Really are you that ignorant? im sorry but everything shows that he is the best pf in the game today? And the mid range is the worst shot? Isn't a basket a basket regardless of where? He shoots around 48 percent on jumpers. That is extremely good. Better than most big man's over % And superstars carry there teams to playoffs... hes a borderline superstar who just hit his prime. He doesn't even need to carry the rockets... just be a all-star like he has the last three years. Could You just tell me one reason you wouldn't want him besides his contract???
The Lakers did not lose that trade. A one-year rental of Dwight Howard is still better than a full year of Andrew Bynum sitting on the bench with bad knees. Of all the teams involved in that trade, only the Lakers came out with a net positive. Everyone else lost, including Orlando. The Magic still lost Dwight Howard, and none of the pieces they got back makes up for it.
Math actually works fine. Wouldn't need to pay luxury tax at all over the next 2 years (even if they used the MLE next year). Then re-sign Parsons and Aldridge, while letting Lin walk and there is barely any salary change between the 3 contracts. You could get into the tax thanks to the exceptions in 2015, but still wouldn't be deep into it. Going into 2015 you could have: Beverly/Canaan Harden/??? Parsons/??? Aldridge/D-Mo or Jones Howard/??? And still be about $2-2.5M under the luxury tax (with just 2.5% cap increases) if you assume Aldridge gets the max and Parsons gets $9M per. You add a MLE player from 2014 and a bi-annual guy in 2015 and you are just over the luxury tax by a few million in your first year of tax paying. You could easily stay in the first grouping about $5M over and just pay dollar for dollar in 2015, but be absolutely stacked.
Not true. You can't trade 2 FUTURE first round picks. Since the 2013 draft is over, they can trade the 2014 pick
Huh? Of course the Lakers lost. A 1 year rental of Howard would have been worth it, if they had won the championship. But, instead they got swept in the first round and no one in the organization or their fans are happy about that. What do they now have after the trade? A team in shambles and a loss of a 1st and second round draft pick. I have to question your sanity if you consider that a net positive. At the time of the draft, it was a steal for the Lakers. But, after how everything played out, definite loss for them. The Magic would have lost Dwight no matter what. The pieces that they got back for him is one of the better reasonable alternatives that could have happened for them. Of all the teams involved in the trade, the Magic came out with the best results. And that's not even debatable.
He doesn't need to be elite...but he will look elite next to Howard since D12 will get doubled and LMA will get open jumpers which he can hit.
Yes you can. They just cant be in the future. You could trade all you draft picks every year as long as they aren't in the future.
Sure you can, rockbox explains it. If a team trades its own first round pick this year(2013), and next week decide to trade their 2014 first rounder, they CAN legally do that. They CAN NOT trade both their 2014 AND 2015 picks
The writing is on the wall for Aldridge in Portland. I doubt LMA asked for a trade, but it wouldn't surprise me if he has quietly complained to a friend or confidant that he doesn't like the direction the Blazers are going in. These rumors going around started somewhere. The reality is, the guy is going to turn 28 next week, entering his prime, and the Blazers just came off a 33 win season. They had a decent chunk of cap space which they did not use to add any impact players. They essentially swapped JJ Hickson for Robin Lopez and Thomas Robinson. Not exactly blowing my panties off. Of last years playoff teams, Denver and LA are poised to take a dive but at best, Portland is fighting hard for the 7th-8th seed with LA, Denver, Minny and maybe New Orleans. If they don't come out of the gate with good wins, I think there is a STRONG possibility they start listening to offers at the deadline. I think they know there is a two year window until his contract is up and a certain Rockets team will have just enough money to offer him a lucrative deal on a contender with a gaping hole at the 4. The good news is that even if Portland squeezes into the playoffs, it likely means Kevin Love and the T-Wolves fall out, putting them into the situation described above. The bad news is there are a couple of teams, notably Cleveland and Washington, which are trying to make a push out of rebuilding and into being competitive with good young assets to trade. They could certainly steal LMA in a trade by offering better young assets than we could. We really need to hope Jones/Dmo take significant steps forward this year, either as trade assets or contributors to the team. Nevertheless, there are other options. I predict atleast 3 of LMA, Love, Rondo and Horford will all switch teams in the next 3 years. We need to be ready to pounce.
Trailblazers will actually have a solid bench for a change if the Rocket get rid of both D-Mo and T Jones. One of them would probably even crack the starting lineup if tehy played in Portland.
What rumors? LaMarcus openly said that Portland was boring, and Aldridge was even almost traded to the Cavs right before the NBA draft. Was your internet and cable cut off for a brief moment for not paying the bills or something?
I agree that Aldridge is very much overrated here, and if given the choice, I would take Love before him in a second due to Love's rebounding, 3-pt shooting, age, and running the floor. But at the same time, I would still deal everything Portland want for him except Parsons, Harden, and Howard. He fills the Chris Bosh role here. I feel he should be able to develop a corner 3, given his propensity to stroke those maddening just-inside-the-3 jumpers like T-Mac did. He can also play in the post, allowing the Rockets to have a post-up threat at any time(I imagine he plays backup center). I feel like there's value to such a complete skillset. Especially such a half-court game type of skillset. It allows the Rockets to play more JVG half court style if they need to, when their opponents are playing better at a high pace game.
Arguably the best PF in the game isn't an elite offensive player? Looks like you're underestimating what Aldridge can do. Yes he is just as good against the rest of the league. Just go look at some of the games he had last year. For his size, he's a solid mid-range shooter. He has a back to basket game with some post moves. He can get his own shot. Rebounding isn't strongest attribute, but I don't see how that would be an issue on this team anyway -- 9.1 rbg isn't terrible either. His defense isn't spectacular, but it isn't garbage either. His length can disrupt other PFs -- his wingspan is really what makes him what he is.
Whoa, whoa that is WAY too much for Aldridge. Unless Lillard is coming with Aldridge, that is simply too much and severely impedes our future ability to do much of anything. So you want to trade 2 starter(Asik and whichever of the PF we start this year) our backup or 3rd string PG, 3 future 1st round picks and 2 2nd round picks. This is creeping the type of disproportionate trade Minnesota gave up to the Cowboys, a trade that set that Vikings franchise back indefinitely. Aldridge, as good as he is, just isn't worth near that amount of picks/cap room/and young up and coming players. NO WAY
See, I just don't agree at all with the statement that he's the best PF in the NBA. He's in the same weight class as a ton of different guys. Josh Smith, ZBo, Love, Bosh, KG, Dirk, Faried, Griffin, Ibaka... I don't see how LMA separates himself from this pack at all. Being one of ten really good players does not a superstar make. You can look at Harden and Dwight and make clear distinctions--if Harden's not the best SG in the NBA already, he will be within a few years. Dwight is clearly the best center barring maybe 37 year old Tim Duncan (if you think of him as a Center, if not, Duncan is the best PF in the game). Oh, and by the way, all of that is considering LeBron, Melo, and Durant as Small Forwards. Which is another whole can o' worms. LMA though? He is not the best PF. He's just one of a bunch of guys. And to be honest, I would take Love or Bosh over LMA any day, and it would be a tough choice if you asked me about most of the others. Is LMA the best PF in the NBA? No. Is he a superstar? No. Is he a really good player? Yes. Should we pay a really good player the max? Only if he is the PERFECT fit on the Rockets. And I don't agree that LMA is, because he can't hit the three ball.
EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING....this trade starts with Asik and Jones and I see them entertaining trade offers by the deadline next season. Why else do you think we are keeping Asik for...d
