A new paradigm: How to construct a roster around Howard.

Parsons is way younger and a much higher upside. Iggy ain't getting any better from here on out.

 

We already have plan A.

Go young, be flexible, get a star if there is an opportunity.

 

He would stay if he trusted the franchise in there ability to surround him with enough talent asap.

 

PG Daryl Morey
SG Kelvin Sampson
SF Leslie Alexander
PF Kevin McHale
C Dwight Howard

Coach: David Stern

 

I have come here to inform all of you that I have an even NEWER paradigm, but I am keeping it confidential.

 

that 11M gets me to right at the cap - which is where Les would want it...lol... or a couple 1yr/5.5m contracts to backup pg and sg...

 

Good thread. I love this type of stuff.

First of all I think there are a multitude of ways to create a contender from a team-building standpoint.
There are probably certain ways to go about it that work better, but I don't believe there's an one-fits-all way to go about it.

As for the team you put together jtr, the first thing that I probably wouldn't do is keep Asik if you acquire Howard. If one of the two could play PF it would be a different story, but with both guys basically being strict centers, I believe it would be too much money invested in one position.

Josh Smith, I've grown on over the years, but I'm still not quite sold on a Howard-Smith frontcourt, mainly because it would be tough create good floor spacing, even if you put these guys next to adequate three point shooters.
Now, don't get me wrong, Smith is a very good player (in a vacuum), I simply worry about the fit next to Dwight.
It certainly could work, but if I could get another player of Smith's caliber, that might fit better next to Dwight, I'd prefer to go that route.

Iggy, I like a lot as well, but he's overpaid, getting older and there apparently are some concerns with his feet/achilles/knee.
So I would tend to agree with those posters who prefer Parsons to Iggy. Iggy of course is clearly the superior player right now, but I believe Parsons will continue to improve, whereas Iggy will start to decline pretty soon and from a team-building standpoint Parsons just makes it way easier getting paid only slightly more than the minimum for the next three years.

A frontline of Howard-Smith and either Iguodala or Parsons would be tremendous defensively, but again I would worry about the floor spacing.

Big picture, I think it may be a little too early to look at specific players. We know who will be a free agent next summer, but things happen and really, you never know who might be available or not. Whether or not one piece fits is directly correlated to what another piece you bring in brings to the table, so one player being available or not could change pretty much everything.

I think the key to building a successful team with Howard is pairing him up with a very good/great play-making point guard - as either the second or third option, a to those two players fitting 2nd/3rd option (I'd probably prefer a power forward, as that would seem like the most natural fit to pair a great C and good/great PG with to me]), a 6th-man type (I find that [combo] guards and PFs work best -- although for your 6th man to be a PF your starting PF would have to be able to play center in stretches. See the Lakers, where Odom played basically strictly PF off the bench, yet thanks to Pau's ability to play center, Odom could play 6th man type minutes. The Jazz will do this with Jefferson-Favors-Millsap this year also FWIW) and a bunch of shooters and defenders (preferably guys who can do both).

So, basically:
Howard
[2nd option, power forward or play-making point guard]
[3rd option, power forward or play-making point guard]
[(high-end) two-way roleplayer]
[(high-end) two-way roleplayer]
___________________________
[6th-man]
[backup]
[backup]
[backup]

I guess there might be a way to make it work with the PG as your 4th option, but ideally I believe you pair Dwight Howard with a very good/great PG.
Whether or that would be possible remains to be seen. I for one believe that Chris Paul will stay with the Clippers, so you may have to work with the premise that your starting PG would be Jeremy Lin. Whether or not he will play at a level of your typical 3rd option of course is another question mark.

In the Rockets case, to me the main challenge would be converting (some of) our young pieces into proven ones that are in their prime or entering their prime. In part that's also why I'm kinda opposed to the idea of trading for Howard -- even when I'm very well aware of how good a player he is and how big of an impact he has -- as the Rockets would essentially turn into what I sorta imagine to be some kind of mercenary squad who you're not really attached to. Kinda like marrying a hot hooker you've just met.

Keeping some of our young pieces would be essential in the first place, but I sure can't see Howard wanting to re-sign play with a bunch of unproven rookies, nor can I envision the Rockets thinking that would be the way to go. Once our young players will enter their prime, Howard will either starting to decline or already be in decline.
So if the we trade for Howard and get to keep a bunch of our young players, I'd caution against getting too attached to those guys, as if Howard were to stay most of them will most likely be gone rather sooner than later also.

 

In above scenario, instead of Motiejunas and White, trade Lamb and Asik.

Lin / Douglas
Batum (Asik trade package) / Forbes
JSmith / White
Motiejunas / JaJuan Johnson
Howard / Harrellson (Jorts)

Much better defensive balance and offensive versatility.

 

i don't see it.
this seems to be a popular expectation here.
but teams lowballed Melo, DWill, CP3 at the start too.
that deal looks much worse than any of those. if that's what the Rockets offer in the end, Howard will end up elsewhere.

the Rockets won't have cap to sign Smith in free agency.

I think everything ends up with Asik's value. Will teams value him at 8.4 mil a year? If so, I could see a trade (or sign and trade) for either Iggy or J-Smith (with those other pieces included).

Asik makes some sense for both Atlanta and the 76ers, but that salary is high.

Either way, I don't see how you could get both. You'd have to give up Lin or convince those teams to take some of the bad contracts you get from Orlando.

 

re the general question, i think you want shooters next to Lin, on the wings.

The PF spot is flexible. The more talent the better. Ideally someone who can shoot at least from mid-range. Kevin Love is perfect. But if the most talented guy you can get is someone more limited, like Varejao, that can work too.

 

The fans are the reason he has a job. You better believe he owes them.

 

the same way cow farmer owes milk drinkers, or a stripper owes horny men.

he's got a job because he has talent and worked hard, and idiots like myself love basketball and spend their money.

Dwight's a jerk for the way he's going about his business, and he'll get booed plenty for it next year, but he doesn't "owe" anything to the fans.

 

This. Iggy and Josh Smith are overly overrated on this board. I don't see the fascination for these two especially Iggy. Repped for the quality post

 

Everytime he loses a fan, it hurts his image. While that doesn't affect him now, it will affect how much money he makes via marketing after his career ends. So in a sense, he does literally "owe" us.

 

losing money in the future =/= owing