Rockets showing interest in trading for Ricky Rubio?

Hit reply early.

Ariza over Iggy is reasonable. But Iggy comes off their bench. Ariza plays 40 minutes a night. I'd take Ariza over Barnes too though.

Bogut, however, was the best defensive big in the league (best defensive player by BPM). Brewer is basically a replacement level player. Bad comparison. Maybe Capela, if he equals his playoff metrics.

Beverley might be comparable to Livingston (I think he's better), but he's our STARTER.

Smith and Barnes are both role players, neither is a world beater.

 

C'mon, Rondo was the 4th best player on that team that won the championship. You might as well be saying this

Spoiler

is what a champion looks like.

 

Having Rubio as our PG would mean changing the offensive style we've been playing with for the entire 2014-15 season. Basically, Harden would have to learn how to play off the ball, work around screens and change his ISO-heavy mentality for more catch-and-shoot or backdoor cuts.

I don't think this would work because Harden needs the ball in his hands to be effective in our offense.

 

Homer glasses strong.

 

Obviously, you suffer from tunnel vision. Are you having a hard time grasping the concept of a point guard taking over point guard duties? Harden handles the ball most of the time because HE HAS TO! Who else is going to do it? If we acquire Rubio, it will allow Harden to play at his natural position where he thrives. I'm sure this went over your head too, but Harden asked for BALL HANDLING HELP. NOT SHOOTING. Basketball amounts to much more than shooting, but I'm sure you've never played a day in your life with assumptions that shooting is our problem.

 

For Rubio to work with Harden you'd have to have the offense set up to where Harden never had the ball except for when he was catching and shooting. Rubio is completely worthless off-ball....not bad, worthless.

Some help would be nice, but you're going to want Harden handling the ball sometimes, and you'd be playing 4 on 5 if Rubio is out there with the ball being handled by Harden.

 

If you think James Harden has no room for improvement, you are sadly mistaken. James Harden is a great player but by no means infallible. He has plenty of room to grow, especially off the ball. If he ever wants to be considered one of the greats, he is going to have to show that he can contribute in more ways than just iso-scoring.

 

Answered

 

Yeah, because getting 16 assists in the NBA Finals is the same as Pete Chilibowlcut. Quit playing dense. It doesn't work when you know you're wrong.

He nearly averaged a triple double during the 2009 playoffs. Like 16, 9.5, and 9.5 or something like that. Feel free to look it up if your memory needs jogging.

 

If not Rubio it's Ty Lawson....better shooter, finisher and good but not in Rubio's level in passing....but the baggage.

 

Harden is a ball dominant guard because HE HAS TO BE ON THIS TEAM! Nobody called him a ball dominant guard when he was winning 6th man of the year on OKC's squad. Harden doesn't HAVE to have the ball in his hands 80% of the time, but with this roster....who is going to pass to him?! That's where his REQUEST for MORE BALL HANDLING HELP comes in. He knows he can elevate his off-ball game, but will never be possible with him playing out of position. Of course Harden is going to be ball dominant with the guards we have.

 

The calculus is different when you have Ray Allen on your team. Even so, that Rondo was far better than any version of Rubio. Rondo and Rubio also have higher turnover rates than Harden. Neither protects the rock well. Their turnover rates are far higher than those of Harden and Paul. Neither Rondo nor Rubio are leaders. Rubio is an average rebounder for a guard. And above all, passing only creates space if you force people to guard you. If Rubio's defender floats off him to guard Harden or Ariza, you now have someone who has adversely affected your spacing. Rondo was elite at finishing at the rim. Rubio is pathetic at the rim. You basically don't need to guard him a la Smoove in WCF. Finally, what data do you have to say he makes players more efficient? By eFG or oRTG on/off he's neutral or negative. So in what way has his flashy passing made things better? Rubio is a decent guard. But the love he gets on this board is beyond me.

 

Try reading what I wrote over again, this time more slowly and see if you still think your comment makes any sense in response to that.

Good luck.

So....one game is what you are basing this on? LOL wow.

Again, he was the 4th most valuable player on a team with 3 future HOFers, he had very little to do with why they won that one year. Notice how the Celtics got worse and worse as the 3 HOFers got old and Rondo had more and more of a role as he was starting to hit his prime....that's not a coincidence.

The Celtics success was due to Garnett, Pierce, and Allen. Rondo was just along for the ride for the most part. Notice how the Celtics won that game where he had 16 assists and 4 points and then won another that he only played 17 minutes total. The success of the Celtics had little to do with Rondo, and that was my point.

 

The idea is to let Harden do what he does best: finish. Let Rubio do what he does best: set up finishers.

You're taking Rubio out of a bad situation and putting him in a perfect one. You are putting Rubio in the kind of situation that Rondo had when he was mixed with his big 3 by putting him in Houston.

 

What happens when smart teams stop guarding him until he gets to the rim? GS destroyed us every time Smoove was out on the court with that strategy.... And it worked. The only time it didn't, we won. I think GS takes those odds every time. And Smith is actually average to above average at finishing at the rim. There is literally no spot on the court from which Rubio is a threat, and his on/off metrics flatly state that he does not make his team much better on offense.

 

The Celtics don't get past Kobe or LeBron without Rondo and you know it. And you know it was far more than one game. And quit acting like 16 assists is nothing.

 

I know you're confused by the notion of playing off the ball. Typical casual fan who equates basketball to shooting. Try reading Harden's comments about needing a ball-handling guard. Try reading McHale's comments about Harden needing to elevate his off-ball game. See the correlation? I know you don't.

 

sounds simple but it's not. you're not looking at the entire aspect of how it effects the game. How does this help Harden when guards don't have to put much pressure on Rubio and shade even more towards harden who is already being guarded by the opposing teams best player. He'll see even more pressure than he does now. that's what most people here are pointing out. It's about FIT. There isn't much need to guard a player who obviously can't shoot or finish. How people are not seeing that is beyond me. A system that revolves around H&H that is predicated on shooting a ton of perimeter shots, that with Rubio is NOT a good fit.

 

They got us with half court press. Something you can do to a team that doesn't have a PG. They did the same to LeBron. It works because you wear a player down where they are not a danger to score the ball. You are basically arguing in favor of having Rubio.

 

A weak weak position to take. Harden produces more PPP than any other player in the NBA, including LBJ. Every minute the ball is not in Harden's hands the offense will be much less productive. Rubio is like Rondo, a point guard from another basketball era. There is no place anymore in the NBA for point guards who cannot score and warp defenses by requiring them to shade strongly towards them off of other offensive players.

Just look at the best point guards currently in the NBA. Curry, Westbrook, Wall, Paul, lilliard, Lowry, Dragic ... They all are dynamic incredibly quick offensive threats who can almost score at will. I personally would take neither Rondo or Rubio over Beverley. At least Bev can hit a wide open three.