We've discussed this before when the trade went down. I know you have your reasons for thinking so. But, I just don't believe it.
Kyle Lowry is probably the most difficult Rockets player to trade right now (not taking into account on-court performance) for the following reasons: (1) As a recently signed free agent, he cannot be traded until December 15. (2) As a restricted free agent who signed an offer sheet with another team that was matched, he cannot be traded for one full year (until July 14, 2011) without his consent. This is the biggest roadblock to trading Lowry. (3) Since his offer sheet was matched, the Rockets cannot trade Lowry to the team that signed him to the offer sheet (Cleveland) for one full year. (4) Even if Lowry consents to a trade, he is a Base Year Compensation (BYC) player due to the large salary increase he just got on his new deal. As a result, the Rockets can only take back half his salary ($2.875M) in any trade, but his full salary ($5.75M) still counts as incoming salary to the other team. This makes trades difficult for salary matching purposes under the salary cap. Other Rockets players would likely need to be involved, resulting in less desirable trade alternatives for other teams. Lowry's BYC status does not expire until July 1, 2011. For these reasons, it is doubtful that Lowry gets traded this season. It would have to be to a team (other than the Cavs) that Lowry WANTS to go to and that is either sufficiently under the cap to avoid BYC complications or that is willing to do a complicated multi-player (or even multi-team) trade to make it happen. Not very likely.
Bima, I will take your word that it was not a salary dump. Don't know much about contracts, so deferring to you would be a wise decision. :grin: Frankly, I am sick of some posters (no you) who have mischaracterized Ariza's performance while a Rocket. Sure, he was not very good at the onset of last season, but he was terrific after the Martin trade. Not coincidentally, he was playing his natural position, sf. With his length, and wingspan, I KNOW Ariza would have improved the area we are most lacking at this time: defense.
Call me demented. Ariza is at his best playing with the league's best point guard and his shooting percentages are still dismal. Although Lee has sucked, I still think he is and will be the better player. Ariza would be taking touches away from Scola here and we would likely be winless instead of the dismal record we currently have with Lee underperforming significantly.
Lowry signed a deal that he isn't worth and he's not playing up to half the amount he's being paid. "Posters", as you put it, have every right to voice their frustration with Lowry, he's definitely not living up to his end of the deal.
From purely a contractual standpoint, it sure LOOKS like a salary dump. But Courtney Lee has been a guy the Rockets' front office has LOVED for a long time. They WANTED this guy. Badly. Yeah, I was sad to see Ariza go and never understood the Ariza haters out there. He was thrust into a role to which he was not suited (nor was he signed with any intention of playing that role), yet fans complained. Kind of like how Lowry is currently forced into a role that he was not intended to play (although Kyle IS playing some pretty bad basketball right now). The thinking in the Ariza/Lee trade was that Courtney was the better offensive player AND was the better position defender. Ariza takes more gambles on D, sometimes resulting in a steal and something resulting in him getting burned by his man. I suppose the Rockets felt that, if they need D at the SF spot, they still have Battier. And if they need some offense, they have Budinger (and now Lee, in a smaller lineup). People can question the decision all they want. They may even be right. But there WAS a rationale from the Rockets' front office--aside from the financial benefit of reducing team salary--in making that trade.
Sidenote in Lowry's defense: He WAS playing the last two games against two point guards--Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook--who are playing elite-level basketball right now. So far this season, those two have been among the top 5 PGs in the league. In this league, great offense beats great defense. Those two guys would have burned anyone they played. Meanwhile, Lowry did manage to hold Raymond Felton--a pretty good but not great PG--to 6-16 shooting and 4 turnovers. For what it's worth. (But, yeah, Kyle needs to pick it up out there on the court.)
I think the rationale included the notion that C-Bud might have been ready to take over the sf position or at least take significant minutes from Battier. Sure, he has been hobbled by injuries (who hasn't on the Rockets???), but from what we have seen so far, C-Bud's defense is still lacking. In respect to Lee, I like him. I just feel he is pressing a bit too much, like he has a need to prove to others that he belongs. He needs to relax a bit and let the game come to him.
Uhhh they had a choice when they got Martin to start Ariza or Battier, they chose Ariza. The two situations aren't even remotely similar. What does it say about Lee that he can't start over Battier when Ariza had already proven that he deserved to?
The choice was have ariza start or have him cry on the bench. What it says about lee is that he is a SG, not a SF.
I really don't think the organization, or the NBA in general for that matter, favors Ish as much as many fans do. With Brooks out, Ish is only getting minutes to give Lowry a quick breather. If RA thought he was that good, he'd play him more then token minutes. I think the organization praises him publicly though because he is someowhat flashy and one of the few bright spots of the season. I just don't think he run's RAs offense very well. It seems to be in the mold of Nash and Paul...driving in traffic till you draw a couple defenders or they leave you open to shoot. Only problem is, you really have to be a shooter for that to work, and as I said, you're out of the motion offense when you do that. I do think he's got potential, but he's still solidly third. As for Lawry, I think he needs to go back to the backup role. He seems rather frustrated as a starter. He seems to be forcing things too much and making mistakes as a result. He probably sees this as an audtion and wants to make an impression, but still isn't at the shape he wants to be in (IMO). I do think he'll accept almost any trade where he's the starter....as long as it's not a dead organization like the Twolves.
how many unwanted over-paid expiring/non-expiring contracts do we have? Miller-5mill battier-8mill = wade and lebron combined salaries lowry-6mill jeffries-7 mill?? Im sure teams are dying to take these scrubs/captains off our hands
this next month is the most important in Lowry's pro career imo. He clearly wants to be a starter even more than he wants to be a Rocket. This is his chance to prove he can start, the next 3-4 weeks. If a team wants to trade for him and make him their starter (later in the year if our season is done), I don't think getting Lowry's permission will be that tough. But first things first: Play Better!!
