If the 16th Pick and Chandler Parsons would be enough to get Paul Pierce out of a Celtics uniform and into a Rockets uniform this offseason, would you make the move? On one hand, it sounds absurd to give up an emerging talent like Parsons for a guy who's got 2 solid years left, maybe 3. On the other, adding Paul Pierce gives us that guy we so desperately need...the clutch, game-winning shot making guy we can inbound the ball to down by 1 with 4.5 seconds left. Now, how do we get Barnes with just the 14th pick to work with (in terms of 2012 Draft picks)? We need to see how the Draft Lottery plays out before we can really get into what teams to target with trade talks, etc.... But for the sake of this conversation and generally speaking, we need to find a team that's in the 6th-9th pick range and is wanting to win now, versus taking the 2-3 years it'd take to build up that way. I'm thinking we find that team and offer: 14th pick Kyle Lowry 2013 1st Round pick ....and that may just be enough to move up 5 or 6 spots and position us to draft Barnes. For all the negative things you can say about Harrison Barnes, who better for him to learn how to play the NBA 3 from than a future Hall of Famer in Paul Pierce? Would a Pierce and Barnes offseason be a win for you?
The only question you really need to ask yourself is how do your pieces stack up to lebron and wade? Harrison Barnes is not even close to being in the same category as any of those guys. Try Marvin Williams. Paul pierce and Harrison Barnes are not gonna get the job done.
By that logic, and that logic alone, I think you're talking about an almost no-win situation. LeBron and Wade are still top five players in the league (with LeBron arguably being #1). What two players are really going to compete with that? Durant and Westbrook are the only ones who come to mind. Dallas beat Miami last year with Dirk and... Kidd? I don't know. Dirk and someone, by that logic. The only two players more scary together would be CP3 and Dwight because they are both defensive masters and can both put up 20 points and they truly compliment each other. So, unless if you have a plan to get CP3 and Dwight on our team, your logic is a harsh logic. So, I think there are plenty more questions to ask than "could these two players together beat these two players together?"
My point is, if your tandem can't beat those two, then you need to look at other options. Your goal should be to build around a core that gives you the best chance at competing for a title. Harrison Barnes and Paul Pierce doesn't even begin to scratch the surface as to what Wade and LeBron are capable of doing.
Every single year there are only 2 or 3 teams that legitimately stand a chance of winning the title. Unfortunately for the Rockets, they don't stand a chance of winning the title for at least the next 3-5 years. Off the top my head, the Heat, Bulls (given Rose comes back healthy), Thunder, and possibly the Clippers are the teams are built to win for the next 3-5 years. A 35 year-old Paul Pierce and Harrison Barnes are not what the Rockets should be aiming for.
Barnes will not be as good as Chandler Parsons so I would not trade Parsons and a draft pick for him and a player aggresively racing past his prime.
I would like it yes, but there's no way it would happen. Even with Pierce, I don't think that would be a "win now" team. We would have to hope that Harrison Barnes becomes what everyone thought he would be before he went to UNC. I'm not sure how likely that is, I like Barnes, but is he gonna be "the guy" for the future? Idk, it's possible but I just dont know...
Why would the Rockets want a 35 year-old player on the downside of his career? 2-3 years ago maybe, but not now.
