Spots could be catastrophic if injurys hit. See Yao and tmac. We need players like millsap. Good numbers not max guy and above avg at his position. The whole point of max players is to dominate or cause mismatches and allow other good players to take advantage of doubles or triples.
This is reminding me of yahoo comments, where people talk about some random topic having to do w/ a TV show or fish and it always ends up w/ conservatives calling out/insulting liberals or vice versa. Why does everyone HAVE to be a LOF or LOH just because they said something you disagreed with? lol Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...
I agree w/ your overall premise. I am not a huge fan of moving so many pieces to get CP3 w/ Dwight. I think w/ Dwight, we can already do a lot of things: keep him w/ Asik and see how that goes; maybe move Asik in a SnT for Millsap (3 team) or JSmoove, etc.
Uh no, the point of max players is that individual talent trumps everything else in basketball. You're not winning crap without at LEAST two star players. Injuries are always a risk and players like Millsap are great if you have stars around them already. Otherwise they lead you to the lottery like the Jazz this year. A bunch of above average guys won't win a ring.
We can trade Asik to about 20 teams. No problem there. I scanned through various rosters and I can see a few trades which I think would be beneficial to Lin + Houston + the other team: 1) Lin + T-Rob + White for Danny Granger. It would be incredibly easy to get rid of Granger and Asik, wether to the same team, or even one of the LA teams. I do think that the Pacers could get a better deal for Granger though - he is one year removed from being a star, and only has 1 year left on his contract. Maybe we could add a second round pick. Would be worth it - I think ATL would give us a pick for him. 2) Lin + Asik + T-Rob for a re-signed Paul Millsap (maybe 4 years and $36m?). I think Utah can do this because they have cap space. This condenses our assets into one solid player who would fill a spot where we are weakest and reduces our salary by about $11m. Utah has tons of cap space, no appeal to FA's, and a young core. I think they would love to add Asik and Robinson to Kanter and Favors. I also think Lin can start on that team - one which is excellent at running the pick n roll, which he excels at. He would be the primary ball handler on that team. They retain good cap flexibility and stay young. I think it would be a bit sad to lose Asik in a trade for Millsap, but that's what might entice the Jazz to accept more salary than they're sending out. 3) If we're willing to take on Drew Gooden's last 2 years (maybe make him backup C?), I think Milwaukee would be a very flexible trade partner. I guess that could be an absolutely last resort. I assume that the Rockets have or will speak to every team in the league where Lin would be a good team + salary fit. That's if they are genuinely pursuing two stars. I would be disappointed if it turns out they didn't have a plan to make it work.
I think you're confused w/ what he's saying. He's comparing having nothing BUT stars on your team w/ a very weak supporting cast vs. having a couple of stars on your team and a stronger supporting cast. To make it a bit more extreme, it is comparing: CP3/Harden/Howard...very few to no good role players/crap bench vs. Harden/Howard...few great role players, decent bench (over-simplified and not reality, but this is just for demonstrative purposes). I don't know if one is necessarily better than the other. Rings have been won on both models...
1) Wait, are you being serious about Granger? 1 yr removed from being a star? Did you watch him play this past season? Oh no wait, almost no one did as he sat out injured the whole time...he's set to make $14M this upcoming season and is damaged goods. Not sure how many want to take a chance on him, but if LAL strikes out, I guess he'd be a smart 1 yr rental to preserve their 2014 free agency. I really think Granger is a lot harder to move (for equal value) than you think w/ that injury history and onerous contract. 2) Why are we sending this much out to Utah again? Utah gets a lot of assets for a player they might lose for free already...why not just do a straight up SnT Millsap <-> Lin??? Maybe throw in TRob, not that they'd really want him. They are already choosing between Al Jefferson and Millsap, leaning toward the former, and wanting to give their two young big men more time to play...not sure why'd they'd take another player to push them deeper in the rotation. Guess they could then move Asik for value -- why not right? They're getting him for almost free (nothing but cap space). Not sure why WE would want to do this. Millsap ain't that hard to get lol. 3) Maybe, but I don't know how excited they are about another ball-dominant PG on their team. Not sure what they're doing w/ their Jennings/Ellis combo yet.
We can trade Asik to about 20 teams. No problem there. I scanned through various rosters and I can see a few trades which I think would be beneficial to Lin + Houston + the other team: 1) Lin + T-Rob + White for Danny Granger. It would be incredibly easy to get rid of Granger and Asik, wether to the same team, or even one of the LA teams. I do think that the Pacers could get a better deal for Granger though - he is one year removed from being a star, and only has 1 year left on his contract. Maybe we could add a second round pick. Would be worth it - I think ATL would give us a pick for him. GRANGER IS A SCRUBB! i would keep lin all day!
1) Granger has played poorly, but that's why I said 1 year removed. He was hitting 42% of his shots (and 38% from 3) for 18ppg just 1 year ago. Obviously $14m is steep, but it is expiring and I think teams will be willing to take a chance that he can get back to his previous form given the right role/team. For teams like Atlanta and Utah, who are not naturally attractive to FA's, getting the bird rights to someone like that while not sacrificing long term flexibility might be a good bet. I'm not 100% sold on my own opinion, but I think there are more teams willing to take Granger than Lin just because of Granger's expiring contract and potential to reclaim his status as a significant scorer in the league. 2) What would be the point of trading Lin for Millsap when the whole idea is to shave as much salary as possible? Firstly enough to sign one FA, and secondly (if needed) to have the right salary situation to acquire a second one. I think that if we could shave that much salary and tell Paul/Howard they can join Harden, our chances are very good for Howard, and relatively good for Paul. 3) I am under the impression the Bucks are not happy with the combination of Ellis/Jennings and are extremely eager to get rid of Gooden. Like I said, this would not be an ideal scenario for us, but you got to do what you got to do if the opportunity to sign Paul and Howard presents itself. Frankly I think Lin showed himself to be at LEAST as good a PG as Jennings this year, and Lin has far less professional experience and will cost them a lot less. Who knows, maybe that would open the door for them to trade Jennings for upgrades at other positions? These are just ideas, and as a Rockets fan I guess I tend to overvalue our players. I just think the options for shedding salary are so limited that Morey will have to be creative with what we have - again, if and only if we need to sign 2 MAX FA's. If we get one FA, then there are various simple ways to create space.
this won't happen.....just sign "Howard"...Convince The timberwolves to give up "Love" for Asik and T Rob"....cut delfino before the deadline...cut brooks.....idk how this work financially but "Love" would be the perfect "stretch 4" for this team...
Would ATL give us one of their draft picks (17 or 18th) in exchange for Asik and Robinson? They don't have a roster right now, and if they lose out on Howard, then adding Robinson and Asik to Horford is an attractive proposition to them. If so, could we then flip Lin + #18 pick + #34 pick easily into cap space? Again, maybe Utah, Orlando, Bucks, Kings, etc. The draft is key to how everything plays out. Can't wait for 27 June.
