The fact remains that some of this redundant talent needs to be flipped for an All Star. If Daryl Morey can't do that and do it soon (I'm not even sure what "soon" means) then it's time to start swapping out our "older" (with no exceptions) for some picks and pray that we get a top 5 lottery pick next year. Five years ago you would not have been able to convince me that a team with this much serviceable, young talent and this much financial flexibility could not make a deal for an All Star relatively easy. How things change.
I agree Scola should be shopped at least. I love his attitude and He produces at a high level offensively but his deficiencies are what has been leading to and will be the reason why the Rockets cant contend in this league. Length and athleticism on the defensive end. As for Martin and Brooks, their defensive deficiencies arent as damaging to the team as interior defense if you have peremeter defenders like Lee and Battier who can step in if a Monta Ellis is shooting lights out. If an interior presence is aquired then you will see Martin and Brooks' value go up dramatically, but like Morey has been quoted as saying before... Nobody on this roster is untouchable for the right upgrade in return.
All-stars usually come from winning teams, guys having good seasons on bad teams usually will not get all-star nods. So I doubt he will get an all-star, most likely peices are guys on losing teams with long contracts. Top candidate I think is Varejao.
Your kidding right... why would they trade their best player for one of our worst? Because he has potential??? The trade suggestions on this forum give me headaches.
Cos he is a 28 year old on a long contract that is completely useless on a losing team. By the time they move into contention again, he will be too old to help them. If we offered Hill + JJ + Knicks Pick + Budinger Cleveland would have to think real hard about moving Varejao.
Umm OK...if were taking about prospects.. then here you go.. Thunder: Durant- 22yr old(All-Star) Westbrook- 22yr old(soon to be All-Star) Ibaka- 21yr old Harden- 21yr old (5th pick/2009) Jeff Green- 24yr old Cole Aldrich- 22yr old(11th pick/2010) Clippers: Griffin - 21yr old(1st overall/2009|Soon to be All-Star) Gordon - 22yr old(7th overall/2008) Aminu - 20yr old(8th overall/2010) Bledsoe - 20yr old Jordan - 22 yr old
Last night was disappointing, but we'll see how it goes by the end of the month. We know the team is not some 55+ win elite squad, but whether they are closer to a 40 win team or a 50 win team is still a bit up in the air. And, by the way, losing Chuck Hayes REALLY hurts.
Have you seen their record? Why would they care? Besides they are willing to take on salary as reported yesterday.
Bad record or not... why would a competent GM ship off one of the better interior defenders/rebounders in the league for a project PF in Jordan Hill? Jordan Hill might be a consolation prize in a deal and thats about it. People on this forum just assume GM's are willing to give good players away because their team is bad now... The Cavs have a slew of draft picks coming up in the next few years, plus the picks from Lebron's sign and trade. They could be one or two players away from being a decent squad again despite their record now, and seeing as how hard it is to find a productive big in this league, they might just want to keep the one they got for the next few years. The only player I see as being actively shopped for management is Jamison.
It sucks when 3 out of those 6 aren't even playing on the team due to Brad's loyalty to the team's "veterans".
Nets, Kings, Warriors, Wizards, Clippers have better prospects than Rockets and they will have another better lottery pick soon.
Its not really "Rick's" fault really though because in theory its great to have as many assets as you can on one team, and yes they are more talented at the end of their bench than most teams are but the downside to that is not being able to package them together. If a 3 for 1 deal doesn't go down by the trade deadline then Morey's plan to aquire a impact player with these assets will do a disservice to the team and those individual players who have not improved as NBA players in the league because of the roster they were on. Not to mention their trade value goes down dramatically when not playing. Great NBA teams historically had 8 or 9 man rotations, not 12 man rotations. Its amazing that none of these players have asked to be traded and caused locker room issues.
