Surprised Howard's winning. I'm voting Paul. 1. Sheer talent, Paul is better. 2. The talent delta between Lin and Paul is bigger than that between Asik and Howard. 3. I suspect Paul is a hard personality in his own right, but Howard thinks he should be a 1st option when, frankly, Harden should take precedence in the offense. I'm more okay with Harden taking a back-seat to Paul, because Paul's talent warrants it. 4. Paul costs a little less. 5. The league favors perimeter players over frontcourt players. Still nice to have some good bigs, but Paul and Harden would be a devestating backcourt.
Chris Paul is like Steve Nash in that he gets less talented players, especially big men, PAID. Dwight Howard is just a black hole. Then again, I'm not a fair judge since I don't like either one.
I can imagine Paul strangling Asik Sprewell-style after Asik bobbles a couple of his passes out of bounds.
You do make some legitimate points, but here's why I disagree: No argument on your first points, but here's something to consider: I think a trio of Lin/Harden/Howard simply fits together better than Paul/Harden/Asik, on offense and defense. Ultimately, it's not the best talent that wins, but the best compatible talents that win. The Lakers proved that this year. I think regardless of what Dwight wants, Harden's still going to be our primary option in the half court as both a scorer and distributor, and Harden's ability as a P&R initiator and Dwight's ability as a P&R finisher are just a perfect fit. If you bring Paul into the equation, he becomes the primary ball-handler and decision-maker, which to some extent would have to limit Harden's impact. Add to that the fact that Dwight's greatest strength, half-court defense, can help cover up Harden's greatest weakness, I just think the two would be more compatible as teammates. Half of one's success in the NBA is dependent on the situation one finds themselves in. I think Howard and Harden would be able to maximize their talents if put together, while ultimately I think Harden and Paul would to some extent limit each other's effectiveness. True. While this is true to an extent, we have to keep in mind that Dwight's greatest strength on offense isn't as a pound-the-ball-inside, isolation post scorer a la Yao or Hakeem. A great deal of his offense results from dribble-penetration provided by his teammates. I know he WANTS to be the guy in the halfcourt offense. I'm sure Morey and McHale will tell him they'll make him that guy. But frankly, they could promise him a unicorn and a rocketship, but once he signs on the dotted line he'll have to do what the coaches tell him to do. Anyway, of course I'd take either, but I think Howard is just the ideal fit in terms of maximizing the strengths and minimizing the weaknesses of our current roster. Admittedly, I also enjoy our fun-and-gun style, which would almost certainly be a thing of the past once Paul gets here.
Dwight Howard....just because it's harder to find a dominate big man...many good point guards nowadays...maybe even find a great pg late to early 2nd round.
Definitely disagree. Can Paul transform a defense? I think it's much harder for one player to affect an offense than a defense. The Rocket offense is already 6th best in the league anyway. Is Paul going to improve that? I think it's questionable. Is Howard going to improve the defense? I don't see any question there. I don't see how this is particularly relevant. What if the position of point guard is not even necessary for team success? Most NBA champions don't even have a "pure" point guard, as far as what most fans seem to value, and that's exactly what Paul is, a traditional, prototypical point guard. If most champions just need their point guard to hit spot up 3s, how does the extra 'talent' that Paul provides get the Rockets closer to a championship? Especially when you consider he'd be taking the ball out of their best player's hands and reducing his effectiveness as a result. I really don't see how Paul helps the Rockets in any way.
I think everyone forgetting Asik's trade value > Lin's. If we get Howard, I feel we could get a decent PF in a trade for Asik. Lin, Harden, Parson, Asik(trade for PF), Howard > Asik, T.Jones, Parson, Harden, Paul
Lin + Dwight would destroy Paul and Asik. Asik has very bad hands and would drop 70% of the passes Paul throws at him. Plus, You Can't alley-hoop to Asik. You saw what happened last year when Harden tried it multiple times. Asik would not even jump.
Asik's trade value for a 2013 PF using S&T: Asik+T-Jones/D-Mo = J.Smith Asik = Milsap Asik = Garnet Asik = West KLove and Bosh... not even going to go there because they're not FA and just pipe dreams at this stage.
You have to take the dominant center over the PG. You can find just about anybody to pass the ball and set up an offense, but guys that dominate the paint like Howard does is a rarity. Plus, Howard gets easy points (expect when on the FT line) while Paul works for his.
As I've said in one of the other identical polls. Superstar pgs do not win you chips, bigs do. Parker has a superstar big. Rondo was not the reason the celtics won.
Clearly Howard is our main target over Paul and I would agree with the Houston front office on this one. Howard is a better fit and gives us the inside presence that is needed to win championship. Paul is a great PG but our backcourt of Harden, Lin and Beverley is one of the strongest in the league already. Unfortunately, the last decade has shown us that in the modern game, for the most part, a sensational point guard is not needed to win championships only a serviceable one along the lines of Derek Fisher, an old Jason Kidd, a very young Tony Parker, Mario Chalmers... etc.
Paul. Only because I don't trust Howard's back, and feel his best days are behind him due to a broken down body. Granted, Chris Paul is no model of health, but I would take him over Howard.
I would go with howard, first because you always go for the big man but most importantly because our team as constructed, with many 3pts threats could be contender with a prolific inside precense. Adding Pual in that sense would need major modifications to the team roster.
