Does LMA... want Houston?!?! Oh man. Giving me the jitters thinking about him in a Rockets uniform! Big question is does Morey do it?
Continuity is good. If we can't aignificantly upgrade the PG spot, this is the route I hope we take. I don't quite like the idea of sacrificing all our depth for a 3rd star that will almost assuredly be marginalized compared to his contract. Having said that...if a 3rd star wanted to come here, it'd be hard for Morey to say no.
There's 3 flaws this team has. Inconsistent PG play Inconsistent PF play Inconsistent perimeter shooting If you address any one of the those, I think the Rockets beat the Warriors & win the Championship. Doesn't need to be all 3, doesn't even need to be 2. Miami won 2 rings with Mario Chalmers at point. If Aldridge comes here & we don't address the other 2 needs, it's okay.
Ditto on that. What people forget is if Aldridge signs a 1 year extension with Portland and then next year when the cap goes up signs a 5 year deal with the Blazers he could make near 200 mil. If he does a sign and trade with Houston for 4 years he'll get around 100 mil. He will never recoup most that 100 mil. Aldridge's best bet is to sign a one deal with the Blazers and then next year sign a 4 year deal with Houston. He minimizes his losses to 40 mil that way. So no Aldridge this summer unless he just doesn't care about money.
Well if we're just talking best fit, of course the Rockets offer the most out of the 3 Texas teams in terms of personnel and a shot at a championship. LMA would fit perfectly alongside Dwight, and James is more than willing to distribute the ball. And the Rockets got within 3 wins of the NBA Finals. That's way better than the Spurs or Mavs(who the Rockets destroyed in the playoffs). The problem of course is that pesky little thing known as the salary cap. The Rockets would have to gut their team to make room for LMA. Then again, so would the Spurs and Mavs given the number of free agents they'd likely have to renounce in order to clear space to sign him. This is why I still think in the end he goes back to Portland. I just don't see him improving his title chances in Dallas(they may actually get worse). And the Spurs have too many free agent question marks of their own to deal with, starting with Tim Duncan.
LMA's play style REALLY doesn't fit here though. I find it hard to imagine the team embracing his low efficiency long 2's that he's so fond of. Also, he'll be looking for more money than we have to offer. LMA's mid-range game is the same as someone shooting about 27% from 3 point range...I just don't see it being welcome here.
But LMA can hit 3-pointers. He's expanded his range. Plus he's so automatic on those 18-to-20 footers that even Morey would be fine with incorporating that into the Rockets offense.
Agree with this, taking a few steps in front of 3 point line would not be a bother. He'll get a ton of open shots. But lets not flood this thread with discussion on how he'll fit in just yet.
You say he's "automatic" but he really only hits them about 40% of the time. As to his 3's, if he can sustain the 35% he shot last year then that's almost as good as our current starting PF so great, but if he falls back towards his career 3 point % of 27% then that's not okay. Outside of rebounding, he just doesn't provide a big enough boost from what we already have to justify the price tag associated with him. Also, his absolute favorite shot would be one he'd have to abandon to fit in here. There just seems to be better ways to improve the team.
I'll take his rebounding over any of our PFs and especially DMOs poor rebounding. When the rockets rebound they win.
