I think Jefferson is a better fit for Houston than Bosh. This trade would be a steal, since you'd get the better defensive power forward, who rebounds much better and blocks much better. Rubio in the Houston market would be another star, whether he works out to be a great player or not. The Latino community would embrace him big time. Minnesota might as well trade Rubio, since he's made it clear that he's probably never going to play there. How about a Houston4JeffersonandRubio.com? Doesn't have the same ring to it, but would be a great move.
Targeting Evan Turner would make a TON of sense given his redundancy with Iguodala on the Sixers and how Minny already has one (well, could have been two if Kahn wasn't an idiot and heeded Rubio's warnings) franchise PG in Flynn. Adding Turner to the mix along with Brewer for defensive purposes would give the T-Pups quite the 1-2-3 punch. Add Kevin Love's crazy efficiency, rebounding, overall fundamentals and ability to initiate a fast break with literally one pass -- you gotta like the direction this team is moving in. Unfortunately, even with adding Turner and Flynn/Love both getting better naturally with age and experience....this is still a lottery team. Al Jefferson will soon become a gigantic scapegoat if he is indeed retained and their season plays out as such. For as talented of a player that Jefferson is he's definitely been displaying some classic red flags: decreased athleticism/explosiveness, inability to get to the FT line, somewhat selfish demeanor out on the court, lackluster defense. Bottom line: I think the T-Pups will soon determine he makes too much money to hang around for yet another rebuilding phase and his trade value will suffer accordingly. Given that there are only a handful of teams in this economy and NBA landscape actually willing to absorb salary, it definitely helps that the combination of his decreased value as a player along with our willingness to "help" them out by absorbing his salary seemingly gives us the advantage in trade negotiations. Because of this fact, and the sheer truth that Dork Elvis is an expert negotiator, I have no doubt that Morey could pull off some sort of Jefferson + Rubio package after he Jedi Mind Tricks Kahn into thinking adding Rubio is the only way to offload Jefferson's salary. It definitely could happen. The question is: how badly do we want Jefferson (or conversely, Rubio -- depending upon how you look at it)?
I'm still on team bosh. He fits better next to Yao because he is more athletic/mobile than Jefferson. He also can play d, which al isn't known for. Lastly, we have the option of going small and running with Yao out and bosh at the 5, which we don't get with al since he is not that kind of player.
something about Jefferson's playing style screams injuries....i'd be very worried about it if we acquired him.
Do you have any data to back up Bosh's defensive prowess versus Jefferson? Bosh had a good year last year in DRb%, but his outlier year only equals Jefferson's consistent level. It's hard to find a normalized defensive stat that shows Bosh is better. Bosh is the more efficient offensive player because he draws twice as many FTA and cashes those in at a higher rate. Seems like Jefferson is better at just about everything else and costs less.
Dave, this is my issue with the whole idea and bosh campaign. He's going to want to be paid like a superstar, but he hasnt led his team like a superstar. For all of howard's faults, he's led his team to the finals and have been in the playoffs alot. Bosh has done none of that and his team is equally as talented. I mean are people telling me hedo,rafer,and a rookie along with lewis is more talented than calderon and bargiani? Thats the problem i have. He's a better player than jefferson, but when jefferson was healthy, people were talking about him as one of the best pivots in basketball. He's a tougher player in the post, he's a better rebounder. When yao is sitting, he will play center and the team can maintain their post presence. Top that off, he wont cripple future flexibility nor will it gut your team to get him. I dont have to knock bosh down to talk up jefferson, but we're not talking dream vs ewing, this is more like robinson vs ewing, its that marginal.
I like Jefferson a lot -- but I don't think he can play with Yao. It'd be similar to the struggle they've had with Love/Jefferson, except amplified on the defensive end.
if Big Al can play like he did before injury than I would rather have him than Bosh. He is a much better fit at Center for us(than Bosh) with Scola at PF, if anything wrong happens with Yao again. or he would just slide over to the 5 when Yao needs some air. and if rubio could be in the mix too, that would make it all the better, but I wonder what would happen with Brooks...
I don't recall calling for Amare or even comparing him to Al Jefferson. I just said that with 2 players very likely to miss games next season Yao and K. Martin ; Why bring another player with a repaired ACL and a DUI on his record..
They might get burned on the pick-n-roll but it's not going to be as bad as some think it will. It would be a lot like Cato and Yao.
Yea Minny is gonna gift us Big Al and Rubio for nothing, meanwhile no other team in the league is gonna bid either. Wake up.
Im not just keying in on your post but it did spark some thoughts on getting Bosh. Come to think about it, it reminds me a little of the stromile swift experiment. I know Bosh is much better but stro was like a poor mans Bosh right? and we all know how that worked out. Ill be honest, when we got stro...i thought it was going to be the compliment to Yao we needed...an athletic/mobile big man.
Who said Kahn would give us both guys for nothing? I'm not concerned about Rubio. The Rockets have the pieces to make a deal for Jefferson.
A starting five of Brooks, Martin, Ariza, Jefferson, and Ming, would simultaneously be the best offensive, and worst defensive, team in the league. It IS interesting however...
