Millsap and Amir are around the same level, only difference is that Amir is on an even more obscure team so he is even less well known/more underrated. I believe Asik's value is greater than either of them, because top shelf defensive 7 footers are just that rare. However, if we are indeed going ALL IN to win this year, we can't bicker about value, and have to look at what helps us win the most, now. On court, 35 minutes of Millsap/Amir is worth more than 15-20 minutes of Asik. You make that trade and keep the rest of the team intact, and we are staring eye to eye with any contenders in the league, bar none. Only ill-informed fans would put LMA and Love on the same level. Aldridge is a borderline allstar. Not worth gutting the team over, and not even worth the max. Love is a generational talent. If healthy(last I checked hand injures are not career threatening), good enough to eventually be a HOFer.
Ryan Anderson, Illyasova, and Kevin Love are literally the only PFs than can play well on this team. All of those guys can rebound very well and have very good jumpshots. LMA shot 41% percent last season from 16-3pt land which is horrendous on this team. The paint would be too clogged without a money jump shooter. If LMA was an elite defender, than yeah get him. I just think it would be diminishing returns trading for him. He needs the ball in his hands, but we already have people that can mimic his production if he were on this team.
Just to be fair to LMA, here are the 16 FT to 3P percentages of players whom you said have very good jump shots: Anderson: 46.3% Illyasova: 38.1% Love: 34.3% Okay, small sample size for Love due to his injuries last season. Lets dig it a little deeper. Love's percentage from 16 FT to 3P: 2011-12 38.9% 2010-11 38% 2009-10 40.2% 2008-09 38.5% Not a single season where Love shot better than LMA!
Then I haven't seen enough of Kevin Love. He has elite rebounding skills and good 3point shooting... and good post up game but his D is lacking and he does not necessarily make his team mates that much better He alone can't carry a team like prime Tim Duncan did. He is just not on that level. He might be better in your books but LMA is a slightly better fit on the Rox
I know many here aren't to high on LMA and nor the possibility we can acquire him on a trade in the near future. About LMA shooting. LMA became #1 option after Roy went down. As #1 option, his shooting percentage steadily hovered around .500, which is quite good. There was never a 'down' year in his career. His shooting form is majestic to watch and difficult to block. Throughout his career, LMA shot only 101 3's. That's ONE 3PA/5 games. Does that mean he can't shoot the 3's? I think not! Here are his percentages and attempts from various distances last season: Distance - % - Attempts 03-10 ft .447 - 253 10-16 ft .438 - 260 16-3-pt .418 - 507 Notice the steady decrease in percentages and number of attempts from 16-3P? They are consistent and hence, easier to project. The longest distance from 3P line is 23 ft and 22 from corners. That's seven feet max from 16-3P. If LMA plays on our team, he becomes option 2-3 and it will only increase his efficiency. How much of a decrease from 41.8% if asked to stretch the floor at 3P line? I predict that LMA is FULLY capable of shooting the 3's if asked AND at a decent percentage of no less than 35%.
There's no point in getting Horford, Aldridge and Anderson, we have DH, Harden and Parsons who all take up a ton of shots, what's the use of getting these guys when they'll only have 5-10 shots a game? Love's the only guy worth getting, and only because he can be effective without scoring, the guy is among the best passers and rebounders in the league.
I Love Horford, he's got the polished offensive game and he's a good defender as well. Horford isn't a franchise player, but he could be a #2 option on a championship contending team.
Anderson makes the most sense. He would be the cheapest. Depending on how the Pelicans( LOL,I just can't get used to that name) do, we might could get him for Asik straight up with only possible fillers to make salaries match. He is a deadly shooter. Do you know how many open looks he would get with Harden and DH? He is not great at defense but do we really need him to be with DH in the middle?
And then who backs up Dwight and keeps our D solid with the bench?? See, Asik for Ryan Anderson makes NO SENSE! Especially when we got Cass3 and Gar3ia banging down balls and Cass3 rebounding suitably well. The only way you trade Asik is for a legit 3rd superstar that torques the team. If you trade Asik (and Lin together) for that 3rd superstar..then obviously the ball is going to flow through the big 3. So that 3rd superstar has to be a guy that can score, board, and make plays...ala Love, Bosh, Melo, etc. Now....for you guys that want an upgrade at the 4....you should be considering the possibilities of getting a guy like Derrick Williams...slightly undersized..but with definite offensive chops and he's coming defensively...while RETAINING ASIK. Guys the truth of the matter is if we aren't playing twin towers....then our 4 is going to be a 3/4....a guy that can spread the floor and bang down 3's big time. None of Jones, DMo, Smith fill that role. All of them are inside/out players. DMo has played the vast majority of his minutes at the 5 for us since Asik has been out. The strength of DMo's game is his offensive post play. In fact, that may be the ONLY strength of his game right now. TJones is inside/out. Sorry, but he can't shoot the 3 at an efficient clip. Smith can't shoot outside the paint. None of those guys can hold a candle to Gar3ia and Cass3 playing outside/in. We should either roll with what we got or we should look for an incremental upgrade at the 4, a guy that could possibly play bigger defensively in the pain while adding a nice jumper. I'm suggesting trading a couple guys to New Orleans for a guy like Jason Smith and a second rounder...or trading all three of TJones/DMo/Smith to a team like Philly and getting Philly to send Thad Young to Minny while Minny sends us Derrick Williams and we get Philly's 2014 second rounder (probably pick #31). Something along that line to move out a couple of these guys for value while we can still get value. Because once the season starts and all three guys are sitting there in suits or in RGV again or getting at best spot minutes...their trade values will quickly go to nil.
Horford I think is the worst guy out of all of them because he's not elite at any one thing. I think if you're gonna demand to be a max player you have to be dominant at one aspect of the game, being a bad defensive player isn't that big a deal, we already have DH in the paint doing defense. Personally though I think the Rox are in win now mode and instead of chasing superstar dreams we should keep the team we have with Lin, Parsons and Asik. Sure it isn't as sexy as a "big 3" pipe dream but the reality is you ain't gonna out star LBJ, Wade and Bosh for the next 3 years, putting up your own inferior version of the big 3 is just playing into their hands. Our keys to success is we have 3 X-factors (Lin, Parsons, Bev), and we're the only team in the league who can have 48 mins of elite paint protection. I think those are bigger strengths then gutting the team, getting a 3rd superstar and getting spanked by LBJ.
I'd rather have a player who was really good all around, versus a specialist who's great at a few things. If you have too many holes in your game, you'll be picked apart.
There is no hope that any one of them other than Anderson might become available anytime soon, and he is someone I don't believe the Rockets would even want. Please take your ball and go home. This is a comment not a thread.
