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

Shut up, moran!

 

I don't want Howard here. I would rather go after Josh Smith

 

upgrading our powerforward or point guard spots would be more beneficial to team sucess, it can put us over the top

 

Agreed, but don't forget we can get value for Asik, who is at an all time high. Morey loves to sell high.

If you can get a transcendent talent like Howard, you do it, then figure out details later. In this case, it is even better because we can already imagine a pretty nice picture.

We have to move like TRob to clear the space to sign D12 to $20.4M. That leaves a couple million cap space. We can then move Asik in a S&T for Millsap or move Asik for a high pick (so we clear the space) and then sign Millsap outright to around $11-12M. To sign him outright, we might have to move one more player. Maybe we could package White with Asik (like a bad contract to go with Asik haha) and get a low first round pick back only. A LOT of teams would love to have Asik, and White's $1.7M is expiring.

We would then easily be able to field Lin/Harden/Parsons/Millsap/Howard with almost the same bench (minus the obvious subtractions of TRob, Garcia, Delfino and Brooks).

 

Love is ideal. We can just plug him in and he doesn't disrupt our flow at all. Just takes us from being disadvantaged in the PF position against all teams to having an advantage against almost all teams. Plus imagine the rebounding with Beverley/Harden/Parsons/Love/Asik. Beverley has like the highest rebounding rate for a PG. Harden is the 4th best rebounding SG. Love is a prolific rebounder at his position. Asik is a a league leading rebounder.

 

I think really, this question boils down to whether a superstar is really worth that much more than an average or above-average NBA player. As others have pointed out, in order to get someone next to Harden, you probably have to trade guys like Parsons, Asik, and Lin - all guys who are average or above-average at their positions. That means you are weakening multiple positions at the expense of getting a fantastic player at one position.

It seem like Morey has made that analysis and decided that it is worth that trade-off. The better match-ups you get at the other two/three positions don't make up for the ability of that one apex player to just blow by his man, command double-teams, etc. And I'm guessing that you need those kinds of big disparities in order to match up against the really top-tier teams like OKC (before the Westbrook injury) and the Heat. Otherwise, their extra superstar(s) become too much to manage when they can just play off of each other. (Another factor to consider is that with the way salaries work in the NBA, the performance of a superstar player might actually warrant a higher salary than he can technically command, which might be why it's worth it to go after one - because you're actually getting more bang for your buck than trying to find above-average or average players "on the cheap".)

The interesting thing is that I'm betting that this kind of ecosystem makes building a winning team more fragile. You're basically putting all of your eggs into 2-3 players, so if one of them goes down, the team drops off so dramatically that it can no longer compete over the long-haul of the playoffs. This is probably what we're seeing with OKC - once they lost Westbrook (for all his flaws he's still a great player), they no longer had anyone to compensate. All the Rockets have to do is swarm their only remaining superstar and force the others players to perform better than they have been able to prove over the course of their careers.

I'm guessing that barring a pure string of just fantastic play from the Rockets bench over the entire playoffs, even if they beat a diminished OKC they're going to run into one of the "superteams" and get knocked out of the playoffs.

TL;DR - If you want to win everything, you're probably better off getting another superstar. Otherwise, you might get to the playoffs or win a few playoff games, but you won't be able to beat the other superstar teams.

 

Old Man you are not alone.

 

I don't see how anyone has this mentality. Howard has been playing on a bad back the entire season. He came back 4-6 MONTHS early. He is a lot better than Asik. If we get Howard, I'd be happy because then Asik would make good trade bait and could possibly land us a great PF.

 

No. He's not.

 

Who cares what your or I want? It only matters if Morey wants Dwight and Dwight wants the Rockets.

 

Absolutely true. Howard would give the Rockets a low post threat capable of averaging 18-20 ppg. while leading the league in blocks.

 

I do not want DHo - period! I know many go on and on about how great he is, but imo he is just a spoiled self centered cancer who I don't want anywhere near my teams locker room.... Add to the fact we got Asik at about 10M/yr less than Howard would command and we'd presumably have to give up some good cheap options - and I say screw DHo!

 

Old Man, you are not the only one. To be honest, I am torn on this subject. I really don't like Rockets fans talking about getting rid of Asik when he is playing his heart out for us RIGHT NOW. I mean, have some respect for your own players!

That said, to say Howard is not a big upgrade from Asik is fooling ourselves. What makes me feel torn is that Asik is by far more likeable guy. I want to root for good guys, not prima donnas or douchebags. Getting rid Asik for Howard is like selling your soul to the devil for some evil power.

Objectively speaking, I don't know any big man is better on defense than Howard, maybe Noah. Garnett in his prime would be on the same level. Asik is a tad lower, but not that far off. So if you are looking at defense only, Asik's value is much better than Howard dollar for dollar.

So that leaves offense. That's where Howard is a big upgrade from Asik. Asik often fumbles passes. When he gets the ball underneath the basket, he tends to miss a weak awkward layup. Howard can finish almost every time he catches the ball close to the hoop. That in itself is huge.

But this is the catch. Howard has no post game. So you can't dump the ball down low to him and let him work. He has to be spoon fed for his points. If you can't run your offense through your franchise player, then you have a problem. Shaq couldn't shoot beyond 3 feet. But you can still run your offense through him. You can't do that with Howard. He's the only "superstar" big man I've watched through the years who cannot be depended on for your offense.

That is why I am very hesitant on exchanging Asik and a ton of money/caproom for Howard. I would rather get an elite offensive PF to play alongside Asik.

PF is our weakest position. The degree of upgrade would be largest at that position. Let's say Howard is a 9. Asik is a 6.5. You are raising the bar by a mere 2.5. But if you get a PF that is an 8, and our PF position is currently 3.5, you get a 4.5 gain even though the 8 is a little lower than the 9.

 

I'd say we go for Chris Paul this summer, and get LaMarcus Aldridge through trade now (if that's possible but probably not) or outright in 2014.

Paul
Harden
Parsons
LMA
Asik

Don't see what's wrong with that. And yes I'm dreaming that Portland would be willing to trade with us. Problem is, we don't have picks and they got a stud PG in Lillard so Lin isn't needed. Knowing Morey, he can probably cook up something trade beyond my comprehension.

 

Turning down CP3 and Dwight lol. At least now I know I can safely ignore your posts from here on out.

 

I was on board with Howard coming to Houston, but after these past few games, remembering what he managed to do this season, and his character throughout the season, Asik has earned our respect and earned a starting spot on a contending team. We need to upgrade at PF. THATS IT.

 

Asik has improved immensely. While Omer's still far from being like the centers we've been lucky enough to have in Houston in the past (and very likely to remain so), he's clearly one of the best in a league seemingly bereft of quality 5's, much less centers that are truly stars, like Moses, Ralph, Dream, and Yao were. And you can tell that he likes it here, likes his teammates, and most importantly, wants to excell. He has that drive to be better that separates dominant big men from the girly pansies that masquerade as top centers in today's NBA. Is he Dwight Howard? No, he's not, and maybe we're better off for it. I hope Morey considers him a key piece, a building block of the team going forward. Morey needs to uncover that star power forward we clearly need. Omer Asik has the center spot covered beautifully.

Nice OP, OMR.

 

but getting howard...means getting CP3

 

As others have said, if you prefer Asik over Howard you my friend have no idea about building championship teams.