Yeah, I like the Rocks to play against good comp, but cmon. As if this season wasn't bad enough, now I have to watch the Mavs and the freaking Wolves get even better? Dallas was already kicking ass, and the Twolves had a solid team with the emergence of Billups and Wally. Now they both get young talented centers and D gets NICK just for kicks? This ****ing sucks ... any other frustrations, including my crappy thread, post here.
Wait until the summer, I think the Rockets now know that they have to get an impact player (Odom or Lewis) and will do what it takes to get that player. However I have got to give props to the Mavericks, they completely fleeced the Nuggets. Which makes me wonder what NugzFan has to say about this trade.
This does suck! Two Midwest teams basically raped Nuggs and Warriors. I think the Rockets will (have to) do something drastic in the summer. They will be one year away from opening a new arena and they will be desperate to put forth a playoff team.
Dallas won't be as unstoppable as everyone thinks. They could end up being another Portland. How will they find enough shots for Nowitski, Nash, Finley, and Van Exel? Sometimes, too much talent leads to chemistry problems. And they really aren't all that deep. You have five solid starters, and a very mediocre bench. And of course, we all know what a winner Van Exel is... The Rockets will be right there with Dallas for years to come, starting next season.
i agree with ZRB. The mavs are not much better off. Tim Hardaway averaged just over 20 minutes a game. They replaced him with a player that demands about 35 minutes a game. Somebody's minutes have to get cut. Also, they now have 4 players (nash, van exel, finley, nowitzki ) that need at least 15 shots a game. How is that gonna happen? This team will not gel. They should have stuck with the veteran, Hardaway. I think the only deal the Mavs got out of this was getting Howard off their salary cap. The only other way the mavs can benefit is if Nash goes down with an injury, then van exel can step right in and contribute. This was a horrible trade for both teams: Denver definitly screwed themselves while the Mavs slightly improved their team (if van exel can accept a diminished role).
My only concern is, now that the trade deadline has passed, will Cato revert back to his old self? Please keep playing like you have been recently Cato.
Funny. Cato came up with a sprained ankle just in time for the trade deadline. Maybe he faked it... and maybe he didn't. But I agree- Just keep playin like you can Cato! You don't actually want to start behind Collier , do you ? not that there's anything wrong with that.... roCks
The Mavs only slightly improved their team? The only minutes Van Exel is going to cut into is Adrian Griffin's, and Griffin is probably more suited coming off the bench anyway. Nick is more of a shooting guard in my opinion. But to be truthful, Van Exel wasn't even the biggest part of the deal for the Mavs. The biggest part is LaFrentz. He's among the top 5 (possibly 3) best centers in the NBA, and since a good center is such a hot commodity these days, I can't believe the Nuggets couldn't get more for him. Someone refresh my memory why the Nuggets wanted to trade Lafrentz? I understand Van Exel, but why Raef?
You said the answer - Van Exel. The Nuggets were desperate to get him off of their team, and noone would bite without Raef or McDyess included. Which brings up the next question - how badly are the Mavericks going to regret trading a veteran who was happy in his role for a near-veteran who perceives himself to be a stud and the man ?
CK, If it will make you feel any better, read Dr Jack's analysis of the Dallas trade. Basically: LaFrentz is the same overall as Howard, although Howard is a better inside presence and played really well against Shaq while Raef cannot play Shaq. VanExel will not help. Hardaway was really good. Dallas *might* have gotten more talent overrall. See, Dallas screwed themselves.
Who, in Van Exels mind, is better than Van Exel? This is a 'Portland' waiting to happen. Does anyone believe that Nick is going to accept Nash as the leader on the team? When it gets into crunch time is Nick going to wait for Nash to serve him the ball? Will he be alright when the ball keeps going to Dirk and Finely? Hardaway was the perfect complement to that team as is Griffen and the minutes he plays and Raef is still a power forward playing center. I predict a first round exit.
