I think that Cousins could play some PF next to Yao. Especially his first couple years. If he is in shape, he is quick enough IMO.
If we stay at #14, I like Henry, Whiteside or George. I would like Monroe as a second ideal option to Cousins.
With the recent departure of Nocioni, and the rival of Dalembert I see the King's drafting Greg Monroe ... making the 1st "5 picks" look something like this: 1. Wall 2. Turner* 3. Favors* 4. Johnson 5. Monroe Which would leave Cousins at #6 with the Golden State Warriors, and given their up tempo playing style, I think their's trade to be had at that position. Specially given that G.State is looking to unload some bad contracts... a trade like following could be had... Rockets Receive: 6th pick(Demarcus Cousins) Corey Maggette Warriors Receive: Shane Battier 14th pick 2012 NY pick --RB
I would love that trade, but I think the rockets would have to give up alot more than that to aquire the #6 pick, especially if Cousins falls there. They would probably have to add CBud or Hill.
Just a thought, Ariza & the 14th for Thabeet & a second round pick. They get the wing and we get the post we both NEED. DM has done magic with late picks in the past, He can/has sign them for nothing, and Ariza will not come off books for three more years. WIN/WIN
Some people (moestavern I think) on this board have alluded to Kevin Martin being shopped around. I have previously said that only Wade and LeBron are upgrades to Martin and it wouldn't make sense to rob Peter to pay Paul and upgrade another position just to weaken SG. However, I forgot about the one SG in the draft who would be an upgrade over Martin... Kevin Martin Jordan Hill 14th pick for Elton Brand #2 pick Why Houston does this deal: the only asset we're losing in this deal is the 14th pick. Jordan Hill is a nice young player, but within Yao's championship window, he's not getting playing time over Luis Scola and Elton Brand anyway. And Kevin Martin cannot play any other position so he would be another redundant asset with Evan Turner on the team. We're basically trading the 14th pick for an upgrade at SG (albeit a slight upgrade this year and a larger upgrade down the line) Why Philly does this deal: they get a good SG in Kmart to put between Iguodala and Holiday (a nice young core), a cheap, high potential big in Jordan Hill to replace Elton Brand, AND the 14th pick in a draft deep in bigs to further solidify their frontcourt. They also get out of Elton Brand's albatross contract. What our team looks like after this deal: Yao / MLE (Pekovic?) / Hayes Scola / Brand / Hayes Ariza / Battier / Budinger Turner / Budinger / Taylor Brooks / Lowry / scrub While it does not make us championship contenders next season, it does give us the potential for a Paul Pierce/Brandon Roy-type superstar (at least down the line) who can handle the ball in the clutch, which is a requirement for winning a championship. We still have some assets left over to add another impact player (Bud, Taylor?, Ariza, Brooks, Knicks pick/swap). Now, it seems like this move means we're giving up on winning a championship this year, but has the benefit of us being better down the line as well as the option to rebuild around Turner if the worst case scenario comes to fruition with Yao. Or maybe we can get Rubio next year and go for the title next year. I would personally rate this scenario as one of the backup options if we cannot get enough impact players to win the ship this season. I would rather try to win a championship with Yao now than wait several more years to field a championship contender. But if guys like Bosh, the Big 2, Amare, etc. do not want to come to Houston, then we really have no other choice than to make a mid-term move like this.
we lose our 14th pick, we lose our starting sf, and we get a second round pick we can by with cash, and we get a strange looking 7'3 guy avatar with short arms no vertical and cant score I love it. That way Budinger can start. We dont need that 14th pick anyways, Whiteside will be no where near as good as Thabust.
stopped reading right there. damn man. first off, turner could be a bust, second, even if turner is good, he might never be able to score 50 in a game like martin then you "throw in" Hill? Hill is our BEST trade asset because teams havent figured him out yet. Rumors are we could get bosh for him. He loves Houston, works on his game, and can still improve when he becomes more aerodynamic and faster by cutting the 10 pounds of dreads hopefully soon.
honestly, i don't think we need to much to be great (championship caliber) next year. although i'd like to see is pick up a solid back center, ala brad miller or someone who'd take the mle. save money and invest in our players because nothing can subsitute "locker-room chemistry." I'd just hate to get some superstar who thinks he's hot ****...not to say that all top tier players have this demanor, but i'm sure yall saw how bosh would like to be the "center peice" on whatever team he goes to. no thanks!!
The rockets should sign lenis kleiza. the rockets should sign lenis kleiza as his 2 year contract with greece is now over. he is a hard worker great defender has a great basketball IQ and good scorer. the rockets could use him.
an upgrade over taylor? maybe a little bit in the shooting department. nothing else tho. And no to Kleiza, we are stacked at the position right now.
"We should sign Player X" is always a bit of a road to nowhere unless you propose something more specific. Kleiza for the minimum? Hell yeah. Kleiza at his market value? Probably not enough of an upgrade to what we have to be worth the effort.
Those Greek Euro contracts are weird, didn't Kleiza just join that Greek team last year so how is his 2 year deal over. Same with Von, his 30M deal turned out to be probably worth less than 2M.
Von sucked balls and asked to be released from his contract which cost him a great deal of money. If he wasn't such an idiot he'd still be there.
