I like Aaron Gray; he definitely has potential as the 4th guy off the bench who comes in when the starter picks up 2 quick ones in the first, then proceeds to make 4-5 good plays in a row as the announcers say "xxx is giving Coach YYY some great minutes tonight". Basically, the role Chuck Hayes should be in. Looking ahead though, I can't really see where he gets minutes. I think that Patrick Patterson should get as many minutes as fouls allow next year, which will necessitate playing some backup 5. After that, you need to give minutes to Hill/Thabeet to see if there's anything there; and Marcus Morris is going to need time there as well as he gets acclimated to the NBA. If there's no serviceable backup center on the team between Thabeet and the multitude of athletic 4s, fine. But you have to at least try and see. All Gray is going to be is a crutch for McHale, a minutes sponge that gives him a chance to let the younger players rot.
He's garbage. He's just a tall still no offensive player. A statue that just takes up space. Minimum contract type player.
I would rather play thabeet 48mins a night then see Aaron Gray in a Rockets jersey. Seriously why would you want a 7 ft stiff on the team when we have one? Chuck Hayes > Gray
This is exactly how I feel. The botom line in looking at signing a free agent center is COULD HE ACTUALLY OUTPERFORM CHUCK. If the answer is no, then dont waste the money. Trust me, I want a shotblocking center as much as anyone on this board, but shotblocking, space-eating, and "intimitation" do not outweight poor production in almost every other facet of the game. If they want a 7 footer to just start the game, win an occasional tipoff, and only play 15 situational minutes a game then just play Thabeet. Like Bima said, your already paying the guy. -That being said I fully support Morey working the phones on a trade for an upgrade big like Robin Lopez, Al Jefferson, Kaman, or even Biedrins. If trading Hill & Thabeet as expirings lands you Biedrins or Kaman I would be happy with that upgrade. But signing another dud center to play 15 minutes a game, look better coming off the bus, and keep the fans happy makes no sense when you already have Thabeet there to do the that trick.
The question is not whether the guy is better than Chuck overall. We are not talking about giving all of Chuck Hayes minutes to Aaron Gray. The question we should ask is whether Gray is better than the current C crop (including both Chuck, assuming he returns, and Scola, Patterson, Hill, etc.) in certain specific situations/matchups. To me the anwer is clearly "yes." For one thing, Aaron Gray does almost as good a job guarding Dwight Howard as Chuck Hayes-- and you need more than one guy defending Howard due to foul trouble. He is also an above-average rebounder. In many situations, I'd rather have Gray on the floor than, say, Jordan Hill.
http://www.nola.com/hornets/index.ssf/2011/12/new_orleans_hornets_in_the_hun.html You Aaron Gray haters can suck it. Real hoops professionals knows how valuable Gray is. By the way, Morey can learn a thing or two about how to treat people right from the Hornets management. Truly classy management does not make your own guys wait on the back burner of the bus.
LOL at the people here overrating Aaron Gray. I think Aaron Gray's success had more to do with Chris Paul than it did with Gray himself. Chris Paul can make any big man look good. remmeber Tyson Chandler that one season. I think Gray's success againist the Lakers last year had more to do with how good Chris Paul is than Gray But im on board with saying bring him on the Rox( we need all the bigs we can get)
