I don't disagree with that, but does Harden play well without the ball? I haven't seen it. He seems more of a one-on-one player, who needs the ball to be effective. McHale doesn't seem willing to change that, either, hence the Rockets 'give Harden the ball, and stand aside' offense in many late game situations. Consider that the Rockets in those situations are the antithesis to the Spurs.
Celtics Receive: Omer Asik 76ers Receive: Jeremy Lin & Donatas Motiejunas Rockets Receive: ~$8.4m trade exception via Celtics, Clippers 2015 1st round pick (via Celtics) Rockets waive Omri Casspi Francisco Garcia opts out Terrence Jones + 25th pick in 2014 draft could be moved. Opens up cap space for LeBron or Melo _________________________________________________________________ Lets assume Lebron stays in Miami, Melo signs with Chicago, and Boston misses out on Kevin Love.. Report: Celtics will either get Kevin Love or likely trade Rajon Rondo Celtics Receive: Omer Asik, Jeremy Lin, Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas, 2014 1st round pick, 2014 2nd round pick (via Knicks), & 2016 1st round pick. Rockets Receive: Rajon Rondo & Brandon Bass.
I don't see that happening. They would be giving up an All Star and a potential star. Which stars would they be getting back? I also wouldn't place a really high value on the draft picks. An NBA first round pick in the high 20's is likely to be a decent role player, at best. Anything out of the top five is questionable as to their ability to even stay in the league. Remember that in the NFL, you can get to the second round, and still be picking the best player at any given position. In the NBA, that level of talent is gone in the first five picks. A pick in the high 20's is therefore like a fourth or fifth round NFL pick, or even lower.
I don't see that happening. They would be giving up an All Star and a potential star. Which stars would they be getting back? I also wouldn't place a really high value on the draft picks. An NBA first round pick in the high 20's is likely to be a decent role player, at best. Anything out of the top five is questionable as to their ability to even stay in the league. Remember that in the NFL, you can get to the second round, and still be picking the best player at any given position. In the NBA, that level of talent is gone in the first five picks. A pick in the high 20's is therefore like a fourth or fifth round NFL pick, or even lower. Which does have value, but not really high. FWIW, the same goes for comparing players in a trade. A handful of role players does not equate to one star. You can always find role players. Stars in the NBA are hard to come by. This is one area where fantasy playing does equate to real life, I think. If someone tries to trade you two players who get, say, 12-14 pts a game, that doesn't come close to equating to one player who scores 20, because there are usually other players putting up similar numbers available anyway. You have to look at the differential from average. Kevin Love is WAY above average. Getting even four or five average players back doesn't make Minnesota any better, and several of those players would likely be roster cuts anyway.
Magic IN: Omer Asik & Derrick Williams Kings IN: Aaron Afflalo, Donatas Motiejunas, Ronnie Price, 2014 1st round pick via Rockets Rockets IN: #8 overall pick in 2014 draft (via Kings)
We sign Carmelo Anthony in free agency and are able to resign Chandler Parsons to a respectable contract with his bird rights. We'll then make the following trade: Philadelphia Receives: Omer Asik Philadelphia Sends: Thaddeus Young Minnesota Receives: Thaddeus Young James Harden Minnesota Sends: Kevin Love Kevin Martin Houston Receives: Kevin Love Kevin Martin Houston Sends: Omer Asik James Harden The base of this makes sense. There would likely need to be a few picks coming to Minnesota to make it work, though, but all of that is ancillary. Final roster: Beverley/Lin Martin/Daniels Anthony/Parsons Love/Jones Howard/Motiejunas
Not sure how you sign Melo outright and not trade Asik and Lin for the space. Are you expecting him to take the MLE or the Bi?
Random trade questions: 1) Do you think the Knicks would prefer to lose Melo for nothing, or receive a package of T Jones, Asik and Lin in a sign and trade? 2) Obviously, if you can get rid of the money owed to Lin and Asik without giving up someone like Jones, you would want to do that -- however, my 2nd question is -- do you think the Rockets can move Lin and Asik's contracts for cheaper than T Jones as payment?
Yes, Lin/Asik would be dealt first (along with D-mo and our 1st round pick, possibly T Jones too), the we sign Melo, then we can extend Parsons.
I know it might be unlikely that Phil Jackson helps us out by doing a sign-and-trade with us for carmelo, but if he did we could possibly get shumpert back as well. Carmelo would have to sign for the same amount that he is already getting paid (slightly under max). Rockets get: Carmelo and Shumpert Knicks get: Asik, Lin, D-Mo (or jones..), and they can throw in their first rounder if need be. This would not only get us Carmelo, but would also get us some of that wing defense we all want so badly. It would also keep us over the line so we would still have our MLE to sign another key role player as well as some of the other exceptions we still have. Lineup: PG - Beverly SG - Harden SF - Parsons PF - Carmelo C - Howard Bench: Shumpert D-mo/Jones MLE backup center (or someone like Ariza, but will sign in the MLE) Shumpert could also be the back up point guard in this situation, so we would just need to use the MLE for a back up PF/C if we still don't trust D-mo or Jones, or we could use it on a back up SF such as Ariza, if he will sign for that low (unlikely, i know).
rockets in - melo + shumpert knicks in - lin + asik + parsons bev harden parsons melo howard change the whole culture of the team, hard nose hungry players & elite defenders at the 1,3,5 elite offense at 2,4 -dont play around with the bulls, trying to move players and get melo to take less etc. just make the trade move on. dont do what warriors are doing letting klay get in the way of love.
