[Yahoo] Lowry is younger, better, cheaper than Alston.

Agreed. Didn't know what to think at first, but in hindsight that may have stemmed from the confusion of not subsequently dealing Artest after an apparent transitional move.

After stepping back though, I really like this trade for the team.

 

pass first pg's are hard to find which is why rafer has stuck around so long. the nba is filled with combo pg's and half of them will never get the amount of playing time rafer has had so far. the magic got a great player, a veteran pg who knows how to pass, which is so rare in the NBA these days. wish you well rafer.

 

I do. In the short term it's kind of a wash statistically.

Lowry - now - is a slightly more efficient player than Rafer. Yes Rafer has a better A/T ratio and is a better distributor, but Lowry's a better scorer and shooter and it balances out slightly better in Lowry's favor in the end. Hell if Rafer actually could score underneath I imagine his assists would be way lower. As we saw in 2007, Rafer was a pass first guard for a reason - because other teams TRIED to make him a shoot first one. That speaks volumes for Rafer's smarts that he managed to pass as much as he did, though he still managed to bomb away at a rate that would would make Vernon Maxwell throw weights at people's heads.

If Lowry improves even a bit (and keep in mind, Lowry in year 3 is now 23, that's younger than Rafer as a rookie, for example) then it's a no brainer. THe Rockets got a younger, better, cheaper PG as the thread title indicates.

Factor in some short-term disruption, sure, but let's face it, Alston-Artest-Battier-Scola-Yao & Co. did not have a materially better off chance of doing something serious (WCF or higher) in the playoffs than does Lowry-Artest-Battier-Scola-Yao.

 

You should post more often in the GARM Sam, that is an EXCELLENT post.

DD

 

remember Sura's crazy ability to snare those rebounds?

i'm salivating if lowry can do anything close to that.

 

I guess your ignorance about why I post here nearly says it all. Given that you've been a member since 2002 and yet have no clue that I merely post here because this is the best NBA BBS on the 'net, and not because I am a Rockets fan, it tells me that your reading comprehension might be a bit off.

This was a trade that helps the Magic, I wrote that in the post. I just feel as if Lowry would be an upgrade over Alston at this point, as even this early in his career he is already out-playing Alston by just about any metric you want to throw out there save for three-point percentage. And the fact that Rafer shoots about five and a half threes for every 36 minutes he plays despite his middling (35 percent) shooting from behind the arc, his poor entry pass skills, and his too-high usage rate more than make up for the three-point gulf in my eyes.

But I can give an opinion without thinking that a particular team is "so dumb that they have absolutely no clue."

I can also go ahead and rightfully affix that quote to you, and be pretty confident in my summation, even if you provided the words.

 

As for why morey made this trade, btw, it's almost auto-pilot for Morey/numbers game, and for K Dwyer's headline writer:

23 year old PG with a 14.5 career PER at 1 mm per year

vs.

32 year old PG with a 13.5 career PER at 4 mm per year


23 < 32 (Younger)
14.5 > 13.5 (Better)
4 > 1 (Cheaper)

 

If you think that a link on this BBS that eight people will click on affects the way I write ... boy are you off.

As to your first batch of mess, it's possible that there is a pros and cons trade deadline article with grades and analysis that has yet to be posted, as these posts were constructed merely to act as a sort of wire service for our site.

 

1.Lowry is not the STARTING PG of Grizzlies, even can't gain a position in transition roster. How can you say he is better than Alston? He has not proved himself.
2.Point guards usually reach their peaks after 30-year-old IMO. Just look at Jason Kidd and Steve Nash.
3.Lowry is an expiring contract. Base on this, I would understand the deal. But it doesn't mean Lowry is the better one.

 

Between Rafer, Brooks, and Lowry, I would've gotten rid of Brooks. Unfortunately, Orlando would have no desire to acquire a young, inexperienced PG like Brooks. Otherwise they would've just went for Lowry themselves.

 

Love the blog, KD

 

I always click your stuff Kelly, I may not agree all the time, but I enjoy your writing style.

DD

 

PER was not meant to be some sort of absolute stat to determine who's better. Even Hollinger would tell you that. Lowry put up his numbers on a terrible team, with zero accountability and zero pressure. Rafer put up his numbers on a winning team with much more pressure and responsibility. This move was made to get under the luxury tax.

 

or to get a younger PG with an upside as opposed to keeping an aging PG who's peak was never that high to begin with

 

We have more salary liability now than before the trade with Cook's $3.5M for this season AND next season. This had NOTHING to do with getting under the luxury tax. We were already there for this season.

 

A hyperactive ball of energy who was essentially playing his first pro season, Lowry might have been an all-defense selection if anybody watched Grizzlies games. On a team for which a lot of players were going through the motions, his extra effort stood out. Lowry drew 47 offensive fouls, the fourth-most in the league; on a per-minute basis, the only perimeter player to draw more was the Lakers' Derek Fisher.

Lowry's other defensive metrics were outstanding, too -- among point guards he was sixth in blocks per minute, 12th in steals and seventh in defensive rebound rate. Overall, the Grizzlies gave up 5.7 points fewer per 48 minutes with him on the court.

Hollinger's scouting report. If he gets consistency on his jump shot, he can turn into a great player.

 

Man, I hope Morey's player analysis and evaluation runs a bit deeper than PER.

Our player personnel director was an assistant coach at Villanova when Lowry was there. He was practically gushing over Lowry, or so it seemed from the Chronicle. I suspect that played a big role here.

 

Yeah, I have much the same thoughts on this. I actually think the success of this trade in the short term depends more on Aaron Brooks than Kyle Lowry. The starting spot is his to take control over, and I don't see Adelman switching that up with hardly 25 games left to go.

 

It's not absolute but it's a pretty good one. But OK let's look at strength of teams - Rafer's first Houston team was terrible and lotto bound, he managed a 12.6 PER, roughly the same as he does now.

 

Im certain it does. Morey certainly isn't stupid, so I think Lowry will turn into a pleasant surprise. If you think about it, Brooks and Alston were somewhat redundant, so its good that we have different options now. For example how many times recently have we talked about how important defense is. This Lowry kid gives us a great option at the one now.