This is my recollection. We had to accept Thabeet in order to get the draft pick. He was just a throw-in.
Memphis had to trade someone with a salary, because otherwise the salary won't match. And there was no reason not to take a flyer on Thabeet given the likely amnesty clause this year and our lack of a center. If you just want to go by pure result, whether we won the Shane Battier trade or not ultimately lies in the development of Motiejunas. Thabeet could get cut right now and I won't care. As long as Motiejunas succeeds in the NBA.
we practically traded rudy gay and stromile swift for Hasheem Thabeet and a protected 1st round pick I like thabeet- even more than shane especially at this point in his career, but I'm sure I would have loved Gay more.
And basically turned that crappy first round pick into Montejunas. The flyer on Thabeet was worth it alone, given the Rockets werent making the playoffs with Battier and he was not going to be resigned anyways. positives - -chance to draft Montejunas -flyer on Thabeet -expiring contract this year with Thabeet (good trade asset) Negatives- ???
I actually thought the team had a decent shot at the playoffs had they kept Battier. Remember, the Rockets finished a few games behind the Grizz, for whom Battier played a critical role down the stretch because Rudy Gay was out. The trade might have cost the Rockets their shot at the playoffs. Battier performed well last year for both the Rockets and the Grizz-- unlike the other guy that Morey traded (Brooks). The positive out of this is that the Grizz 2013 pick got packaged with the Orlando 2011 pick (23rd overall, acquired as part of the Brooks trade, which is a clear winner for Houston) for Motiejunas (and other things). Motiejunas is looking pretty good right now.
Really??.. you really thought the Rockets were going to make the playoffs before they traded Battier?? I dont know the exact record at the time, but I do know that they were slumping bad, and the offense in the starting lineup really just exploded post trade deadline. Budinger deserves alot of credit for the late season run the Rockets had despite his struggles this year. Maybe Memphis doesnt make the run they had last year if they didnt pick up Battier, but it was mainly the explosion of their bigs Gasol/Randolph that really carried them through the playoffs. I give Battier some credit, but I dont think he was the main catalyst. However I sure do miss the hell out of Chuckwagon. All those people out there that thought the grass was greener with someone who was taller and could just block shots... think again. What Chuck is able to do on defense will trump what a Dalembert or Hill can do anyday.
I think it has been one of the worst trades the Rockets have made. There was something better out there for Shane. Teams have coveted him for years. I have no doubt that Thabeet wasn't it. Unfortunately, I don't think Thabeet is going to amount to anything. You watch his strides, court awareness and his general " I Don't Give A Damn" face.
Unrestricted free agent. What team would give up a top 5 draft pick out there for a 3 month rental????... comon man.... plus you got Montejunas out of the that 1st round pick(albiet a bad 1st roun pick) -If thats the worst trade they have made then that means they are doing pretty damn good in trades otherwise.
^^ The Rockets were 28-31 at the time Shane was traded. They were not slumping at the time, but instead had won 6 out of the last 9 games, including the previous 2. Their slumps were earlier in the season, when they went 0-5 to start the year and again went 0-5 in early January when Chuck Hayes was injured. The team was doing better at that time after giving more minutes to Chuck Hayes and Patrick Patterson. If you looked at the numbers, the starting 5 of Lowry, Scola, Martin, Battier and Hayes had a very high +/-, and it was Aaron Brooks and Jordan Hill who were killing the team. The starting 5 was still very good with Bud/Lee taking Battier's minutes, so arguably the Rockets couldn't have finished the post-deadline schedule much better had they kept Battier. However, Battier did get 24 mpg in Memphis as a much needed defender/shooter and had a very high +/- for that team. Sure, Randolph and Gasol were the strength of that team, but Battier helped.
I doubt we'd be much better with Shane this season, he's not in his prime and the biggest reason we lose so many games is the overall team defense, especially in the post. If Shane was a 7'ft Center with the same defense I'd agree with some of the sentiments here.
It was, roughly speaking, trading nothing for nothing. Shane was gone after the season. Thabeet is worthless. We got a late first rounder out of it, so that's a win, but not one big enough to celebrate.
Didn't like it then, hate it now. Cap space was worth more than the filler pick and the privilege to pay a $5M bust not to embarrass himself on the court. At worst, we could have kept Chuck with the cash. Indefensible across the board.
