And you come down on the side of Bobby, who firmly believes that D-Mo is a better PF than center. I am good with that. We have a difference in opinion. Nothing more. Morey and McHale are the final arbiters of this discussion. But D-Mo is so huge, and a paint protector in the vein of Asik and Hibbert, but with a blossoming offensive game that neither one of them will ever even sniff. A team could be built around D-Mo at center. I just cannot see a team being built around D-Mo at power forward. There are so few really serviceable centers that can hold down the paint and contribute in a meaningful way on offense. And I actually can see D-Mo as center in a GS Green based small ball line up. D-Mo is really really fast, and quick as they come for a seven foot 270+ pound guy. And Green hit what, 31.7% of his threes last season? D-Mo could hit 40+% of his threes next season. D-Mo also has a top 5 post game in the NBA and just punishes smaller players. I am very hopeful about the future of D-Mo on the Rockets if you cannot tell. LOL. And like every fan I love hope. Best to you sir.
Mercy I respect your opinion and again sorry if I came on strong with you earlier, we all have our opinions and you seem like a reasonable and intelligent person my man. I like DMO as well and really love his rare low post up game.
Quick question if we acquire rubio would that hinder any chance at Durant? If so I'm off the rubio to Houston bandwagon lol.
Ugh...what the hell is the deal with the Rubio obsession? Just to avoid pointless speculation, I'll just say sure it does as a THEORETICAL trade, but that depends on what you give up in salary. For the Summer of 2016, the salaries of Howard (assuming he picks up his option), Harden, Ariza, Rubio, Capela, and the cap holds of Jones, and D-Mo take up slightly over 70 million just with those players against a salary cap of (an estimated) 89 million. Then you add in any empty roster charges, the salaries of the two rookies this year, and a potential rookie cap hold next year, etc. Assuming, because of this trade compromise, the Rockets give up on bringing back players this year like Brewer and Smith that also might have guaranteed dollars in 2016 to retain flexibility, and that the Rockets don't also use their MLE you're probably looking at having somewhere between 14 and 18 million available that Summer with a trade Rubio NOT involving Ariza. That's not really a "comfortable" amount to pursue a player looking to get a true max contract in the Summer of 2016 when most teams are looking at 20 to 30 million to play with. As I mentioned earlier today, yeah I'm not worried about Morey creating cap space that Summer. It wont be that hard if Morey can avoid 2nd year high guaranteed dollars for bringing back Brewer, Smith, or signing Llull with the MLE. Yes, its possible especially if Durant WANTS to come to Houston anything is possible, but trading first for someone of the Rubio caliber salary is surely not making it easier and demands major compromise in the process. Its going to make it tight even if Brewer and/or Llull have high guaranteed dollars in year two of their contracts IF they are signed this Summer. Adding in a GUARANTEED 13.4 million that Summer makes it pretty damn harder, and surely wipes away assets, and the ability to sign guys like Brewer, Smith, Llull, and KJ if you want to keep flexibility for 2016. So its compromise. If want Rubio and you still want to have a shot at Durant, you are going to give up something, and it still might not be enough. Does that make you feel better, worse, indifferent??? Can we just give up the Rubio fixation until we see something legit leak out for once instead of just running with BBHollic propaganda? Id love to give him a shot with the Rockets, but the guys contract is a major risk, and there is NOTHING out there that has led anyone to believe he's an actual target for this team.
I wish you would let this natural position go Bobby. I mean didnt dude bulk up in the offseason. That way he could play both Center and Power Foward. That way he could get some real time minutes if everybody would have stayed healthy.
He was talking about Dmo's size not his ability. He's far from a 'hulking, paint-gobbling center'. And his weight is listed as 255.
My fault. Saw you addressed it. Agreed for the most part, except that DMo is no where near the defender Green is, which would make those small-ball lineups a little less successful than Golden State's. Green also can create on the drive, which makes them more dynamic. The thing that works with their small-ball lineups defensively is the ability for every player on the floor to be able to guard every position. That way they can switch without hesitation on everything.
