First of all, let me premise this by saying that I love Kyle Lowry and he is my favorite Rocket, but people seriously overlook what Pau Gasol brings to the table: a) Gasol is 7 feet tall with tremendous length. Nothing is ever going to change the fact that he is tall with long arms. That has tremendous impact that is not measured in PER. There are not many capable 7-footers with Gasol's pedigree, work ethic, leadership and skill-set in the NBA. 6-foot guards are a dime a dozen. b) Gasol has never posted a PER below 20 in his CAREER, which spans over 10 years. Kyle Lowry is having a breakout year, but you can also argue that he is inconsistent from game-to-game. Everyone was enamored with Lowry's triple-double alert almost every game at the beginning of the season, and they think he can just turn it on whenever he wants. In actuality, its called regression to the mean. c) Gasol is durable. He has averaged 73 games played every season over the past 10 years. Undersized guards that take hit after hit every game, such as Lowry, do not age well. See: Allen Iverson, or even more recently, Jameer Nelson. d) Gasol's contract is large at near 19M a season for the next two years after this one, but he is fairly compensated for what he brings to the table. You can win a championship with Pau Gasol being your second best player even though he is 31. Garnett was the same age when he gave Boston a 3-4 year window at winning the title. Obtaining Gasol would just be one piece of the puzzle and possibly a precursor to bringing that first option to Houston. People get frustrated because they think they are going to be stuck in salary cap hell and be a middling team. Daryl Morey is thinking 3 or 4 moves ahead.
finally, a new poster who offers relatively good insight instead of knee jerk posts/threads. Gasol is probably the best second best option in the nba and would be a great incentive for anyone wanting to be "the man" (dwight?) in Houston. As long as Lowry is not leaving and we don't take on huge contracts, I think Morey is paying 2 true stars and surrounding them with bargain performers like the likes of Lowry. This is the model that is preferable and more sustainable in the new CBA vs the NYK, LA, MIA model where 3 players max the cap space of the team offering no flexibility for the rest of the roster.
That's exactly the short-term thinking i was referencing. Nobody can anticipate the subsequent move unless their name is Daryl Morey, but that doesn't mean that move isn't out there. If they only gave up Lowry/Scola for Gasol, as is being discussed in this thread, then they would still be flush with trade assets to bring in that complementary player. They would also have cap space to sign that player, too.
hehe i completely agree. but, his job is safe... he has the whole 'stern eff'd me in the a' thing going for him.
If the Rockets could bring in Pau and keep Lowry and Martin, we have a legitimate shot at a championship.
We don't have much of a bench then.. they would be traded.... And Lowry, Martin, Gasol is inferior to Lebron, Wade, Bosh.... no matter how you turn it.
Really? We can beat OKC with Westbrook, Harden, Durant and Perkins. Okay. I'm not against Gasol coming but we have to get rid of Martin. It's essential we have Lowry, Gasol and cap room too add a true superstar to the mix. This move is not going to put us over the top right away. Say we get Dwight Howard or Josh Smith on top of it, I'm listen
Meh. We should do buddinger, Martin, hill, and scola for him and barnes. This way we add defense on the wing even when chandler is on the bench. I don't care if the guys a thug.
We beat them this season already, and that was without a big man that we could go to when our offense stalled. Ask Durant how much he likes Chandler Parsons hanging all over him. I am unlike the rest of the Martin haters on here. I think a guy that can heat up and drop 30 anytime, added with a PG who can do anything, and big man who can score in the post consistently, gives us a team that can compete with anyone. I think DM thinks the same way.
I see what you are saying here, but I think Steve Blake is actually pretty darn good at this point in his career and I saw he might be involved. He would give Lowry a break and allow us to run some awesome pick and roll sets that McHale loves. I think what we would get in return would be goo enough. Yeah, good thing the Mavericks didn't just roll over and take it in the backside last year huh. Anything can happen. That is why they play the game.
