AD mentioned with Rox (Loraine [CL] Morning Journal)

That's great news.Now it's time for CD to close the deal and make him a Rocket.

 

How old is AD?

 

AD is only 30. So he is not young but not overly old either. Keep in mind Mike James is 29.
I think a S&T for AD giving the Sonics back Mike James makes a lot of sense for both teams. The Rockets get an upgrade at PG with more size and quickness and the Sonics get a solid backup PG to go with Ridnour. Daniels would start for the Rockets with Sura bringing his energy off the bench. And considering Sura's injury problems it is best probably to limit his minutes as a backup.
If the Rockets could get AD via a S&T that means they would still have the draft, MLE and expiring contracts to upgrade other positions. They would have a lot of options.

 

I wish yall would stop trying to get rid of Mike James. He's been a key part of our bench since he got here. If anything Sura should be the one to go. I like him, but he can't shoot. And his flakey body will only let us down, like he did in the Dallas series. Sura should go whether he's coming off the bench or not. And I think Jeff Van Gundy agrees.

 

I like this idea as well. We would have to kick in another player to make it work though. Mike James makes 3.41M. If the new CBA allows trades within 25% as rumored then that would allow a contract for Daniels starting at 4.26M The MLE will be 5M+ so we will need to kick in Padgett.

As for not trading Mike James - he is very tradable - just like everyone not named Yao & T-Mac.

 

To get quality you have to give up quality. At this point, Mike James is a tradeable commodity. If the Sonics would take Sura in a S&T, I'm sure we'd explore that possibility.

 

If Seattle is trading Daniels why would they want to take Mike James? They could just keep Daniels! Having Daniels and James at the PG spot would solidify the spot completely, something I like after watching our guards struggle against Dallas' guards.

 

I would get rid of Sura before James. Sura always gets injured and has horrible handles for a PG. He's more suited to play SG. James will bring in the same energy as sura and can score any time he wants. AD + James would be a terrific tandem at the PG position.

 

A problem with James for AD is we get an even weaker shooting group of guards. James is a significantly more consistent 3 point threat than AD or Sura. I am not saying I would not do it, but it isn't as much of an upgrade as people think.

I'd rather trade Sura or Wesley for AD. I think we would have a more complimentary, flexible backcourt with AD, MJ, Barry and either Wesley/Sura than AD, Wesley, Sura and Barry.

I really don't have a major problem with Sura/James as out PGs for next year. Unless a can't resistent deal is on the table, I'd rather focus energy on PF followed by a more athletic SG/SF.

 

I think it's funny how almost everybody has this misguided notion that AD is some kind of great shooter. His shooting percentages are either similar to or worse than Sura's. We need guys that can hit the three consistently, unfortunately that is something Sura can't do---but what makes you think AD would do any better?

 

If this team ran the same old inside-out offense that it ran a year ago where the ball went into Yao every single time and he would throw it out to a shooter once double teamed, than yes, having great 3-point shooters would be a necessity. But it doesn't. This season, Van Gundy adjusted to the changing NBA landscape and made his offense more guard friendly. Daniels would fit in perfectly. I could easily see him penetrating and dishing to Mcgrady for an open J or and open Yao for a layup.

He showed tremendous poise during that San Antonio series. He found openings and sliced through their defense with ease when almost any other point guard would have been taken out of their game facing San Antonio's defense. Meanwhile, the Rockets point guards looked completely lost facing a Dallas defense that really isn't that good. If Mcgrady had Daniels in the Dallas series, he wouldn't have had to do nearly as much ballhandling and playmaking.

BTW, Tony Parker was only a 27% 3-point shooter this year (31% for his career), but that hasn't seemed to hurt San Antonio one bit. The Spurs previous point guard, Avery Johnson, was an even worse 3-point shooter and they won a championship with him.

 

By making the offense more guard friendly you must be referring to the pick-and-roll that our offense seemed to revolve around. If that's the case then that kind of counteracts the point you're trying to make by suggesting great 3 pt shooters aren't necessary. With a T-Mac/Yao pick-and-roll, that's where the defense is going to focus obviously by committing more men to attack it. Whereas with T-Mac out on the perimeter, somebody tossing the ball into Yao and having him kick it out once collapsed on and doubled teamed---which situation is really going to create more open shot opportunities for the other 3 guys on the floor? If T-mac is stationary out on the perimeter, he's drawing less attention than he normally and justifiably would with the ball in his hands.

