I think Josh Smith would be a perfect tertiary player next to Harden and Howard. We just need him to defend, rebound, and use his athleticism for putbacks. Any corner 3s are gravy. He'll be fine. I do not want him, however, unless we are forming a big 3.
I think that has more to do with #1 and #2, don't you? Are you telling me you'd want a team with Joe Johnson and Al Horford as the top 2 players but you'd draw the line at Josh Smith as #3? Come on now....
If we had Josh Smith this year in the playoffs against the Thunder, we would of won that series. Josh Smith would be a great addition to our team.
I second this notion. Smith would hamper our flexibility alone, and wouldnt tip the scale for us. But he would be the key 3rd cog with Howard and Harden
If Dwight were to come to Houston, bringing in Josh Smith would be fantastic. Don't forget that Lin and Parsons could easily be the #3 option, heck both have played multiple games where they have scored 30+ points. Having a starting lineup where you have 3 great defenders (Dwight/Smith/Parsons) and all the players could go for 30 on any given night would be nightmarish to opposing teams. It really would be pick your poison. You would be hard pressed to find a better starting lineup. It would all come down to what the bench could provide... Beverley (good PG backup) Garcia on Room Exception (Good backup SG/SF) Terrence Jones (Ok backup PF/C) DMo (Ok backup PF/C) There is a hole there in the backup unit and that is a go to scorer. That said, if you rotate your players properly to keep any 2 of your starting lineup on the floor you should cover that gap. Also, do you think the injury to Delfino would help him consider coming back for 1 year on a vet min deal? He is unlikely to have any other suitors until he is fully healthy. This will give him some time to recover plus be with a team to assist in that recovery...Then after the year the Rockets could consider using an exception on him to pay him more. Just a thought.
Nah just commenting that he's filled this role before. I'm concerned to make a Harden, Howard, Smith core work you'd lose Lin and Asik due to cap constraints. I'm not sure having the equivalent of the Heats big 3 cap concentration issues without Smith being a true star is worth it.
The issue isn't weather Smith is 1 in a big 3 (as we have seen once you put 3 stars together, one or 2 of them get relegated to underutilized role players - See Bosh and sometimes Wade) it's more whether Smith can be the missing piece, a junkyard dog of sorts, who cleans up the glass, hits the open shot, plays great defense and does whatever is needed for his team to get a win. His job won't be to get 20 points a game on most nights.
Great post. I think that starting line-up is deadly. About the bench... I worry about D-Mo as a back-up center. His skill set from last season don't really match that position. He needs to bulk-up and be a better post defender and rebounder. Garcia coming back for 2.6 million? I have suggested this as well but we both could be dreaming. He has a team option for $6.5m this year. Could go out in a trade package. He would be a popular target for other teams if we don't exercise his option. But I have a feeling he would want to remain on the Rockets, especially if he had a vital role to play off the bench in a contender. He could take the pay cut for this, so not out of the realms of possibility. Back-up unti scorer, we could think about picking up someone like Rip Hamilton to be a Jamal Crawford type off the bench. Delfino back for the vet min. could be a possibility. And I think he really wants to be back. But injured or not, I think his market value is higher than the vet minimum. Let's see, another possibility.
i don't get it. so the feeling in this thread is --> want josh smith if we get dwight --> do not want josh smith if we don't get dwight but im not understanding what is so great about dwight and smoove? defensively, it'd be superb. but offensively, it's not good at all imo. with dwight getting all the paint touches, it means smoove will be out on the perimeter. and i don't think it's as easy as saying he'll just be a "garbage man" on offense, because he's shown he takes ill-advised shots and is very inefficient. his bball iq on offense in terms of shot selection is not good. and ppl clamoring that he can improve on that...are the same ppl that's been saying that ever since he's entered the league. guess what? he hasn't. he hasn't improved as a shooter nor has he improved his shot selection save for one year. if we were to be so fortunate and get dwight..our best offense is harden and/or lin pick and rolls with dwight surrounded with a plethora of shooters that can space the floor. i actually like parsons at the 4 for good stretches, with a good perimeter defender at the 3. millsap is also a better fit next to dwight as well.
I would say that Garcia last season was overpaid. Does that mean that his value is 2.6 million? I'm not sure, but his value will be set by what teams are willing to pay. Would he comes back to the Rockets for less money to chase a title? That is possible. Being stuck with Sacramento for his whole career and making more money than he has been worth, it's possible that he likes the Rockets team/cast/front office that if Dwight does come he will want to play here. He also got some good burn in the playoffs this season which means he would likely be in the rotation and not fighting for a rotation spot somewhere else. I'd say 3 year 2.6mil per year contract is very possible. I think there has already been a report that Garcia would like to be back. Re: Josh Smith being a chucker/inefficient. In a lineup with Lin/Harden/Parsons/Dwight do you really think the ball will find him that often? In Atlanta he was the ball handler for pick and rolls, he was also getting found in the post and was their go to scorer when the shot clock was running down. In Houston he is none of that. He won't be a go to scorer (Harden), he won't be the primary post player (Howard), his job will be primarily to stretch the floor (corner 3s), rebounding and defense. He may play the big scorer when Howard is on the bench but then he'll usually be playing against bench players anyway where it would be a little easier for him (see Harden coming off the bench for OKC as so many had mentioned around the Harden trade "Can Harden be a go to scorer against starters?") That team would be great. It would have: - Inside Out basketball (Post up, drive and kick) - Outside In basketball (Pick and Roll, drive) - 3 point shooting (Lin's will pickup see stats sans all star break, Harden not injured and Parsons being Parsons) - Great paint defense - Good Post Defense (Howard and Smith) - Good matchup possibilities (Smith taking smaller/weaker SFs down low [Durant] and larger PFs outside) I'd be a little concerned with the perimeter defense, but J.Smith can play SF and help against the Lebron/Durant/Carmelos of the league giving Parsons some help/rest. Ok, I'm giddy about the possibility. I was interested in CP3 or keeping Asik at one time, but thinking more about this now I am sold, Dwight/Smith combo with the current squad (minus Asik/Brooks/DMo/Anderson) is a solid contender for 3-4 years, maybe more.
After research the Room Exception can only be used for a max 2 year contract, sorry Garcia, but you're getting a 2 year'er.
I don't see a point on your end. Yes, he's filled the role of 3rd option and the team was mediocre, but was it because of him? Was he mediocre? I don't think so. I think the #1 option on the team (Joe Johnson) was really more suited as a #2 or even #3 option on a good team. And Horford, he's more of a #2 himself. So the problem wasn't Josh Smith. They weren't stuck in mediocrity because Josh Smith was their 3rd option. They were stuck in mediocrity because, among other reasons, their best player wasn't a viable #1 option and their #2 option wasn't much better than their #3 option. Also, I was not, in any way, advocating that the Rockets set up a Big 3 with Howard, Smith and Harden. I was simply stating that the blanket assertion Josh Smith is a player that will keep your team in mediocrity is flawed and incorrect. So, the statement you directed to me seemed to lack perspective and logic. It was just a very simplistic correlation.
I'm quoting your sig, and it is slightly off topic, but I just wanted to let you know that there is no way Asik would be in the front court with Howard if he does come here. If we sign Howard, Asik is a goner.
Apologies for the potential derailing of this thread, but how do you think Miami would fare with Josh Smith instead of Chris Bosh?
I'd rather have Milsap if we get Dwight. His mind for the game and offensive ability would compliment DH. He doesn't have to play close to the basket to be effective.
