I would love Buddinger as a backup for parsons and harden. Either someone like that or a defensive specialist.
Harden's backup is James Anderson. And that's all we need there. Harden plays too much for two reasons. 1. He doesn't have enough help to win the games. Dwight Howard or CP3 would remedy that if we sign either. 2. The Rockets offense sputters when he's not around. Howard would not help too much, although the much less likely CP3 signing would. Most likely, this requires that Lin and Parsons improve their offense. We have already seen some of that when Harden missed some games late last season. So hopefully this can be remedied regardless of offseason.
Lin could potentially play some backup SG, but realistically you want more than three guys sharing the load at two positions, especially if one of them is Patrick Beverley. Everyone is hyping up his playoff performance, but let's be realistic here - there's just as much of a chance that Beverley won't even pan out to be a replacement-level backup at this point, given how little we've actually seen him on the court. Consider that if you do slot the three-man rotation, what's going to happen is you will have ~10 minutes (minimum) per game where both Jeremy Lin and Patrick Beverley are on the floor at the same time. Lin can play combo guard and handle primary ball duties, but let's be honest - Beverley is not a great shooting option when he's on the floor. The only reason people supposedly justify his presence (so much so that they want to trade Lin) is that with Harden on the floor, his offensive deficiencies are hidden and he can just focus on defense. Well, with both Lin and Beverley on the floor, you're going to want a more dependable passing option for Lin than Patrick Beverley. Otherwise, the defense won't respect him and will have an easier time doing things like doubling Lin or packing the paint. Also, if Lin is backing up Harden, then when is he supposed to get his rest? =P
While I agree with your post. I still think that if delfino/garcia are let go we need to sign a solid wing player to bolster our bench. At the very least we need to retain cisco , and at this point delfino is damaged goods. If and when we do get dwight we also need to surround him with knock down threepoint shooters. When he was on orlando he played with tremendous shooters. I'm hoping we can sign an Anthony Morrow or a JJ Reddick (unlikely due to cap) Because at the moment without Delfino/Garcia we really don't have a three point specialist. Or we can hope to god chandler and jeremy keep improving and develop solid three point shots
DeShawn Stevenson (No) Anthony Morrow (Maybe) Keith Bogans (No) Jerry Stackhouse (Hell No) Ben Gordon (Hell to the NO) Gerald Henderson (Maybe) Leandro Barbosa (No) O.J. Mayo (Yes) Richard Hamilton (No) Marco Belinelli (No) Tony Allen (Hell Yes) Wayne Ellington (No) Ray Allen (Won't Happen) Corey Maggette (100 Hell No's) Kim English (Who?) Kent Bazemore (Who?) Lance Stephenson (Yes) Willie Green (No) Jodie Meeks (No) Marquis Daniels (Depends) Brandon Roy (No) Roger Mason Jr. (Roger Mason had a son?) Kevin Martin (Yes, For cheap) J.R. Smith (No) Ronnie Brewer (No) Manu Ginobili (I wish) Gary Neal (Yes) J.J. Redick (Yes) Francisco Garcia (Yes) Tyreke Evans (Depends) Wesley Johnson (No) Shannon Brown (No) Diante Garrett (Who?) Randy Foye (Maybe) Kevin Murphy (Who?) Martell Webster (No) Cartier Martin (No) Elliot Williams (No) Sasha Pavlovic (No) Nick Young (Maybe) Royal Ivey (No) Damien Wilkins (No) Mickael Pietrus (No) Garrett Temple (Lol No) Daequan Cook (No) James Anderson (Yes) Terence Williams (No, He blocked me on twitter) Terrel Harris (No) Andrew Goudelock (Sure) Justin Holiday (I thought this was Jrue Holiday, so No)
One way Harden can get much needed rest relies on us getting Dwight. If we get Dwight, even though he himself probably isn't enough to carry the offense by himself, they can stagger Harden minutes, with Lin and Dwights. So hypothetically, at the 6 minute mark, they could sub lin and dwight for beverly and asik, which would allow A. Asik and Beverly to get much needed minutes, giving rest to both dwight and lin. B. After letting Harden finish the quarter, they could sub lin and dwight back in and let them carry the offense. We know if Lin has a deadly picknroll parter a la tyson, that tandem could carry the offense for at least half a quarter, allowing Harden to get his rest without forcing Mchale to bring him back in due to the offense sputtering. Meaning, getting a good backup to Harden isn't as important as finding ways to run a successful offense with Harden on the bench, and getting Dwight to pick n roll with lin while Harden gets his rest, would conceivably do that.
To play that many minutes and shoulder that much offense can not be good for our star guy. We need a defensive backup more than an offensive one. When Harden steps out, Lin and Parsons can easily carry the scoring load for short periods.
What about Barbosa??? He can sometime just be instant offense of the bench...and he moves really well without the ball..
As others have pointed out, we have other more pressing needs. With Harden playing 35+ minutes a night, it doesn't leave much playing time for a backup. Plus, any "big-named" reserve that we could acquire (i.e. Redick, Korver, Young, etc) will likely cost more than simply drafting somebody or trying to convince Garcia to come back for the minimum. DM is a talent hawk and the best GM at finding hidden talent in the draft. I'd rather take my chances that way.
Assuming they aren't going to sign ANYONE before Dwight makes up his mind- RIGHT NOW its James Anderson who looked very solid in small increments last year. There will be options at later dates to find guys wings on the cheap either in the D-League or to come over from Europe similar to Pat Beverley. Maybe similar to how the Knicks got Prigioni over from Europe, the Rockets could get a veteran at the end of his career like Diamantidis to take a stab at the NBA for cheap. Who knows right now though? It all is up in the air until the Dwight Howard situation is complete. If Dwight signs, they might be able to go after someone like a Corey Brewer with a lower mid level exception, but no way they committ to a player like that until after Dwight is either signed or not. If Dwight DOES NOT sign with Houston, I think they still try to stay as flexible as possible with a non-guaranteed contract in order to stay active for 2014. A player like Corey Brewer would still not be an option at the price point he's going to want to come to Houston.
We need TWO WAY PLAYERS imo. I like 1) Francisco Garcia or 2) Martell Webster. I actually don't know anything about Webster except that I've read he's a great 3 & D player. You all tell me if I'm wrong. I don't even have any idea how much Webster will command on the open market or if we can afford him. I'd appreciate any info.
