[Chron] Don't rule out a trade despite Rockets' recent run

Link? Quote? Source? Fact?

 

Not with a PG like Rondo. He will control the offense more so. Harden is more effective playing off the ball. Rondo will come in from day 1 and demand a respect that Lin/Bev probably don't have.

 

So the reason we're not playing a PG centered offense is because Harden doesn't respect Lin and Bev? I doubt that.

 

1) For who?
2) He's getting better by the day, since he's been given legit minutes on the team his offensive rating is 113 and his defensive rating is 104....his potential is amazing and I doubt they'd give that up since he'd have to be packaged with Asik to bring back anything at all and then you'd have killed both your PF depth and your C depth....you aren't going to be able to get a better player back at both positions so you've made the team worse.
3) Covington doesn't have a future as a PF in the NBA, he's 6'9 215, his future is being a hot shooting 3
4) he should be, he's a small forward
5) so what? Isaiah Canaan is cheaper than Harden.
6)Awesome, but it weakens the team. It would open a roster spot if we dumped Howard too.

 

Forget about Harden respecting him. No defender will ever respect him behind the arc. I like Rondo but he is a terrible fit for this team. Morey is looking to improve his teams 3 point shooting not worsen it. With Howard every player that can't shoot a 3 is a defender that can double him.

Shooting a career 25% from behind the arc, Rondo's man would be joined by the hip to Howard. Nope nope nope, a terrible fit at a high price to boot. This is the best definition of an unMorey move.

 

I would like rondo in our starting lineup. Only thing that worries me is JONES starting with him.

1. Rondos shot is not that bad as people say, has a solid midrange game & went 4/4 from 3 his last game. But he is also very streaky can go on a brick spree. But look at TONY PARKER he can't shoot much either he hates taking 3s they are about the same as shooters, their skills are running the offense making plays when game slows down. Helping others succeed.

2. That's ok tho if we had we had shooters at the 2,3,4 we don't need rondo to shoot that much anyway. But we don't have that in JONES.

3. Rondo makes a living out of getting solid screens from his KG days to BASS & SULLINGER recently, he always plays with a guy at the 4 that can pick & pop. Jones doesn't set good screens and doesn't run that pick & pop like mchale had PPAT doing last year. Most Good solid PGs get these high picks see curry, dwill, Parker, lillard, dragic even Lin when he played with chandler, coaches love having guys he can run these plays with. That's why mchale didn't like PPAT leaving that took a lot of his plays from his offense.

4. So these are some things to take into consideration if rondo does come. When I look at the rockets in the 1. HOWARD POST GAME 2. read & react AROUND HARDEN... I feel like we are missing the pick and pop guy with a PG. When you look at playoff teams this is what most teams run when it slows down, we just don't have these options.

 

See read my post I just explained that's the problem with having jones and rondo on the floor together. You don't have to worry about rondo being a 3 guy worry about everything else he would do to help this team in the playoffs, if we have a stretch 4. You replace jones with a guy like PPAT/FRYE/ANDERSON and rondo ends up being the perfect fit.

 

Very tiny sample size. Dmo may not be best fit for Rockets, but he has played well of late. I would not be surprised to see DMo traded, but it won't be due to lack of talent...he's become a decent backup 4.

 

Rondo has improved his shot, but anyways, he would improve our team defense, and get Harden/Howard in better rhythms. I don't think his numbers tell the story.

He is a great passer/cutter, so he would do just fine with Howard in the post. He is also flexible and can effectively guard the 1-3 position as he has a wing span equivalent of a small forward.

 

With Morey everyone is an asset. That being said D-Mo is probably viewed as a valuable asset. His developmental time line is probably quick for someone who is projecting to be a center in the NBA. Power forwards who can more than hold their own as centers generally become centers in the NBA. There are just far fewer competent centers than power forwards. And centers who can clog up the paint have such a huge presence in NBA defensive schemes. They do not even have to be a threat on the offensive end. Just look at Asik.

And speaking of Asik, why the heck is he so good at defense? One obvious answer is that he is a huge man. But he is not particularly quick and he has a vertical that is measured in inches, not feet. The answer is positioning. Asik's defensive positioning is near flawless. D-Mo is obviously a big man. And he is quick for his size and does have a measurable vertical leap. Can he ever become as good as Asik at defensive positioning? Possibly. In a few years. Time will tell.

One thing we can be certain of is that if Morey intends to trade Asik at any point then D-Mo is not going anywhere. We have seen for years what happens if the Rockets cannot trot out a five that can intimidate players who penetrate into the paint. D-Mo's rotations are reasonably solid overall, but as we saw in the Washington game he has no idea what he should be doing when the Rockets went to a soft 2-3 zone. He also is a split second late in rotations, which is critical. So he is still very much a work in progress.

 

Asik is good at defense for two reasons. His positioning but also his ability to not give up any ground. People can not move him wants he gets into position.

 

King Drew........

We still leaning toward Rondo and that 70% number?

 

Last year it was Josh Smith, this year it's Rondo. Even if the rumors are coming from "insiders" they absolutely reek of bogint. I'll be glad when the trade deadline passes so we won't have to hear about it anymore.

 

What did King Drew say? I guess i missed it?

 

I couldn't disagree more. If the Rockets were a team that had a small window because their guys were getting up there in age or whatever, then I could understand why they'd want to take that kind of a risk, but the Rockets are one of the younger teams in the league and are set to be contenders for multiple years going forward....why risk blowing that up?

 

Thanks. And the Vegas odds are always the best predictors of the actual NBA outcome. They are never of course perfect, just better than anyone else.

 

To clarify, the reason I disagree is that I don't believe that the premise is possible, there isn't any risk that you could take for a substantial upgrade that would be recoverable. You trade away a bunch of assets for Rondo or whatever and it doesn't work out, you've set the team back several years which is effectively killing several years of contention. You can't get those years back.

 

That's one of the reasons why Minnesota is one of the league's best defensive teams. T-Wolves don't have any athletic shot blockers, they just have bigs who are extremely good at rebounding and clogging up the lane.

 

Boy, do I disagree. Asik and Motiejunas will be traded for different reasons. Asik will be traded because he was replaced by Dwight Howard, also because he represents an upgrade at C for any number of teams, also because Houston does not want to pay a disgruntled backup $15 mil in 2014-15.

Motiejunas will be traded because he is still perceived as having "upside" by many teams despite the fact that he's likely as good as he's going to get, and right now, advanced stats tell us that he is a below average NBA player.

There is this myth that a player's prime years are late twenties-early thirties. This is incorrect. A player's prime is more like 23-29. A player can be reasonably expected to improve until he hits about age 23. Motiejunas is not as young as people seem to think he is. He is 23, and when the 2014-15 season begins, he will be 24. Most likely, we are looking at a finished product. And it isn't a very good product. Anybody who doesn't think this guy is below average is being a homer.

Trade deadline is Thurs Feb 20. Houston plays just one more game before the deadline, on Wed 2/19 at the Lakers. So get a good look at Motiejunas and Asik on 2/19, guys. Maybe I'm wrong. We will find out in the next four days. Four days! I'm surprised there isn't more buzz and excitement on Clutchfans.