Kevin Martin will outscore his opponent...I don't care how bad his defense is. With that being said, I have been watching KMart's defense extremely close this season. He is not as bad as people make him out to be. He has also been playing the passing lanes much better this year and has made quite a few CLee type fastbreaks.
Hmmmm I wonder why the fans who are against trading Lowry never discuss the dropoff or lack thereof in Dragic if we moved Lowry and offered Dragic $20mil over 4 years..... I bet I can guess why they don't bring that point up! It's time to get real.... If we trade straight up with LAL for Pau Gasol the trade would have to be something similar to: Scola / Lowry / T Wil for Pau / Goudelock / 2014 LAL 1st / 2013 LAL 2nd So, the question isn't Lowry/Scola vs. Gasol... it's really Gasol/Dragic vs. Scola/Lowry and the Lakers are bluffing if they aren't going to come off a #1 pick to get Lowry and solve their impending apocalypse aka the new salary cap tax (just look at the Odom trade as evidence). They need Lowry's contract more than they need a #1 draft pick. I think Morey would go for the 2014 1st so he could trade Gasol(all star)/Martin(expiring talent)/2014 1st(LAL) with our own picks to get a franchise talent. Morey plays chess, not checkers and Pau isn't the stopgap, I think he would be moved if this summer's FA didn't work out well. What should the Rockets do if they can't make the Pau Gasol trade happen? It's time to get what we can for a portion our "medium three" and call our own bluff on our "assets". I'm still on record saying to move Kevin Martin asap and get what value you can get from him then lock Lee up to another 4 year, $20-25 mil deal similar to Dragic and you have solved your 2012-2013 backcourt issue (of owing over $20 mil to two players that aren't consistently dominant: Lowry & K-Mart). Lowry can be moved for a young talent and a good draft pick and we can sign Dragic to a better contract than Lowry's and give him the nod as a starter. I know this is blasphemy..... almost as blasphemous as letting go of a PG putting up 20 pts and 8 assists... *cough* Aaron Brooks *cough*. If I were Morey I'd be thinking outside of the box of what I've been hearing and start grabbing draft picks for my pricey talent, (which does technically include Lowry since I know we can extend Dragic for a better sheet). $13 mil K-Mart vs. $4 mil Courtney Lee $9 mil Scola vs. $2 mil P Pat $6 mil Lowry vs. $4 mil Dragic Savings: $18 mil = max FA after signing the extra draft picks we got for Lowry. http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7d2qooz (We take on the knucklehead Blatche to get a young big man who is available) http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=8a7losg (We take on a different knucklehead in Beasley to get Pekovic/Gasol to team with Dragic/Lee/Beasley and this way we find out if McHale can actually coach because that isn't a real pretty lineup) There are a lot of players available.... I'm sure Cleveland would move Antawn Jamison... Denver would move Jefferson.... etc. So what's my only point of this long post? Basically, Dragic/Lee/Morris/P Pat is a really cheap base..... add talent to that lineup with the $25 mil in cap room we'd have and what draft picks we can get for K-Mart, Scola, Lowry, Dalembert trades. I agree Lowry is better than Dragic, but he is significantly more valuable in what he can bring back in a trade. How many teams would surrender their future to get Lowry now? We only need one. It's time Clutchfans..... it's time. Just rip the Scola/Lowry bandaid off and in 2 summers you will understand...... no one currently wants to play with either of them. At least if we get Gasol and the 2014 LAL 1st we have a lot of trade scenarios to write about all next season and a better salespitch to FAs in the next 2 summers.
Lowry is becoming a bit of an albatross, true. It happens to every PG on clutch fans, we turn on them at some point just like we did with Rafer, then AB, and now Lowry.
I love the thinking behind this konver5ation. The longer we hang on to these guys the more their value depreciates. And like you said it only takes one team to give up what we want for what they need.
Yeah damn that Lowry for playing through an illness so bad he's had to be hospitalized and a groin strain at the same time. How dare he not put up all-star numbers in that state?!
