I'd love to keep Trevor too, but he just seems like the perfect guy to trade and I think we don't keep him past this contract no matter what so really it would be flipping him before his value drops. Also, I think DMo would be fine with a bench role if he was getting consistent minutes, I just don't see Ariza being happy with that at this point in his career. If possible, I'd want to keep both, but with the assumption that Durant was coming here, he'd get almost all the minutes at SF anyway. The idea of playing him at PF I don't really like. As good a player as Durant is, he's kind of soft and he has the foot problem. I wouldn't want him banging with bigger players all that often if I could avoid it. I'd much rather him being a really big SF.
D-Mo? Hell yes, provided he can regain his touch from last season. He was becoming an excellent outside shooter(especially for a PF/C) before his back injury. JVG's coached PFs who shoot 3-pointers. LJ on the Knicks for example. Oddly enough, LJ was also a player who had a back injury early in his career.
As much as I love Ariza and his cheap contract, the 3&D skills he excels at are fairly replaceable with a younger cheaper guy via draft or free agency. If we can get value in return for him I'd do it this summer.
I would prefer to keep Ariza myself. The first option would be to trade Brewer, obviously with an asset attached (hopefully no more than one or two second rounders). That would free up the cap space for DMO. You would have Durant (theoretically, who knows where he's going) and Ariza play the 3 and 4 in a small ball scenario, and Ariza play backup 3 in a normal scenario. I agree he is very much worthwhile; if we get two max players his value would be greatly increased. You could then go over the cap to sign DMO, as long as he doesn't pull a Parsons (gets a good offer and decides not to wait). Prior to the injury and failed trade, DMO was going to get a very large offer bc the salary cap was skyrocketing. He was probably a goner bc someone would have given him a $12-15M offer or something. Now, thanks to Detroit, I'm not so sure. If we can move fast enough on getting max free agents to agreement, the Rockets may have a chance to match. It's still tough to do, but not impossible. I love DMO - except for having serious concerns about his back. As for Durant, I expect him to sign a 1 + 1 in order to reach the 10th year salary raises. Does anyone know whether it matters if he signs 1+1 at OKC or elsewhere?
LOL, so your assumptions are that Durant is going to want to come here and change positions and bang with bigger and stronger players so that Ariza can get playing time? Smart. If the Rockets get Durant and Horford, your big men would be Capela, Horford, DMo, and Harrell....that's rock solid. You'd also have Beasley for times when you don't care about defense or he could even play the SF behind Durant. DMo is a guy who wouldn't mind being a bench player, can you really say that for sure about Ariza?
It matters in the sense that if he signs a 1+1 in OKC, they still have his Bird rights, if he signs a 1+1 elsewhere, they'd have to have cap space to re-sign him after that was up.
That is a mismatch in favor of green to begin with. Not really a indictment of dmo having bad man defense. Dmo is agile but draymond is a 6'7 quick twitch guy who can guard 2's . That's just what's gonna happen sometimes if draymond is facing him up.
That is a mismatch in favor of green to begin with. Not really a indictment of dmo having bad man defense. Dmo is agile but draymond is a 6'7 quick twitch guy who can guard 2's . That's just what's gonna happen sometimes if draymond is facing him up.
I would be pleasantly surprised if we could re-sign DMo on the cheap, but I honestly don't think the front office sees him as a long-term piece. Nor do I think he wants to sign a bargain contract with the Rockets.
I wasn't suggesting that he sign "on the cheap", just that it would happen after the Rockets get the FA's they want and they'd sign him using Bird rights.
Personally i don't think Durant will be a problem for Ariza, quite the opposite, i think Trevor will still play in the range of 25/35 minutes per game which is perfect, and he'll play his role, no more forcing shots and plays so yeah, i don't think he'll have problems with this, at this point of his career i think he's smart enough to understand, Iggy did the same and at the time he was a border line all star, so yeah... That said i agree with you on D.Mo, even if we have Beasley, i think D.Mo is just a better player, can play well in two positions, as a starter, from the bench... But at the end, if you have to make a decision eh, who do you pick (in that scenario) between a sixth man that gives you the opportunity to play Durant at the 4, so when a lot of games will be decided, and an equally (let's say) good player that's not goin to play in crunch time?
DMo just might fetch more $$$ than Dwight when it's all said and done. It depends on the documentation of his back injuries. Dwight is bone on bone with no skill set and makes rookie mistakes in his 12th season.
I just don't see how you end up playing Ariza 25-35 minutes a game unless you are convincing Durant to change positions in order to accommodate Ariza. Something that I don't think there's any way it happens. Durant has his own health to worry about and I don't think it's in his best interest to play a whole lot of minutes at PF banging with bigger and stronger players. Personally I don't want Durant at PF given his foot problems, so Ariza giving the team "the ability" to do that is irrelevant. Give me Durant at SF, and two of DMo, Horford, Harrell, and Capela at PF and C and the team is set. IMO that's preferable to Ariza pushing Durant out of position.
Even if Durant is a pipe dream ... I'd make him and Harrison Barnes co-#1 FA targets this offseason Offer both the full MAX right away to take over as new starter at SF to pair with Harden as Dwight's replacement If either sign, I agree that Ariza becomes the obvious expendable piece to move with the most value of any tradable asset on the team The question then becomes ... what should the Rockets look to get back? My personal #1 (reasonable) target would be Avery Bradley in any Ariza trade He's basically Bev, just better at everything Pat does well Exceptional athlete whose #1 value on the court is individual lock-down perimeter defense, and is way better than overrated Bev at this Does not need the ball next to Harden and has become at least as good a spot-up shooter as Bev Still young enough to remain a core starter for years on reasonable contract Much better as a shooter/scorer with the ball in his hands than Bev Contracts are a perfect match He's almost certain to be stuck as 3rd wheel in Guard rotation for Celtics going forward as he's neither the scorer that Thomas has become, nor the playmaker that Smart should become For Boston, Ariza becomes another trade asset in their never-ending search to acquire a true star to build around
I'm not sure DMo is the long term solution at starting PF, but I like him a lot. He can shoot, he can pass, he doesn't make a ton of mistakes. He would be an ideal filler until we get a more athletic, better rebounding PF, or a perfect backup. I think our chemistry is much stronger when he is on the court.
No to Harrison Barnes. I don't understand the obsession people have with him. He is not that good and the times he has been decent have been because he is 4th offensive option (at best) and gets bunches of open shots on a team that's historically loaded.
I like DMo for the right price. He hasn't shown enough for a lucrative deal, but I'm sure someone would pay an outrageous amount.After the Detroit embarrassment, which looked poorly on everyone involved, I wonder how he feels about the Rockets. Bima probably has a good assessment on his worth and what he'll be paid. When Dwight leaves, we'll need some size, so DMo is a good option to have. I'm more interested in Beas developing into the Rockets' plans. With his maturity and overall improvement, he's another good piece to hang on to for stability.
