It really depends on how good Harden is going to be at PG. No one ever said what the Phoenix Suns needed most to get them over the hump was another playmaker next to Nash. He was so incredible at it that you didn't want the ball in anyone else's hands. What they needed was better defense. It's no surprise that that's our biggest weakness too. We're getting killed inside and owned on the boards. I like Capela's potential, but he's not shutting down the paint. A prime Tyson Chandler or a healthy Andrew Bogut would fit in perfectly.
Disagree OP. Need to get Harden off the ball and get in a primary playmaker like Rubio because: We will never win a championship as long as James "Pistol Pete" Harden is our primary playmaker and refuses to accept a primary playmaker who is a more efficient and creative playmaker than he is.
Harden has been great so far. He's fun to watch. MVP candidate for sure and I'd give him the MVP after a few games here early. But.......playing this way is not going to work to win a championship. Good and great teams already know. Pressure him with quick defenders 94 feet and he's going to cough it up. Also switch him into their preferred matchup on the other end and they cook him. We're not going to win a championship unless we add a great playmaker to Harden that is also a versatile and great defender.
That's the thing, Harden has always been this team's PG regardless. Even if we bring in a all star caliber PG, I rather have Harden handle the ball more. Harden isn't like Klay Thompson or Ray Allen where they thrives playing off the ball. Harden is like Lebron, or Westbrook, etc where they need the ball in their hands to make things happen, either to score or create an assist. Ever since Harden slid over and became an official PG, it does give Morey new options to look. The Rockets now need a rangy wing player who is athletic, defends different positions, able to catch and shoot, slash, create his own shots, etc. Its hard to find a player like that but its more reasonable than trying to find a PG who is a great facilitator but requires the ball also.
you can say this until we win a championship, and it still not describe our highest priority anywhere close to what most of us believe. I can also say we will never win a title until we get a Scottie Pippen type long defender who can guard 3-4 positions, lock down the Nail on the court, and is a great playmaker, shooter and finisher... I can further say we need a high post passing PF or C who is a premier defender like Green or we will never win a championship. Out of those three, I contend the PG is less likely path to a championship And further, Rubio is nothing more than Rafer Alston with Hardens court vision and passing ability .... oh and way less ability to shoot the 3 and an incomparably bad ability to finish
We had a relatively cheap playmaker in Beasley and traded him for a scrub. Y'all acted as if we couldn't use Beasley's scoring. Isn't it funny how jaded ppl are during the preseason?
LOL When your team is so desperate for a playmaker which the best option you have is someone that still remain unemployed 3 weeks into the season.
The problem is not specifically one player. We're not one player away, unless that player is Lebron. We're doing fine given the talent level we have. Acquiring talent requires trading talent. The only other way is waiting for the trade value of players to change. We would be stupid to trade anything of value for Rubio right now. He'll be available cheaper if we really want him as a backup and maybe like Jason Kidd he'll learn how to score a little later in life. The NBA is no place for that atrocious a scorer, there are no more Scalabrines and Ryan Bowens in the league. We need to give our guys a chance to rebuild their value a bit. D-Mo, Bev, Brewer, KJ, Harrell and Dekker can all improve their trade value tremendously this season. Their value is too low to trade. We'd be trading Ariza, a fantastic asset given his cheap and declining contract. Why is everyone so frustrated about losing to Atlanta anyway? They're a decent team that has been running this system for years. We had something like 26 turnovers. It's one game. We were apparently champions one game ago lol. This is why I keep telling people, don't get high when we win, and don't get low when we lose. It's that kind of season. We're going to be inconsistent, our talent pool is worse than half the teams in the league, we're running a new system, we have glaring weaknesses and incredible strengths. Harden is going to be PG. You may not like it, but as long as MDA is coach, Harden will be PG. We're not going to acquire players that make your dream system come true, we are running MDA's system. The good news is we're going to get better. The difficulty of our schedule so far has been moderate so it's a good gauge. Running MDA's system takes time, even the Suns with their godly talent didn't pick it up immediately. Defensively we literally can't get worse and we're likely to get back two players (Bev and Dmo) who are better defenders than those we have in the rotation right now. Just be realistic guys. Enjoy this season for what it is. This is a re-tooling season for what will ultimately be the do or die summer of 2017. Losing sucks, so get ready to do it 30+ more times in the next 5-6 months. Are you going to react like this 6 times a month? That's 1.5 times a week. It doesn't make sense to behave that way in a predictable future.
I didn't say point guard. I said great playmaking distributor that is a great defender. A Scottie Pippen in his prime is a perfect example. Pippen was a glue guy. He took care of the basketball, distributed it, and was a stellar perimeter defender. As far as your second example, a great high post passing center, that won't work to win a championship in this system. The system would have to change. If you simply plugged in Marc Gasol (my favorite center) in this system he'd go to seed. Because we don't run through the high post. That type of player would not win us a championship without changing MDA's system. But a glue guy that is a great playmaking distributor and defender could be plugged into this system without changing it, and he would: 1. Decrease our turnover count 2. Increase our defensive turnover count 3. Lower our defensive field goal percentage 4. Increase our defensive rebound rate 5. Preserve Harden by allowing Harden to defend the opponents worst offensive perimeter player and by helping carry the load offensively, giving Harden possessions off when they're in together Don't need to change the system to do any of this. Simply need Harden to see the light by understanding all the benefits a premier distributor would bring to THE TEAM! And in the process of helping the team he would help Harden win and build Harden's legacy and brand.
Brewer will never improve his value anymore. His one skill was his speed in the open court and even that is declining g. He has no real value anymore. Dude is just terrible
He can't get worse and one of our only real insiders on the board says there are a couple of teams interested. So it's not exactly true what you're saying, though I agree he's one of the worst players per dollar in the league.
I'm sure if there was a GM dumb enough to trade for Brewer Morey would have done it as long as the returning packiage was not strapped with a few long term poison contracts. No sane GM will trade for Brewer.
