This trade makes me think that Martin may have just hopped on the trade block. All the talk the last couple weeks/months about needing a back up 2-guard has seemed kind of odd to me. Martin plays 36 minutes a night solely at the 2 spot, the Lowry/Brooks combo picks up another 5-6, and Battier and Budinger, though not prototypical SG's, are capable of giving you the other 5-6. So what is Lee coming in for? To replace Battier/Budinger's 5-6 minutes at the SG? To take Brook's and Lowry's minutes? If you value those guys as much as the Rockets seem to, and you like that Brooks/Lowry combo lineup for stretches as they seem to, why would trade for a guy to take that away? Of course Martin isn't the most reliable in terms of staying healthy, so the backup SG is important then. However just take that a step further. If the starting SG is unreliable and has immense value, wouldn't it make sense to bring in a guy who could legitimately replace him and then shop that starting SG to improve other weaknesses like, say, starting SF? I'm not saying Lee is better than Martin. Far from it. But his strong defense, health reliability (compared to Martin) and seemingly decent offensive game make him seem an adequate replacement that could make Martin a valuable trade asset.
Denver Receives: Shane Battier Kevin Martin Jermaine Taylor Knicks Pick Houston Receives: Carmelo Anthony Aaron Afflalo Rotation would look like.... Brooks/ Lowry Lee/ Afflalo Anthony/ Budinger Scola/ Hill/ Patterson Yao/ Miller/ Hayes Contenders right there
The Rockets gave up Carl Landry to get him. Then they signed Brad Miller, and traded Trevor Ariza for Courtney Lee. Both of these guys are players Kevin Martin is pretty comfortable with (he used to play with Miller, and he trains in the offseason with Lee). In other words, no, I don't think Martin is expendable.
Care to explain? Morey has already said in the past that he wants players to pick it up defensively and if they won't changes will be made. I don't remember the exact quote, someone on here might. Well here's a guy who is a strong defender at the 2 spot and has been a qualified starter for a team in the finals. Maybe Morey sees no reason to believe that Martin is going to suddenly become a good defender after 5 years of being below average. BTW, I love Martin. I love his game. This thought just occured to me, and the Rockets have traded players they seemed to like a lot in the past when it helped the team.
You make good points here but also remember that another aspect that Morey loves is drawing fouls and getting into the penalty, Martin excels at this. I think more moves are coming to help the defense AROUND Martin not to replace Martin.
Do you think they traded for Lee because he and Martin are buddies? And Miller was the only logical choice at the time. It's Miller's close relationship with ADELMAN that brought him here. And getting Martin for Carl Landry made perfect sense. We didn't have a real SG and we had two starter quality PF's. Trade one of the PF's for a legit scoring guard and now your team is much more balanced. Plus on a pure personel level Martin is a production upgrade over Landry.
I agree, but as I already said Morey also likes players who play strong D. Currently we have one of the weakest backcourts defensively. Plus if you can use Martin as the main piece to bring in Granger (I'm not going to try to formulate a potential trade) then there are your free throws right there.
I'm not saying that is the reason they brought those guys here. Obviously both guys fill in a need that the Rockets had... I'm just saying, they obviously wanted Martin very much, and now they've built a comfortable environment around him. He's a dead-eye shooter, can (somewhat) create for himself, and knows how to get to the line while knocking down 85% of the free throws when he gets there... and now he has a Center that he can throw the ball down to and get it back for the open 3-pointer. Sure, his defense isn't that good, but sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. Honestly, if there is any situation where Kevin Martin can flourish, it would be with this team right now. The Rockets would not be smart to give him up at the moment.
I don't get a good gut feeling from this premise. Something about it... I don't know, sorry. I mean heck you never know, but Martin's addition really struck me as "longer term" than what you're thinking through here.
I think that, contrary to what the Rockets are saying, this trade was at least as much about getting rid of Ariza and the financial benefits associated with it as it was about getting Lee. Lee is not nearly in the same league as Martin. I don't understand the logic of asking if a trade means getting rid of a star when the guy that comes in is a backup guy.
Here we go. :grin: The obligatory_____ name here is now expendable thread. Although i guess we did learn Ariza was. You might have a point OP. Although I am not sure what for and who the way Morey does his moves now. Could be anyone now I think Someone none of have on our own personal wish list or know that is on the trading blocks.
I think some of the posters miss a point here. With the addition of a backup SG, there is virtually no loophole in all 5 positions of our current roster even if anyone is traded. If we can get a big time star like Anthony, we can become an immediate contender.
I guess it comes down to what Morey values more either drawing massive amounts of fouls or a defense presence? IMHO, that is another reason he got Lee, to help shield Martin from his deficiencies on "D". One thing I will say, Granger is not a good defender either. He might be better then Martin but is not a HUGE upgrade on that side of the floor.
Anyone can be moved if it means improving the team. And its true, we really couldn't move Martin without getting another 2 guard back since we were so thin there. So, now we *could* move Martin and get someone back other than a 2 guard. //thread
I agree. Although Lee isn't a bad shooter himself. The question that went through my head was which of these do I like the most: Martin/Battier, Lee/Granger, Lee/Igoudala, Lee/Anthony. Yeah I got the same feeling. I don't expect Martin to be traded, it just seemed like it has become more a possiblity since we now have two NBA quality shooting guards who Morey had coveted for a long time, and one of them is going to get very limited minutes (or take minutes away from guys like Lowry and Brooks like i said in the OP) Well Lee had been a starter the 2 years. He's only a backup here because we have Martin. And yes Martin is better than Lee. But is the difference between Martin and Lee greater than the difference between Battier and Granger/Iggy?
