Am I The Only One Who Doesn't Want Howard If It Means Losing Asik

Ditto.

He's a keeper.

 

Training the best center on the planet?

 

Excuse my long response.

I have to disagree with OP (and I guess most posters in here). We have to separate how much we think a person will make our team better vs. how much we like the player as a person. I love Asik's work ethic and attitude. Howard's sucks. But let's not kid ourselves. Howard is on a whole 'nother planet in terms of skills compared to Asik. Howard playing hurt for most of this season (see his stats post-allstar break, where he says he feels closer to 100%) still is much better than Asik. Yes, look at Asik last night. 21-11 is one of his best games ever. That's like a normal night for Howard.

Hack-a-Howard is probably about as useful as Hack-a-Turk. Asik handled it wonderfully. I was proud of him last night, but let's not get overboard. He was 8/12 over that stretch for 66% FT...he was 1 miss away from being at his season FT% average. Now a lot of people in that situation suffer a mental breakdown and do worse, but this was one time. Howard's had to undergo it many times, and a few times he sucked, few times he rocked it. Asik's past shows that he has grown into this -- remember Chicago Game 6 playoffs? He totally missed important FTs; same for a Serbian game overseas yrs ago.

There is no way that Asik will ever be on Howard's level. I'm sorry, he just won't be. And don't forget that Howard is only 27!! In his prime. Asik is 26. Are we really saying that 1 yr is the difference? 3 yrs in nba will help one grow, but Asik will never be as dominant as Howard. Ever.

Don't get me wrong. Asik can get better, but he won't command double teams in the post like Howard will. And Asik is at an all time high in value. He is worth more than his contract, which means we can get more in return if we move him. Sign Howard, our defense stays the same, but our offense improves and we finally have a legitimate post option to expand into a halfcourt game (when needed). Howard can run and do PnR's better than Asik any day of the week (discounting his first few months, he really was still injured).

I would much rather sign Howard then trade Asik for a high pick and then sign Millsap to $12M (obviously TRob and maybe 1 other player would have to be moved prior to signing Howard to his $20.4M max). Millsap is super underrated at the 4 position, is developing a 3 pt shot this season, and is a GREAT defender. Not JSmoove level, but not too far behind. Hard worker too.

Only bad thing about Howard is the baggage and his personality, but I always think that is overplayed. Win and those problems go away. Have a strong organization, and a bad player will be fine -- will thrive in fact. Look at KMartin and JR Smith at NYK...and NYK isn't even a great culture/organization necessarily lol. You think WB wouldn't be a whiny sdfklj if he weren't on OKC? hmm...

 

Would rather keep Asik and spend the money elsewhere.

PG and PF are the weak links. Could use a few 3 and D players off the bench as well.

 

I'd keep Asik too over Howard. Let's not even start with the stats, the drama alone is not worth it. Howard has shown no maturation as the years have gone by, in fact, it seems he has gone in reverse and doesn't seem to get it, like using your awesome talents within a team concept for the purpose of winning.

Asik has tons of upside. He's been putting up very good numbers basically from just offensive rebounds and putbacks and receiving inside passes and going straight up for the jam. Imagine if Mchale works with him on his footwork in the offseason and gives him a couple of pivot and upfake moves, it will add a whole new dimension to the Houston offense without any of the drama Howard brings. Remember Mchale was one of the best low post footwork-pivot guys of all time, and imparting that with a full off season with Asik could help Morey decide to use the cap space elsewhere.

 

Parsons is a Free Agent in 2 years. He will be demanding a huge contract and no way rockets can keep him with CP3 and Dwight and Harden there.

Lakers had a similar superstar line-up this year but look what happened to them.
What's more important; talent or teamwork? I think if we put together this team, we should get Phil Jackson to get the boys to play together nicely.

