I make no bones about it I'm a KT Fan. I like him even before we picked up Mo Nothing has changed he should *not* be traded. I would like to see him continue to improve. Maybe work on his handles a bit and maybe a fall away jumper, step back jumper, or just plain jump shot. This may be a stretch but if he does. . .I can see him as a poor man's MASHBURN at worse at SF Many want to trade him . . .I'm *not* in that crowd I say Plant Rice on the bench . . or Mo or someone Because KT needs to be on the floor. As a Super Sub [If Mo had been healthy this year KT could have been Most Improved and 6th man of the year] or starter. Francis, Mobley, KT, MoT, Cato with a Bench of Mooch, Torres, Tmo, Griff, Collier Rice, Maybe Willis not 100% bad IMO So Why do so many of you wish to Trade KT and hope and pray that 1. MoT is healthy and More productive than ever 2. A Rookie is an instant impact player 3. Rice is at least somewhat healthy 4. That Cato, Griff and MoT will rebound well [NOTE: Griff is parked at the 3 pt line and MoT is parked at 18 ft. . . .rebounds will be dificult on the offensive end] rocket river
K.T. is our only tradeable AND expendable player. We can use him in a package with Toronto's pick to trade down for a center and SF in the draft -- or to package our pick, the Raptor pick and K.T. to get a very low pick to address at least one need. There's no knock on K.T. -- that's just how it is. He's the odd man out among Griffin, MoT, Rice, Morris, the draft pick(s) .... and Collier.
Kenny parks himself at the 18 foot line quite a bit as well. Personally, with the system Rudy runs, I think our SF really needs to have a 3 point shot, or at least a very good, consistent shot just inside the 3 point line. Kenny MIGHT develop these, but I doubt it. And I don't think holding on to him is worth taking that risk if you might be able to get a solid veteran by including KT in the deal. Personally, I don't see Kenny's stock ever getting higher than it is this year. I just think he has hit his ceiling, and because of injuries, he really torched some teams this year, so many people have taken notice of his improvement. I think the Rockets need to take advantage of that, since we already have two other solid PFs.
Aside from Stevie at his current salary, KT is probably the best "bang for the buck" on our team, hence the reason his name is bantered about in trade talks. I'm sure that the front office would ship out MO or Rice (as opposed to KT) in a NY minute if they could, but you'll see Osama Bin Laden throwing alley-oops to Shaq before anyone takes one of those slugs.
I think the others guys have hit on it. I don't really want to get rid of KT either, but his performance this year has no doubt given him some trade value. If the coaching staff doesn't see him really having a place on this team in the near future, I think they would do well to trade him. I can't see Thomas, Taylor, and Griffin all getting significant minutes at the four, and while they may be able to play a few minutes at other positions, I think they all ultimately need the bulk of their time there to be really effective. If you could keep them all and keep them happy, I'd love it. Someone has to go, however, I suspect. I wouldn't trade Griffin, I doubt we could trade Taylor, and that leaves Thomas.
Lot of people thought he would not improve after last year They were wrong You could be wrong about his 'ceiling' as well I think you are Rocket River
6'10" + 270 + 5 rpg = pathetic That's 6-9, 260, and 5.5....in 28.6 minutes. 6'7" + 245 + 5.9 rebounds adjusted to 28.6 minutes = ? Mo rebounds horribly, there is no reason for the hyperbole. As far as bang for the buck goes, once over the cap it doesn't matter so I want the most bang on the roster that the rockets can get. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- KT isn't a much better rebounder than Mo. That being said, I've really been impressed by KT's improved scoring this year. I think Griffin and Mo will be a much better forward combo for SF and Cat to work with because they open up the lanes better. This assessment is not stat based because the stats don't exist yet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Mo doesn't have to perform better than ever, but just be almost as efficient as always. 2. Rookie doesn't have to be impact player and I don't see how KT would affect his PT unless the rookie is a PF. 3. Rice, it would help if he was healthy, but I haven't seen KT take over the three spot this year so its a moot point. 4. Griffin rebounds almost as well offensively as KT and much better defensively. If KT is traded, the person coming in will more than likely be a bigger rebounding improvement at the 3 or 5 than KT holds over Mo which is small because of the amount of minutes each will play. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In Conclusion, I think KT is a good player at a position where the rockets have two other players. If the rockets can get KT - value at the 3 or 5 spot for KT, I'd do it. Of the 4 points raised, I think not trading KT makes three of the hopes more important with only the first point being a concern, but that concern is huge.
