what has to be done to become a contender at this point?

One answer can solve basically everything here.

Acquire championship level talent.

No team without having one of the most talented teams in the NBA has ever won a title.

 

1) Another star
2) Get a well-fitted 4 man
3) Get a formidable bench...Beverely is one, Smith is two, we need 1-2 others preferabbly swings with range and grit(Stephen Jackson!)

Dwight
Anderson
Parsons
Harden
Lin

Patrick
Greg Smith
Stephen Jackson

That's a good rotation

 

Get a POWER foward

Time

 

sign D12
trade Asik & Lin for Rajon Rondo
sign some bench players,such as Dunleavy, barners etc

 

1. Sign Howard

2. Trade Asik, T. Jones and White (dump) for Aldridge

3. Sign Tony Allen

4. Keep Carlos Delfino

5. Don't let Fitch leave

6. Uuuuuh. . . Win more games.

2013 - 2014 Roster

P.G. - Jeremy Lin ________ Patrick Beverley _____ Aaron Brooks
S.G - James Harden _____ Tony Allen
S.F. - Chandler Parson ___ Carlos Delfino
P.F. - LaMarcus Aldridge __ Donatas Motiejunas __ Thomas Robinson
..C. - Dwight Howard ____ Greg Smith


Love to get Rondo on this team, but got to use Asik to get something and right now our biggest hole is PF. Lin and Beverley are still improving so we have room to grow next year with our current personnel.

 

D12.

Hopefully keep Garcia and Delfino.

 

In my humble opinion, what has to be done is we have to build a championship-caliber big rotation. It's not just about Dwight. It's not just about getting a PF. It's about having multiple bigs that will always give us paint defense and resistance at the rim for the full 48 minutes.

In my opinion, our perimeter play is already championship worthy. Yes, we need probably one more defender out there. But that's a minor hickey. And Garcia may actually turn out to be that guy if we re-sign him for vet minimum. In my opinion, our offense is almost championship worthy. Yes, we need one more guy to take the pressure off Harden but I'm not sure we really need him that badly. What we really need is more offensive balance and Harden to trust Lin a little bit more.

My point is championship components are already there on the perimiter both offensively and defensively. They need more experience, they need to gel, they need to individually improve certain aspects of their games but they have the capability of doing so. Harden can (and will) improve defensively. Lin can (and will) improve his spot-up shooting. Chandler is going to become an even better shooter. Beverley is going to improve his shooting. And Harden will lower his turnovers with the improvement of his teammates and him trusting them more and with the addition of a big man who can score the ball. It's just a matter of time before we acquire that guy.

But even after we acquire that big (Howard or whoever), it won't be enough. You've got to be able to have solid interior defense for the full 48. As we all noticed this season, once Omer went off the court we were an open screen door in the paint. Greg Smith isn't the answer and never will be. He's just not long enough nor agile enough laterally to be a paint defender. TJones gave us glimpses defensively. But the jury is still way out on him. Motie showed us next to nothing defensively.

We need 2 1/2 Asiks. So, in my humble opinion, even after (or if) adding Dwight, we still need another big, preferable a big that can defend out to the 3-point line and also get back inside and be a deterrent in the paint. He doesn't necessarily have to be a shot blocker..if we have both Dwight and Asik, but he's got to be something along the lines of Chuck Hayes as far as covering ground, holding post position, using his hands, moving his feet, etc. He's got to be a quality defender.

Why? Because really guys, championships are won in the paint and at the rim. You can argue all day long about drive and kick vs. post-up, etc. But the truth is whoever wins the paint war wins the ring. Just like in football with championship being won in the trenches. Doesn't matter if it is a passing offense or running the ball. Gotta get it done in the trenches. Gotta keep the rush off the passer. Gotta push the line for the running backs. Gotta be able to crush the line of scrimmage and take away the pocket and the time to throw and the space to run.

