You'd be crazy if you didn't want to WJ for Martin. Don't get me wrong, I like Martin, but I think we really need to rebuild and there's no better way then to get a sophmore top 5 pick from last years draft. Get him and a pick, tank this season and build around a young team.
If there's anything I've learned in the Morey era... it's that free agency is not a good bet. you will lose out to the LAs and NYKs for the premium players and end up overpaying for the 2nd rate ones. Morey supports this notion.
Beasley is younger than Martin and will be better than him very soon. You must not have watch any of his games last season if you gonna say that. He put his past issues aside and was Minny's go to scorer. At 22 he's already a 20 & 5 player. There was a reason why he was compared to Carmelo and Durant coming into the NBA...
Okay, this love for Wes Johnson is delusional. I'm not even going to worry about it, because, unless McHale is the GM now instead of Morey, there is no way the Rockets would do something like trade Martin for Wes. Now, on Martin, I would be happy to see him go BUT, you have to get value for him. Martin scored 23 a game last year and was exceptionally efficient. If you give players like that away for nothing (which Wes is), you'll become the Bobcats or something. Why is Wes nothing? The guy was a 23 year old rookie who only averaged 9 points a game on a terrible TWolves team, and scored that while shooting lower than 40% from the field. Again, the TWolves have nothing except Love and Williams to offer for Martin, and I don't see them doing that.
I'm pretty much for this deal just because it would end up hurting the Hornets when they trade Paul to the Clippers. I mean, trading a player that the Hornets rejected to the team that the pick they get in that Paul to Clippers deal belongs to? Poetic justice, baby. Throw in Wesley Johnson and I'm all for it.
Pekovic was a rookie last season, and far from a scrub. He has been a dominant center on one of the best teams in Europe for a few years now. The fact that you would take Michael Beasley over him is mindblowing... <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fb9GPJ2-b4k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Daryl Morey has been rumored to be after Pekovic & Randolph in the past...
Why are you guys listing Beasley and Randolph? Don't we have enough 4's on this team already? I think Pekovic or (shudders) Darko would be more likely along with Wes.
Also Minnesota HAS cap space, if the Rockets want to dump Martin's contract, make another push for Nene while getting talent back in return (Wesley Johnson, etc) then this is something worth considering at the very least.
I am not going to say that Beasley doesn't have a lot of potential and a lot of talent. He does. Way more than Martin. In fact, he reminds me a lot of Anthony. Except the part where he is totally nuts and undependable. Also, has Anthony ever missed the playoffs? No. Anthony has made the playoffs every year he has been in the league. Non flaky talent makes teams good, and Beasley does not do that. He couldn't even make the TWolves decent -- which Martin did for both the Rockets and the Kings. So, overall, you are right about Beasley's talent and potential -- but there is no way I would 1) depend on that guy 2) trade an asset as valuable as Martin for him or 3) cheer for him. Also, K-State sucks...Hook 'em.
Martin makes like 12 million. Wesley Johnson + Randolph would be about 7 million. I believe the Timberwolves are about 6-7 million under the cap right now.
I see this this as Plan E. Plan A: Gasol(Failed) Plan B and C: Gasol(99% chance fail) or Nene(??) Plan D: Various desperate measures to trade for someone of note to make this at least a 4-6 seed in the west. Plan E: Screw it and rebuild. This is when the Rockets will start seriously entertain offers for KMart. As for what I'd want. Wes Johnson and Pekovic plus fillers. I'm assuming Derrick Williams and Love are both obviously non-starters. But Wes Johnson plays Martin's position. And of their role players Pekovic looks the best. I'm not particularly high on their low-IQ/high-athleticism guys myself, but if Morey trades for one so be it. They just seem redundant with Hill/Thabeet IMO.
They do since minny has almost 6 mill in cap space, we save about 5 mill. Cut thabeet and we have about 16 mill in cap space along with WJ, AR and the pick, sounds good right?
The more I think about, I really don't wanna break these guys up! Neither Gasol is gonna make us a contender Nene won't make us a contender I say sign Dalembert for as cheap as possible. If we are good, then we can try to shock some people in the playoffs, if not... we get a good draft pick!
Here's what I got: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7s4mecp Not exactly going to make me print playoff tickets, but it'd work.
Beasley a 3 that can play the 4. Randolph is a 4 that can play the 5 permanently if he added a few pounds. The fact you would take Pek over Michael Beasley like is freaking mindblowing... 22yr old 20 and 5 player over Darko's backup... Yea I'm picking Beasley everytime. and I already just mentioned they've been rumored to be after Randolph before...
I watched him play, and I liked him coming out of college, but I think he is one of those players who doesn't translate in the NBA because of the increased quickness and athleticism. Sort of like Thabeet. In college his lack of speed and power was not a glaring issue, and his height and size was able to be a force on the court. But in the NBA he does not have the attributes to allow him to even be part of the game -- he becomes a glaring liability. With Wes Johnson it is not so glaring, but the tools that allowed him to be so great in college are not enough for him to be imposing in the NBA. He is just lacking on the court when I have watched him. Average speed, average athleticism, average strength -- he just has no physical tool that he can use to carve out a niche in the NBA.
