[Chad Ford Insider] Hou working on 4 team deal [Update: Done Deal - Ariza for C Lee]

I don't think Lee is going to start at the 3. So he is not replacing Ariza. He will be playing behind Martin, who gets injured quite often.

I am sure Budinger's development last season made Ariza expendable. And we still have Battier who will likely start at least at the beginning. Bud and Lee will gain PT and slowly eat up Shane's minutes.

 

acc to kevin arnovitz, lee and martin train together . They also share an excellent relationship

 

True, regarding Granger.

Regarding Melo - what if he makes it clear to Denver he intends to opt out next year and they aren't his first choice? We could in the least try and rent him (February) for the price of:
Jeffries
Battier
Rights to Knicks 2011 and 2012 first rounders.

With him, I can't believe we don't do serious damage in the playoffs.

Further, we could try and convince him to take his player opt-in for one additional year and stay.

If he is bent on leaving, we should in the least get a huge TE for him from the Knicks.

It's a risky move, but keep in mind the only thing we'd be risking are the prospects in 2011 and 2012. It's very unlikely that they would be top 5 either year, which means the odds of finding someone with major impact are low.

All that said, even I don't believe the Nuggets are going to panickly throw Melo away and face the ticket holder backlash.

Evan

 

Lee played on a horrible team. Can you imagine all the open looks he should get on the Rockets. Lee's stats last year mean absolutely nothing. Martin will miss games, Lee will help bigtime.

 

courteny lee has been here 2 yrs with 12ppg per game...in 2 yrs! and ariza with 14.9 this yr...and his been playing 6 yrs in the nba...lol...

 

courteny lee has been here 2 yrs with 12ppg per game...in 2 yrs! and ariza with 14.9 this yr...and his been playing 6 yrs in the nba...lol...

 

Still not seeing it. He shot 40% three-point, but his overall stats were not even as impressive as Chase's rookie season (who did it with Chuck Hayes at Center).

 

We lose defense, length, and athleticism, but we save money in the process. This frees up cap space to make future roster moves (Granger, Paul, Melo) and allows for more PT for CB10. I was kind of hoping that we would see some more of Jermaine Taylor this year, but I guess Lee will be our backup 2.

 

Seeing as how Morey has a long history of making deals, drafting players, and acquiring draft rights based on his intensive statistics analysis, I have to believe that this one comes under that category. I would imagine that if Morey has his sights set on getting under the LT, it's with an eye on spending those savings elsewhere -- he's probably looking at that LT penalty as he would any other business liability or asset: Would that money be better spent by NOT coughing it up to the league and buying draft picks next year instead? Hard to argue against that line of reasoning when the only two players he's dumped are a 4th-string center and a C-list starter.

Sure, you can argue who is straight-up better between Ariza and Lee, but the fact is that Lee PLUS a large trade exception is definitely better than Ariza. And Lee doesn't have as many glaring holes in his game as Ariza. Unlike many GMs, Morey doesn't make deals without looking at a bigger picture down the road, whether it's to have more pieces to play with at this year's trade deadline or next summer's FA period or a couple of years later.

And while I was never an Ariza hater, I have to say that he did NOT fit the personality of the current Rockets team. Remember him acting petulant on the court when a pass didn't come his way? The petty face-making and standing around with his hands on his hips at times? I wasn't ecstatic when he came here, and I won't be all that sad to see him go.

Simply put: Ariza was a gamble and an experiment. Give him a bigger role and more responsibility than he'd had before and see how he responds to it. And guess what? He failed. Although he had a decent season in some respects, he proved himself to be a MARGINAL starter at best. Another way of looking at it: If Ariza's our starting SF, then we are not yet ready to go deep into the playoffs.

So now it's up to Morey to replace him. We have a large TE, two big expiring contracts in Battier and Jeffries, a suddenly very expendable Jermain Taylor, and the Knicks picks. We're solid enough to fill Ariza's spot for the first half of the season. It'll be interesting to see what really good SFs might be available at the trade deadline.

Get 'er done, DM.

 

Funny, i would think keeping it real would mean showing his REAL stats. Not half. He shot 40% from three as a rookie. What's up with the assists stat? Let's keep it real again and uses stats that are important to have as a SHOOTING guard. And what about averaging less than 2 turnovers a game despite playign 333 mins...not even 1 TO as a rook averging 25 mins. Only 2 fouls per game as well....

 

Have you looked at his rookie year stats? Much more effiency, because he was getting spot in shots from Howard.

In NJ, they had barely any post presence. Sure Brook Lopez is a post threat but not a double team threat. All their players had to jack up shots/create their own shots.

Just like with Ariza, in LA, Kobe demanding double teams, Pau demanding double teams, of course Ariza is going to shoot a better percentage than being the number 1 guy.

Now Lee is a chance to play with arguably the best center in the NBA when healthy that demands double teams on a regular basis and go back to his spectacular rookie season and perhaps better.

 

Trevor also did it on good teams, and he's a much better all around player with more natural gifts (athletics, wingspan, length, etc).

 

Sorry guys, no matter how you slice it, this guy sucks.

You can polish a turd all you want...

 

The sarcasm.

 

Much better? Some natural gifts, sure... but Lee has more natural grace and coordination than Ariza could ever dream of.

 

I wasn't that impressed initially either, but read his scouting reports. It is only his 2nd year in the league.

His is good fit for what we need in a backup SG and money wise for future deals.

Read his scouting reports, check his videos and read earlier posters posts about chemistry with martin (and the hearsay about Ariza chemistry wise recently, don't know if either is true, but it is something to consider).

 

This move just reeks of us making another move.

We can't be content with having Battier or Budinger. We need to trade one of them along with some expirings for an Iggy or Granger.

 

Once again Al... where is the LONG LIST OF FAILS by Morey? Still waiting.

 

This. And now we're in a better position to do so.