funny. now you're trying to argue that matt barnes > PP. that's hilarious. matt barnes is a scrub. his best season isn't even close to PP worst season as a pro. theres nothing you can say that even warrants believing PP isnt an upgrade over Matt Barnes. all you do is post nonsense that makes no sense if it doesn't spin in the rockets favor.
Are you really going to argue that Matt Barnes is a more effective player than Paul Pierce at this point? Pierce shot like 39% from three last year on 300 attempts. If Paul Pierce was taking those wide open threes that the Rockets kept giving the Clippers in the playoffs instead of Matt Barnes, the Rockets would never have made a comeback. What did Barnes shoot? 20%?
If you're Josh Smith, do you sign right now for the ~$2.5 million we can offer? Or do you wait to see if the Rockets will have some or all of the MLE left after K.J. signs an offer sheet?
Did I say that? I said that the Rockets are not the same team without the same players from a year ago. That's simple logic. And call them backups or 3rd stringers if you like, but they both played a role in the postseason in helping the Rockets beat the Mavs and mount that Game 6 comeback vs the Clippers. If the Rockets bring back Smith and Terry, then you could argue they'll be at least as good as last season and possibly better if they stay healthy and if young guys like Capela and Dekker can make consistent contributions. If they lose them, they've taken a step back unless they find suitable replacements.
We have most definitely improved over last year. You forget Beverly and DMo. Beverly is so much better defending good guards than Prig and Terry and DMo is one of the best low post scorers in the league. Plus DMo is a stretch 4 that will work well with Howard. Add that with the fact that Harden is not done improving and Capela is sure to be better this year. Yes the spurs are better because of LMA. And West should help but make no mistake about it Duncan, Manu and Parker are getting older and less productive. The Clippers improved slightly but not more than us and we beat them last year without DMo and Beverly. The Wariors stand still and we played them tough 3 out of the 5 games without DMo and Beverly. We are most definitely still in the mix and most definitely a contender that can win it all. We need a wing backup shooter and a decent backup point but if that happens I see us right there with SA and GS vying for the finals. And that's not even counting any of the Rookies contributing. Personally I think Dekker will be a big help off the bench by all star break. We didn't grab any big name signees. But really who did besides LMA to the spurs and maybe Brook Lopez to the Knicks most other big names stayed with their team. Losing Llull hurt but I still think Morey will get us an upgrade at PG even if it's by the deadline. All this negative thought is just not necessary. We will be better than this past season and this past season we we were arguably the second best team in the league. Plus Morey is not done by a longshot.
Matt Barnes is a B+ in the Scrub category and an A+ in the "I'll pay $10,000 for a sniper to take his head off" category.
At the same time, can we say that the play off Rockets team was not our best team last year? We never got to see our best PF and PG post season. We could get ALOT better by time and healing.
there's no way to tell what we are yet. no one predicted DMo's progression last season. he became a legit low post threat. we actually had him posting and scoring on anthony davis in games. there's way too many variables in play to actually make any knowledgeable prediction. what if nick johnson or terrence jones make that jump? what if we don't have major injuries? what if the rest of the west does? just sit back and relax and let things play out
I mean how could you not mention the Thunder team with healthy Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, Adams, Kanter, Waiters, Singler, Augustin, Robertson, McGary, Payne, Morrow and just got rid off their biggest weakness in Scotty Brooks? Come on. They are the only team that I'm scared of in the west. Not even the Spurs
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">With players able to sign contracts the Kings have a "very strong" interest in free agent forward Josh Smith</p>— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) <a href="https://twitter.com/mr_jasonjones/status/619207628468695040">July 9, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I hate agreeing with Bobby, but seriously Stephenson and Pierce are not huge upgrades. Pierce is a year older will hit big shots sure but he will struggle to stay on the court and keep up defensively. He also won't be able to run like the Clippers want to. Stephenson is a nutcase and could end up doing more damage than good.
Kevin Durant has begun to shoot jump shots and should be cleared for full basketball activities in August. "We’re close to Phase 3 now," Durant said on Sunday. "A three-phase rehab ... We’re doing X-rays every two weeks and it’s looking good." He's not yet running or cutting on his surgically-repaired foot, but this is a uniformally positive report which suggests the former MVP will be at full strength for training camp.
You're the absolute worst. Why do you watch this team if you're just going to spout off negative post after negative post? This team hasn't downgraded at ANY position, and have re-signed all of their players minus Josh Smith. We were tier 1 last year. We'll be Tier 1 this year along with the Warriors, Cavs, Spurs, Clippers, and Thunder.
The Rockets were doing damn good without those guys. We have no idea what James Harden will show up but if he has improved even a little, we will be elite.
You could say that. But that doesn't necessarily mean we'd beat the other Western conference playoff teams from last season. Remember, the Clippers had a hobbled Chris Paul for most of that series and he didn't even play Games 1 and 2. Plus they'll be deeper(albeit marginally) next season. The Spurs who already beat us in the regular season 3-1 will have a better roster(provided they stay healthy). The Warriors are bringing back everyone other than David Lee who hardly played in the WCF anyway. The Grizzlies were 2-2 against us and are as good as they were last season. And the Thunder will almost certainly be healthier next season. If the Rockets bring everyone back, then it's something of a crapshoot. They could make a similar run as last year. They could do worse if it turns out other teams' improvements catapulted them past the Rockets. Or the health of D-Mo and Bev along with the continued development of Capela could vault them all the way to the Finals and possibly the title. But at the very least, they better return with last year's roster. Anything less and they're not the same team.
You can't beat 'em, you sign 'em! Welcome to the Lakers & Knicks world. Gobbles and gobbles of cap space, gotta spend it on someone!* *Unless your Philadelphia.