I don't think Mo has reached his ceiling. Mo is only 7 or 8 months older than KT and had a setback in improvement brought on by adjusting to a new team.
I was refering to scoring efficiency. He's a better shooter inside the arc, slightly better finisher around the basket, and better at the FT line. KT's spot were he kicks the Mo's butt offensively is his ability to drive and get to the line. This skill of KT's would be devastating if he could use it against the East more and I would be for keeping KT regardless if the rockets were in the East. KT is better defensively and rebounding, but it just isn't by leaps and bounds. KT has closed the offensive gap a lot this year, but I believe Mo can be that much better than KT offensively.
RR I like your assessment. I've been saying for months now that KT is the best SF option that we have on this team. Defensively, he is a much better defender than Rice, Walt, TMo, Langhi, etc... and given his lateral movement, is capable of guarding true SFs. By true SFs I do not mean Pierce or McGrady, who in my opinion are 2s. Offensively, his strength is going to the basket and getting to the foul line. Most coaches would prefer their team to attack the basket and cause the defense to react as oppose to settling for jump shots. This is Kenny's strength. It has been suggested that we should look into drafting Caron Butler. What would Butler give us that we don't already have in KT? I think we have a solid 3 man rotation of MoTay, KT and EG at the 3/4 spot with Rice and Tmo providing spot duty. While I would love to have Odom or Lewis on this team, I don't think either would give us more than KT's 14/7 on a nightly basis but each would be substantially more expensive. (with Franchise and Cat avg. 20+ a night, we do not need a major scorer at the 3) All we need now is a solid 5 and I would give up Cato and all draft picks this year to get a low post presence.
I understand what you are saying but, the fact is that those guys DO play the 3...regardless of what their "true" position is. Therefore, KT (or any 3 we have or draft) will have to eventually guard those guys.
NJRocket Agreed, and those guys would probably torch KT. But, given that Pierce is averaging 26.3ppg and McGrady is averaging 25.8 ppg they torch everybody on a nightly basis.
True Bay Rock...I just find that many of the threes (excluding the all stars like T Mac and Pierce) are head and shoulders more athletic than KT...I mean, take a guy like Artest, or Tim Thomas...I dont see KT being able to handle those guys (on the other hand, they couldnt handle him on the boards). I look at guys like Sprewell, Rashard, Bonzi/Patterson, Odom etc and I dont think he can guard them.
At this point, who knows what to do with the Rockets. I just wish Kenny would mix his game up a bit. He's fallen in love with staying up around 18 feet away from the basket and just driving. No problem with that, just mix it up. I only say that he should because of his footwork which is excellent for a younger player. Going down into the post a few times a game only helps him IMO.
