Upside to the trade is that Battier is tradable I kid you not. Let's start a sticky Trade Battier thread.
Battier's career scoring high is 14.4 points per game, so people think he is going to have a career year.
Battier is a big upgrade to the roster. He will play 30-35 minutes per game. Why? Because he does everything well. He has length, can guard 3 positions, passes well, hits the open shot, has very high BB IQ, doesn't turn the ball over,and is a great defender. Gay has great potential, but he is also the great unknown. Slowmile has not shown any improvement in his game since coming into the league. It is pretty safe to say that what you saw last year is what you'll get. To those who say he didn't get to play enough, he didn't earn more pt. I'm glad not to have to watch Slow next year, hoping he'll break out, but only seeing fantastic highlight plays occasionally. I'm really glad we now have Battier. I don't think CD/Morey did a great job of acquiring him. Even though I am glad to be rid of Swift, I would think there would be some other suckers in the league who see his highlights and think all he needs is a little of their coaching staff to become an allstar. Maybe not. At any rate, I think Battier is a realy good addition to the roster.
I think JVG is worried he might get pushed out the door and Dawson knows its his last year here and wants to have a good team next year. I don't think either of these guys is as worried about the future. Shane Battier is a player that will help us win now though. He's almost exactly what this player needs. He's a solid rebounder, great defensive player that will benefit from Yao/McGrady. Look at Memphis' roster, is there anyone (maybe once in a while Pau) that would be doubled?? Battier probably had to create most of his shots or get them within the flow of a rapid offense that Hubie had running 12 guys out there every night. Having Yao/McGrady, this guy will get more looks now than he ever has. He'll do the intangibles and be like a Bruce Bowen/Rick Fox/ Josh Howard type player that every good team needs. I wish we could've gotten more, but we've also got salary cap relief and we should pick up some talent with our MLE and LLE. Everyone saw how Barry/Sura/James and others got so many open looks because of the pressure placed on Yao/McGrady and I think Battier is the type of player that would relish in that. My only concern is that with the changing of the rules, will he be able to thrive seeing how he's not the quickest player out there? Or will he continue to decline as he gets older?
Come on guys, we did not trade for him to be our 6th man. He has average about 35+ minutes his whole career. He is a definite starter and is one of the most versatile players in the league. Do not get him confused with the younger Battier he was at Duke. He is a 2/3 and has been his whole career. Him and TMac will definitely start. Now if we somehow get a high energy scorer like a Mike James then he will be our 6th man. Not Battier.
My sentiments exactly. However, Battier is in excellent shape and probably won't start to decline till he is 34 or 35. He relies on his brains first and foremost and then his heart and then his abilities which are actually impressive. He was able to be effective for Memphis this year with the new rules(handchecking I assume), so I don't see why he won't be just as effective next season. How do you not ask for the 24th pick?
Then Les Alexander is a stupid, greedy, short sighted owner, if he allowed this trade to take place just to save JVG's sorry ass. More likely he is trying to save the money he would have to pay to get rid of JVG. He, and He alone, is responsible for putting a sorry end to TMac's career (no ring), squandering Yao's career, and giving Houston fans an inferior product while he makes millions from Yao's promotional efforts. Allowing your coach and GM to put this team where it is, can be placed squarely on Les Alexander's shoulders. He kept CD, hired Morey, and hired/kept JVG after last year's debacle so who else can you blame. I think hiring Morey is a clear signal of things to come, Les intends to make money from this venture any way he can, and that does not include putting a good team out there for the fans, but just convincing the fans to pay for the crap he is dishing out. And, just how much do you think the players are going to give their all in this situation? Our, 4 position is in worse shape than ever. Juwan Howard, a year older; Chuck Hayes, an under-sized PF with no shot; and a rookie (JVG doesn't play rookies). The only tradable assets we had are gone for a back-up 3. We have no viable 2, and a half-viable 1, and a sorry-to-non-existant bench. Our 5 position is not backed up as well as it was, and TMac is a big ? Folks we have a sorry owner! BTW: Why did we end up having to pay Memphis to take back what they didn't want a year ago? And, if Stro isn't any good, why did Jerry West want him back? We, yet again, got fleeced by J. W. The TV talking heads are complimenting him on his good draft day, Ha Ha.
Battier played 3 positions for the Grizz and played all three with a great deal of success. Battier can easily play sg, sf and pf for us.
I think Battier will play the 3. Rox wanted a long, more athletic 2 guard this offseason...so they moved Tmac back to his natural position. In a business point of view, the Gay/Battier trade might have been a good move for the future. That's right FOR THE FUTURE. If Gay pans out to be All-Star caliber, he'll probably demand max money in 3 years. That being said, 3 max contracts will be too much.
Battier can play D, shoot the 3 and can put up solid no. for the rockets next season. With his size, he can prevent guards from penetrating into the paint, which means yao will not get into early foul troubles. I haven't seen him play much, these are the stuff i heard about him via NBA analyst.
Les Alexander is probably one of the best 10 owners in all of sports currently, and I would argue, the best owner in Houston sports history (and probably in the top 5 for all Texas teams all time). He is a good leader, allows his team to run the operation, cares about the community, and interacts well with the media and fans. Considering he is running the team at max salary, he is definitely not trying to save money either. This move smells of Dawson and JVG, both of whom are on their way out. Unfortunately a lame-duck Dawson and possibly lame-duck JVG are short-sighted and put the short-term goals of winning (Battier) ahead of long-term success (Gay). Its the job of the GM to look at the big picture, and Im not sure Dawson has done that in this draft.
Only an idiot would think that Battier wouldn't start with the roster that Houston has now. And only the same kind of idiots who thought Rudy Gay would play PF against any team bigger than Dallas want Battier to play PF. He will start at a wing position. He will guard the bigger of the other team's wing players. That is his strength. McGrady will guard the smaller of the other team's wing players. Can he play PF reasonably well (meaning better than Howard)? Yes. But playing him there takes away his number one strength, guarding the perimeter.