Umm...how would that benifit the Mavs? Nash is better then Van Exel. Well atleast he is much much better suited to the style of game Mavs play. This is making me think if we couldnt have gotten LaFrentz and Van Exel. Give us those two for Walt, Willis, and Rice. Walt and Willis come of the cap at the end of this year. Rice comes of the cap at the end of two seasons. We throw in our next years pick or something too. Nuggets are basically looking to clear cap room anyways. We do it because we get a good center and Van Exel comes of the cap at the end of two years. In the last year of his deal, other teams would probably take him to clear off their cap the following year. That way we have LaFrentz's butt and our this years pick to offer to San Antonio in a sign and trade for Tim Duncan?!?!?! Anyone follow that?
Okay, I don't feel that bad now. Just frustrated that the Rockets couldn't get in on some of these inane deals. Rimmy, Jack is a senile old poop-head. And my respect for Barkley's and Kenny's bball insight flew out the window when they said this was a bad trade. Raef is better than Howard. NVE is WAAAAAAY better than Timmy. AJ and Tariq, though way overpriced, are good backups. I don't care what people say about NVE's attitude problems. He is going to be a huge plus to the Mavs, and will probably end up starting WITH Nash. Can anyone contain that backcourt? Finley can play sf. And it's not like they really played D before anyway. They are gonna be fun to watch.
I know that, but I wanted to cheer you up, so I left it out. Did I mention that he won a bunch of games one time as a coach. He rules. Mavs will somehow get worse by getting a bunch of better players than what they had, and Denver will go on a 15 game winning streak led by Juwan "Shaq Killer" Howard and Tim "rimmy knees" Hardaway.
I'd prefer the Mavs win than the Lakers anyway. But it would be good for the Nuggets to rip off a 15 game win streak. While were at it, lets believe that the Hawks, Cavs, Grizzlies, Warriors, and Bulls can pull off similiar streaks.
It is frustrating watching other teams improve, but the Rockets will improve hopefully. It probably won't be through trades, but it will be through health. Next year our frontcourt will be much better. A frontline of Mo, Griffin and Cato should be VERY good. We could potentially get 40 ppg, 23 rpg and 5 bpg and plus we'll get Rice back, hopefully healthy and in shape with a full offseason to work out. The Rockets, if healthy, are a playoff caliber team. Obviously we have to get that "healthy" thing fixed!
Nick Van Exel is a BIG upgrade for the Mavs. I don't see Nick having trouble letting Nash be the leader. Van Exel wants to win, and after missing the playoffs for several years he's going to be happy to be on a contender again. Plus Van Exel seems to always torch the Lakers, and he is a clutch shooter. Nice addition for the Mavs. Hardaway is a slow, broken down, useless PG. Dumping him was the best thing the Mavs ever did. They never should have got him.
Mavs are loaded offensively now! I doubt they will be the same team after this or the following year, but the are loaded for this season. Only major issue I see is that Raef can ball, but he is soft. So now, they are really soft. The Rockets will add Lewis or someone similar. Look for walt, tierre, collier, langhi to be gone....clearing some space for a FA. By the way, being that I am bobblehead maniac and got there 1.5 hours early last night, I got to watch Rice drop threes for an hour. He shot the three for 1 hour straight hitting at 75-80% clip from all over the three point line. At one point he hit 25 in a row moving around the line..... His shot looks better than I have seen all year...still kinda ginger on the knee, but he looks good!!!! His shot is sweet!!!!!
All this wheeling and dealing, but Dallas didn't get themselves a SF. Does this mean NVE will start at the 2, and Finley the 3? At the very very least, Denver got LOTS of cap flexibility. Mcdyess walks, there's more. But what do they have in place? NOTHING. Posey should've been the 4th best player on the team. Now, he's 2nd, and by the time Denver gets a good enough team, he'll be too old. They should trade Posey for a late first rounder. Then they'd have 3 picks to start building with. They should trade Posey and a 2nd rounder for Chris Mills and a first rounder. Then, along with Howard's 20M, they'd get 8M off the books from Mills.
