What if DM was able to pull this off would you be happy with it? We sign Big Al Jefferson 4 years/50 Million then we traded Asik/DMO/Trob and 2nd round Pick for Josh Smith Giving us this line up Jefferson/G.Smith Smith/Jones Parsons Harden/33rd pick Lin/Bev
Would rather just nab Josh Smith and use any remaining money to build up our bench. I don't want to get rid of Asik unless we somehow sign Dwight Howard.
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Asik Defense and hustle is good... but even with this "amazing" defender we still had the worst defense in the league. Jefferson would give us a legitimate low post scorer and hopefully smith can make up for whatever we lost in terms of defense. When our offense stales and we are not able to run we need to be able to throw the ball into the post and let our big man go to work... another area that really frustrates me about asik's game is so many times he is set up beautifully and he just fumbles the ball. Jefferson was the only Jazz player that kept them in the playoff hunt down the stretch... everyone gets on him for his defense but in the final game of the season (in which utah got blown out) Jefferson had 24 points and 16 rebounds while everyones favorite M.Gasol had 4 points and 7 rebs on 2-7 shooting and against Asik he had 15 points and 11 rebs just a couple days before
I honestly would rather just get Josh Smith and fill him in the front line. Him and Asik is a very formidable defensive front court. Just that his price is too high but i'd be all for getting Smith if we maintained flexibility to get another star later on.
I am not terribly excited about either one of those players by themselves. Moving Asik in addition is a complete non starter for me.
I like Jefferson, but not on this team. We are to much of a fast paste team to have a slow foot center like Jefferson. Keep Asik sign Smith and lets get us a nice 6th man. I hope we can somehow get Kevin Love in a trade.
We are 17th in defensive efficiency this year, certainly not last but will be if we didn't have Asik. Al Jefferson is better offensive player but a downgrade from Asik if you consider defense. Asik is a bargain for what he provides at $8.3M. He played above his contract this year. You just don't move Asik without a clear upgrade at center. Al Jefferson is not it! Here are the only centers I would trade for Asik: Dwight, Joakim, and MGasol. JSmoove is a logical choice this summer. Like JayGoogle said, if we can sign him for cheap, say 3-year $40M (we will maintain flexibility at that price), we should go for him. No to Al. Yes to JSmoove as FA if cheap.
The number one priority this off season should be maintaining the cap flexibility and not blowing it on good but not good enough type players.
When the team is so bad on the PF spot that Delfino closes out games and is our big defending the paint you know the Rockets defense sucks. Plus you have Harden who doesn't try to defend much and no backup center you have a recipe for worst defense in the league. Luckily Harden balances that out by being one of the best offensively in the League.
Both of these guys are UFA's and odds are, they would want out of their current teams. Why would we give Asik, T-Rob, and D-MO in S&T's for them just to make salaries work? Utah and Atlanta would be so lucky to get these players for a player they're bound to lose either way. I like Big Al but i just can't ignore the fact that he's one of the worst pick & roll defenders in the league. He hardly protects the rim. If i was Morey, of course i would go for Dwight or CP3. But if we strike out with both, i'd trade for Pau Gasol. The Lakers will be in luxury tax hell and with Kobe still recovering from a major injury, they won't stand a chance next season. They will eventually get rid of Gasol's contract for young players/prospects and/or picks. Adding Pau Gasol would be the perfect Morey move since it will instantly give us that legit post presence at the 4 and he could also slide to the 5 when Asik's on the bench. Plus, we will still be major bidders in the much anticipated 2014 free agency since Pau's contract will come off the books after next season. We will own Pau's bird rights as well and he might just decide to stay with our team for a much cheaper contract once we're able to acquire that major free agent in 2014.
According to http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/hou/houston-rockets we are 28th in points allowed not dead last but definitely one of the worst 5... if Asik was sooooo GREAT at defense why was McHale doubling Howard so hard and letting Steve Blake go off on us... Another move we can do is sign big Al to less then what we would pay for josh smith and sign Splitter to pick up for the lack of "defense"
Points allowed per game is not a good indicator on team defense. Rockets ranked #1 in pace. Points Allowed Per Posession is better indicator on team defense. Rockets are right at average. <PRE> Rk Team DRtg 1 Indiana Pacers* 99.8 2 Memphis Grizzlies* 100.3 3 San Antonio Spurs* 101.6 4 Oklahoma City Thunder* 102.6 5 Washington Wizards 103.0 6 Chicago Bulls* 103.2 7 Boston Celtics* 103.3 8 Los Angeles Clippers* 103.6 9 Miami Heat* 103.7 10 Atlanta Hawks* 104.4 11 Denver Nuggets* 105.1 12 Milwaukee Bucks* 105.2 13 Minnesota Timberwolves 105.4 14 Golden State Warriors* 105.5 15 Philadelphia 76ers 105.6 League Average 105.8 16 Houston Rockets* 106.1 17 Brooklyn Nets* 106.2 18 New York Knicks* 106.3 19 Dallas Mavericks 106.5 20 Los Angeles Lakers* 106.6 21 Utah Jazz 106.8 22 Toronto Raptors 107.5 23 Phoenix Suns 108.1 24 Detroit Pistons 108.1 25 Orlando Magic 109.1 26 Portland Trail Blazers 109.2 27 Cleveland Cavaliers 109.4 28 New Orleans Hornets 110.1 29 Sacramento Kings 111.4 30 Charlotte Bobcats 111.5 </PRE> http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2013.html#all_opp_stats
our fast pace wont ever win a championship... we need to be able to slow it down and grind out wins... Slowing it down will give guys like Harden the energy to play lock down defense... the fast pace affects our defense efficiency
Our pace is a double edge sword... yes it is why we score so much but once we meet a team that can run with us... "denver"... we are screwed because we have no one on the low block that we can throw the ball to that can slow the game down.... Spurs became a lot faster team... but when things are getting out of hand Pop throws the ball down to duncan and slows the game down... Jefferson is not Duncan on defense but his offense is almost as efficient
