Just wanted to get everyones feel on how our main 6-7 guys are at stock wise at this point in the season. I think in general the young guys have ALL elevated their stock. (with the exception of JT) DA- The big aussie looks like he may end being ok in the NBA. He has been slightly better than what I expected from him. I would really like to see the Rockets post him up more. I know he is more of a shooter, but I like what I have seen from him in the post this year. I am not sure if he is the ideal back up center to Yao. I think we need another big shot blocker on this team. But David could be a backup PF/C. We paid a pretty penny for him, but he looks like that may pay off. Brooks- I don't think Brooks has really gone up or down as far as his value. "He is what we thought he is" :grin: I do think his height cripples certain aspects of his ceiling. But he scores. I think he would be the 4th best player on a championship team. Maybe 5th. He has had some better games passing the ball, but has had some games marred by turnovers. His youth, contract and scoring ability probably give him a bit of worth. Landry- Obviously has jacked his value up quite a bit. Landry has been awesome. I forget he is not that big. He is a great finisher and his jumper is reliable. The offensive flow seems to struggle a bit as he passes out sometimes (compared to other post options) but he is hugely efficient. If Houston ends up dangling for a big fish, Landry (or even Scola) could end up as a solid building block in a package. Chase Budinger has definetly been solid from training camp, to preseason to now. He looks like a great shooter, with above average athleticism. I really think his defense this far has been decent. I would like for Rick Adelman to invest the possesions in letting Chase create a little bit more. He seems like a good ballhander. I think eventually he will figure out a way to "attack" Ariza vs. Artest- Ariza is good for this team, and good for this group of guys. He wants to fit in. As opposed to Rabid Ron Artest. I'm happy with us essentially swapping for Ariza. Mostly the youth factor. Ron will be a good player for a few more years but that is it. I choose Ariza over Ron offensively. I think Ariza is going to "figure out" finishing. He looks like he is improving a little with deeper penetration and his awkward flailing has lessened in its degree of awkwardness. I like thinking about Ariza playing with Yao. I think that would work well. I think he needs a scorer along side of him on the perimeter. His defense though, does irk me from time to time. He gambles a lot. He gets a lot of steals, but he misses often also. Him and Battier as a team on the perimeter have been subpar this season IMO. Scola- Has been solid this year, I probably expected a little more. Teams are really focusing on him and it does slightly expose him. He does far better when teams are having to respect his longer jumper because he has hit a few. He is our best rebounder and he is not terrible in the post defensively. I like the guy a lot but if you say that he has a similar value to Landry and you want to trade one, I would trade Scola. Tmacs trade value- I think it is slightly higher than it was in the summer. Just because he is that much healthier. At this point, I am willing to trade for less than I was in the summer. I would take a 1st round pick that was gonna be mid first round. That is where our pick will also lie and we need the ability to jump up a few spots. Or trade the picks for a player maybe? If the org has decided his future is not here, there is no benefit in him playing. I do think that we have the type of young guys that two or three of them together will end up being an enticing option should anyone decide to cut bait with their stars. I do think a "cash in" on our youth is advisable at some point because we do need to add top end talent.
Of course their stock values have gone up. What did anyone expect? Most of these guys are young players who have shown potential and have been getting their legs under them in the NBA. They've been thrust into a position that gives them every opportunity -- and, in fact, a demand -- to showcase their skills, with no superstars as the focal point of the offense. Coming into the season, these guys were poised to take their game to another level. They had the perfect coach to do it. This really puts the Rockets in a great position as far as trade bait is concerned. But I wouldn't trade Scola or Landry unless the Rockets are getting a dominant power forward out of the deal. As it stands, it's the strongest position on the team. Don't mess with it.
there's no way brooks' stayed the same...he's still not consistent, his averages of 16 and 6 are solid, but not a big leap compared to what he averaged as a starter last year, only 3 pts more and 2 more assists, that's not what most expected considering tracy and yao would be out. He's also almost doubled his TO per game and his FT% dipped almost 10%.
I think Brooks' is where he really should be. He's not the first option but on this Rockets team he's really the only starting playmaker. Lowry is also decent but both aren't first options and cannot consistently create opportunities for the whole team. So I don't think they're value has changed much from last season. Maybe from our start of the season
