Does bringing in James signal the end of Luther Head?

if he ever develops a killer mentality i think he can maybe be our new Robert Horry in terms of making killer clutch shots. he did it plenty of times during the regular seasons against the mediocre teams but he wasn't able to step it up during the playoffs. hopefully he'll either provide some sort of contribution to the team.

 

I sure as hell hope not... Not unless we get an OBVIOUS upgrade... and under they better be well under 30, too. I swear if we get any older, I'm going to bust a nut.

 

Luther is still an useful player for ROX!

 

I love luther, and so do all the htown white girls, but we really do have a surplus in the back court. While he is a good 3 pt shooter, James really is not that much worse while providing better defense, passing, and penetration. Luther definitely has the chance to develop into a player better than mike james, but he clearly is not that player now.

Losing the 3 pt stroke is tough, but we have an even better 3 pt shooter on our bench named steve novak. I bet he gets more playing time under adelman, and his 3s really help us because small guards really can't challenge his shots like they do luther's.

I really hope we can package some combination of luther, snyder, vspan, the pick, and sura's contract for a strong big. Battier is also expendable to me if he can net us a good power forward. We have lots of players who can take sf time (novak, bonzi, tmac, reed,) while very little that can play pf (hayes.)

Anyway, I definitely think luther is expendable now, but i hope we don't dump him for nothing. I'm liking moneyball morey so far though. Go get artest, sheed, diaw, or nocioni.

Also, anyone who thinks artest can't guard pfs is silly. He's 6 8 and 260, the same size exactly pretty much as boozer. The only pf he can't guard well is duncan, but yao guards him reasonably well, and artest would kill whomever else the spurs tried to guard him with on the other end. Bring on the Ron.

 

MJ is the upgraded version of Head..... also more expensive...

with MJ in town, I expect Head will be trade along with other pieces for a starting PF

 

I for one, hope they trade Head. He is expendable now that MJ is here.

 

We better trade Rafer

 

I can actually see Luther as a Rip Hamilton type player in Adelman's offense.

 

^ I see him more of a Kobe Bryant with Adelman.

 

It's the end of Rafer. Thank GOD!!! Now, all we need is SF3.

 

You know that's a good thing, right?

 

I tend to do that when the Power Dancers are in range, but I guess its different strokes for different folks.

 

How many times do I have to say it? This trade can't go down because the entire U of I will implode. Yall think SuperMarioBro is busting nuts? Illinois would be a p*rn set disaster zone.

 

lets just see if luther , snyder , or v-span is going out to another team

 

I'd say Alston is the one whose outta there.

Alston+Span+Snyder+Sura's contract for Randolph.

or even...

Alston+Battier and Sura's contract for Webster and Z-Bo

 

I have no idea if they will trade Head because while Van Gundy played him way too much I believe, he was also the guy that Lindsey apparently pushed for and that Van Gundy thought was undersized. So I'm not real sure on if it was more management pushing Head or a combination along with Van Gundy. Adelman's offense can always use a shooter.

However if it was my choice I would definitely trade him now. His trade value is probably at its highest now. Really I think Luther is Eddie House with 2 extra inches of height and some more hops, but less handles.

Really that's about his upside, he's a 2nd or 3rd string combo guard, that's really a SG trapped in a point guard's body.

He's about as one dimensional as they come, if his shot isn't falling, he's nothing but a liability. His defense is absolutely terrible, Alston and Spanoulis are so superior to him on D it's really quite hard to grasp, considering his athletic ability. But he is a very good spot up shooter, he's athletic, and he his very clutch, although the playoff performance didn't exactly show him to be someone that steps up when it counts.

He's basically a nice luxury to have on a team, a team that wants to win a title needs players like him, however he's simply not good enough as either a 2nd string PG or SG, he's basically the guy you put in the Damon Jones role.

I would certainly keep him over John Lucas III and probably over Kirk Snyder as well, because he brings outside shooting which Snyder lacks. But that also depends on size issues at the 2. If Wells leaves I think they should keep Snyder because Head cannot guard anyone out there.

Personally I always find it odd that people I talk to think Head is better than Alston and Spanoulis. I think James, Alston, and Spanoulis are all clearly better players. I also think if the Rockets were smart they would package Head and/or Lucas in any deal instead of Spanoulis.

I basically see Snyder, Lucas, Head, and even Alston as all being more expendable than Wells, James, or Spanoulis, because the latter 3 actually have a game with a skill set.

 

I'd say odds are Head is here. He is cheap, relatively young (unlike James/Alston) and an effective if somewhat one dimensional back up SG. He is a much more reliable player than Snyder, JL3, VS, Novak, and probably Wells too.

I think the trade means the end of Luther as a backup 1 experiment. Now it is time for him to work all summer on a pump fake and step through 18 footer so you just can't overplay his 3 pointer. And Luther is a proven 3 point shooter, and those guys are valuable.

Now if he is the missing link on acquiring a better player or a power forward, sure, he could be traded, but we don't have a glut of shooters or consistent guards at this point.

 

Head is good in the regular season against teams that don't guard the 3pt line very well. (re: Eastern Conference)

He is horrid against elite teams that can close out on 3pt shooters. (re: Playoffs)

I say try to package him in a deal for an upgrade at the PF.

 

I agree. I like so much Luther cause he's a perfect shooter. He can knock dow the 3s again and again. But he dies that only against teams who don't guard 3pt dhooters. RIGHT. He is strugglin' against good sefensive teams (Mavs SAS Suns and the other). I think the problem with Luther is that he just can shoot the 3s well. We has to use speedness and atack the basket draw the fouls. He he should be active in the game cause I hate when he's waitin' only for the open 3

 

This is somewhat true, but overstated. Had our PG and PF been better offensive players it makes it a whole lot harder to cheat on Head. Teams would rather have Alston or Howard or Hayes shoot the ball than Luther. But if you have James and maybe someone like Nocioni or Barnes as your PG and PF (around Yao + Tmac or Battier) Luther might get some shots.

Also, Luther is still only had 2 years in the league. We know he shoots the 3 terrific--near elite NBA level. Now he need to work on a consistent 18-20 footer off a pump fake and single dribble where he can make a last second late rotation pay. So he has room to grow as small offensively potent SG, though I have given up a transition to the PG.

Yeah if he is the missing link in a deal to get us a better PF, sure, trade him. But the odds are less than 50/50 he is a make or break guy in the deal. I still think we should pursue a full MLE to Barnes or to Nocioni for a PF to share with Hayes (with Reed or maybe a draft pick offering another option). Nocioni we might have to work through Chicago because he is restricted.