Why not offer Rafer for West in a sign and trade and give west 4yrs 14m. He can run the offense, defends can finish and is 25 or so. Brooks can back him up. I just don't get why people are scared to upgrade a 37% shooter at the pg spot. Rafer needs to go, period.
Delonte is a career 37% 3 pt shooter http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3841/career;_ylt=AszUS7AtVrjAM2KBlZ9fC_KkvLYF - better than Rafer and has undoubtedly been more contested on those 3's than rafer. He also rebounds very well for a point guard and if we play Artest at the 4, we will need rebounding help. He can guard a lot of different people with his combination and size/athleticism at the 1/2 and would fit in very well with Barry as our secondary back court if he doesn't beat out Rafer for the starting role. Just because you don't think he's handsome is an awful reason to pass on a player that would do very well for the Rockets. Lastly, if we do pick him up, we all know Moneyball Morey would not overpay him.
i wouldnt want him on this team...for some reason i think he is a decent player but i never was a huge fan of his. i do think we are ok at the backup pg spot in barry and for sure set if francis comes back and plays like 75-80% like he did pre-injury a few years back. its getting annoying that like whenever anyone becomes even remotely available we have like 10+ people here asking how he would fit on the rockets and trying to make a move for him. resign landry...resign deke...sign dorsey with the MLE and if possible then try to get another backup big but i would be fine going into the season with the team as it stands with the above 3 signed
How is west unproven? West is a better player than Rafer,period. Now if you want to have this blind loyalty to Rafer, be my guest, but there isn't anything Rafer does better West. Is West a pure playmaking pg? No, but neither is alston. Yao,tracy, and artest needs a guy that can knock down shots at a consistent rate. That's not rafer. Adelman had rafer in williams and once they got rid of his inconsistent shot and shaky defense in favor of bibby, they took off. I'm not saying they will do it, but a sign&trade for west at 4.25m per for 4 yrs actually gives the rox a te of 735k and the guy just made 25.
He is a decent player, but people claiming that he can run an offense haven't seem him play much. He is your classic combo guard. He is not a prototypical point guard and never will be. He does have his strengths as a player, but setting up and running an offense are not on that list and if that is what you are expecting you're going to be very disappointed. That said, I think he could fit here. Morey is familiar with him so if he thinks he can help us, I'm sure he could put some feelers out there on the guy. Maybe they sign Landry and we sign West and both teams agree not to match. Just a thought. I'd kinda rather have Landry, but we seem to have more quality depth at that position than at PG. Landry can do what Dorsey and Hayes can't though, be an offensive threat more than 5 feet away from the basket which is a big deal when Yao is on the floor.
There IS a reason for that. Delonte for Hayes and...Hayes to replace Smith in that role for Cavs. Plus Luther? Two year deal starting at 3.5mm. Yes...please.
I'd take Lowry, he would be an upgrade defensively over Brooks. No thanks to Delonte though. I agree with whoever said he would end up in Europe, I think he falls exactly within the demographic the NBA will lose to Europe. Fringe athleticism, good handles and a workable jumpshot, but a bit undersized. Probably would thrive in any European market.
What would Lowry cost? I like the kid, but do not see how he would be obtainable. I like Delonte - really tough, hardnosed and capable. And, perhaps, gettable.
The big question to me is whether West can stay in front of the quicker pg's better than Alston. I'm talking about Nash, Parker and Paul. Say what you want about Alston but his defense is above average, and his effort is consistent. I'm guessing West's greater size might fare better aganst D Williams of Utah, but i don't knoow that he can stay with nash, parker, Paul any better than Rafer. I think you add West to Rafer, not replacle him. Also, I'm no Rafer apologist but I do think that he will perform well this year because he will not be required to score or create. Teh addition of artest takes pressure off Rafer to score and his role will better fit his skill set - manage the ball, move it and defend.
Interesting thought. West beats Rafer in every shooting category, including at the line, in rebounding, although it's close, and Rafer averages 1 assist more per game. Everything else is a wash. The one thing I don't know is his defense. Rafer used to be decidedly average, but Van Gundy made him see Jesus. How does West do there? Otherwise, I can see how he would be attractive. He's a little longer and he can shoot. That fits Adelman's system. A downside is that West doesn't know Coach A's system and Alston does. Looks like that would be ideal.
