[ClutchFans] This is everything I've heard on trades...

I'm with Feigen, I think the Doc got hold of some bad intel

 

OMG, I have been waiting for a whole day, then still no news about any kinda trade. disappointed

 

It depends on what the Rockets are giving up. If it's McGrady, Miller's contract shouldn't be an issue. It expires in the same year as McGrady's.

 

I never stated Battier was a "great defender". He was only mentioned in context for those who can't/don't think athlete's can commit to playing defense.

I'm not sure how much Camby would affect total D given that the perimeter players are the ones doing the switching and rotating.

Bottomline...athlete's can learn to play D. The unathletic will never get taller or faster.

 

Amare is overated, period.

He is not a significant upgrade over what we already have, his per 48 minutes stats are not that much better than Scola and Landry's.

Some of the people mistakenly clamoring for athleticism over bball talent, are just infatuated with his leaping ability.

Stromile Swift can not be said enough......being an athlete is not as important as being a SMART player.

Amare would be an upgrade, but the teams perimeter players would still suck...especially at PG.

Bringing up Billups is simply laughable.

Billups is a PG, that is EXACTLY what I have been saying....it is not his ATHLETICISM that was upgraded and AI is actually more athletic than Billups.

It is his mind that is better suited for team play......Amare falls on the AI side of that equation, not on the Billups side.

Look deeper please....

DD

 

To be honest, I wasn't really focused on Yao in my wonderings. Does he have shortcomings? Sure. Is he the end all be all of basketball? Nope. Will he win in the playoffs or get a championship? Shrug.

I think his transition defense and rebounding as part of the team is underrated - he runs hard and often beats his man back down the court. Is he the first guy back on D? No, but he shouldn't have to be. And he may not gobble up all the rebounds statistically, but he makes it alot easier for his teammates to get the boards by boxing out his man and often another player out of the way.

I'm just saying that everyone is already convinced (either pro or against) of what Player X (in this case Yao) can or can't do, period, end of story. But we have seen tons of examples of that being disproven later in their careers.

It really doesn't matter what Yao can do individually, it matters what the Rockets as a whole can do. If the team can fill in his holes with the right skills and players around him, then great. If not, then bad.

I tend to think that the amount of salary cap used on Yao is not the key factor here - the right types of players around him matter more. It's not like the guys around Jordan and Pippen or surrounding Hakeem were superstars or at the top of the salary chain for their positions/roles - but they were the right mix of talents and abilities.

 

Amazing post.

 

I think bringing up Chauncey has more to do with the fact that we dropped the ball on that deal this past offseason.

As far as Amare, I watched guys blow right by him over and over during last years playoffs. He was perfect playing in that D'Antoni system in Phoenix where all he had to do was run up and down the floor with a fast paced offense. But once Shaq came to Phoenix, he couldn't function with a guy locked down in the paint. He'll have the same problem in Houston where Yao gets the ball in the paint, and Stoudamire will struggle in the half court offense.

 

Gater,

What move(s) would you recommend to tweak or shake things up before the deadline? I saw your posts about Amare earlier in this thread but I think we would all agree there's a slim chance of that happening. Outside of that, anything in mind?

 

Gater would trade Battier for Gay ...silly.



Me, I would take back VSpan.....LOL

DD

 

Wow here you are talking about SIGNIFICANT upgrades and yet you want Hinrich over Rafer despite the huge contract difference.

And since you brought up PER, keep in mind Amare is averaging a lot more minutes than Scola and Landry. PER comparisons this season:

Landry - 21.1 MPG, 17.81 PER
Scola - 28.8 MPG, 16.83 PER

Amare - 37 MPG, 20.13 PER

Last season:
Landry - 16.9 MPG, 21.41 PER
Scola - 24.7 MPG, 16.13 PER

Amare - 33.9 MPG, 27.29 PER

Landry showed decline in his PER with more minutes. His PER wouldn't be nearly as high averaging 37 MPG. What's nice to see is Scola's PER going up with more minutes. I do think it is a bit of a stretch to say Amare's PER isn't that much better.

 

I didn't bring up PER, I brought up per 48 minutes stats......PER is flawed IMO.

I never said Amare was not an upgrade, just that he is an incremental upgrade and we already have very productive players at that spot.

Hinrich is more of a TEAM upgrade than Amare is....Hinrich would make the team a lot better than Amare would.

DD

 

I agree!!! We don't need Amare. If he failed playing with Shaq, he wont play well with Yao.
More importantly, the position we should upgrade is PG!!!!!
However, I dont think we have a chance getting Billups, but, finding a PG better than rafer shouldnt be hard!!!!

 

So far I feel no excitement for anything that's been discussed.

It would appear that if the Rockets are shopping Artest, it is more to get "something" for what they feel may turn into "nothing" if they don't make some sort of deal. All in all, not a great position or perspective to make deals from.

Don't expect the best decision under those circumstances. The team will most likely still be a major "work in progress". If T-mac suddenly gets "better" after a trade goes down (esp. if it's Artest) this will only add to the bad PR that's accumulated so far. If his knee really is the big question mark he says, I don't think ANY of the pieces being discussed suddenly make the team a contender they way everyone hoped Artest would. Maybe Artest is some kind of issue, but to the naked eye it hasn't appeared that way when he's played with everybody but T-mac.

At the end of the day, with only 30 games or so left, don't expect miracles. Trades affect everyone on the team... sometimes more negatively than positively.

 

Jesus Shuttlesworth!@ Amare hasn't failed playing with Shaq!

Kerr has failed at playing GM! His trades have sucked. His coaching pick has sucked and now his team is sucking!

 

Ah guess it would help if I compared the right stats.

I guess we'll just have different opinions on Hinrich. I'm all for an upgrade at PG I just don't see Hinrich being that person. Sure would love to have a young Sura back.

 

The Rockets definitely don't need a Kirk Hinrich and his contract.

Hinrich is not that much better than Skip.

Not worth the hassle of trading for him.

 

Chicago sends-
Gooden and Gordon to Pho
Hughes to Hou

Phoenix sends-
Amare and to Hou

Houston sends
Tmac and Head to Chi
Landry, Brooks to Pho

Chi recieves Tmac Head
Pho recieves Gordon, Landry, Brooks, Gooden
Hou recieves Amare and Hughes

Chi gets something for Gordon and have an even bigger expiring contract to play with next year. A rejuvenated Tmac could do damage with Rose presently.

Pho recieves expiring contracts. Gordon, Brooks, and Landry are all good young pieces to the puzzle and Gordon and Gooden are a good chunck off the books at the end of the season. Brooks can be groomed under Nash and form the fastest backcourt with Barbosa.

Hou recieves Amare and Hughes. Hughes can take Brooks place as pseudo pg/scorer off the bench. He isn't ideal but he makes the numbers work and can still be servicable.

Yao
Amare
Artest
Wafer
Alston

Scola and Battier off the bench.

 

AB and landry for amare??!! hell naaaaaaaaaaaa...that better not happen

 

I do understand adding another weak player