{Mannix} Rockets interested in Ty Lawson despite DUI

Jesus dude take off the homer glasses.

If we get 14/7 from DMo next season that'd be outstanding and we'd win like 60 games.

 

Well he did average 12pts 6rebs on .504 FG% and .368 3pt%

So he is pretty damn close to your goal for him already.

 

I realize that. I think 14/7 would be a pretty substantial improvement. 17/9 are eastern conference all star numbers, not quite sure he makes a jump that massive.

 

Exactly. The maturation of young players like D-Mo, Bev and Jones makes the loss of Smith a non-issue. I am hopeful about the addition of Dekker. Every team making a serious playoff run last season, with exception of Cleveland and LBJ (who is the best basketball player in the world by far), involved a core that had been together for several years. The Rockets will improve by not changing.

I do not view a Lawson trade as beneficial or likely. Harden is a combo guard that rivals many point guards in assists and leads the NBA in PPP off his ball action. Every minute the ball is not in Harden's hands the offense will suffer greatly. Taking the ball out of Harden's hands would be almost criminal.

 

BTW, Jones is a year younger and was 12/7 at 53/35/61 splits last season, I'd like to see him around 14/8 next year.

 

I would like to see Jones return to the way he played prior to his collapsed lung.

 

The difference is that Jones doesn't (and can't) create his own shot. His scoring is almost entirely dependent on someone else setting him up so his scoring numbers are always going to be inconsistent.

 

Pretty much. Jones is a valued asset obviously because Morey chose to let Smith go. But D-Mo is by far the more valuable asset. Players that function equally well as a 4 or 5 are very rare. I personally cannot think of another one in the NBA today. D-Mo's talents ware incredibly underused last season. No one, not even Morey or McHale, saw a year ago we all see now. Jones will see his usage increase next season. D-Mo will see his integration into the offense much more prominent and could see his 3 point and post opportunities to score increase dramatically.

 

Really really hope we can get TY

 

That is a given and does not require constant reiteration. Harden and D-Mo are the only Rockets players who can consistently generate good looks at the basket on their own. But modern NBA offenses are complex and designed to give good shot opportunities to many players within the scope of the game. Even those who cannot create their own shots.

 

I agree most teams ( the good ones ) have plays to free up players for open looks. Unfortunately the Rockets offense doesn't fly under that notion. It's completely iso. That's what makes Harden even more amazing is he does everything himself. He gets zero help from the playbook. This is also what makes Lawson an ideal fit.

 

You say that, and I'd love for you to be right about it, but there are some here who only look at raw stats and pay no attention to how they happen.

That said, if Jones is still on the Rockets this year and the team manages to get him 14 points a game in the somewhat limited time he'll see the floor, our team will have a monster offense.

 

That is completely and totally not true. Pardon my French. The high pick and roll is a staple of the Rockets offense. The drive dish is a staple of the Rockets offense. And no that is not classic Kobe isolation. The Rockets do not need to set the number of screens most teams do because Harden is just that good. It would be a minor modification to the R&R offense McHale runs to integrate more screens and off the ball movement. McHale prioritizes spacing around the arc for good reasons. Whether you understand them or not.

 

You under no circumstances give up Dmo for Lawson, especially with the loss of Smoove. That would just create a new problem, no PF's, back to square one.

 

If it wasn't for James Harden McHale's offense would be atrocious. I couldn't even count the number of times Harden had to break down his man 1 vs 1 and make a play. Sure Houston runs the pick and roll as does every team in the NBA, college, high school and rec ball. It's a very generic play that works so well because of Harden.

 

All that does is move the teams weakness from PG to PF.

You don't trade Dmo for Lawson.

 

No one knows how to value D-Mo. Is he a 4 or is he a 5? He can guard at least three positions defensively and god only knows what his top end on threes is. He marches ever onward by practicing and training many hours a day. In practice it takes him 45 minutes of the ball fed to him to hit 200 threes. But one thing I am sure of is that Morey should soon offer him soon a 4 year $60M contract.

 

Dupe accounts definitely confirmed. LOL.

 

You have no idea whatsoever. Without Harden McHale's offense would of course change. But you certainly are right that the offense would change without Harden. Any teams offense would radically change without Harden.

 

Absolutely true. I could not have stated it better than you just did. And it is exactly what I expect. What Jones is very good at is receiving the ball under advantageous circumstances and taking advantage of the opportunity offensively. I cannot fault him there.