Because Dwight has a pretty hefty injury history which the others don't. Dwight is also an unknown when it comes to signing back, any of the others would not be. Also you are hedging your bets, that of the two, atleast one will be healthy and you will be no worse off than you were this past season. If everything works out, all three will be healthy. So you would rather judge a guy by a half year sample in a new situation instead of the six years of superstar level production before that? Classic buy low scenario.
The main thing is that neither of their games are athleticism based, and they don't have serious injury history. Dwight can't rely on skill and basketball IQ when he can't get up like he used to.
Love has an even worse injury history than Dwight LOL. Gasol and LMA may not have injury histories but they have the same age as Dwight and will have the same window as Dwight so really your "hedging bets" scenario only works for 2-3 years and then we're back to has-been mode. If we trade for either of those guys you are tying yourself even more to the Dwight train when we should be prepping up for the Harden Express. It would be great if you can trade Ariza 1-on-1 but at only 7M a year trading for LMA or Gasol would require gutting the team of the young talent it has amassed over the years...talent that should have grown alongside Harden. The irony here is that Ariza being 30 is also at the Dwight bracket, if you get LMA or Gasol and then lose Ariza+say DMo and all the picks are the Rockets really better? We lose out on a defensive wing who can guard just about anyone from pgs to stretch PFs, and while really good LMA or Gasol can't compare to guys like Blake Griffin, Davis etc. It's not just a 1 year sample Love has been injury prone his entire career, when was the last injury free season he had? He's also been playing with no defense his entire career, if he can't be bothered to play D on a contract year with a team with Lebron and championship aspirations why should he bother to play D and hustle on the Rockets? You probably didn't watch Love play in Minny and on the Cavs, while Love puts up a lot of stats he's also a reason why Minny couldn't get a playoff berth in like 6 tries. He's like a rich man's David Lee...but still a David Lee.
Yea, not really. Seems like you pick 1-2 minor things you don't like about love and use those items to dismiss the other things he is elite at. David Lee, come the **** on. The guy is a 26 year old superstar and he fits like a glove here.
Ok so if you have LMA or Gasol, Harden and then old Dwight does that make you a contender? If you let Dwight go and sign someone else with LMA or Gasol and Dwight does that make you better than GSW or the Cavs? GSW is a YOUNG team, even younger than the Rockets. Going all in now would be stupid because they haven't even peaked so it's not a guarantee you will beat them if you gut the team and roll with Dwight, LMA/Gasol/Love, Harden and a bunch of scrubs for the next couple of years. I think the best thing to do is just make small moves instead of shaking up the roster and bringing in another 30 year old dude who has the same window as DH, Dwight's prime should last until his contract is up and if we have a full roster I think we can beat GSW. Once Dwight's contract ends that when you decide if you want to roll with him or let him go and choose another franchise player to play with Harden.
Problem with losing Ariza and getting KLove is we immediately lose our defensive identity that carried us this year.
Defense, hustle and injury history is supposed to be a minor thing now? The guy has been dealing with so many things now broken hand, separated shoulder, bum knee, strained groin etc...and this is without experience the grind of a full NBA season with a deep trip to the finals. Not sure how you can look at that and think that he'll magically become healthy and be an NBA ironman as he gets older.
Morey signed Ariza to a flat/declining contract specifically to make his contract easier and more valuable to trade. Morey will not trade Ariza for no good reason, but for Love or Aldrige, he willfor use part with Ariza if need be.
