We have an obvious hole at the 4/5 with our rebounding issues. What the overwhelming majority of members don't realize is we have a new hole on this team at the 3. Ariza has been simply awful offensively this season. And here's the kicker, his defense has slipped considerably. People keep griping about Dwight. But if it weren't for Dwight we'd be about 5 games under. 500 right now. Our perimeter defense has been putrid. And Ariza and Brewer are a big part of that. (Gonna leave Bev out of this post but he's slipped too.) They're constantly and consistently getting beat out high and leaving Dwight on an island. The stitching strategy is a strategy designed to cover up our porous perimeter defense but the opponents are now exploiting that for the big small mismatches. Ariza can no longer check the opponent's best perimeter player and that is what is leading to the constant switching that our opponents are now converting to mismatches. I am not anti-Ariza. He's been great up until now. But we're talking about our team here. When role players start fading on you in their role and they're on a long-term deal the GM has a tough decision to make. Does he move the role player while the role player still has value or does he gamble that the role player will not continue to fade and become a boat anchor contract? There is one thing that a team trying to become a championship contender cannot have. And that is contacts that have zero or negative trade value. And we're already up a creek with Brewer's contract. Looking forward, if Ariza isn't traded by the deadline and he continues his level of play with subpar shooting and his defense slipping, then his trade value plummets in the summer. So, in my opinion, now is the time to capitalize on Ariza's trade value, while it's still high, and before the league figures out he's slipped.
So what can we get in the market for Ariza? What kind of 3 and D guys are there that can guard 4's at times that would make this team better? Kawhi is not walking through that door even we could have had him years back. Middleton? (although he plays a lot of 2)
Funny how that works doesnt it? A player who frustrates the fanbases ( snell has frustrated also garpax since they publicly called him out) and lowe say he has sooo much potential. Only that snell is already 23 and next year needs extension too. Wonder what will lowes tune be then? Oh but you see his article was from this year. According to him jones can still develop to the second most versatile from his class. You cant have such an obvious agenda against jones on one hand and on the other bring up lowes player projections on the other to show how snell is good.
What about DeAndre Jordan for Dwight Straight up?Or even something like this will make more sense. Houston in: Jordan, J, Crawford, J Smith. Houston out: D12, T Jones, C Brewer (Pineapple fly) Salary wise works of course we have to wait until January 15th. What do yall think ? Let's bring Jordan home
Well, it's been a long time since we traded players to the Kings ... When was the last time? Patrick Patterson? You might as well go after Cousins ... his trade value goes down every time he gets ejected.
Barnes? Middleton is going nowhere. Maybe kcp can? I know covington cant guard 2s. Buf they are not available players either. Crowder could if you are kind be called that. The fact of the matter is that 3+D who are already good and versatile players are not available. You may get someone in free agency. Perhaps batum or barnes who will get full max contracts or pay bazemore (not proven and not versatile) or try steal fournier ( not vesatile defender). I dreamed last week that curry was with the craptors. Decided to not drink again for a while.
If ariza is traded the return must be worth it and secondly most likely it will also mean the death of this era (H+H). So it will also mean that we are not any kind or near "contenders " anymore and dwight will either sign elsewhere or traded. Because competing while reloading such a significant part of the spine of this team in such a neuralgic position as a wing is almost impossible.
I honestly think this season is almost lost (unless a major trade and miracle happens) and it is time to retool. I get that we have the talent but it did not work you know that's life $h!t happens. This Group reach their ceiling last year and while it was the most exiting times for Rockets fans in a long time it is time to face reality. This current team for most nights sucks. Individually they might be great but as a team not very good. My suggestion is to surround Harden with players that really complement him and vice-versa like Pat Beverly. They are two players that I think will flourish with Harden (or our system if we have one) the first one is Avery Bradley which is a better Wolverine and the other one is Harrison Barnes will be a RFA this summer if somehow we can those two here by next season and then sign Festus Ezeli or even dumb Whiteside we will have more balanced lineup. Head Coach Tom Thibs Bradley/Beverley Harden/Gentile/Llull Barnes/Ariza/Dekker Dmo/Harrell/ Capela/Ezeli I don't know guys just want this ugly A$$ season to be over.
Harden needs a running mate. I really feel Kevin love screwed us him and harden would of been perfect. Harden needs somebody who can not only pick and roll (Dwight) but also pick and pop. That's where the harden Howard combo went wrong is Dwight can not work in the post. If we could pair harden with some body like the likes of a love or Aldridge that would of been perfect but those ships have sailed. Only hope and it seems like a pipe dream is cousins.
