We certainly could could win 50 games, but it sure won't be easy. Not at all. I've never wanted to tank. I just don't want us to sign a mediocre center like Dalembert. He's not worth the money he's going to command. He's not going to improve our team much. And he's not much of a big trade chip you could use if an oppurtunity came along. You can look at it as not wanting to get better. I look at it as being patient and not wanting to be mediocre.
Well we agree on this. I don't want to overpay for a stiff and have stated this countless times. In fact, I spammed Kris Humphries as our guy around the MLE but it looks like that he will be out of reach. I'm fine with players like Dalembert and Humphries around the MLE since they wouldn't hinder our cap flexibility. I'm also fine ponying out more cash for Marc or possibly Nene as they're better than Dalembert. The chances of Memphis and Clips matching are very high. We don't have many options to work with. Re-signing Hayes is a start.
C'mon guys give Thabeet a chance. I know he's underperformed as a #2 pick, but just give him this year. He did an alright job his rookie year, and didn't even get a shot this year, and besides there's no shortage of Centers in next years free agency. Then is the time to shop a big. Javale McGee Jason Thompson Marcus Camby Robin Lopez Brook Lopez Andrew Bynum Chris Kaman Roy Hibbert Kousta Koufos. Ian Mahimi Semih Erden and of course the grand prize. DWIGHT Just give Thabeet one more shot, and if doesn't work. We should go after these guys. Not Samuel Dalembert.
How do you figure? He's not a scorer - but we don't need scoring. When it comes to rebounds & blocked shots, he's up there with pretty much all the centers but Dwight. Significantly better than Marc Gasol (in rebounds). Significantly better than Nene (in both). He ain't mediocre, as far as centers go & as far as what the Rockets need.
I have mixed feelings about this. 1) I don't think 1st or 2nd team All Star players are the ones who make the finals. I think it's exactly the opposite: the people who make the finals end up on the 1st and 2nd team. What was Chauncey Billups before he became Finals MVP? Why did Amare get knocked out early this year, despite being paired with Melo who is also routine an All-NBAer? If we won the championship, and Kevin Martin's stats didn't change, he would end up in the All NBA list discussion. 2) It's hard to imagine a guy will give you 20-30 decent minutes a night and that will propel you to contender status. However, in our case, I think the hole that Dalembert would fill (extremely high blocks and rebounds per minute) is such a deep hole for the Rockets, that he may actually move us up 2 or 3 seeds (along with internal development of young players). I imagine a rotation of Dalembert/Hill/Hayes at C is one of the better ones in the league, especially since they're also backed up by Yao and Thabeet if they can play. With Dalembert, I can see us fighting hard for 4th seed, though I wouldn't go as far as to call us a contender. With no further additions at C, I would see us more as a 6th or 7th seed. 3) Dalembert signed to the MLE is a fantastic trade asset. Everyone needs a C and I have no doubt we can pry away yet another young rotation player from a contender. Who's to say the Lakers don't want Dalembert + Flynn for Bynum? Who knows. I think he would be a great asset though and worth every penny of the full MLE. In any case, options are good. If we CAN sign these guys and don't sign them, then that shows me the coaching staff has confidence in our current guys. If Yao and/or Thabeet could give us 20 good minutes, that would be a better option than signing Dalembert. It does make me nervous though to say no to a guy who can grab 10+ rebounds and 2+ blocks on any given night. Someone who could make Kevin Martin's defense semi-respectable. It's not like we could funnel guards towards Chuck.
I agree with everything you're saying but he's not gonna get Brad Miller's contract. He's going to get a little less than Haywood's contract I bet.
This guy will bring mutombo like defence with a better offensive game. Give him the money and let yao sit out and rest another year.
Uhhhh, Dirk scores in the 4th. K-Mart doesn't. Only comparison needed. BTW, Dirk will be a Hall of Famer.
Well, I completely agree that if you can sign Dalembert to the MLE you do it - but if we can, so can Miami, Boston, Los Angeles if they trade Bynum... Why would he choose Houston? But if he doesn't settle for less money to go to a team like Miami for the MLE, I expect it'll take around 10 million (give or take a couple million) to sign him. And that price is too high.
You're right. He's a good rebounder and shotblocker. However he's inefficient on offense, doesn't (always) play hard, has a low basketball IQ, takes bad shots, makes poor decisions overall and his man defense is average at best. He'd help the Rockets in the rebounding and shotblocking department, but we'd get worse pretty much everywhere else. I'm not sure Dalembert is a top-20 center, so yes, he's mediocre.
Dalembert started off the season slowly and missed the first couple of games. His minutes per game increased as the season went along. In the last 30 games, he averaged 11 rebounds per game. He is exactly what this teams needs. A beast on the boards and someone to protect the rim. Check out the rebounding in his game logs: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3534/gamelog;_ylt=AjzwiP.w.TskcMt3AJ04elCePKB4
Name the 20 better. Even better - name the 20 that are better fits for the Rockets. Mediocre.....everyone has an opinion.......
When the hell did we become contenders? Last time I checked were closer to the clippers than the Lakers....
100% agree with this guy. Add Dalembert to our post trade roster to me seems like a team that could be anywhere from 4-8 depending on health and player progression. With that said I hope we go with someone younger if we are going to be shelling out any kind of serious money. Although, I guess signing him doesn't necessarily mean we can't just trade him down the line if any superstars show any serious interest in coming here.
Dalembert would make a big difference on this team, since last season we sorely lacked what he can bring. If we can get something out of Yao, and Hill gets much better, we can be strong at center. The big thing, though, is whether we can bring in somebody like Dalembert.
Thabeet won't crack the rotation. 50% chance that T-Will will. Of these five players, I predict we will only have two when the season starts. We came close to #8 last year. This year, it should be nearly a lock. First, we have a young team, which should improve much from year to year. Second, the addition of Morris, Motiejunas, and Flynn will make us better. Third, the defensive center I am hoping Morey brings us will fill an awful hole we had last season. If Morey doesn't bring us a center, we shouldn't take this season seriously, anyhow.
He has been a career .520 shooter while averaging 8 points in just 26 minutes. Thats pretty damn efficient. His free throw shooting needs to improve and that can be worked on. When Landry was traded, with Cousins sliding to PF and Dalembert starting, his game went to another level. Also, before that there was too many lineup/rotation experiments going on and Dalembert didnt get a fair chance. Look up his stats from late January this year and his numbers will impress you. Having said that, I havent actually watched him play too much, so I dont really know about his effort and IQ. Centers out there better then him: Bogut, Kaman, Noah, Bynum, Oakafor, Gasol, Cousins, NeNe, Chandler, HOWARD. Which one of them do you see coming to Houston? IMO, he is a better player than Perkins, Varejao and Haywood. Id rather have him over B.Lopez, McGee or Jordan too. I think he can be on the same level as Gortat.
