Scola gets the most out of his skills. The other Rockets you mentioned all have room for improvement. Nash will not improve from here on out and in fact it is a certainty that he will decline... he's already ancient in PG years. I agree. My comparison was situational. I was not equating the basketball skills of Davis, Camby, and Nash.
I've been calling for TMac to the Clippers for months now. I'd offer TMac, Lowry, and Dorsey for Baron Davis and Marcus Camby. That gives you a major upgrade in scoring and defense. Yeah, you have to take on Baron's contract, but he earned that contract by carrying the Warriors for years. If he's motivated in the right situation, he's a big time player. He and Brooks could even share some time on the floor like he did with Ellis - Thunder and Lightning. Anyway, how else are you going to get an All-Star type player and DPOY type player in exchange for TSlack? Baron's a risk, but not a bad one. See: Ron Artest.
So you'll trade one injury prone player who has a large contract that is about to expire for 2 injury prone players who both have big contracts?? Steve Kerr is that you?
I just don't think they belong in the same sentence. Nash gives you defensive problems at PG, but he improves you in virtually every single aspect of the game besides defense. Now, we can argue all day long whether or not that is worth making a deal for, but at least we'd both have foundations from which we were arguing. Baron Davis is totally different. He's bad on defense, he's a ballhog, he's a terrible shooter, he's had major injury problems throughout his career, he's had attitude problems throughout his career, and for all the talk about Nash's success coming in the run and gun offense, the only time Baron Davis has been a respectable percentage player is when he was in Golden State's free run system.
First of all, Camby's contract expires at the same time as TMac's. But let's forget that detail. Just name the player who is better than Baron Davis who will sign here as a free agent in the summer of 2010. I want to know who you would save that payday for and why you're certain he would leave his current team for us. The reality is that we're going to have to trade for somebody, and TMac's expiring contract is our best asset. Once you accept that reality, you have to look around and ask who would give you the most value for that asset? I guess you could get Vince Carter, but he has the same injury history as Baron and he's even older.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=oxfhjd Tmac to clippers Clippers send Camby to Houston, and Baron Davis back to GS ("oops! u can have him back") GS sends Maggette to Houston, Anthony Randolph to Clippers. Rockets solve backup center problem, replace injury prone t-mac with injury prone magette at half the price, but 5 yr contract . Maggette would be a legitimate scoring option, def upgrade to artest as scoring option. Maggette plays no D but hey, we'll still have battier and ron ron (i hope). Clips w/ t-mac, gordon, zach randolph, still stuck w/ Kaman, plus now Blake Griffin sounds like an improvement (although its hard for them to get worse). plus they have gordon, griffin, and al thornton as a nice young little core to build around and if they want to dump tmac, they free up $ to sign gordon and thornton when all 3 of their contracts end in 2 yrs or make a run at a 2010 FA star. GS gets Bdiddy back. my buddy in oakland said anthony randolph is a fan favorite but don nelson doesnt seem to like him. either way, he's not a breaking point for this trade and other players could be substituted to make it work. just a thought, curious to see what others think.
the Bulls have had past interest in both Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby. Camby has only one year remaining on a contract that will pay him 7.65 million next season. The Clippers' reportedly have shown interest in Bulls point guard Kirk Hinrich in the past. That straight-up trade works under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-20-bulls-nba-draft-lottery-may20,0,4262501.story
First of all I wouldn't trade McGrady and even if he was to be traded why trade for a point guard??? Last time I checked we didn't have any problems at the point. 2nd. Why would you trade a larger expiring contract for a shorter one?? Yeah McGrady was a knucklehead this year but the man was also hurt. I wouldn't want an expensive injury prone player backing up Yao. Camby isn't the same player as he was before. Reality is NO ONE on this board knows what Les Alexander, Morey , or RA is going to do. They are all ASSUMING that they are going to do the things they type on this board. Let them do their job in running the team and we need to do our job as fans and root for the team.
