shane was a great pickup......gay would not be helping us win like this, remember last year. even the r****ds at ESPN are giving us props for picking up shane this offseason.
Umm... I'd like to correct my own post. I meant that the future ones that end up with Kobe, T-Mac-type players don't happen often. In other words, they aren't a dime a dozen.
I wasn't upset over the trade, but I still feel to this day that we could've gotten at least Shane + Memphis 1st round for Swift + Houston 1st.
IF we were able to get Memphis' first round pick as well as Batman, that would have been the trade of the century considering how badly the Grizz are doing this year. They will get a top 5 pick. I am sure CD tried, but the whole point of the trade from the Grizz perspective is that they want to keep their draft picks in order to rebuild. I don't see how West would have done the trade if he couldn't get another draft pick in 07.
i have to agree with you. gay to replace tmac? even if tmac is going to be dead weight, gay could replace tmac? there are only a few players in the world who could even match up with tmac, let alone replace him. There is noone in the nba with tmac's set of skills. gay becoming the same level as tmac or kobe, the rockets weren't convinced about that.... they see alot more games than any of us do collectively. the rockets made a good decision. bottom line is, win with tmac. they weren't thinking of replacement. somehow people still wanted swift. and even comparing swifts stats to battier's. swift isn't half the player battier is. battier is bruce bowen x ____________.... battier isn't a JVG guy, he is an NBA guy. it would be nuts not to want this guy for any team
swift love... what is soincredible about swift? the only thing i can say is he dunked over yao once. WOW...
I meant their pick from the same draft, which was 19 or 20 I'm not sure. Swift for a late 1st round pick!!?? What's wrong with that?? He's a #2 overall pick who most still see "potential". And in a draft that is among the weakest ever we could've easily done that.
question, if the rockets were to pick up gay, and tmac was dead weight, realistically, when would the rockets go to the finals if ever? what is the best long term interest of the team in your opinion? don't you make decisions based on your personnel and what is the most likely path to win the championship? i don't think this has anything to do with win now or later. this has to do with winning the finals. that is the goal and every decision should be based on that. the question of now or later comes after this main question. why do you feel jvg is not committed to long term plans? is it because spanoulis, novak, lack of rookie playing time? and if so, is this all that you base your decision about him making "short term" plans?
I dont think Swift is seen as a player with potential anymore. I think he is now regarded as a player who will never reach whatever potential he was thought to once have. Also who cares where he was drafted. Olowakandi was the former #1 pick in the draft. You dont see to many people lining up to trade late first rounders for him. And back to Swift, if he was still with Memphis last year, and the Rox had the 24th pick of last years draft, would you have traded it to get Swift. I surely wouldnt so why does everyone think CD should have convinced Jerry West to do the same.
The thing about Battier is, I don't think this is as short term as some make it. The guy is only 28, and is signed for 4 more years after this one at around 6.5m per. We got the guy on a very good contract for 5 years, which is a long time in NBA years. A player like Battier doesn't really rely on quickness as much as smarts. He's not going to stop being a 40% 3P% guy, he's not going to start turning the ball over. Even on defense, he doesn't rely on his athleticism. To that end, he may be similar to a Stacey Augmon who played until he was 37 because his defense only partially relied on pure athleticism. Walton made one comment that made sense last night - teams can always use a guy like Battier. Battier may be a "JVG" guy, but there's not a coach in this league who wouldn't want Battier. He's the perfect SF to put around Yao. I still think this move screams more Morey than Van Gundy, anyway. Guy on a reasonable contract signed long term - just what he did with JL3 as well. To me, Battier is a guy who is a sure thing to help now and into the future. Gay was definitely not going to help now, and wasn't a sure thing to help into the future. In terms of Gay vs. Battier, I see Gay as a guy who maxes out in the Shawn Marion/Richard Jefferson range - which is a borderline all-star, so if he reaches that, it's hardly a knock. He just doesn't have much of a jumpshot, his handle of the ball is suspect, and he's just not an offensive playmaker. My guess is a lot of teams saw the same thing, which is why he fell to the 2nd half of the lottery....and after having Battier on my team, I'm not sure I could part with him for anyone who isn't a first-team All-NBA type.
