Sources: Morey has been trying to get Rondo/Rubio this month

Damien Lillard destroyed the rocket guards as well.

 

First of all, I think Harden could improve his defensive efficiency by just deciding in his mind to do it; in fact I've seen him play hard, effective defense in close games before, so I know it's possible for him even if he's exhausted. I'm not denying that he could use a break on offense, but the embarrassing clips reels the Internet loves to assemble for him don't exactly lie. It's a mental game as well. And speaking of that...

I hope you're right that Morey is thinking about a pass-first PG. After the past two seasons, I can confidently say I don't want Harden running the offense. Harden can be a brutal assassin on the court, but he's not a field marshal at all. You need a commander out there deciding when to use him to infiltrate to the basket, when to use a tank (Howard), when to use artillery (Ariza), etc. I do quite love Beverly for his defense and excess energy that feeds the rest of the team, but he hasn't played that role. I'm not sure if that has to do with him or McHale. Having not watched too much of either of them, I don't know whether Rondo or Rubio could do it either. Having watched Chris Paul singlehandedly carve us to ribbons, however, with his incredible court vision, I can say that that's what I want: a proper point guard designed to enhance all of our other players.

 

lol

Must be a fan from another team. Harden is among the best at ball handling so to say to take it from Harden and hand it to someone else is stupid.

 

@semisolidsnake, why take the ball out of hardens hands when he is responsible for running an elite offense the last two seasons? Unless you think it was Lin or parsons that were responsible for our offense lol

 

I'd only trade for that salary if it is part of a D. West (who makes 12 mil this year and next) trade. Not sure if we have enough salary to trade with our exceptions, but I'd expect any combination of Jones / Monte / NO 1st / our 1st / 2 second rounders / Capela / Beverly may be enough if the Pacers want to shed some salary while getting some young assets and picks. West and Hill aren't as sexy as Love / Bosh / Rondo, but they would take us to the next level regardless. I really like West next to Howard.

 

We don't have our 1st this year.
To get West I'm pretty sure we have to include Terry and K Pap. Terry is a goner before seasons end but not sure if we're willing to include kostas in this case.

 

We gonna ger horford when hawks get new ownership

 

Yes I know that really worked well against Portland LOL.

 

$12+ mil for Wicky!
Wicky for $12 mil or Lowry for $12 mil. Whoops, missed out on that one.
Wicky for $12 mil for Chandler for $15 mil?

Spoiler

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/JerryZgoda">@JerryZgoda</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DarrenWolfson">@DarrenWolfson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/APkrawczynski">@APkrawczynski</a> Is it wise to pay a PG $12 Million/year if he's not even a top 12-15 PG? I said same for Pek too</p>&mdash; Chris Hennen (@MNsportswriter) <a href="https://twitter.com/MNsportswriter/status/522833668121698304">October 16, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/MNsportswriter">@MNsportswriter</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DarrenWolfson">@DarrenWolfson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/APkrawczynski">@APkrawczynski</a> that's the dilemma, you're not paying him for what he is. You're paying for what he might be</p>&mdash; Jerry Zgoda (@JerryZgoda) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryZgoda/status/522833895553646592">October 16, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/JerryZgoda">@JerryZgoda</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MNsportswriter">@MNsportswriter</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DarrenWolfson">@DarrenWolfson</a> New TV contracts come into play too. $12M today won't be the same with a bigger cap in a few yrs</p>&mdash; Jon Krawczynski (@APkrawczynski) <a href="https://twitter.com/APkrawczynski/status/522834289247797251">October 16, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/APkrawczynski">@APkrawczynski</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryZgoda">@JerryZgoda</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MNsportswriter">@MNsportswriter</a> The Wolves could trade Ricky at $12M/year or slightly higher. So contract wouldn't be a disaster.</p>&mdash; Darren Wolfson (@DarrenWolfson) <a href="https://twitter.com/DarrenWolfson/status/522834615560454144">October 16, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Chandler shouldn't even be brought into the discussion.

But the Lowry one does indeed hurt. Lowry at $12 million is such a bargain, RELATIVELY speaking.

The only thing to note there is that a lot of Lowry's improvement has been Usage related. Not that such a correlation is bad. He's a good player and should have higher usage....

BUT, comparatively, Lowry's usage was 22.9% last year, the highest of his career. Rubio's usage was 16.4%... and with that, Rubio still was the better assist man, rebounder, and steal man, though also slightly higher turnover (all numbers adjusted to per 100 possessions).

If DM is truly going after Rubio, this might/definitely is playing into his thinking. Rubio MIGHT actually be a better fit next to Harden, precisely because he ISN'T a scorer... yet still can be that point man to run the offense.

Still, clearly anyone would take Lowry over Rubio at this point, or Dragic over Rubio.

 

Either guy would be a horrible fit on this Rockets team. I want neither of them, and I hope Morey is just doing his due diligence rather than making a legitimate offer.

 

No. I would rather watch Patbev grow his game. Hill seems to shrink in crunch time with turnovers and missed big shots. He hasn't lived up to the potential he had in San Antonio under Pop.

 

Morey would've pulled the trigger for Lowry at $12mil in a S&T. He rejected the outright signing. There is a huge difference between the two. Signing Lowry meant the Rockets would've had to renounce both of their trade exceptions and the MLE. Meaning no Ariza, no Papa, no Lin's TE they currently hold, no Terry's expiring and the 2nd rounders they came with, and they would've had to keep Parsons at his ridiculous money and trade kicker, given that they couldn't S&T for Ariza.

In hindsight I personally would've still done it knowing that Bosh/Melo would not have came here, but the math is much different with a straight up signing as it is through trades like this.

 

What assets do we have to get a rondo or rubio? nothing really that ainge would take

 

lol

It also got us that 4th seed. The Rockets are considered an elite team. Why mess with the one thing that don't need messing with? We have serious problems in other areas that stops us from advancing deep in the playoffs.

 

In this deal D morey pleasse also get D Schroeder. This guy just needs playing time. I like Rondo like many others, but if you can get a guy with many of hs physical skillsets for about a 10 percent of the price against the cap, why not?

 

Signed Wesley Mathews LOL

 

Celtics just picked up another PG. So...soon, right?

 

will bynum makes rajon rondo expendable!

 

Actually, Morey may take a look at Bynum if somehow he can get rid of several contracts like Canaan, Garcia, ish and Dorsey. Bynum is still better than Canaan and ish.