Wrong. Here you are assuming that Paul is on the clippers but he wouldn't be had we landed Gasol. Therefore, we would clearly have the advantage over them. The Lakers would have had Paul and Kobe with only Bynum in the post. (If lucky). I do not think that team could compete immediately given their gaping lack of a frontcourt, especially against the one we would have had. There is no way you can tell me the spurs would have any chance against this prospective rockets team and quite frankly, it baffles me you would add them in. I think we would stack up well against Memphis and would not be out of the realm of possibilities to say we would have the edge overall. Thunder and Mavs would have been the only immediate threats, solidifying what Nima had said earlier.
Does Dalembert make us a playoff contender? If yes, then he's worth it, especially if we can get him around $8 for one year or $15 or $16 for two years. If you don't think he'll get us to the playoffs then he's probably not worth it. However, people on the board complained incessantly about how our lack of a center hurt our chances last year. So much "If we only had a center we'd be so good!" talk on the board. Has that changed from last year?
What has changed is that folks know we lose our draft pick to New Jersey if we make the playoffs in one of the deepest drafts in years. And folks have realized that this team, as is...might slip into the playoffs, but why help it get a few more wins, when we have so many young players that need time on the court to find their NBA game? DD
Absurd. The Lakers would of been decimated with that trade. Walton/Bynum/Caracter as your big man rotation? One and done team. The Mavs lost Chandler, JJB and Butler. They were set to get much worse The Spurs are just old and also due for a steep decline. Clippers wouldnt even make the playoffs. Memphis and Thunder would be on par. With those moves we would likely have had home court in the playoffs.
This. Probably the reason Morey was so pissed that the deal was blocked by Stern. Morey knows he was ever so close in finally building a very competitive team.
You know what they were calling the Mav's last season prior to their play-off and championship run? The 1 and done boys. Meaning that they had exactly zero chance to win a play-off series, they would be 1 series and done. No one, especially in the Dallas area gave the Mavs a chance and no one was even remotely impressed with the Tyson Chandler acquisition until they started to see the results. Point being you never know for sure until you play the games. There is know reason for me not to beleave that the Rockets would not have contended for the WCF with both Pau and Nene. I agree with you.
Kobe and Paul would of been one of the greatest backcourts of all time and Bynum is still a force in the paint. Any team with two top 10 players and a top big man would be way too much for the rockets. I think your underestimating the greatness of cp3 and kb And why would the Spurs not have a chance they still have one of the best backcourts in basketball and the rockets have nothing at the 2 and the 3. BTW how many games did the spurs win last season?
No, in the end Nene signed for more overall money than what the Nets or Rockets could offer him. A more solid offer from these two teams and he has leverage to ask for a $70M+ contract from the Nuggets.
What team has ever competed without a big time scorer besides the pistons. Spurs have ginobili, Lakers have Kobe, thunder has kd, memphis has randolph and gay, mavs have dirk. The rockets would have no scoring punch. How delusional is everybody on clutch fans? We could of been better then a team with kb, cp3 and bynum lol. We would of had zero scoring punch but I guess Gasol was going to step it up to 30 a game?
For anyone who is tired of the Rox continually getting annhiliated on the glass(especially in the playoffs-if we make it), we should try to get this guy...
Btw the lakers would of had some holes up front but they did sign mcroberts and what would stop them from adding Kenyon Martin when he came back from china. CP3 kobe MWP Kmart Bynum
You're telling us Kobe and CP3 could co-exist together, when both need the ball to be effective? And yes, Bynum is a force in the paint... When healthy. Bynum has been in the league for 6 years now, and only has 1 full season under his belt. His 2nd best season, he only played 65 games. So now, you trust Bynum to stay healthy and man the paint by himself? Oh yeah, there's this thing called a bench. The Lakers don't have one.
Yeah I feel the same. If we do happen to make the playoffs with this young team then great. I want to see how Thabeet is out there. Just give him 20 mpg or 6 fouls per game and let's see how bad he sucks. Having Dalembert means 25-30 less mpg for all our other young bigs. Let them play and let's see what we have. Maybe they will turn into a better trade piece or maybe Morey won't even want to trade them anymore after these guys get more minutes.
By my calculations, the five-year, $67 million contract that Nene signed with the Nuggets gives him a starting salary of around $11.65 million (accounting for 7.5% annual raises). The Rockets could have offered a starting salary of MORE than that amount if they had made the Pau trade and then amnestied Thabeet. After state taxes (which DD correctly points out only applies to 41 games per year), the numbers get even more favorable for Nene over a four-year deal with the Rockets as opposed to the first four years of a five-year Nuggets deal. Yes, it was inevitably going to be more overall money. But Nene wasn't going to stop playing professional basketball at age 33. He would have gotten another contract to at least mostly offset the difference. Yes, even then, I suppose Nene eeks out a little more money overall if he substantially declines in his early 30s. OR . . . the inflation of player salaries may allow him to do almost as well or better on his next contract. Not likely, but at least possible. Bottom line: The net overall difference to Nene over his career between signing with a Pau-led Rockets team and re-signing with Denver was not that much. However, he would be comparing playing on a contender with playing on a rebuilding project. He was going to take the contender for SLIGHTLY less money.
I don't think so.... any team sporting character as it's starting 4 is not going to get far. How is Character/Walton supposed to matchup with Gasol? At least Lowry and Lee are defensive minded enough to matchup with the Laker's backcourt. Even if we assume Bynum stays healthy, (huge assumption) I just don't see a chance for the Lakers. The Paul move was for the future. Fairly obvious.... Duncan is on his last leg. He played only 28 mpg last year, and it would be reasonable to assume that number takes another hit this year. (could be his final year in the NBA). Who exactly would matchup with the Rockets 4 and 5? Tiago Splitter? You have to be kidding me. Spurs are quickly on the decline. They traded George Hill for the 15th pick if you want reassurance of that. There is a reason Tony Parker wanted out of San Antonio earlier this year.
Yes I am telling you that two of the most intelligent players ever could coexist. Last two years Bynum played and started every playoff game and thats whats really important.
Hey guys, I didn't think this deserved its own thread so I thought I'd post it in the busiest one... Anyone know if the preseason game will be televised? I assume it will be on FS HOU but I live in Arkansas and it's always blacked out here... Someone help me PLEASE!!
What would of stopped the Lakers from picking up Kenyon Martin when he leaves China. You can go ahead and count out the spurs but I won't. Their downafall last season was ginobili being banged up in the playoffs
You love playing the assumption game. What's stopping the Miami Heat from signing Kenyon Martin? Or the Celtics, Knicks, Bulls, Mavs, etc? And it's would've not would of!