ESPN's John Hollinger's scouting report on Baron Davis: "At his best, Davis is one of the top defensive guards in basketball. Because of his size he can easily cross-match against shooting guards, a fact that bailed out Monta Ellis from several tough pairings last season, but he also excels at pressuring the ball and creates havoc in the passing lanes. However, his effort level wasn't nearly as strong as in previous seasons, and part of the high steals rate was a result of Davis taking bad gambles in search of an easy bailout rather than playing solid D. Offensively, Davis is a wondrous talent who makes head-scratching decisions. He's a good 3-point shooter with his feet set but mediocre at best off the dribble, making it all the more puzzling why he insists on taking so many 3s off the bounce early in the shot clock. He's amazing pushing the ball in the open court and with his size and athleticism he can finish over much bigger players, plus he's capable of abusing smaller guards in post-ups from the left block. Davis also sees the floor well and is a good passer when he puts his mind to it." Now, Baron Davis isn't perfect, but to say that he's a terrible defender and shooter is just wrong.
Whatever. The dude averaged a double-double this year with 2+ blocks per game. I'm sure we'll find someone better than that to back up Yao.
I'm basing his defense on what I saw last year. It may be lack of effort, so maybe you can expect that to go back up. As for the shooting, just look at the numbers. He may be great at shooting under particular circumstances and at particular spots on the floor, but his numbers are terrible. As a 30 year old veteran of the NBA, I'm not going to say he's a good shooter despite SHOOTING POORLY HIS ENTIRE CAREER because he has the ability to hit a particular shot really well.
You're still struggling mightily for good logic. There are two "halves" to a basketball court. True. But there are 4 teammates to help you defend (that's why they call it a double team or why opponents sandwich Yao before he even has the ball). However...ONLY ONE player can put the ball into the basket. Some do it...some can't.
Maybe I'm the only one who would love to have B.Diddy on this team. I like guys who actually elevate their games in the postseason and have a pair. He would fit in well with our team in that regard. He is a good set shooter. I bet if you could track his shots when he has time to set (i.e. waiting on a kickout from Yao), as opposed to his shots where he is trying to create everything and then get a shot...then he would have a higher %. It's similar to how everyone thought Kidd couldn't shoot when he was taking plenty of shots that he initiated himself, as opposed to wide open shots which he seems to knock down pretty well. Just my opinion.... Davis is not a bad defender. He is a good playmaker. He would prevent Ron from dribbling the clock out. And he is a great closer.
If Baron Davis is a great shooter under certain circumstances like is being claimed, then he is one of the worst decision makers in the history of the NBA. If a guy who shoots like Rafer Alston really is capable of shooting at an elite level but doesn't because of the shots he initiates for himself... I mean I don't even know how to discuss that type of player.
Logic? With that post? OK, in response I guess I'll logically dismiss the fact that with Nash at PG Yao would pick up his second foul with 9 minutes to go in the first quarter because Nash can't keep his man from getting to the lane. I'll logically discount that stat some people keep called assists. I'll logically forget about those things things people call screens. I'll provide a revisionist history of basketball because it is illogical that the pick and roll is a staple of the sport.
There is a difference between shooting with more defensive pressure on you and shooting wide-open looks like our PG's get. How many wide-open shots do our guards get when you really think about it? Kidd isn't a bad decision maker, but you noticed he suddenly started hitting more wide open shots when he got to Dallas and wasn't having to create his own offense as much. I don't think Davis is a great shooter....but I do think his %'s would improve on this team where he would have more open shots. I think Davis has a very bad case of "I only care when my team has a shot to compete". For example, look at his shooting %'s from some of his playoff appeareances.
Stop the freakin' Clippers madness. There's no one worth there. And If you didn't like Artest choking trees then wait for this guy. Artest gives you D and for sure you want see any from Diddy. Lets trade for Caron Butler and Nick Young or Ginobili..
