Without putting very much if any thought into it beyond this, how many NBAers can you honestly say are above average pesky PG defenders that at least make life a little more difficult for the plethora of quality points in this league? To me, that seems like the harder to replace skill-set, regardless of contract status. Why I choose TJones? - His per 36 minutes averages are great. 15.5 points, 9.2 boards, 1.7 blocks with high efficiency - He's still improving - If I'm another team looking to send out an asset to the Rockets for something in return, TJones is probably at the top of my list. There are contract implications her, sure.. Asik is on the poison pill and expiring while Jones is a young player on a much friendlier contract... but still, Jones and his upside potential seem to be the prize. So maybe it's a little early for Jones, but i think he gets there
Yes, it does. But he is the favorite without a majority and before I bumped it approximately 60% of us did not want to see him start. Since I bumped it his votes have magically increased. But still less than a majority. And I did expect that his numbers would be better in a "starting" poll instead of the 2 "closing" polls I ran. Because starting the game is not nearly as important as closing the game. And he has been starting for the bulk of the season. What the "starting" poll shows is how weak his support is around here because a guy that has started...what 80% of the games on a team playing close to .700 ball....should be an overwhelming consensus to be a starter in a poll of educated and dedicated fans.
There's hardly a consensus here about anything. Like, ever. And sure, more people would vote in a thread that has been recently bumped. But okay.
But we're not talking about talent-wise. We're talking about player-wise, actual positive production towards winning the game on the court playing basketball.
Asik is pretty clearly the third best player of the Rockets. His defensive influence and rebounding are on Howard's level.
As much as I like Bev, I'd have to go with this. 24/7 paint protection is huge. His defense is one of the few consistent and dependable variables when our starters are out.
He may be the 3rd best player of the Rockets overall but he is not the 3rd best player for this team on this team. Parsons is. Asik just cannot be as impactful as Parsons playing 12 minutes a night. It is just too bad that Asik's skills cannot be fully utilized as he plays behind the best center in the league. On any other team where Asik is the starting center, yes he would be a better player than Parsons.