In basketball it starts and ends in the paint. Gotta be able to penetrate and finish and get to the line. Gotta be able to defend the paint and keep guys out of the paint. It doesn't matter if it is perimeter guys facing up and penetrating or bigs posting up. You gotta be able to defend your paint and you gotta be able to get into the paint on your opponent. Whoever (if anyone does) knocks off Miami will do it largely based on their ability to get into the paint and keep Lebron/Wade etc. out of the paint more than they get in.

Sure shooters are important. Yes, it's the most important skill in basketball because you need shooters off those paint forays to get their open looks down. Guys make millions of dollars shooting the basketball. But they're out there. Playing paint defense in the NBA takes a great combination of skill, power, stamina, length, girth, and athleticism that is very hard to put together.

I am dreaming about what could possibly take place this summer. The possible addition of Dwight...without giving up Asik. The possibility of bringing over Aldemir and seeing what he has defensively. The possibility of executing a sign and trade for Millsap using a combination of our youngsters if/after we sign Dwight. Even the possibility of trading into the first round of this draft and drafting an NBA ready big man that can contribute on both ends substantially (Cody Zeller). If we build out our big rotation right we will be championship contenders.

 

get dwight howard cuz he can finish at the rim better than omer freaking asik.. i saw him miss so many easy passes from jeremy lin and harden..it was horrible.

 

The validation for what I said are these last two Heat-Pacer games. The team that wins the paint war wins the game almost always and wins the series 99.5% of the time. If a team is dominant consistently in the paint against everybody in the NBA, they're going to wind up champions. Once every so often, opponent shooters will be able to gun them down but not consistently.

I believe that if we build our big rotation out to dominate both defensively and offensively in the paint that we will be able to win multiple rings in the Harden era.

 

I agree with this but Lin really needs to work on trusting himself, his shot and the offense itself, in order to be a consistent scoring threat with or without Harden.

Once he has the confidence in himself the backcourt will absolutely flourish offensively and become a force to be reckoned with, night in and night out.

 

Lin and Harden have different roles when both are in the court. Yes, Lin needs to shoot better and he should take the shoot whenever he is in the paint instead of passing it off. He should be able to pick his shoot. Harden is not any better, he is turning himself into a volume shooters instead of selecting his shoots.

 

I agree. I watched a few games yesterday from last season and the game when harden was injured, Lin was really aggressive and looked like an all star. Other games he looked tentative.

I think Lin is by nature an aggressive scoring type player. I don't know what happened when he got to Houston, maybe the knee surgery, but he became more tentative, looking to pass instead of looking for his own shot more.

Something happened to his psyche. It's like he thinks if he turns the ball over on a drive, he's gonna get benched or something. I would like the coaching staff to fix his psyche, get the aggressiveness back, tell him he's got the green light like Harden and Parsons and trust him to make the right decisions. When Lin is confident and aggressive, he really can play at an extremely high level that most players can't reach. I'd like the coaching staff to really try and bring out that potential in Lin.

 

mavericks?

 

I like Parsons, but we should at least try to trade him to the Cav's for the #1 pick and you already know who I want lol.

 

I know we would have to give up more than Parson's, but we can trade Asik along with him and maybe D-mo.

 

Not a chance to either of those suggestions. ^^^

 

I agree with u but i think this is what i would do.

1. Sign Howard - Agree

2. Trade Asik, T. Jones and White (dump) for Kevin Love

3. Sign Tony Allen

4. Keep Carlos Delfino - Trade

5. Trade Lin, Donut, Delfino for a better back up Brewer in Sign n trade.

6. Sign Ellis (PG)

P.G. - Monta Ellis ________ Patrick Beverley _____ Aaron Brooks
S.G - James Harden _____ Tony Allen
S.F. - Chandler Parson ___ Corey Brewer
P.F. - Kevin Love __ Thomas Robinson
..C. - Dwight Howard ____ Greg Smith

I think this would be a contender for sure. and Brewer could be out 6th man.

 

We need Garnett and Chris Paul.

 

win more games. Should come with experience. I'm pretty happy with the team so far, looking forward to their improvement.

 

How about if we trade you for a bag of Doritos instead? Preposterous trade proposal. Smh...