In a day and age where the team that won title, had their best offensive and defensive lineup having a starting center who is a whopping 6 foot 7, Center... Power Forward, Point Guard.... whatever... It's nonsense. Jalen Rose says it best "Positions were invented so a novice could follow the game". The big important question really is... Can the Rockets play effective defense if Donatas is your best rim protecting/rebounding big? My answer to that would be no. The Rockets perimeter and team defense is shaky enough at times (or was late in the year) that having a big like Dwight and soon to be Capela hopefully, to erase those mistakes and be there when the perimeter guys get beat. I absolutely think Donatas is a center offensively in today's NBA. Meaning on offense, you'd ideally want him being the lone big in the paint either posting up or rolling to the rim. That is what creates the best offense for your team. On defense, with better perimeter play, cleaner rotations, and especially better rebounding, I think he could be your "biggest big" which a novice would call your "center". The Rockets aren't that good defensively right now so there is a need to keep Capela and Dwight on the floor with Donatas at this point. In the future, we shall see, but I think eventually Donatas is a center in the modern NBA ideally on offense at least.
I thought the Rubio obsession was really just a jopat obsession? Shouldn't we just ignore it as such?
Lawson and Lowry provide the same conundrum. Sign either of them and Morey would have to play salary cap twister to come up with a max contract to sign Durant in the summer of 2016.
That's why signing Llull is such a huge priority. He would be paid 40% of what Lawson and Lowry make. That gives us significantly more flexibility, and doesn't cost us any assets other than the MLE.
well the contract length matters. Lawson will essentially be viewed as an expiring contract in the Summer or 2016, and Lowry will have two years left. Rubio.... THREE. Lawson, and Lowry are also substantially better players, and both seem to fit what the Rockets want to do around Harden much better. Now... that's coming from my point of view of why Id possibly trade for them right now... NOT THE ROCKETS... keep in mind, Clutch himself did say that he had heard that for whatever reason, the Rockets just weren't that hot on Lawson so take that from the man himself. I personally like his game, and fit next to Harden offensively, but there is nothing to that. With Lowry, we know the Rockets wanted to sign him but they obviously had cost and risk in mind or they could have easily beat Toronto's offer. That being a fact of the matter also causes me to air on the side of caution. ......... Point being: We all know, and the Rockets know that the PG position is a point of weakness, and we also know there is a reason why they haven't yet traded for a high priced PG such as Rubio. There is a reason why they are willing to go with a much less risky financial option at PG in Llull next year as well as they are making it clear they want him. You HAVE TO think that Durant and the summer of 2016 have to play a huge part in that decision making. Trading for Rubio or Lowry now... yeah it doesn't fully take you out of the running for Durant, but what it does do is makes you have to sacrifice assets and depth just going into the Summer of 2016 potentially just to have a chance at clearing cap at the last minute. I think they are smart enough to see that with SO MUCH competition that summer with so many teams having true max cap space, they MUST go into that Summer with true max cap space as well.
The big question, to me at least, is (assuming Llull and the MLE are a 'done deal') is where the summer is focused. A shooter? A 4/5? A rim protector (to protect Dwight's minutes usage)? A true studley, i. e. Love or LMA? From my perspective, I'd like to 'think small by going big' (in the same NBA that Green was a 5???) by trading #18/TJo/JD/KPop/Prigs - #11/Hibbert. No more B2Bs for Dwight. 30 mpg limit for Dwight. Rim protection 100% of the time. Match ups. And 7 slots up in the draft.
I agree, Morey has been angling for the summer of 2016 for the past couple of years. I cannot see him doing anything that gets in the way of having max money available then. And how much is Durant's max next summer? $25M/year? For that reason I cannot see Morey taking on even a contract like Lawson's. In 2016 it might be very very difficult to unload contracts since every team is going to be hoarding cap space for the free agents. And every front office will know exactly what Morey is trying to do if he starts looking for takers for Lawson's or Ariza's contract. And you are right. The Wolves seriously overpaid Rubio. The NBA understands how to significantly marginalize players who cannot shoot. But let that $14M/year sit abound the wolves neck for the next 4 years. Morey isn't touching that disaster.
Pretty much what I said above in long-form. I agree Dmo probably has the best post-up game in the NBA right now outside of maybe Al Jefferson (and LMA if you count mid-post), but like you said, his rebounding and rim protection aren't enough to feel comfortable with him as the lone big. Our personnel is just so much different from GS that comparisons to their Dray-at-center lineup aren't very realistic without some changes in the offseason.
