Rockets showing interest in trading for Ricky Rubio?

At first I was against it since Rubio can't shoot.

But now that I think about it, we don't need scoring in the PG position, we need someone who can defend and pass --- which is what Rubio does best.

We will have Harden to make the shots accompanied by Anderson and Gordon to help him with the offense. Remember, we finally have shooters.

At the same time, Rubio would be an upgrade from Beverley.

This would be a fun offense to watch.

 

The Bulls offense was designed for the point guard to score.... Hence why they had a string of backup point guards put up good numbers while Rose was out. Later Thibs brilliantly ran an outside high screen with Noah running the offense.

As for Lowry, you can always point to the exception to the rule.... Some players like Michael Redd, Kyle Lowry and Patrick Beverly learn to shoot well. However Rubio has been in the league and has never shoot over 39% from the floor and is a terrible finisher.... So it is possible but really unlikely.

 

Your argument is topical/surfacy. It has no depth and doesn't quantify his defensive and offensive impact.


Who cares? Hey who cares about Rubio's shooting percentages? He's not a scorer. He's not a shooter. He's a distributor who is a great ball hawk.

 

They would love to trade Dunn and Levine for a "young superstar"... But no one wants to give up a young superstar.

 

LMFAO kind of like Romney in 2012?

You can hope Rubio is a Rocket (as long as they don't give up anything of value I don't care) but he is an absolutely horrible shooter and finisher and that is an enormous part of the modern NBA; especially for perimeter players.

 

The Cavs won the Finals, effectively, by finding the weakness in the GSW offense... which at that point in time was Harrison Barnes. He's not a bad shooter generally, but was horrible for 3 games. Once the Cavs figured that out, they doubled down on it.

Granted, I'll take the Warriors success over the past few years... but the point is that decent defensive teams will hone in on Rubio's shooting and expose the weakness in the offense.

The TWolves last best team was when KLove and Rubio were both pretty decent for a year and they were in 8th seed contention fairly deep into the year. But they lost games in the 4th quarter that year over and over and over because defenses did just that in the 4th quarter... picked their poison.

I don't think it will work.

But then, I don't suspect the Rockets to be championship contenders this year. If he had one less year on the contract I'd be tempted. It's not that it's a ton of money at $13-$15 million a year in the new economics... but that it goes through 18/19. It would be much more moveable, if necessary, with one less year and then perhaps worth the risk.

 

You can hope James Harden stays a Rocket but he is a horrible defender and the worst turnover player in the NBA and that is an enormous part of the modern NBA, especially for perimeter players.

James needs Rubio like your feet need your hands. And vice versa.

 

That's true, I overlooked this significant aspect.

 

That's not really saying much though, because a player improving in general is more the exception than the rule... let alone shooting. How many players wash out of the league within 4 years?

but there's more than a few players who started off as poor 3 point shooters but became better over time. Lowry was in the league 5-6 years and was shooting 27% from 3.

Draymond Green, Ariza who was a 23% shooter in college, Carmelo, Patty Mills, Spencer Hawes, Bosh, Ibaka ...

But the point is, going after and taking risks on guys like Rubio is how we start moving towards championships, not going after Ryan Anderson who has a very low chance of improving on his 35% 3 point shooting at 31 years of age and a multitude of injuries. You're getting face value for the 20 million.

You pay 12-13 million for Rubio the next 3-4 years, and if he stays the same as he is now, you pretty much break even on your investment.

But what if he improves from his 32-33% from 3? You just have a sub-superstar pass first PG that has elite vision, elite defense, and can shoot well enough to keep defenses honest. This is the bet we should all be willing to take.

 

The Cavs won the series because they glued themselves to his shooting hand and forced him to turn the ball over about 3 too many times. No player has ever won a championship while averaging over 4 turnovers a game in the post season. The Cavs pressured him and turned him over.



REPEAT: NO PLAYER HAS EVER WON A CHAMPIONSHIP WHILE AVERAGING OVER 4 TURNOVERS A GAME IN THE POST SEASON.

 

But let's be clear. We don't have a package enticing enough for the Wolves to trade Rubio to us. This is a pipe dream.

 

Let's also be serious. Cavs were a Irving ISO (bad shot) 3 point miss away from not winning it. The Cavs have the highest payroll in the league and Lebron, not a scrub team by any means... People act like they blew the Warriors out or something. and let's not forget their best defender and main facilitator was out game 5... There was no secret weapon that solved the Warriors.

 

Let's also be serious. Cavs were a Irving ISO (bad shot) 3 point miss away from not winning it. The Cavs have the highest payroll in the league and Lebron, not a scrub team by any means... People act like they blew the Warriors out or something. and let's not forget their best defender and main facilitator was out game 5... There was no secret strategy that solved the Warriors.

 

NO PLAYER HAS EVER WON A CHAMPIONSHIP WHILE AVERAGING OVER 4 TURNOVERS A GAME IN THE POST SEASON.

 

Magic did in 1980, and averaged 4 TOV/G exactly in the postseason in 1985. And made two more NBA Finals in 1983 and 1991 averaging over 4 TOVs per game in the playoffs.

You know this stuff is easy to look up, right? If only you weren't so arrogant all. the. time.

 

THIS IS FALSE.

 

I stand corrected.

ONLY ONE PLAYER HAS EVER WON A CHAMPIONSHIP WHILE AVERAGING OVER 4 TURNOVERS A GAME IN THE POST SEASON.

NO PLAYER HAS EVER WON A CHAMPIONSHIP WHILE AVERAGING OVER 4 TURNOVERS A GAME IN THE REGULAR SEASON.

 

Just give it up...

Wade averaged 3.9 turnovers in post season for his title.
Curry averaged 3.9 turnovers in post season when he won his title.

Those are just 2 examples in the last 8-10 years.... If you really think 1/10th of one turnover a game is a huge difference, then you have some screws loose.

4 turnovers a game compared to 3.9 is about as arbitrary as you get.

 

Averaging over 4 turnovers a game is HUGE. And the evidence supports and validates the idea that it is virtually impossible to win a championship with a single player turning the ball over that much or more. You must be ignorant if you don't understand that.

 

Issiah Thomas averaged 4 turnovers a game during the regular season when he won a championship.

Magic Johnson averaged 4 turnovers a game during the regular season when he won a championship.

If you really believe there is a appreciable difference between 4.0 and 4.1; then you need help.

Just give it up... Also James Harden has only averaged over 4 turnovers once in his career if you want to use it as some sort of magical number.