I dont know about ancient NBA history- but most winning teams have 3 all star or near All-star calibre players ( I am not talking of the media version of things- they would only concentrate on the marquee names). Financially it may or may not translate to 3 max contracts- if the Rockets want to make the play offs they really have no choice. I really am puzzled with decision on Stro- frankly I am willing to give him a shot- but if the decision is made public, why the hell is even here? It is just dumb to do this even if a trade is being contemplated! We need a certifiable healthy Stud- not band-aid solutions. I am not sure if Van Gundy or CD have much to do with this, maybe Les should stop looking for bargains- this is not the stock market!
short answer: it's hard to find tangoing partneR much less partnerS long answer: of course it is much easier to compete with three all-star caliber players. Dallas did it with Finley, Nash, and Dirk. San Antonio's been doing it w/ Duncan, Manu, and Parker. Phoenix had a monster lineup last year with Amare, Nash, JJ and Marion. Detroit's starting five is an all-star team in itself. But what do these teams all have in common? Their stud/all-star players all were drafted by their respective teams or were traded before they hit their peak. Great scouting (and even better luck) helps gets these soon-to-be stars on the teams. The Spurs drafted their top 3. Dallas drafted Dirk and made good long term acquisitions when they traded for Finley and Nash. Phoenix had drafted and traded well. Detroit's pulled off GREAT trades to get their players before they hit their prime. You can't really look at the NBA and say "Why don't (insert GM/Coach/Owner's name) go out and get a 2nd star or a 3rd star? Other teams have them so why can't we?" because it doesn't work like that. Getting TMac was a once in a lifetime thing. You can't find a talent that great on the trading block every year. And getting Yao was sheer luck. And now people are asking for a THIRD star? It might have worked back then when salaries were relatively low, but now in today's NBA. Best bet is just to build around the star(s) that you have and the Rockets tried doing it this year. And so far, because of injuries, it's failing. But knowing that the pieces we have around TMac and Yao won't hurt the team financially (i.e. tradeable assets or small contracts), they can afford to roll the dice. I just hope they hit 7s pretty soon.
I think if there was a deal to be had for that type of player, I think they would do it. Les Alexander said he wanted to do anything to get Artest and has said he doesn't care about the money or luxury tax if they can get a great player to go with Yao & TMac. They just didn't have the trade assets Indy wanted for Artest. CD/Les/JVG deserve to be questioned for some moves but I think they get a little too much blame for things they can't control. People act like they should be able to go right out and get any player they want. It takes another team(s)/player to go along with what they want to do. I think, as a whole, we Rocket fans have gotten a little spoiled by the type of players this organization has been able to bring in the last 10+ years. I do agree with your assessment about that third guy somewhat. You look at the other 'elite' teams, they have at least three guys that are capable of getting 20+ points any given night without it being a surprise. Spurs with Parker/Ginobili/Duncan, Mavs with Dirk/Terry/Howard, Suns with Nash/Marion/Amare, and Piston with Wallace/Hamilton/Billups/Prince – all with guys that, may not all avg. 20+ points, are capable of going off any night. I think the Rockets need to strive to find that guy at either the 2-guard or PF spots.
You are both correct. It takes three legs to make a sturdy stool. Imagine the impact of one more star caliber player that can actually hit outside shots. If that player could also crash the boards, al la Karl Malone, wow. Or, a tall, sharpshooting, SG who could defend. Throw in "speed" in either case, and, my friends, we have a team.
No doubt about- assessing talent and catching people before they become All Star players is a wonderful thing. I also agree that we really dont have the assets now to get the third player. But I just dont think deals cannot be made. Sure for public consumption were willing to say we went after Artest- but did anyone imagine it will be Peja for Artest Straight up- this trade is flat out nuts ( unless they were getting secret assurances from Peja he will stay) I just dont buy that we could not have found a trading partner- it depends on what we wanted to give up? The only tradeable talent ( I am not sure of this anymore) was Stromile and Luther- heck throw in a bunch of picks with that. This team was built on the premise that Yao and TMac will be our 1-2 punch- TMac is brilliant when healthy, and that is what bothers me if we take a 2-3 year outlook. We did have luck with Yao, We had Stevie ( more or less as a rookie)- what we did was to exchange Tmac for Stevie- the problem is that we stopped there. The rest of our team are great guys, that I am proud of, honestly they will not win us the big one with a degree of certainity that I would be smug with. I am afraid- if this continues next year Yao and or Tmac will no longer be off limits!