 

Giving up James for Daniels is a no brainer. Same for Sura. They're both good quality players, but they are either undersized(James) or slowing down(Sura). Aquiring a big, athletic guy that run, shoot, rebound and pass is something we can't pass up.

 

With a point guard like Daniels, I think it gives the Rockets the option of playing the pick-and-roll with someone other than just T-Mac and Yao. Say the Rockets run a pick-and-roll play with Daniels and Yao. Daniels would have three options (1) drive in for the layup (2) hit Yao on the way to the basket for a layup or (3) hit Mcgrady for an open jumper.

I think the offense was at its best last year when Sura was injury free and pretty much given free reign to be the playmaker on the floor rather than a stationary 3-point shooter. It made life so much easier for Yao and Mcgrady. If Daniels can come in and do what Sura did, only on a MUCH more consistent basis, this team will be rolling next year.

The problem I have with this type of offense is I think it's a complete waste of Yao's offensive talent to simply have him be kind of the decoy. Someone that you give the ball to knowing he will get doubled and pass it out. Yao's best games last year were ones where the guards would create scoring opportunities for him rather than him creating for them.

 

Or McGrady could take it inside for a layup or slam.

Yes, the team was rolling when Sura was healthy, but we can't count on that throughout next season. And Sura's main flaw even when he was healthy was not finding Yao. If AD can be next years Sura, but also could PnR with Yao, our half-court offense would be almost unstoppable if we added a SG with a reliable outside shot.

I don't mind using Yao as a decoy as long as the other players put the ball in the basket. Yao's assists need to go up. 0.8 APG isn't enough. He should average 4 APG assuming his touches go up next year.

 

It's not that i'm against AD in general. I think he's a decent player with a lot in common with what we already have in Sura. I do agree we need some consistency from the PG position, but forgive me for being skeptical in regards to AD. The only thing AD has been consistent at over the course of his career has been his inconsistency. He's gone from bust to bench player to maybe starter material. Now at the age of 30 when he is finally showing glimpses of potentially being a starter, here we are wondering what to do.

If his best games were ones that guards created opportunities for him, what does that say about his post game? But I do somewhat agree that his best games were games where others created opportunities for him. That would be the games that the Yao/T-Mac pick-and-roll combination was unstoppable. My problem is, although running the pick-and-roll isn't exactly rocket science, I still question whether AD is a good enough playmaker for it to be effective. He's certainly good at protecting the ball but an assist-to-turnover ratio doesn't necessarily mean you're a great passer. Plus, as long as T-Mac is on the floor he's going to warrant attention. Even if he isn't touching the ball, the defenders' eyes are always going to be watching him. If Eric Snow and Zydrunas Ilgauskas run a PNR, that doesn't mean teams are going to collapse and forget about LeBron.

Yao's so hit-or-miss that it makes sense to run an inside-outside offense IMO. If he's on, teams have to respect him and if he's off teams still will just because he's capable of going off at any moment. Rarely will you see him not get doubled when he gets the ball in the post. Defenders would be foolish to assume everytime we pass it to him in the post he's going to kick it out. T-Mac is obviously still our best playmaker but it certainly helps deviate attention from him when Yao can dictate what happens in the post, make smart passes and take good shots---if he does that teams will and must respect that. Because of that reason I don't mind using him as a decoy, it will only make him a smarter player by learning how to pick apart defenses and make the team a lot better in the long run.

 

The difference between AD and Sura is quickness. We would not be going after AD because we are looking for an upgrade in 3 point shooting. We would be going after AD because we want quicker defenders on the perimeter that can give the Jason Terrys, Steve Nashs, and Tony Parkers more trouble. AD would be a definite upgrade at the point because of his defensive ability and quickness. By the way, he isn't a bad shooter. He's great driving to the top of the key and taking the free throw line jumper when the defense fades off to Ray and Rashard. What he would give us is very important, a defender that helps take the pressure off Yao and helps keep Yao out of foul trouble. I love Sura but if he is going to stay with us, he needs to be coming off the bench.