Hey Big, don't get me wrong, I am not and was not against the RA trade. I think it needed to be done, but I was thinking in the state that Orlando was in PG wise we might have been able to squeeze a little more .. i.e. a second round pick.
eh, what's orlando's second round pick really worth? Morey can buy into the draft at a better spot than that. The bottom line is that Rafer's is/was a marginal nba starter and what we got from memphis out of the trade is MORE than Rafer's value as an nba player to most teams Morey made a move that extracted the most out of rafer's value AND improved the roster. You can't knock that, regardless of how desperately Orlando needed something, there's still a limit.
We are lucky to get what we did. The only reason Orlando wanted him at all is because of Nelson's injury, they were on a playoff push, and SVG had coached him before. No other team in the league would have given up a 1st rounder for RA. No other team in the league would have given up a prospect(or better player if you will) like Lowry for Rafer. Morey pounced when the getting was good and we did make out like bandits.
Rafer was 1-10 last night in case any of you missed his performance last night... oh and he had 4 assists with 3 turnovers... He is not better at Orlando, he's the same ole Rafer.... oh and by the way he was the third highest shot taker for Orlando last night. Just wanted to throw that out there for the chaps that say Rafer is the 5th option on the team
You say it like it's likely. It may happen but odds are that it won't. How many times has he "exploded" in the playoffs, or his entire career for that matter? He hit 5 wide open 3s in the 1st half of 1 game when the Cavs strategically decided not to guard him because they know he is the worst outside shooter in the Magic's starting lineup. Rafer burned them but based on the way the series was going up to that point, with their inability to guard two near 7-footers that can put the ball on the floor as well as drain 3s, they had to try something different. Maybe not guarding Rafer was the wrong choice but they had to try something else. Maybe Brown should stop having Varejao try to cover Rashard Lewis. And even in that game, Rafer became a non-factor in the 2nd half and the Cavs almost came back to win. A PG with poor shooting technique should be doing more than camping out on the 3-point line, even in the Orlando system. Jameer was doing a lot more than just shooting 3s. Even Anthony Johnson is more aggressive when he gets into the game. It's easy to not turn the ball over when you basically don't do anything to create offense like most PGs do on a regular basis.
thou shall not be greedy lol but how much more could we possibly get? Rafer is or was not that valuable. Orlando was the perfect fit because they needed a pg bad. Other than them who else needed a pg? The Pacers? what could they offer that we really need. With Brain Cook's contract and Lowry who else would you add in there? If it wasn't for Cook's contract there wouldn't be a Kyle Lowry on this team. Rafer's contract isn't that big to begin with in the first place.
Morey thinks very highly of Lowry. From the conference call after the trade, DM thinks Lowry is a future star. We'll see next season when he gets his first full season with the Rockets with a proper training camp and fully understanding the offense.
Rafer alston the scrub who was 1 for 10 last game? lol we got a better with lowry who has more upside and potential than Rafer.
^ I don't remember saying Lowry has star potential, but he said the trade wasn't about giving up on the season for the future, it was based on his current ability, and that he thought Lowry should start.
I don't think Lowry is better than Alston right now. He gave us some good games in the playoffs, but I think we could have gotten some steadiness in the playoffs when things were going badly if we had Alston around. But, given that Lowry is still pretty good and he's a long-term chip, I think the trade was fair. Without Yao and McGrady, we weren't going to win anything anyway.
What about scoring the ball? Replace Brooks' output and efficiency with what Alston has done for the Magic and we may not have even made it out of the 1st round. We wouldn't have done much better against the Lakers, either. Anything that Alston gives you in terms of game management and ball control, would have given back with a handful or more of brickfests. Brooks may never start another game in his NBA career but he was more valuable to us than Alston would have been under the circumstances. Lowry is better than both Alston and Brooks so he was a definite upgrade, even off the bench. He wasn't great in the Lakers series but he was crucial in the first round, probably more valuable than Brooks given his consistent defense and good decision-making. With McGrady out, our perimeter options would have been Rafer, Ron and Battier. In those games that Ron was off, who would have stepped up? Rafer? Battier? Rafer is a lot like Battier on offense. He'll give you a big game every once in a while. At least Battier is generally more efficient and a lower volume shooter. If Alston was starting, he and Ron would have been shooting more. Do you think Rafer would have been more efficient with us than he has been with the Magic? Do you think more shots for Ron would have been a good thing? At least Brooks took a few shots away from Ron here and there when Ron was struggling. We could get by with Rafer as our starting PG if his sidekick was Kobe or Lebron but not with Artest and Battier as your next best perimeter scorers. Rafer is roughly a Derek Fisher. He's good enough if you have legit superstars around him.
The point isn't what rafer is worth to us or the other 28 teams, it's what he's worth to a team with championship intentions.. the magic. The trade was solid but as a greedy person, I wouldve wanted to exploit a little more from a team in need.
