I am actually kind of hoping we can get a bull dog like Markieff Morris. I think he is someone that would bull dog Durant and Lebron.
LOL. MKG is worse 3 point shooter than MCW. He's so bad he had ZERO makes last season. Good size, still young, very good D but you want a guy who's never averaged more than 29 mins a game/season and who doesn't even average double digits in scoring to replace Ariza? You must be more of a MKG fan than a Rockets fan if you prefer MKG over Batum. Batum is tailor made for the Rockets, MKG is not.
Batum would get Rockets an asset back if Ryno trade. And Batum would not only play but he'd start and increase his value to trade later with this Rockets team. You cannot say same with Ryno. Otherwise Ryno trade would require giving up assets, keeping Ryno is worse because same problem as last season - no longer starter worthy and liability in postseason against best teams, especially GSW.
Awful defender is an over exaggeration. Most of defensive woes occurred with Hornets who had him defending guards plus heavy offensive playmaking/scoring responsibilities, very unlike his 3-D role with Blazers. Bzdelik can fix his stance as well. But you can't teach 6-8 with 7-4 wingspan.
his playmaking would unlock rockets offense to another level...we lacked these guys in Harden era so Harden could be easily neutralized by doubleateaming him
Houston chasing 3 & D guys with long term contracts... ...then some genius pulls Nic Batum’s name from the pack? For a start, he’s a horrible defender. Come on CF, lift.
3 & D with long contracts- Otto Porter would be nice.. but I can’t see how we can trade Ryno for him.
Haha. Codman said like 15 names in a post, none were hits. Windhorst probably heard Morey was sniffing around about any teams looking for Ryno; I don’t think Daryl feels like we have to make a move once we sign Melo. He would certainly entertain the idea but won’t rush it just to get Ryno out. I really don’t think ATL would do Bazemore for Ryno + 1st. Our 1sts are so low. If it was one year remaining then maybe but I’d say they’d prefer to play Bazemore 20 minutes a game next two years than not play Ryno
regarding batum's defense. no, he's not the defender the ariza or luc are. no, he's not the defender he once was in portland since he's been aged and injured. however, he's not as bad as the hornets made him look either. the factor that sets him apart is his playmaking and rebounding. last year we had only paul, harden, and gordon who can create any offense for themselves and others. batum averaged 6apg ON THE HORNETS. that's like averaging 12 on a good shooting team lol. look at what adding another PG did for harden. imagine adding another one to ease the pressure on both paul and harden? we'd also be the best rebounding team in the league since paul, harden, tucker, and clint are all plus rebounders for their positions too. i'm not saying he's the most perfect fit. but in some ways he's an obvious upgrade over ariza. here's where i would put him on my list: 1. james johnson 2. aminu 3. harkless 4. batum 5. bazemore 6. shumpert 7. lee it might also surprise people that bazemore is so low on my list. he, shumpert, and lee are all guards and we need forwards. being able to play sg/sf is not the type of sf we need. they have to be able to GUARD DURANT! only ariza and luc had the length to do so and they're gone. right now we have not 1 player who can fill that need. the player we get has to be able to play PF is small lineups too. really only the top 4 guys can do what we need. batum's inconsistent 3 and D, and contract put him at the bottom of the list, but the playmaking, rebounding and size keep him on it. bazemore, shump, and lee we can settle for if we don't get an actual combo forward because at least they're more productive than ryno will be against the warriors.
I think that is precisely something the Rockets are looking at. And quite frankly, "years" shouldn't be much of an issue for them right now. All of their roster moves are going to be trades. They just want to make sure the "talent" they get back is good vis-a-vi their contract. So if they want to pivot, they can. So yeah, canvas the league, look for guys with 3yrs on their contract that are close to Anderson's 20M number this year. James Johnson fits the bill for sure.
I don't think it all that nonsensical. This is a team that has been targeting wings. And remember, these are the KINGS. They were hot to trot after LaVine. And have showed interest in Rodney Hood. I don't think them looking for a young swingman locked up for years is a stretch.
His contract and his defense fits what the rockets do. We have plenty of scorers, so his defense would replace Ariza. I prefer his two year 13 million over Batums albatross of a contract. I would prefer a better wing but MKG over Batum in a heart beat.
