One year later and we are still debating this crap? if u think Memphis got the better deal right now u are delusional In before the lock if i can even post this before the lock
How am I delusional? Wasn't Shane brought in to win NOW? Obviously we didn't do that. Now, we have no trade assets... we have no future... we have a low pick in this upcoming draft... we have no third scoring option... Juwan/Rafer getting 1 year older... Tmac's back getting worked again. At least with Gay we would've had something to look forward to. How do you get over the "HUMP" with only the MLE?
I'll stick by guns. The Battier trade was a win now trade which has panned out alright but you also have to take into account McGrady was talking about retirement earlier this season when his contract is up. Gay is projected to be an all star in the coming years and does provide some athleticism and playmaking ability at his position. Then again a lot of projected allstars are drafted in the NBA and most don't pan out. Gay may or may not pan out but he would have made the team younger, more athletic, and could have potentially filled the role of that elusive 3rd scorer role that this team so desperately needs. All that said, we were going to trade Gay regardless and were intent solely on drafting Brandon Roy I believe so the discussion should be Roy or Battier.
Put it this way do you think we can trade Battier for Gay/Roy right now??? Even though they are currently on "rebuilding teams" no team in the NBA would do that if they had either Roy or Gay.
it's not a totally unreasonable question to ask. over the course of the season, the battier supporters said the trade would be justified if it made us a championship contender. one year removed from the trade and he wasn't enough to push us past the first round (I say he wasn't because when healthy, this is a perennial playoff qualifer. we made it two years ago.) he wasn't enough to push us past a 4 seed when we had homecourt advantage. (and, utah isn't at the level that dallas was two years ago). I didn't like the trade at first, but battier's impact became apparent, and I'm glad we did the deal. although, I still think we could've gotten more for rudy gay. over the course of van gundy's run, he has repeatedly cast away young players who have the potential to develop into solid supporters in favor of washed up has beens who used to be decent defensive players. in lieu of developing guys like boki, we instead brought in the likes of clarence weatherspoon and mark jackson, just to name a few. both far past their prime. those roster spots could've been used to mold a young player into a contributor. the steve blake's, trevor ariza's, matt barne's, and matt carroll's of the world are out there, it takes some patience though. now boki's in round two with the nets. he's not an allstar, never will be. but he's bringing energy, athelticisim, and a shooting threat off the bence. try to tell me that's something we don't need right now? he was ours, and got away from nothing. so, in retrospect, it's too early to judge the rudy gay deal. but, before the draft, rockets fans were clamoring for a young athletic long swingman who possesses some ball handling and shooting skills. a guy talented to be the number one pick fell all the way to us at 8. a player that fit into our needs was there for the taking, and we traded him for a very very good roleplayer. the rule still stands: if battier helps us win a ring, it was worth it. I certianly hope it works out this way, and I'll pull for him because he's a rocket now, but he definitely wasn't the only piece missing from this puzzle and its still fair to question the deal.
The one thing I would add is that Battier was brought in to make us a contender, not a first round winner. I would say that his impact on the Jazz series was minimal.
I agree. You can talk a lot about intangibles, but tangible results are just as necessary. just like defense alone doesn't win championship. both are necessary.
Battier is over-rated guys. Like Dela Hoya over-rated... We gave up way too much to get him plus we have him past the 2010-2011 season where hes making 7.3 mil per year.... good job Rockets FO!!
We never had a chance for Roy, Portland stole him from us at the last second. We were going to draft Sefalosha if we didnt make the gay trade.
I voted Rudy Battier. I do not know... I voted Rudy this time, but only because I keep thinking about that "Win now mode" statement. How long is the "Win Now" window? It only works if you see progress. Which was not seen.
Battier by a mile. I posted in the other thread that Battier is better than Gay will ever be, and I don't back down from that.
Battier is still young. Win now with him is probably a 3 year window, which is what we have with TMac
