Kind of a loaded question you asked. You ask not only for long term solutions but also short term solutions at the same time. Not how this stuff works.
Unless some team throws stupid money at KJ for his potential only, we have a pretty good chance of retaining him. There is nothing wrong with venting, but creating yet another stupid thread on top of the rest of his MANY stupid threads is a problem. OP is the type of poster who thinks that any stray thought that pops in his head warrants starting a new thread, hence all his threads are bad. There are lots of threads that can contain his poor posts, but when he posts them in a thread, he deserves every ounce of eye rolling ridicule that he gets.
Id say the impact of the GAMBLE of adding a player like McGee who might not even crack the rotation is a risk not worth taking. Id say the impact of a Isiah Thomas ,while he could help the bench unit a bit more, isn't making enough of an impact in that role to sacrifice long term sustainable progress of team building around Harden. Again Thomas is taking shots away from others. I want to know how he's supporting the Rockets cause more than anything. I think he can score, but is he making THIS TEAM better??? as a starter I don't see it. As a 6th man... sure, but is the trade worth it for 10 minutes of useful scoring a night? I dunno. Its a LONG TERM risk as well. Thomas' contract term in length, and the assets it would have taken to get him hurts the Rockets ability to continue team building long term. Personally I think the Rockets are going wherever they are going due to Harden, Dwight, Ariza's defense, D-Mo's secondary offense in the post, improvement on the glass, the variance the bench unit gives in spurts, and how well the outside shooting from 3 goes in the playoffs (Terry, Bev (if healthy), Ariza, Pablo, D-Mo, Smith etc. need to shoot well from 3 in the playoffs). The need for a secondary playmaker is very important, but longterm I think its more important for the regular season to keep Harden fresher and allow him less minutes. He also could use more reliable 3 point shooting to help space. So yeah, there is a need long term, but in the short term its going to be how well Harden is complemented, how well they defend, and if Harden is able to beat the team defense the opposing team throws at him. The Rockets are going where they are going in the playoffs because of James Harden first and foremost.... not because of an addition like Nate Robinson.
Actually I feel the same way about you. I think instead of follow the details of the games, you'd much rather look at per stats or make a lazy assumption based off the "perception" of that particular player. For example, you mention Nate can never be a serious starter. But when Rose got hurt in Chicago, similar to our current situation with Bev, he was VERY good insurance for them (ESPECIALLY in the postseason). For that Chicago STILL loves Nate for the same reasons we love Aaron Brooks. Their similar players. When mentioning declining numbers of a player, it's always important to mention the team they play for. Denver SUCKS and has been going nowhere for awhile. Given our free flowing system, and Nate's ability to create instant offense OFF THE DRIBBLE, you gotta explain to me how Prigioni was a better option again. I'll wait.................. Thomas was available. We had no interest in him. Why? Who knows. But imo he was a better fit than Dragic. BOTH are defensive liablities. So if Dragic's the player we were betting the house on, I'm sure we had a plan to work around that. I'm not sure where your assessment of Thomas came from. He creates off the dribble BETTER than Dragic and he's a better scorer (and cheaper). They are both shoot first pg's. So if the Rockets were so high on Dragic then I'm not sure how you can't see why he couldn't be a fit here. Take shots from others? That's just ridiculous lol. Again, I'm just not sure you have any idea what you're talking about. Yes we would be taking a gamble on Mcgee. But Dorsey sucks. Like really SUCKS. I'd cut his azz just like we cut Garcia. It's a business. Mcgee's a safer risk. He's a 7fter with size and protects the rim. We'll NEED this in the playoffs. You'll probably bring up his time in Philly. But Philly SUCKS. You can't really judge a player playing on a team TRYING TO LOSE. You have to factor in our needs, his physically abilities & the fact he'll most likely be motivated coming here (similiar to Josh Smith). A motivated bigman w/ great size & length, in a reduced role off the bench vs a 6'7 undersized littleman w/ butterfingers who can't finish under the rim against legit bigs. It's not even a comparison. Theres a reason GS, LAC & the Mavs ALL had interest in Mcgee. Joey Dorsey wouldn't even be in ANY of these teams rotation, let alone on the playoff roster. You gotta take a risk either way. The basketball percentages say Mcgee can help this team better han Joey Dorsey
I am afraid the refs will hurt Harden in the playoffs, Dwight will not be the factor he was last year and our pg options are terrible. Yes some people want to start Brew but will strongly impact our bench. Harden wants to play all the minutes he gets, it is not a case of resting him. i did not mention McGee at all, however we gave away3 better pg's than we have now for nothing that will help this year. Our 3pt shooting is not great andwill be better defended in post season
Thank You...you know you're considered a "locker room cancer" when both Cousins and Rudy Gay wanted no part of Thomas on their roster.
lol it's funny how the "WHY THE F*** DIDN'T WE GET MO WILLIAMS" thread got bashed so much (by me included) now looks like a reasonable idea... I would love to have Mo instead of Prigioni right now and we would have given up basically the same assets to get him
Harden has had series where he dominated (vs. Spurs) and series he was shut down due to teams taking him out of the game with a defense put in place to take the ball out of his hands (see finals vs. Miami). Harden doesn't really NEED the calls in order to dominate, but it helps of course. The main thing will be what happens when he's got two or sometimes three guys getting the ball out of his hands, or trying to get him to turn it over? Last year they went to Dwight with some success, but it wasn't enough, and they couldn't get a stop when they needed them. Most of the playoff success this year is going to be relied on making shots to take pressure off of Harden, and how well we defend. I feel a bit worse about the perimeter defense if Terry is playing a ton of minutes, but not much worse about Pablo. Getting those guys to make big threes might be the biggest challenge though. You aren't going to totally stop the likes of a Lillard, Conley, or Parker, but you have to make them play D on the other end, and not just help double Harden. "We gave away 3 better PG's".... not sure what is meant by going to a revisionist history. You say we gave up Lowry, I say yes we gave up Lowry, but the pick we got back was the difference maker to get Harden. We can do that revisionist history dance all day long. Those deals were made before the core of this team was put together. If Morey would have known he'd strike out on Melo, Bosh, and Parsons would screw the Rockets than yeah I think he would have bumped up the offer for Lowry, but I understand why he gambled how he gambled. He lost his bet, and Bosh spurned the Rockets, and didn't want to compete for a title over living in comfort. Something Morey couldn't have predicted. What's done is done.
... I thought we shoulda grabbed IT for what he got traded for.... coulda kept DMo and prob gotten him for Pelicans pick...
I honestly think against premier PGs, we should give Johnson a shot. I think he could be solid defensively.
Wasn't talking Lowery. Do wish he had come here though. I would take Ish, Shevd or Canaan over anything we have now. They would not have cost us any important part of our team and were on our team. None of them had anything do with Bosh, Melo or Parsons.
I thought you were referring to Lowry, Dragic, and Brooks. That argument (Morey gave up 3 stud PG's) all the time. If you think Ish, Shved, and Canaan are difference makers then that's your opinion. I think all were not going to win minutes this year regardless. Canaan should have with his ability to space the floor, but at BatmanJones said, something happened behind the scenes that burnt the bridge with the coaches. He wasn't getting off the bench unless someone put a gun to McHale's head. That's not Morey's fault.
