on the star we just acquired this offseason. Point is this team is young and there's really no need to find that missing peice of vet experience before we even complete our search of a 2nd star. Hopefully that will come sooner rather than later but for now all we really have to work with is on our roster, whether it be thru development or trade assets but they are definitely there.