 

This is just an emotional response to a great win. Asik is a very good player - like much of our team, very undervalued and a legitimate starter in the league (ie parsons, beverly, etc.). That said, he is not a superstar and thats the true difference between him and DH - DH is simply a better player. Better offensively, better defensively, better all around, no question. Asik is again good and better than other players that get paid way more than him, but he is not going to make this team a championship contender. DH instantly does.

DH was in a bad situation in L.A., really in a lose-lose. Exaggerated expectations due to him, nash, and kobe on the same team; kobe ball hogging and a reduction in touches on the offensive end, excessive blame and heightened criticism after every bad game, I really think he should leave and he'd be foolish if he didnt. LA is an aging team probably a year away from where the Mavs were this season - conversely, our team is young, has a great set of role players and we play well as a team. DH coming here would be completely different from the LA experience and hopefully provide him the necessary support that Orlando never could (though they got close)....

 

Asik is a good player, and a classic lunch pail guy. I'd rather have a frontcourt of Love-Asik than Howard-Robinson.

That being said, Howard is a better offensive player, and also brings the safe defense and rebounding Omer does. Plus, even more importantly, he puts Houston on the map. Look at all the veteran ringchasers that go to Miami or New York or LA- those guys are looking to play with Howard and Harden, not Asik and Parsons.

Bottom line: If you have the opportunity to get Howard, you do it.

 

For those now wondering about CP3 and D12 both coming here, it is quite possible without necessarily gutting our roster, but it requires a lot of assumptions and other teams to 'play ball' with us.

Assuming D12 and CP3 will not agree to any paycut, they will make $20.4M and $18.6M, respectively. With Harden's $13.7M, Parsons' $0.9M, Bev's $0.9M, GSmith's $0.9M, White's $1.7M, DMo and TJones' $3M combined, we are at $60M. That is over this yr's $58M cap, but there is a VERY good chance that the cap will be raised next yr due to a lot of reports of nba revenue going up. How much higher? No idea, but let us say around $60M to be safe.

That's us at the cap with 9 players. PHX 2nd rounder gets us to 10 player; MLE can get us our 11th player. We are short the $490k necessary minimum for that last roster spot, so most likely, we will have to move one of DMo or TJones for two players that make a combined ~$1.5M.

So quite doable to have CP3/D12 and still have most of our current roster, minus the wing player backups (we can use our MLE or exceptions to sign a veteran wing player)...assuming we can:

Move Lin for free (this is the hardest part; his value is not great...maybe Utah would be interested?)
Move Asik for free (very easy to do)
Move TRob for free (2nd round pick, should be relatively easy)
Move TJones or DMo for free or 2 players of same salary

 

So Parsons will want more money in 2 years. It will most likely be after our BACK 2 BACK CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! Who cares? The Miami big 3 have to break up in 14 because of money too.

The Lakers team? The team full of old players that were hurt all year in some way? Did you know that Nash, Kobe, Gasol and Howard didn't play 3 games together this season?

Btw, Howard played injured all year and he was still the best center in the NBA. That team also beat us without Kobe in the final game. Coach? Have you seen Cp3 coach on the floor for those 2 dumb dumbs Griffin and Jordan?

 

We have Parsons' bird rights. We can go over the cap to sign him to say, $10M. It would put us (look at my above hypo post) right at the luxury tax line, so not too big of a deal.

And why is having D12 + CP3 suddenly less teamwork? I don't see it as mutually exclusive. It might take some time...guys, don't forget how injured LAL has been, esp. Howard in the beginning of the season.

Post allstar break, Howard has been BEASTING it, though clearly not 100% yet, and LAL have the 4th best record in the league from the allstar break and on. Might take awhile for our team to mesh as well...heck, it even took the Heat a yr...but no one saying they would not want to have a team like the Heat...

 

Omer hits a few free throws, and now he's better than Dwight Howard? Lets see how everyone feels when Omer gets butterfingers again. This board is so damn bi-polar. I said it once, I'll say it again.

ClutchFans: Where role players are king, and superstars aren't worth it.

An injured Dwight was still better than a healthy Omer.