KT can't guard true SF's and he can't effectively guard true PF's. While definitely a better defender than Walt and Langhi, when it comes to guarding SF's we have yet to see how successful a healthy Rice can be and TMo plays very solid defense (the only thing he does solidly - explaining why Rudy has tried all season to get him PT). Plus... While this may be Kenny's strength, our team lacks any consistently good starting caliber outside shooter but has a number of good penetrators - Francis, Mobley, Moochie, KT. Rice certainly wasn't a good shooter during his brief stint at the beginning of the season, but I believe that once a shooter, always a shooter, if you're healthy. Given Rice's injuries have been in his lower body, where the source of power for shots generally comes from, it becomes even more questionable whether he will be able to get his shot back. But he's been nailing them extremely consistently before every home game - although this means nothing. IMO, the only player in that bunch who may someday become a quality starting caliber SF in this league is Eddie, and that's only if he learns how to dribble. Taylor and KT are just not SF's in my opinion. That said, I believe, if he's healthy and there's been no offseason acquisition at the position, Rice returns to be our starting 3 for the majority of the season. He's a shooter who has been able to post-up (both offensive skills which we need more than a slasher)in the past and provides veteran experience, something else the team desperately needs. That would put KT and Griffin in backup roles, where both should be able to outplay or at least match the opponents backup at the position. I agree completely. Although I would also like a Lamar Odom type SF, I feel the Rocket's efforts will be better used concentrating on finding a QUALITY center, with defensive and post-up skills. I think KT goes back to the bench (because despite his great improvements, he is still not superior - or inferior for that matter - to Taylor, at least on a productio/minute basis, Taylor is being paid to be the starter, had shown great improvement, and, imo, meshed better - more as a team player - with the starters that KT does), but gets nearly as many minutes as a starting Taylor. Joining him on the bench are Griffin, Moochie, and Cato, if a better center is acquired. That gives us some much needed depth and a more diverse starting 5, in my opinion. It gives Griffin another year of developement, where he can more accurately define his position (even if he can play multiple positions, he needs to have one he feels comfortable at and at which he can concentrate on improving specific skills), and hopefully returns a solid, normal rotation in terms of minutes (both Francis and Cuttino play a lot).
NJRocket I see your point, and in theory would love to have a 3 like Tim Thomas or Odom on this team. Let's look at Tim Thomas. He is definitely very athletic. But he is currently making $9 million and producing 12/4. Compare that to Kenny's $1.5 million and producing 14/7. Even if we extend Kenny this summer for $4 or $5 million a year, he is still a much cheaper option than Tim Thomas and is currently producing more. Now, if you told me that this summer we can add Lewis or Odom for the same amount it would cost to extend Kenny, I would be all for it. I just think those guys are going to be a lot more expensive, but may not give us any more than KT. Not because they are not capable of giving us more, but given that Steve and Cat are scoring 20 a night, they may not get the touches to give more.
Originally posted by JayZ750 While this may be Kenny's strength, our team lacks any consistently good starting caliber outside shooter but has a number of good penetrators - Francis, Mobley, Moochie, KT. Rice certainly wasn't a good shooter during his brief stint at the beginning of the season, but I believe that once a shooter, always a shooter, if you're healthy. Given Rice's injuries have been in his lower body, where the source of power for shots generally comes from, it becomes even more questionable whether he will be able to get his shot back. But he's been nailing them extremely consistently before every home game - although this means nothing. ------------------------------------------------------------------- JayZ750 I think that a healthy MoTay would add a good outside shooter to the starting line up and when Mobley is on, he's a very good outside shooter. I'm hoping that a healthy Rice can give us outside shooting off the bench, but at this stage of his career, I hope his starting days are over.
Mobley shot 40% from 3 point land. Francis shot 40% 3s last year. There is a reason they can't be left alone. Do you mean we don't have a complementary outside shooter?
I agree with Mobley given his play over the second half of the season, but Steve, despite his overall decent precentage, is nto a consistently good outside shooter. He is more of a hot or cold type shooter. What I'm saying we're lacking is the consistently good spot up shooter. Mobley has become very close to that, but I still see him as mostly creating his own shot, more often (lately) scoring on open 3 pointers/outside shots from a Francis penetration, or as a slasher himself. We have few players beside Mobley who the defense must respect and not help out os much on the weakside. I'd wager that Rocket's opponents were called near the top in the leagues for 3 second violations. Generally it was because someone's man - often the 3 - would be helping and just camping out defensively in the lane. I just feel that if Rice can plays effectively healthy, he would add more to our starting lineup than he would coming off the bench and vice-versa for KT. In either case, I feel that Mo T. and KT shoudl get similar minutes and Rice a little less. I feel that in a descending order, the minutes should be given to Taylor, KT, and then Rice, but with Rice starting instead of Kenny.
