If Landry replaces Scola, that's cheaper and younger, gives us more cap space to sign a C or wing player. Hill for Landry, then trade Scola for something else.
This. At the end of the day, GMs are judged on results, and the Rockets have gotten significantly worse under Daryl Morey with no end in sight. Good GMs get deals done. Saying he "tried to get Bosh" or "tried to get whoever" doesn't excuse anything. His job is to get the players this team needs to win. If he can't get them, he isn't a good GM, all other excuses be damned.
How do you make it look as though you are trying? Have your friends at the kings make a lateral trade with you because you both can't negotiate a real deal.... How many times will the fans be duped with this marketing effort?
A bunch of "true-ish" statements and storylines. Lets look at the examples you posted - The Lakers added Matt Barnes and Steve Blake and centeR Theo Ratliff, who's played a total of 67 minutes - would any of those guys have helped THIS Rockets team? - Dallas has made moves, yes. Limitless budget though they are still a heavily veteran team. - San Antonio acquired Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess, decent moves. And they always had the draft rights to Tiago Splitter. Compare that to Rockets getting Kevin Martin and Brad Miller and Patterson, and on paper its not that much different. - OKC, they've acquired really NO one. Just gotten good through the draft from sucking, and made a bunch of small midrange Thabo Sefalosha type moves. - A team you left out is Orlando who's been the real movers and shakers. Overall, its not like the Rockets have been sitting around idle compared to the league. How have all those Phoenix Suns moves worked out for them? All those teams are WILLING to trade superstars LATELY. So, whats that mean? It means they want to, and thats it. Couple of those guys have been on the block for a while, so why haven't they been moved yet? A couple car dealers WANT to sell off some luxury cars, but that doesnt mean they're just handing them out. Players are getting upset, but they're still under contract obligation to play for their teams. There's a reason we don't see half the superstars swap teams every year.
Man none of those dudes are superstars. I think combined out of all the guys you just named they have a combined two all-star game appearances.
Orlando is an extremely interesting team to bring up in this particular thread considering the fact that they lost Hedo Turkoglu and then felt the pressure to bring him back. Kind of like how the Rockets lost Carl Landry and now they are looking to bring him back.
If the team was moving Scola as part of a deal for say Nash and Gortat, then yes I would do the deal with Hill for Landry and make a playoff run. If not, I would stay with Hill, but Landry and Hill are two different players. Hills problem is his motor, but he has much more upside than Landry. Personally I think at some point Hill will be moved while he's a rocket, because Patterson will start to chew into Hills minutes. I do like Hill though.
Scola for Landry works straight up in the ESPN trade machine. Can we also acquire draft picks in that deal? If so, Scola for Landry and 1 or 2 2nd round picks would make me happy. If Scola is a D on defense, Landry is like a C+. If Scola is a B+ on offense, Landry is like a B-. Landry is younger and he could be re-signed for like a 5yr-30million deal considering his decline since being on the kings. So IMO, we are upgrading defensively (both from Carl replacing Scola and more mins for Pat and JJ). I approve.
After that trade, I'd be willing to do a 2nd move with them. Brooks, Jefferies for Udrih, Whiteside and a first-rounder. Seems like they like Brooks...they can have him. Udrih's contract isn't the greatest but he can shoot and run the offense. Him and Lowry at the point is actually a decent duo. But for taking his contract we get a first rounder (since they don't want to trade Cousins). And Whiteside can be a project for us. Thoughts?
I respect your opinion, but I wouldnt give up Brooks for Udrih, Whiteside and a 1st round pick. I don't really like anything from the Kings outside of Tyreke Evans or DeMarcus Cousins.
Thanks JS, I agree Evans and Cousins are their best players. But I think you are underestimating the draft pick. We can select a Evans-type / Cousins-type talent with it. The Maloofs have said they are planning to spend. But I don't think they want to be like the Pistons and overpay decent players. Udrih is not happy on the Kings. Brooks is not happy here. I think, considering all things, this would be a good trade for us.
You can forget the Kings trading Cousins or Evans. I would do the trade though. We trade a 1st low 1st round pick(Brooks) for a replacement point, a young 7 foot center that needs a lot of developing & a high 1st round pick. That pick will probably be lottery protected this year; which's fine since this year's draft won't be as deep due to the rumored lockout.
By the way, a few days ago John Canzano of The Oregonian reported that the Kings were looking to move Landry for a first rounder and cash . I'm not sure how reliable him or his 'sources' are, but I'd say there's a good chance that that's what Sacramento is asking for. Again I woudn't trade anything of value for Landry, because the chances that he'll be a rental are just as high if not higher than with Melo.
I would hope that if Brooks is leaving anyways this offseason (or after a lockout), Morey can engineer some deal where the Rockets get draft picks and young players then. I'm hesitant about taking Udrih with his contract just to" have a PG tandem", as "giving up on" Brooks would likely signal that the the team is in full on rebuild mode. Lastly, I do want this team to get more young players, but how many "projects" you really want on this team? Right now there is T-will, Jordan Hill, & Ish on the Rockets who I would define as "projects". There is a difference between getting a young player who is can play but still has potential to improve (Patterson/Buddinger) and a project (Hill/T-will). Now if all these projects had even a decent chance of becoming a good starter to all-star player I would say it's worth the risk, but I'm not sure there is that chance with Hill, T-will, or Whiteside.
I will give you the Terrance Williams trade does seem odd, however I will withhold judgement on that one a little longer. I just think T-Will is caught in a numbers game right now (but I could very well be wrong on this one). On the superstar you say are available I would ask which ones have actually been traded? Sure Granger is available, Iggy is availabe, G-Force is available, Golden State has players available....but who has actually been traded? Answer is NOBODY!!! Only people on the inside know why but I can only assume either the asking price is too high or those teams are waiting till the deadline to make the best deal possible. To blame Morey for no getting a deal done when no deals are getting done is obsurd. On you point that other teams like LA and SA have made deals and we haven't is just false. (And please don't bring up the Gasol trade because we both know that was something that should not have been aloowed to happen). Morey has aquired K.Martin for a back-up PF, J. Hill and a #1 for a injured SG, K. Lowry for an out-of-the league PG, and L. Scola for a out-of-the- league PG. Looks like some solid moves to me. Give the man some time to aquire a superstar...it may be that we cannot aquire one and are forced to blow the team up and do it via the draft like the Thunder (which you mentioned above). But we have thus far missed out on NOBODY!!! Either way I think Morey has show enough to warrant confidence from the fans.
Why the hell would you count all star appearances? You do know that it is a popularity contest right? Those players are superstars stuck on dead end teams. If we can acquire 2 of them I guarantee you that this team will get a high seed, be taken serious and have a great chance at getting to the Western Conference Finals at the very least. They are young, hungry and probably waiting to explode given the chance. Our current team is all role players. I can't believe people are mentioning the Kevin Martin trade like it was this great thing. At the end of the day dude is a volume scorer with a one dimensional game. His defense is terrible. Rick Adelman is a defensive coach and we gave him bunch of players who don't even know what the word means.