 

On the contrary, I think baggage and bad personality are actually underplayed. There are more people who get blinded by talent and skill level and overlook the baggage. If baggage was overplayed, Howard would not be a Laker after the Orlando Magic fiasco. Rudy Gay is also a good example of a talented player who actually helped make Memphis better with his absence.

I guess we can start using Kmart and the Knicks as an example only when they do win the championship. As it is, Kmart and JR Smith are actually the ones helping the Celtics cause -- JR Smith with the uncalled for elbow and suspension, and Kmart unnecessarily motivating Boston with his funeral attire idea.

So it's not win and those problems go away. In fact, with those problems, it makes it doubly difficult to win.

 

I don't understand why so many fans have issue with simple fact that if the Rockets trade Asik, they get value back.

The Rockets aren't trading for Dwight Howard, they are signing him to a FA contract. After that signing, the Rockets can either keep Asik to form an instant top-5 defense for 48 minutes each game, or Asik becomes the centerpiece of a trade that land us a THIRD star/semi-star.

This is simple math. You don't lose something of significant value for nothing. Not unless Morey goes brain-dead.

 

There needs to be a latter theory for basketball fans I swear.

Pass up the Supermodel for the chubby pretty faced girl because she can cook?

 

Nice post and well thought through.
But why are we so stingy? Do we have to be under the cap. LA and NY? I don't know Les Alexander's situation but he's been under the cap for many years, can he dig deep now? Sign DH's best buddy JSmoove for $15m and pay the luxury tax Les!

Dream Team:

CP3
Harden
Parsons
J.Smith
Howard

 

Omer isn't better than Dwight. Howard is a once in a decade talent. I have not seen a post where someone says outright that Omer is better than Dwight skill wise. I think the only thing that makes people here hesitant to take on Dwight is the attitude and the danger that he could ruin team chemistry and the family culture now being cultivated and bringing unexpected success.

 

The most likely scenario for Parsons in that environment is the very rare renegotiate and extend for us to spread his contract over, get him more earlier and get him the guaranteed money to set him up for life. Since he's not a max player, it could be front loaded as well for cap purposes. Morey is the type of guy who would fiddle the cap that way, that would keep him here for at least another 5 years. The main reason teams don't do that is you dont know what your team will look like in 2, 3, 4 years, with those guys, you take the injury risk that you do.

Second, the list you put out has an average age of 25 (with the oldest being 27), the lakers were a bunch of old and slow geriatrics that in Kobe's own words "we could run for one game, and that would be it", even the Spurs only play one old guy, who happens to be freaking awesome but plays limited minutes and skips games every so often.

 

It is unquestionable that KMart and JR Smith have made NYK better and are a large part of their success. Could their personalities be better? Sure, but they aren't somehow tanking their organization. Without them, NYK would be worse off.

You're thinking of teams like SAC Kings, but they suck not just because they have DCousins...it is because their organization has a problem.

Howard left ORL because he couldn't win there. Of course if a player is really unhappy at a place, they should be traded, but you can't just assume Howard will be unhappy in HOU just because he was unhappy at LAL for awhile, and at the tail end of a bad run at ORL. In that case, why ignore how well he did before at ORL, taking them to the Finals and leading the team? You really have to weigh both.

And Rudy Gay did not have baggage at MEM, not sure what you're talking about here. MEM got better because Rudy Gay is a horribly inefficient player. He is horrible outside of like 8 ft, yet takes a bulk of his shots in the most inefficient ~16ft range in the game. He is Morey's worst nightmare of a player, and he's a volume shooter. MEM got better because Gay is worse than fans think he is (few analysts seem excited about him because his stats and efficiency are just so abysmally bad). Not because of some personality issue or baggage on Gay's part.

Obviously there is some risk to getting Howard on our team, but for a superstar like him, you've got to take it! At least, that's my opinion.

 

well its good to keep oneself in shape, but its kinda hard when the people you train with are of a lower skill level.