It's not a fantasy team, people. Jefferson is too slow and defenseless to play next to Yao. The would get killed by athletic frontcourts and get in each others' way on offense. Plus, we (most likely) already have a slow, undersized, post player with limited defense: Scola. Jefferson is not enough of an improvement over Scola to justify the extra cap room it would take to bring him over. I'd rather be patient and acquire a different kind of power forward (stretch 4 maybe), let one of our rookies grow into the starter role (Hill and Patterson would both complement Yao well if they reached their ceilings) or sign a surefire all star, not one that comes with so many questions and doesn't fit.
A LOT of times people failed to see why teams don't make it far into the Playoffs like they're supposed to...or simply ignore facts. The fact is team that don't make it far is because of injury to a superstar or key player. Rockets are losing Yao in the Lakers series and losing him last year...Kings losing Peja during crucial game against Lakers in Playoffs. Kings got some key players injured during Dallas series....it's a key part of why team don't make it far and people ignore this fact and simply say outright they're simply SUCK or not good enough!! You can observe the Championship teams and see if they lose any of their key players due to injury. Detroit was ok! Spurs during their run...they don't have anybody out with injury or at least the key players. So are the Celtics during their Championship run. And look what happen when Garnett were hurt last year? They suck right?? And look what happen to Perkins out during game 7!! Ok so Lakers lose Bynum but not by much...he still going to play. So my point is....it doesn't matter how talented your team is...if you're struck by bad luck with player getting injured...it's going to hinder your championship progress. And people tend to ignore this #1 fact and try to dismantle the team. I know the Kings did exactly that!! They were still good until they dismantled their team and they failed to see that it was misfortune that cause them from keep competing for Championship.
in order for this trade to work for the rockets, they'll have to send back expiring contracts. the wolves didn't want any contract, hence the trade exception from the Jazz.
I just see the end game. Those superstars posters are waiting on arent coming to play with yao. Paul and carmello are going to ny or nj. There is a reason why felton signed for 2 yrs. I highly doubt no and denver would trade those two in the conf. Btw, shaq was a far better player when la traded him and they didnt get a superstar for him. I'm not mad they didnt jefferson because i never thought they would.o
Al Jefferson is a good player but he's nothing special. Certainly not worth dual 1st round picks. Save the ammo for the trade deadline. AJ doesn't offer us anything more over Luis Scola. In fact I prefer the hustling style of Scola over AJ.
...because we don't have a huge trade exemption(Kahn didn't want to take back any salary) and by the way Jefferson plays the exact same position as our best player. Other than that, I'm sure Houston would have made an offer.
My apologies that I am not on the computer 24/7 checking trade and FA updates. I had just saw that Jefferson was traded, and didn't realize the main chip was the trade exception. That aside, I would bet that either PP or Hill will be just as good if not better then Jefferson at a fraction of the price tag 2-3 years down the road. Maybe DM is playing more so to the future than this year with the Miami Lebrons.
No one is mentioning that one of the two first rounders that the Jazz apparently gave up in the deal is the one they got from Memphis for Ronnie Brewer. That pick is lottery-protected next year, but the protection slowly burns off (top 14 protected in 2011, top 12 protected in 2012, top 10 protected in 2013, top 9 protected in 2014, top 9 protected in 2015). Most likely, that pick will end up being a late lottery pick. Not a bad haul for Minnesota. $42 million in salary relief over the next 3 years, a potential late lottery pick and another mid- to late first rounder. Give David Kahn at least a little credit here for getting what he wanted in this deal.
What makes you think we have to be constructive when arguing with a person like you, who does not even try to be?
Fine. Just know that, even if that had happened (and the Rockets would have probably had to trade some assets to unload Battier's deal, even though he's still a useful player), the Rockets would likely be in a far worse position to retain Scola and Lowry. Even though the Rockets would have cleared enough cap room to get Bosh or Jefferson, (1) Bosh was still going to go to Miami and (2) Jefferson would have essentially eaten up all but a small amount of the Rockets' cap room. And if the Rockets traded for Jefferson, they likely would have had to renounce either Scola's or Lowry's rights (most likely both) at that point, since there would not have been quite enough cap room to fit Jefferson in without dumping their cap holds. Let's see . . . Which one of the following groups would you rather have?: (A) Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry, Jordan Hill, Shane Battier, 2011 pick swap with Knicks, 2012 Knicks' pick, the MLE and LLE to use, and lots of cash; or (B) Al Jefferson, another minor free agent signing and NO 2011 first rounder (the likely cost to dump Battier's deal). Frankly, I would rather have (A) than (B). But maybe that's just me.
There is also the perception that people are getting that all 5s could play as power forwards. That is just not the case. There's also this perception that since Al Jefferson can get rebounds that he would fit perfectly as an athletic 4.... Moreso, here are some notes on Jefferson. 2005-06: Ankle injuries and a torn meniscus on his right knee 2006-07: Bone spurs and had ankle surgery to remove them; appendectomy surgery early in the season as well. 2008-09: Complete tear of the ACL of his right knee. 2009-10: Averaged 6 less points and 2 less rebounds off of surgery. In 6 seasons, he's played a full season once, in 2007-08. His speed is nowhere near what it was when he was coming out of high school. The idea that you can put a couple of tall people out there and call it a "twin towers" is just plain ignorant. There's a reason why the Dream/Sampson combination worked so well, and it's because Olajuwon was more athletic than most PFs and runs the floor like crazy. The athleticism of both players caused issues on both sides of the floor.
Whoaaa, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Until further notice, Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry are not under contract with the Rockets. I realize DM has indicated that they will eventually be, but I'll believe Les going over the Lux Tax when I see it.
The funny thing is, even if you took BOTH Scola and Lowry off that list, I would STILL take (A) over (B). THAT's how much better off the Rockets are than had they let T-Mac's deal expire. It boggles the mind that people here don't get that. ESPECIALLY after Bosh decided to take a pay cut to gravy train a championship in Miami.
I don't disagree with you one bit regarding the TMac trade. I've always been a big fan of Martin's game and was pleased with the promise Hill showed last season. And it looks like for now at least, that those NY picks are going to be decent as well. Regarding Bosh, I never wanted him in the first place (as posted here numerous times) and I'm glad he's not on the roster now. But going forward if we have any designs on becoming a true contender then this team will require a talent upgrade. Not necessarily in overall talent (we are deep) but in terms of having one more impact player for the playoffs, specifically one who will command respect from the refs. Obviously Yao does not receive anything close to the superstar treatment from any officiating crew. And when you are matched up in a series against another team whose big dog(s) do get "the benefit of the doubt" on calls, that is a glaring disadvantage to be at. But right now, unfortunately, it looks as though we are going to have to luck into such a player somehow someway, if ever. And with DM and Les behind the wheel, overpaying for such a player or eating a bad contract in order to acquire such a player does not look to be an option when the Lux Tax threshold is already under foot. You are the DM of the GARM, Bima. Please share your thoughts on where you think this player could/will possibly come from b/c I simply don't see it.
Constructive? What are you talking about? Your post was funny cause you started using intelligent phrasing in your post then you turned country...."This here is a bandwagoner" it was funny, so i laughed....lighten up, relax
Agreed. Not a bad haul for a player they didn't want to keep anyway. Not sure why everyone has a boner over Jefferson. Pretty good rebounder, though there are otherw who are just as good. Even in his best years his scoring efficiency is rather mediocre for a big because he doesn't get to the line all that often and doesn't shoot all that high a % from the field. His best skill, I guess, is that he rarely turns the ball over. Also, he's pretty bad on the defensive side of thing. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jeffeal01.html
