I wish I believed that. I just don't see Paul's sputtering offense as the savior to help us win it all even if he does manage to stay healthy through an entire playoff series. (Highly unlikely). His defense is great, and he is a great ball handler and gets lots of assists, but his offense has declined. Is he the answer to help with that? I think we need a great 3 or shooter to add to this team to replace one of our shaky scoring starters . James is doing all he can, but we need more firepower to replace the bricklayers. They need to slide back to the bench.
True statement. But..........what about the "one" to up our 3 PT shooting and defense from the wing? I'm afraid baby steps on defense isn't enough. Up and down shooting from all around James is just not fair to him, and probably not enough to make a real run for it and win. Paul will be older next year, and the longer we wait, the less we can chill.
Honestly, I would rather improve defense than go for more offense. I still believe that House and Morey should have come to some reasonable compromise. He is a tough SF, despite being roughly in the same ball park as Shumpert. He is no panacea, and is not worth the rest of the MLE, but we lost ground in his absence. He is better than Ennis, if nothing else. Shumpert has played well for the Kings. I welcome his presence, but was it really necessary to go after him? I don't know that. I do feel Iman will bring toughness and improve team chemistry. I think Nik should be traded for a second, and House should act maturely and re-join the Rockets. Ennis has gotten a bit better, but he should be moved for a second rounder too. This could open up room for a buyout player. PS: I never thought that the Rockets could make a move for Ja Green and Temple without including Gordon. That wouldn't have made much of a difference. I hope that EG will regain fitness and good health. He remains a very important piece for us. Capela's presence certainly will make a difference as we make our final charge at the playoffs. Let's go Houston Rockets!
Yes, the shooting needs to improve. But, when the defense improves our offense also benefits with easier transition baskets.
Morey did incredible with the restraints placed on him. He made us better this year and saved Tilman money. Shumpert will be helpful this year and there will be times where we are shocked how good he looks. The problem with this trade is once again we are mortgaging BIG ASSETS (first round picks) without really getting value back. We did it to dump Lin, We did it when we acquired Williams for Brewer and we did it when we traded for CP3 (regardless of your opinions of him, LAC won that trade by turning a sunk asset into a major haul so CP3 could get a 5 year deal anywhere). All of these instances, I was not happy that we nonchalantly added a future first. It's not just that it's a first, it's that Morey seems to place no value on them and is willing to attach them as bonuses. Other teams refuse to include them. Ryan Anderson was just traded without one. We essentially gave up two to dump his contract. I know Melton was a steal in the second and Morey can do it again BUT for every Melton there are 20 Vincent Edwards. This is the most egregious use of dumping a first this team has done. Knight's contract turns into a POSITIVE asset in just 4 months after we get booted from the playoffs. Morey knows Shumpert isn't putting us over the Warriors. He knows that the buyout market isn't' going to push us over the edge. The Warriors are too good this year. They added a player that would be our second best player with the MLE. If we beat the Warriors in the playoffs I would be more shocked than when we lost to the Blazers. We got marginally better this year and threw away a pick to reduce the luxury tax. Tilman made it clear this offseason that he would find a new GM if they were in the tax and not in the WCF. Morey is doing what he has to do to keep his employer happy.
Good insight, Zoltar. I need a re-evaluate my life over the friggin' NBA. Great stuff- and your sarcasm detector is spot on, bruh. You've earned your tokens today. Spend them wisely on some Skee Ball at lunch.
Who cares. We have to listen to their ignorance every day and every thread non-stop. Most of them don’t have a clue what they’re talking about anyway. They will never be happy unless Morey brings in new superstars until we match the warriors talent on paper.
I dated this really weird, but very sexy girl that had one of those in her bedroom. Her family were gypsies, and they were banished from the gypsy community for not grafting enough.
Shumpert is meh. But on a scale of 'good meh' to 'bad meh' he's much closer to 'good meh'. I think he can help us, but I don't think he will bump us up to the next tier of teams. Overall I'm ok with it, probably because my expectations had been set with all rumors indicating we'd lose a 1st to dump BK. Also the rumor of Alec Burks brought me down to reality. (I have no idea why so many people apparently thought we could somehow get Beal.) The Saric rumor yesterday got me excited as I'd like to see what he could do here, but that seemed like a long shot so I'm not crushed.
Why would he not be motivated to win a championship? If the Rockets trade EG it better for somebody damn good, and he would need to shoot just as well as EG, from any distance. The Rockets need the spacing he provides. He's also an underrated defender.
The Rockets have proven they can beat the Warriors. I think this season is the season Harden is going to kick everyone's ass in the playoffs. This is his time. Everyone will follow suit.
