The guy to maybe take a flyer on is Shane Larkin. Shot poorly in his time in the NBA, but he's only 22 and was a pretty good shooter in college. Had close to a 3/1 AST/TO ratio, so if he regains his shot, he could be a decent guy off the bench. On a completely unrelated note, Sebastian Telfair has managed to have a 10 year NBA career. Wow.
He left OKC to be the man, and did you see how great Melo was with the Olympic team? Didn't really translate to off the ball/ team ball in NY.
And so disturbing to see how many of these players (five, at least...did I miss any?) have already been Rockets at some point.
I'm almost positive one of Tyus Jones , Cameron Payne or Jerian Grant will be available when the Rockets pick @ #18. All three of these players have something to like about their games but some negatives too ... Really hard to pick a favorite of the three but if forced to pick one who fits with this Rockets team , I'd have to go with Grant. He checks all the boxes. Has good size for the position Has shown he can play with another ball dominant guard Runs the pick & roll well Can work in isolation Gets to the charity stripe at a high rate High TS%. Takes & makes big shots.
Joseph is the most intriguing choice for me. Improved shooting, great defense, not turnover prone and can get in the paint.
James has already done a lot better than Melo. On rare occasions, he shot the 3 very nicely off the ball this season. Once, he gets a better guard to play with, he will be able to adapt to off the ball shooting. He will of course, continue to handle the ball and drive to the basket too, and hit step back jumpers. That is his strength. His turnovers will come down.
Harden has played off the ball in OKC and is capable of doing so. Just because you get another guard that can handle the ball does not mean that James won't be having the ball in his hands. I'd still expect him to do the majority of the ballhandling. Having another ballhandler will be great for this team, either to give James a bit of a breather during the game, to play off the ball for stretches or when he sits, so hopefully our offense won't go from top 10 to pretty much league worst!
Yep, I imagine the second ballhandler would provide two things. 1) Reduce Harden's minutes slightly. Without Harden it's difficult to run players. With a competent playmaker in, we can maybe afford to give him an extra two or three minutes of rest per game. That adds up quickly over the season. 2) Perhaps more importantly, it gives Harden someone to dump it out to to reset the play if he gets swarmed on the defense. Right now, our offense is predicated on Harden's freakish abilities forcing the defense to leave open guys for shots. As we saw against Golden State, when Harden can't get it going or when guys like Ariza are missing their shots- the offense sputters. Now imagine if Harden dribbles down the lane and has two defenders on him. He can now give it out to this secondary guy who can create something else. 3) It gives McHale more flexibility with plays. I've never been a fan of McHale as a coach. But I still have to imagine/pray that his uncreative and predictable offensive sets are a result of our lack of playmakers and less so his own inepitutde (see part 2).
throwing a new name out there. dennis schroeder. of course he has 2 more years on a rookie contract so why trade him? i'm hoping he demands a starting role or a trade.
You know who would be an interesting compliment to Harden....Wes Matthews. Excellent defender, excellent scorer, but expensive and is a SG and not really a PG. I wonder if a Matthews/Harden could work.
I think you would be in the same situation as before. Harden would still be the primary ball handler and shot creator.
When they are on the court together I think they'd be difficult to defend .... but Matthews doesn't have the ball handling skills or ability to create for himself or others when Harden sits. Don't think he's the answer at the point but would love to have him to play alongside Harden or another point when Harden sits.