Battier was worth the trade just for making JR Smith look stupid last night. That idiot comes back from a fight and looks even more stupid for staring down Luther Head after blocking his shot only after Luther blew by him. Then Smith hits a lay up and stares down another Rocket for a few seconds. I didnt know blocking the shot of a 6'3 guard and then hitting a layup warrented two staredowns. Couple possessions later Battier stops a Smith drive, and then again on a Smith drive one on one against Battier where Smith throws up a silly lay up attempt that doesnt sniff the rim. Battier doesnt stare, he just goes out and hits killer threes, while Smith does nothing the rest of the game and barely sniffs the court in the fourth quarter. I hope Smith gets buried on the bench when Melo is back, and AI is playing the 2, with Blake running the 1. He can sulk and suck just like he did back with the Hornets.
It is an issue about "today or tommorrow". Battier plays great does not neccessary mean Gay is no good. I am a Big East fan, i watched many of Gay college games and his NBA games, he will be another Wade if he works hard enough. And Gay would be a great star replacing TMAC who is obviously on his way of sunset. Also we paid crazy price for Battier, Gay Swift and a pick. If we kept Swift, i would say not a bad deal at all.
The main reason I was somewhat skeptical of the trade was that Jerry West was the GM pulling the trigger on the other end. I would never in a million years bet against any move that West makes given his ridiculous track record. In my personal evaluation of Rudy Gay, however, I never thought he would amount to much in the league. Reason for this? The guy has zero passion for the game. Everytime I watched Rudy Gay at UConn, I felt like I was watching Eddie Griffin at Seton Hall. I saw a player with tremendous raw talent in that he was 6-8, extremely athletic, had long arms and could play inside-outside. Thing is, whenever UConn played a tough opponent, Rudy Gay simply could not assert himself in the game and at times would be benched by Jim Calhoun for not playing hard enough. Considering the ridiculous amount of hype surrounding Rudy Gay, I expected to see a player making the impact that Carmelo Anthony did at Syracuse but instead found myself coming away trying to rationalize why he looked uninspired, uninterested and simply could not put his stamp on the game much like Griffin at Seton Hall. Rudy Gay right now is a tweener and does not have a natural position in the NBA. His ball handling and outside shooting simply are not good enough to play effectively on the perimeter. Additionally, it is painfully obvious that his lack of desire and mental toughness are causing him to be nowhere the player he should even at the age of 19. If you compare Rudy Gay of last season at UConn to Kevin Durant of this season at Texas, its a night and day difference. It is blatantly obvious that Durant is going to walk into the NBA and make a significant ROY type of impact for whatever team drafts him. I never for a second felt this with Rudy Gay. The Rockets imo were spot on with their evaluation of Rudy Gay. The player that will be an absolute stud in this draft is Brandon Roy and that is who the Rockets targeted. They are not saying it, but my guess is the Rockets evaluated Rudy Gay to be a bust at this level which is why they traded the pick. If the Rockets thought that Rudy Gay would be Carmelo Anthony and not Eddie Griffin imo they would have drafted him regardless of the win now approach. I give the front office a TON of credit for sticking by their evaluation and not getting swayed by public sentiment.
First of all you do understand that Gay was the pick we gave up right. Its not like we traded Gay, Swift, and the #8 pick. As for your prediction that Gay can turn into Wade if he tries hard enough, that is rediculous. So far, people on this board have compared a guy who did not dominate games in college and has done nothing spectacular in 35 or so NBA games, to DWade, Tmac, and Kobe. That is like saying Rafer can turn into a Steve Nash type player. All he has to do is work on his shooting for 8 hours a day, his dribbling for 8 hours a day, and his passing for 8 hours a day.
We need Battier now. He's the perfect fit, and I've always said that. We just got robbed, to get him. I hated to be on the West end of the stick, with him bragging that the only better trade he ever made was for Kobe. That just meant we left a lot on the table, and he would have made a better deal, if we'd have negotiated better. We could have ended up with a draft pick or another up and coming player for what we sent them.
Griffin is a sad sorry, he has problems out of court, those are cancers can not be cured. Gay does have problems on court, which can be improved given time and hard work.
Rudy Gay will never live up to his potential b/c he doesn't have that rabid alpha dog mentality. He's the type of player who's going tantalize times till he's 30 w/ "potential." The reason I was disappointed w/ the trade is that we sent away two athletic "potential" guys and didn't get enough in return. Guys like Gay and Swift retain value even if they're not playing well, b/c some other team will always think they can unlock the talent within. We most certainly could have gotten more out of this deal, though Shane's been huge.