I can't find the correct stats to back this up, but IIRC, from what I've read in reports, West's D is at least on par with Rafer's. Reason being, he's long at 6'4", pretty quick on his feet, and has an uncanny timing with blocks at that height, as well as slapping the ball away. Do I think he's an upgrade over Rafer? No. He's a combo guard, albeit one with pretty good playmaking skills. He'll out-gun and out-slash Rafer anyday, but he won't be better at Rafer than getting you into offensive sets. I'm more inclined to agree that you bring him in to complement Rafer, not replace him. West is a good player and I've had an interest in his game for awhile, but the price tag's probably a little too high to justify it.
Rafer is better than West, but it's closer than people realize. Delonte's PER this year was 12.13, and his A/TO ratio was 2.25 (4.5/2.0). Rafer's pulled down a 13.30 PER and 2.79 A/TO rate (5.3/1.9). To me, A/TO is the most important stat for a PG on the Rockets because we now have two of the highest-turnover-rate stars in Yao and Artest. Our PG's responsibility of keeping the ball safe should override his ability to shoot or create, which is why I am ok with Rafer starting still. As for backup, I would unquestionably take West over Brooks, if he could be gotten at 2.5 mill or less. Otherwise, we're fine for now I think. My friend puts it well when he says we should just hold out till the season because we'll have the Boston effect, where veterans beg their teams for an opt-out so they can sign with us for the min and ride our coattails to the championship!
yes ,at present what we need is a backup center rather than another pg as that we have rafer and francis who used to be a lineup in the all-star games.we have no other guy heigher than 7' besides yao and deke who hasn't decided to resign yet.it seems that we will only have one guy over 7' in the upcoming season,and the only 7' guy will be likely to fall down .in that event ,we should chase another big man who can play 5.wilcox may be an ideal option because he is strong and tough ,more importantly,he is one of the guys that yao is reluctant to match with.if morey land him in houston then yao will nolonger need to match up with that swithy guy. Actually we have many good guys in 4and 5.but most of them are either too short (hayes or landry maybe) or too soft(scola &novak), dorsey is strong and tough but the lack of skills limite his contributions he should make for our team.after all,dorsey is just a rookie,it 's always not smart to put much expectation on a rookie unless he is duncan or scola.we should find a more experienced and skillful center who should also be strong enough to bring troubles to the soft rosters like dirk and gasol.further,the supersonics,or oklahoma city,is a team whose target is the lottery pick instead of addmit to playoffs.what they want is just potential rookies or expiring contracts.landry(full mle signed) &luther and brooks(if necessary) as a package for wilcox,will be a trade that benefits both teams.
Its not about stats, its about chemistry. The PG spot was one big reason for our huge win streak, and although alston may be just a mediocre player, he knows the players more than anyone else. Rafer gets the ball where McGrady wants it, he gets the ball where Yao wants it. Adelman also thought Jackson would be a good upgrade at the PG spot. However, our stars do not thrive on Jackson's style of play.
"Back home in Greece, I was Tracy McGrady" YOUR boy Spoon! bla bla bla bla...jk dude does have the silver medal i will give him props, but lets face it jeff van gundy hated this guy, like no other player ever. more than rudy gay
Undersized and not that athletic maybe, but Scola is definitely not a softy and Novak is property of the Clipshow. I dunno if Deke will resign or not but I think that PG is atleast as big a concern as center is.
I think you are right, Lowry would probably be too pricy. I'd offer Brooks though and possibly a 2nd rounder, I like Lowry that much and I think the Grizz have to be willing to move some of their guard glut. I don't know how much value they place on another undersized guard like Brooks, but at least he is a pure pg, perhaps that could peak their interest. Maybe they would be interested in Hayes. It wouldn't be worth Landry though, of course. AB is so promising offensively, but too undersized to ever defend consistently. I love Lowry's wrecking-ball penetrating style of play. Strength over speed IMO. And this is coming from a Brooks apologist.