Snell has another season to show malakas. Time is up for Terrence. That's my point. I posted Lowe's tweet because he specifically pointed out Snell's playmaking abilities, which is something I pointed out a while back. We are lacking that playmaking ability at the 3 spot and our defenders at the 3 are not making a difference defensively. We are a .500.team at best as currently constructed. That's not going to change this season without significant personnel changes. So we have the perfect scenario to sell high on Ariza and take a flyer on a guy like Snell. And Snell's skill set does fit here. Does that man he will be great? No. Does that mean Snell isn't the small forward version of Dalembert? No. We are simply in a situation where we have nothing to lose by moving our 3's out. They are not helping us win and they are contributing to our losses. We should sell high on Ariza, fix our rebounding issue, take a flyer on a band-aid temporary solution at the 3 with guys like Snell, Gee, Tucker, or a youngster like McDermott, or even a jacka__ like Lance (notice these are all contacts that can't hurt us in the future), that could turn into something great but if it fails, we're not on the hook for the $48 million we owe to Ariza and Brewer over the next 3 seasons. You can talk about 3&D guys being at a premium and difficult to acquire right now and that's true. But at 33% from 3 and with his D slipping Ariza is NOT a great 3&D player anyways. If we can fix our rebounding issue and become a team that consistently dominates the glass even against the best teams in the league by trading Ariza, we've got to do it. Then bring in expiring contacts and/or a youngster or two and hand them the SF position for the balance of this season. Guys like Snell and McDermott fit my theory because they're on rookie deals. Guys like Tucker and Stephenson fit my theory because they're on expiring deals. The last two aren't great shooters but we don't have great shooters anyways. Here's the other thing and the reason I keep bringing up Chicago and McDermott/Noah/Snell, etc. Chicago is fixing to fall off the map. Rose is now mediocre and they're going to have a rough time dumping him. And as much as I like Hoiberg as a person I hate him as a coach and personnel man. He's not good. His coaching career is very overrated. He's not the answer there. And he's going to take that team down. It's already started and you can see a total collapse down the tracks within a year or so if not sooner. Chicago is a team that is ripe for a desperation trade move. And replacing Ariza and Brewer with Noah and a patched together combination at the 3 will make us better defensively, dominant on the glass, just as good but probably better offensively, and much better positioned for next summer's free agency.
Sure but you need to remember who was Snell under his first two years. He was under the best defensive coach in the league. Someone who gave always hard defensive practices who demanded no mistakes and full concetration always on the defensive end. And we all know that a coach can influence a LOT the development of a young player at the beginning of his carreer. Thibs will not be able to turn someone who has feet of lead into a defensive mastermind but Snell does have all the tools. And yet here we are. He is lost. Sure I would take Snell for what he will likely cost, because there's really no harm done but if Morrey or someone else want to sell Snell as the Ariza replacement ...I have to laugh and shake my head. You say Chicago is ripe for a desperation trade but you in my opinion underestimate the narcissism and arrogance of their front office who ALWAYS overestimate their players (that's why they rarely make trades) and never ever want to admit they made a mistake. Snell is available but McDermott who cost TWO first round picks and was a personal choice of Gar (I think) is NOT and will not be available. As for Noah he is the last pin taht holds their lockeroom together. For such short minded people like them who prefer to attack out of egoism their own roster and staff that should not be a factor though in my opinion. Brew is a toxic bad contract but pairing it with our best asset Ariza is a waste when he can be dumped by pairing it with a much lower quality sweetener as Jones. A trade for Ariza + Brew for Noah (who is not healthy and expires,doubtful if he will resign) + Snell is not a good trade for the rockets.
If you want to trade anyone .. . we need true value back Trading just to get rid of a guy (except maybe brewer) is not going to work Rocket River
Strongly disagree. A trade of Ariza/Brewer for Noah/Snell is highway robbery for us. We can then poach Lawson, Jones out for a temporary 3 fix and another playmaker/defender at point and go to the playoffs with 48 minutes of paint/rim protection plus dominant rebounding, better shooting, and improved defense at the point when Bev sits. Not to mention we open our cap back up, get Dekker and Harrell more run, and most importantly force JBB to put Marcus Thornton on the floor whether Harden likes it or not. Now I doubt we can get Noah for Ariza and Brewer. But it's a no-brainer trade on our end if we can.
