Not to mention Lowry is putting up assist, rebound and steal numbers much higher than Brooks ever did. Lowry's PER this year is significantly higher than Brook's best. I know DD will point to PER not being the be all end all... which it clearly isn't. But it's a useful all encompassing stat, even more so when just factoring in offense - and Lowry is the better defender far and away anyways.
Yeeh, Lowry has a high PER, but it actually underrates him because it doesn't account for defense and all the "little" things he does like get loose balls and draw charges.
I agree, I was just preempting DD's PER isn't the end all be all comment by recognizing that as true. When you add in defense and "little" things, I agree it is a wider gulf.
I agree that Lowry isn't a franchise player at this point, and may never even get to all star status given the depth of PG's in the west. That being said, he isn't drastically outclassed by any PG either, and can out perform even the best on any given night. He just hasn't put up all star numbers consistently enough to make him untradeable at this point. Trade him if it improves the team enough to be a contender or more likely to become a contender in the near future. The problem with trading Lowry for Gasol specifically, is that your window to find Lowry's replacement and additional stars to team with Gasol is very small. Gasol can probably give you another 3 years at his current near all star level, but he has never been a great number one option on a contending team. Now if Gasol was 5 years younger, then sure I would do the deal, no question. But at his current age you don't have time to make Gasol part of a "long term" plan, and I'm not convinced that Gasol changes the team into a preferred destination for other superstars in the short term either.
I do think Brooks was playing at a borderline all star level and do think Lowry is too, but since we need someone that actually IS playing at an all star level sometimes you need to trade the borderline all stars for actuall ones. I don't think you get Pau for average players, you need above average ones. When I say above average, I mean they are close to all star. I guess my metric is a little hard to understand, I like Lowry, I just don't think he will ever be elite....Brooks either for what it is worth....and I think you have to trade your better players to upgrade. I would do a Lowry for Pau trade, because it makes the team overall better, and at this point that is what Morey needs to do. No one is untouchable when an all star player is in play, IMO. DD
But at pau's age it just isn't worth it, i believe with the right 3rd team martin scola and others will work just fine.
I like Pau but him alongside Scola/Martin/etc would leave us with no cap. That team would not contend and we would be stuck in mediocrity. At least with Lowry, Mowry has something he can work with.
That's fine, nobody here thinks Lowry will become elite. Rose is elite, Nash in his prime is elite, Lowry will obviously never get to that level. He could get to Chauncey Billups level however, and Billups in his prime was regarded as one of the best PGs in the league. He is at least borderline all-star level. You need to factor the circumstances, the conference, and the general consensus. Nobody ever threw Brooks in the all-star category, nor argued that he was snubbed from the all-stars. Lowry however, is a different story. I agree I don't think Lowry is untouchable, but I do think you have a tendency to underrate and doubt Lowry. I don't think it's fair that you call Lowry merely an "above average PG". How many PGs are there in this league? Maybe around 2-3 on each team, and 2 of them are in the rotation? We have 30 teams in the NBA, so we might have about 60 PGs in the NBA who get regular minutes. Now Lowry is at worse top 10 (I think you agreed to that before), and many would argue he is in top 7. Labeling Lowry simply an above average PG would be a huge understatement wouldn't you agree?
Brooks was never actually as good as Lowry though. He always faced looking over his shoulders. Lowry is the clear leader to some of these Rockets wins. There is no question he is a good point guard. Thats not true with Aaron Brooks. He always had questions about defense, turnovers, passing skills.
Brooks had Yao and a strong supporting cast. Kyle does this without playing off another star, much less an All Star big man. To be fair though, Brooks was never the same player after the ankle injury. Different players, with Aaron being more of an undersized scoring 2 (NOT A PG, but capable of stepping up huge on the biggest stage)...sizzling when hot from outside...And Kyle being more of a true PG with better court vision/ ability to run a team. But it doesn't stop there as Lowry is a defensive monster who can bust the three or get to the rack ... grabs boards, takes care of the ball ....We're fortunate to have such a talented LEADER. I hope he remains a Rocket for a long time.
Brooks was better at creating his own shot, at least in '09-10 when his jumpers were falling. That's something which still bothers me about Kyle, he has made great strides but when it comes time to create his own shot he relies on barreling into the lane. He could really use a little mid-range stop and pop in his game.