There's a way to get LMA without losing Ariza. D-Mo + T-Jones + Papa + Prigioni + Dorsey + #18 Rookie(can only be traded 30 days after signing) = 13.98M + 5M = 18.98M = LMA's max salary
This is exactly how it goes down... I think the chances of us getting Love are more like 20% and Aldridge is 15%
I'm a little confused by all of the gushing over Rondo and Rubio. Neither one can shoot. Sure, they have some D. But, Harden is looking for someone who can take the scoring load off of him, not necessarily someone who can guard Steph Curry. The whole issue is scoring. Taking the monkey off of James' back. Neither Rondo or Rubio are that type of PG. Period. On a team that shoots the most 3's in the NBA, that would be like hiring a one armed man to hang wallpaper now wouldn't it? Besides, Rondo is a TOTAL head case and locker room cancer. We can only hope that the Lakers bite and pick up Rondo. Not enough room for his and Kobe's egos on that team. That's an explosion waiting to happen. Would be awesome to watch. Sort of like what happened in Dallas recently. Somewhere Danny Ainge is breathing a sigh of relief of not having him in the clubhouse anymore. Same for Rick Carlisle. Pass..... Ty Lawson would be a better fit. Decent shooter, and quick as a cat to penetrate when James is double teamed
If we could get Rubio I would be more than fine with that. A lot will be said about his shooting but he is a playmaker. That is something we need and he is a upgrade. Alos he's 24. I have a feeling he'd come here and play with a fire and desire that has not really been seen from him playing on lottery teams in Minnesota. This is a guy that at one point was a international prodigy. Rubio seems to play better against better opponents, I remember him putting up like a 18/11/11 line against CP3 and he seemed to have good games against us. i think the guy just lost his motivation playing for a bad team in a small market and just needs new outlook. I've always been a fan of him. I'd have Lawson #1 on the list...Lowry next if he's available then Rubio. I don't know who else is out there though but just saying if we do get Rubio I'd accept that. His injuries are the thing that worries me. His shooting is bad but he'd give us a playmaker and would be a upgrade. Beverly/Johnson/Terry we know those guys can't actually play PG. Rubio can and some nights can do it extremely well and is what 24? Not saying he's top of my list but if you can upgrade the spot with him at a good price you do it. Especially if it means keeping a lot of your depth that took you to the WCF. It's another guy that could get Dwight open dunks all game long and a guy that can set other guys up off the PNR.
Personally, I just don't see the fit. I know Rubio has only played 4 seasons in the NBA but the guy has been playing professional ball for way longer!! At this point I just don't see him improving all that much over the next couple of years. As a shooter he is historically bad (career 36.7% FG; 31% 3FG). How often does this board complain about botched layups from our bigs ...add Rubio and you have another guy who is incapable of hitting his layups (don't even get me started on his outside shooting). Yeah, he'd probably get a lot of open looks with Harden on the team and his FG% might improve slightly, but even with those open looks I just don't see him hitting anywhere near 35-36% from 3 and don't even see his overall FG% increasing to anywhere in the lower 40s. Yes, he is a good playmaker ....BUT for him to be effective at all, he needs to have the ball in his hands pretty much all the time. With Harden on the team that is not what you need. You certainly want a playmaker, but one that can shoot the ball. I'm guessing that the Rockets will still want Harden to have the ball in his hands the majority of the time. Therefore guys like Lowry, Lawson, etc. would be a much much better fit. They can take over the playmaking when Harden sits and the team hopefully doesn't lose a beat or they can take over the playmaking for stretches with Harden in the game to have him play off the ball to catch his breath (or on nights where he doesn't necessarily have it). Injury history is another concern with Rubio, as you mentioned. I know he played all 82 games last season but other than that the guy has been injured A LOT. Rubio will make about 13+ mil/per season over the next 4 seasons (I think) ...that is way waaaay too much for a guy who is injured a lot, can't shoot the ball and is (in my opinion anyway) only a slightly above average defender.
It sucks that rubio is a poor scorer but if we traded for him it would obviously not be for that. He's a solid defender and he is undeniably a great ball handler and play maker. A saving grace is that he's actually pretty damn good from the free throw line too which is very weird. If we trade for Rubio I wouldn't mind that obviously, but he won't go for nothing. The Wolves hit the jack pot with Wiggins and Towns. Rubio would be a great compliment to both players so if he's going to go then he better net something very nice for the Wolves. They won't screw things up again like they did with Garnett.
Lmao. Y'all are STILL in here overrating Rubio. I don't want Rondo or Rubio but I'll take Rondo over him in a minute because he can actually finish. If it wasn't for my love for the rockets I'd secretly hope we acquired Rubio so you all can see first hand how overrated he is