Not to nitpick but Dallas traded for Dirk in what turned out to be one of the most lopsided trades ever. As far as a possible third star, we wont have one till we draft Rudy Gay.
I keep hearing his name, and since I don't follow college hoops; where is he from, what position does he play, and how big is he? Thanks
He is a 6'9 SF from UConn who is very athletic and can jump out of the gym. The Rockets need athletes like him very badly. http://nbadraft.net/profiles/rudygay.asp Did I mention he can jump?
Gay will not be around when we draft in the mid teens. He'll already be gone and it wouldn't be like he's gonna come in here and take over the 2 spot anyways. He'd sit the bench for at least one year and probably two. We need to trade the pick and some expirings for a player like Pietrus.
we don't need 3 allstars or near allstars. We just need supporting cast members who aren't 1. broken down and 2. sh-tty.
There's a very nice video featuring Gay here- http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=260250041 Would love to get him. Can you imagine the commentary? "It's Head and Gay on the fast break!"
There is absolutely no question in my mind that this team needs a 3rd scorer. They dont have to be a 3rd All Star player, but someone in the talent level of Ricky Davis, Bonzi Wells, Mobley, Stephen Jackson etc etc. Just a 3rd guy that can score points and create their own shot. Someone that can pick up the slack in case Tmac or Yao are injured, tired or in foul trouble. A 3rd star/scorer is something we need to get to the next level. And Stromile was NEVER going to be that guy. He was going to be a nice ROLE player that would rebound and block shots. I never expected him to be pumping in 15-16pts a night as a 3rd scorer.
We don't need 3 stars, or even 2 stars and 1 semi-star. Look at our very own championship teams. We only had 1 real star the first year, surrounded by guys that all knew their role, and did many things very well. We picked up a 2nd star for the 2nd championship, and had most of the same guys surrounding them that knew their role. I love the insight on Rudy Gay: "He is a 6'9 SF from UConn who is very athletic and can jump out of the gym". If we need someone who is athletic and can jump out of the gym, we can plug in Swift. I'm not going to shoot him down since I haven't seen him play, but I hope we all have learned from Swift that that athleticism needs to come with some talent and basketball IQ. How's his defense? Shooting? Does he have a clue how to run in an organized offense? I'd probably give him the benefit of the doubt coming from Uconn, but you never know.
The best way to get the third guy is to tank and get Gay, Morrison or Aldridge. We'd have them cheap for 4 more years, and we'd have the money to field a decent team of role players. We don't have trade assets to get a higher-quality player. We won't get a higher-quality player with the MLE. Our existing role players should be exchanged as possible for talent and size upgrades. If we can move Head and Swift for the unremarkable but solidly dependable Al Harrington, that would be a good move, for example. We may have to give up Head to get new talent. Head does not have a true position and so is really a bench scorer, which is a replaceable commodity. Solid, coachable forwards are harder to acquire.
Good post. Good, because it's everything I've been thinking. You even managed to sneak in Al Harrington. I have wondered how Al Harrington would fit in on this team, if he'd want to re-sign, etc etc. Just say no to Mr Morrison. I hate to be the jerk about this, because he's a heck of a player, but Morrison has insulin-dependent diabetes, which needs constant monitoring during games and even up to several injections a game as well (I could be wrong on that). Rudy Gay or a decent-sized wing would be excellent for us. We need youth and size at the 2/3. I used to support Luther more than now; could be foolish on my part because he has probably hit the rookie wall and just needs to scale it (stop me before I wax pseudo-intellectual again). But if he were to leave in the right deal, that'd be OK (although we could use Luther's 3 point shot). But the point of the thread is so true: we need that strong 3rd player. Whomever it might be. Nash/Stoudemire/Marion, Duncan/Ginobli/Parker, TMac/Yao/????
I agree that we may not need a third All Star (Sam Fisher), but we do need a third scorer as Deuce says, and we need them DESPERATELY. I think if the Rockets lose tonight, the board is going into a collective depression.
we don't need anyone athlethic like someone mentioned. we need someone who can hit an OPEN jumper and a three point threat. that's all. if anyone hasn't realized it, but the games we lose, our role players shoot around 30 some percent. hell, i do better than that on open shots. that's just unexceptable.
The thing is, if that guy is weak on defense then there is no way JVG wants him unless he can be had virtually free.
