I was talking about the first half when the game was actually competitive. After Canaan went down things went to hell in a hand basket.
Trading him for Love (at this point) would be a significant downgrade defensively. DMo is just that much better. But I agree on the others. As far as IQ, skill and fit... the sky's the limit for Donatas. He simply knows how to play the game. Whether it's making the right pass or running the break, he's a joy to watch. More importantly, the team 'chemistry' with him on the floor (on both ends) is off the charts. Credit to him, McHale and the rest of the staff.
He gets Morey closer to acquiring the elusive 3rd star IMO. DMO playing well and the Pelicans losing is huge for the franchise.
How is a 13 point lead to start the 4th " not competitive". Maybe I watch too many Rockets games, but I've never said " we're up 13 with 12 minutes to go, it's over".
Sometimes you may be down 20 but feel that you can still get back into the game, while sometimes you may be only down 8-10 but clearly feel that it's nearly impossible to take the control of the game back.
IF D-Mo continues playing at this level, and that's a big if, Millsap no longer seems so out of reach.
If he does continue to play at a high level, then I would retain him instead of going after Millsap. Millsap is nice, but he is not in the league of LMA.
I really do not have the time or the interest to go through the game tape again. Blake scored 2 points in the first half in 11 minutes versus D-Mo. And in the second half D-Mo ended up on Jordan a number of times. If you want to go through the game tape, I am all for it.
You're way overrating him. I think at this point, it's pretty fair to trade some package involving DMo for Rondo, Dragic, Faried (if Morey really likes him as much as Cyberx says he does), that kind of player.
IMHO every player you listed would be a net negative for the Rockets if they lost D-Mo and the NOP pick in the trade. The Rockets definitely do not need help on the PG front. See http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=260560
Not even Howard can stop Blake. I wouldn't trade DMo just because he can't stop Blake at this point in his career.
Keep the pick. Keep the pick. If you aren't getting a bonafide star by trading DMo, keep that pick and potentially draft one.
Ask Bosh what the 3rd star would average... let's not get ahead of ourselves Every 3rd wheel guy has to dial back. Ask Love. Ask Bosh. Those production will go down. Half the season isn't over and we are infatuated with homerism. Before the season: Dmo is crap.... scrub..... The first 10 games: Dmo Dleague material, he has regressed, end of bench player Last 15 games: Dmo is one of the best 6th man, would be a solid starter Last 5 games: Dmo is gawd, best post presence, best situational defender, fast , quick, will not trade him for Millsap, allstar, star in the making.... The Internet reality
It is time for my daily small sample size warning. The jury is still out on D-Mo. If he plays like this through Christmas I may reconsider my opinion.
DMo is getting far more touches in the post than ever before. So, with that being one of the things he's best at, he looks like a far better player. That really doesn't get me as excited as his defensive improvement because he won't get nearly as many touches when Dwight comes back. And, that's not because the team thinks Dwight is much better on the post, it's more for the sake of good spacing. As always, defense and rebounding will keep DMo on the court.
I have not looked at a recent comparison, but Millsap was much higher ranked than LMA using xRAPM on both sides of the ball at the start of the 2013-2014 season.
