Simmons and Bucher talk Lowry/Pau trade

We have a winner. Deron Williams or bust.

Or we could wait until this summer. Amnesty Scola. Keep Martin and Lowry. Sign Howard and D Will

 

Even if you think Gasol and Dragic is better than Lowry and Scola, which is a push, the trade wouldn't make the team a contender and it would drastically boost LA's chances at contending. Gasol isn't a player you can build around at his age, and isn't likely to make the Rockets that much more appealing to other stars. Lowry and Gasol on the other hand perhaps would be. Personally I wouldn't consider trading Lowry unless it was for a young all star or a move that made us real contenders, and Gasol for Lowry doesn't qualify.

 

I have no interest in sending Lowry out in a trade to get him, but Gasol is still being criminally under appreciated by some people. Absolute most skilled up big man in the game. Numbers are down, but the team and role have changed to explain a lot of that.

In the past Odom was out there a lot as the stretch 4 and Gasol holding down paint, now with Odom gone and Bynum playing more his numbers have taken a hit.

If it were me I would continue to push something like the original deal sending out Dragic, Martin and Scola.

 

You're pretty obstinate, DD. You LOOOOOVE your European point guards, hmn? (Granted, I'd like to see Llull come over here, but we'll see.)

You talk up mediocre players but you write about Lowry as if you loaned him $5 before his contract extension and he never paid you back.

I'll agree with you about the "traded for an upgrade" part. An upgrade at point guard, yes. Because if we let Dragic and Flynn take the wheel, we're going off the road, and an upgrade at one of the other spots (Gasol at PF?) wouldn't save us.

So, if we're after Deron Williams or even Rondo (better PG, awful shooter), okay...maybe. Then use other players/picks to upgrade at the 3, 4, or 5.

 

But apparently that's the problem. The original deal for those three players was something that New Orleans signed off on. Not the Lakers. The Lakers never had any interest in it at all.

Unless the Rox could find another team with a high quality point guard who would accept those three players from Houston in return, with the Rockets netting Gasol, then there is no original deal to continue to push.

 

"Drastically boost???" That's far from the case.

Gasol is the starting Power Forward on the front line of the Lakers who arguably have to two of the top ten big men in the league and are leading the league in areas like team rebounding as a result. Gasol is averaging 35+ mins a game for this team with Odom gone.

His departure will leave a gigantic hole in that front line that no role player can just step in and fill. There is no telling what the impact of his departure will be.

It's possible that a star power, high quality point guard received in return would offset the loss. it's also equally possible it won't. The Lakers would be taking every bit as much risk as the team they decide to trade with.

Also, Gasol is presently the backup center when Bynum rests. So that role will have to assumed by a second player.

So what other fans don't seem to understand is that there are plenty of reasons why the Lakers want to hold onto Gasol. Many of the Laker faithful are dead set against trading Gasol even when the target was Chris Paul.

More supposition on your part. I think a case could be made that the presence of Gasol could very well open the door to other, especially international stars, coming to Houston. The casual NBA fan knows who Pau Gasol is. They don't know who Kyle Lowry is however.

 

Stopped reading after you said "Sam Smith said"

 

ok honestly... K-LOW is the most important piece to this team right now.. wanna know why? because he plays that Bulldog mentality defense.. he goes all out every game.. thats what you want for your starting point guard.. and at the price were paying kyle lowry every year .. that right there proves that the rockets organization knows what its doing.. thats basically a steal.. dragic is gonna want more money.. flynn can easily take control as our backup point guard.. Dragic and scola for Gasol!

 

C'mon CDave, admit it. You either work for the Lakers or have been planted by our brass in an attempt to condition us for some unsightly reach. I'll take the former ....

 

I stopped after "Sam."

 

I think Scola's defensive liability with Bynum on the floor with him would be decreased. Offensively they are pretty close scoring wise. You lose some rebounding, but gain a significant rebounder in Lowry to make up for it. Gasol is better than Scola especially defensively, but Lowry is much better than anything the Lakers have at PG. So yes I think the Lakers would be much more of a contender with Lowry and Scola than they currently are with Gasol and Derek Fisher. It may be that we have to give up Thabeet or Jordan Hill as well or the Lakers get a back up center some where else.

The main point is that trading Lowry and Scola for Gasol would not make us a contender. In my opinion it would probably make us further from a contender even if it argueably made us slightly better in the short term. If the Lakers didn't think the trade would make them a stronger contender, then they wouldn't do it.

Why would the casual NBA fan's recognition of Gasol have any effect on a star coming to play with him? What international star do you have in mind? Deron Williams and Dwight Howard are the 2 stars about to hit unrestricted free agency and I don't see either putting Houston near the top of their list of favored destinations so they can play with some combination of a Dragic, Parsons, Martin, Gasol, Dalembert line up. Certainly Gasol didn't draw alot of stars to Memphis and that was when he was young and still a piece you could build around.

 

Eggs-ACT-ly.

I lived in Chicago Tribune country awhile back. Sam Smith has the credibility of The Rocket Guy.

 

hey that sam smith called the tmac trade! sure he made his tmac trade proposal for 4 straight seasons.

 

Was Aaron Brooks European? I hate this comment, it is wrong on so many levels, I do prefer a multidimensional PG that is a threat to score over one that is primarily an assist guy though.

And Lowry has done a good job of making himself a scoring threat as a starter, pretty good shooting too.

I am just trying to bring some reality to the perspective on Kyle, the overboard nature on his play lately is staggering. He is an above average PG, who gets by on hustle and guile, IMO, and is not great at anything that will make him stand out or build around.

He is a good asset to upgrade if available as is EVERYONE on this team.

I am thinking longer term than that, if you can get Gasol for him, then you do it, and you try to pick up a better PG in another deal, or you roll with Dragic as the starter and go to Lin (oops, I forgot our glorious leadership can't recognize talent), then you have Flynn back up until the offseason.

I can see your point, but I think this team should be looking to upgrade any position regardless of whether it weakens another.

DD

 

I actually agree with you here, but my question is why does it matter how they get it done as long as they are getting it done?

If it takes Lowry playing harder and smarter than his more physically and naturally gifted counter parts to hang, so be it.

 

That's your reality, doesn't mean it's true.

Lowry is not just "an above average PG", those are terms used to refer to guys like Darren Collison. Above average PGs don't get all-star consideration, above average PGs don't get the majority's consensus that he was snubbed from all-stars.

You don't need to excel in one feature of the game to be something good. Lowry's strength is that he is very good at every aspect of the game. He has little to no weakness to his game. Whereas guys like Brooks can get abused on defense, Rondo can get abused at the FT and from shooting, there isn't one consistent thing you could use to shut down Lowry's game.

Remember that you called Brooks a borderline all-star, and you argued that Brooks is just as good as Lowry. But why is Lowry only "an above" average PG when Brooks is considered borderline all-star to you?

 

You were a big Brooks fan? Does this explain your antipathy for Lowry? I liked Brooks but only if he had a good defensive 2 next to him, and Kevin Martin is not that (and Lee is barely that).

I'll agree about the "roll with Dragic" comment, if Llull is ready to come over.

"Go to Lin"? NY will pony up for him. He's gone. Besides, teams will learn to jump on him defensively. If they have the personnel, of course.

 

And you like Rajon Rondo because...?