All of these posters criticizing Luther for choking in the playoffs need to chill out. All of you realize this was his FIRST PLAYOFF SERIES right??? The dude was a rookie in that first round series. Luther is a good player and asset to our team and he will continue to improve. I remember the same crap happening last summer for everyone screaming to trade him because he was our only tradable asset, and during the season everyone was singing his praises and thankful that we did not trade him. I hope Luther stays and makes strides in his third NBA season. Luthe has proven before that he is a gamer with ice water in his veins and in part, because of his performance of his first ever playoff series there are people trying to dump him again. If he stays, I am sure that his play (ESPECIALLY IN ADELMAN'S OFFENSE) will be spectacular and shut up all the critics, for at least a little while.
His value for us is fairly low since Bonzi will in all likelihood actually play for Adelman. Bonzi will play the majority of his minutes at the 2 because it gives him an advantage posting up 2s that is somewhat negated when he plays the 3. Bonzi is also a crafty defender that frustrates 2s that think they should be able to blow by him. A possible package including head would be Sura + VSpan + Head for Camby. The salaries work and it gives Denver 4.784M in immediate cap relief and a 3 point shooter they desperately need. Denver wants to get under the luxury tax threshold.
that's fine about him being in his first playoff series. but let's remember, this series went 7 games. if he was into the series, the jitters should have been out at least in the first 2 games or so. not sucking the ENTIRE series. plus, no one even guarded him.
Right now Morey has something like this going: PG James/Alston/Brooks SG McGrady/Wells/Head/Snyder SF Battier/Novak/Reed PF ______/Hayes/Landry C Yao/Mutombo So obviously either Head or Snyder is expendable and Head has way more trade value than Snyder. I would deduct from this that if Morey can land a decent PF with the MLE then Head will stay and Snyder gets packaged along with Sura, Lucas, Spanoulis or whatever, or just players that will eventually be gone or cut or what not. But if Morey cannot land a decent PF then Head will be used in the trade scenario instead because just expiring contracts as above won't be enough to land a good PF through trade. A young talent would also have to be added and Lucas and Snyder don't make the cut but Head does. Reed is useless in a trade and Novak, Hayes, Brooks and so forth are not going to be involved probably as they seem part of the future team. So basically Luther is the one being dangled on the hook.
Reasons why Luther is expendable right now: 1. The guard positions are becoming more crowded- with the additions of Aaron Brooks, Mike James, and Bonzi Wells back on the team, the need for Luther to provide depth isn't needed. 2. The 3-point shooting can be replaced- One thing that I would miss about Luther is his ability to cold-bloodedly hit that 3-pt. shot, but I believe that Mike James and Steve Novak when given minutes can provide the same weapon. 3. We need a power forward- At this point, this team is actively pursuing a big man. And with a "win now" attitude, Luther is the best trade asset to get that quality power forward. 4. Luther is a liability on defense- He is constantly caught in mismatches, being too small to guard big shooting guards and not being quick enough to guard some point guards. 5. Luther is not a great ball handler- With his size, the best postition for him should be at point gaurd. But with this weakness, he becomes a "tweener". Reasons Luther should stay: 1. Fans like him- Over the two years he's been here, Luther has been a class act and as a result has been a fan favorite. 2. Luther doesn't want to leave- It's always good to have players on your team that like where they're playing. 3. He wins games- Many times last season, we saw Luther hit down cluth shots at the end of games. When the game really mattered in the fourth quarter, that was when he scored in bunches. Outside of McGrady, we don't have a player who has that same ability. He was also guy who could hit a big shot in the middle of offensive droughts. 4. He could thrive under Adelman- Luther certainly hasn't reached his full potential on the offensive end. Seeing him from his college games, I can see he was held back under Van Gundy's playing style. Now in a more uptempo game, I think this better fits Luther's strengths. Next year, we could be seeing him being more aggressive, slashing to the basket more, and dunking the ball more (maybe more dunks like the one on Turiaf). In my opinion, the reasons to trade him outweigh the reasons to keep him. A team needs 5 good players on the court to win, which means that getting a good power forward should a priority. And if that means sacrificing Luther, then I'll be willing to deal.
Hes not that good an he is a terrible defender !! He is our best trade asset so trade him !! BYE BYE Luther !!
Reasons why I don't agree: 1. Yes we have depth at the guard spots, but it's not quality depth. 2. If people think that Head sucked it up from 3 in the playoffs, then I shudder to think at how they would describe Novak, and Mike James may be nearing the end of his career. 3. The power forward market seems more in demand than the under-sized, but potentially great 2-guard market. 4. I actually can't disagree about him being a liability on defense, but I don't think that either Bonzi Wells, Kirk Snyder, or McGrady are dynamos on defense either (I can excuse McGrady, because he essentially has been our entire perimeter and playmaking offense. 5. Bobby Jackson wasn't a great playmaker, and neither is Ben Gordon, but both were/are very successful and vital players. I do however agree on your reasoning as to why he should stay here.
can we blame the dude for choaking when both our leaders didnt do such a great job of leading...im for trading Luther too... but for a good player... in a package deal... other than that... id rather take a risk on his 3rd year... then trade him for a journeyman player who will never get better.
he plays basketball for millions of dollars a year. he'll get over it when we trade him. don't get me we wrong, i'll gladly have him back, but he's trade able and we still need some help up front.
I really hope the Rockets give Luther Head a little time under Adelman. I really enjoy having Luther on our team (I even own a Luther Head jersey), and I love to see if he could thrive under Adelman's system.
I'd like to see him staying. Bonzi might be just a one year rental. However, if Head's included in a deal for a pf, I won't cry.
second year player. he put up very good rookie numbers. then improved numbers all round especially 3pt% where he went from outside the top 50 in his rookie year to the no.4 overall this year. if the rockets trade him now it won't be when his stock is high cause he is going to get better next season.
I'm all against to letting Luther away. Let along trade him we should make a long-term contract with him when time comes. I'm sick and tired of watching new players every year. It's not a kid's play, you can't shuffle the roster every time you get bored. He is a smart player. I always thought he could -and will- be the starting PG for Rockets.
Playoffs was not Head's fault. He is a 3 pt specialist who didn't get too many open looks. The Utah defense made good defensive rotations and managed to not leave him open.
