I don't think so. I don't think it's going to top last seasons. The Nuggets traded away their C for nothing. It's hard to see them holding down a spot in the playoffs. Same can be said for Golden State - didn't make it last season - and now they're without Baron. This trade just switches the position of a couple of teams at the top of the Western Conference. IE with Posey - NO will now finish infront of the Lakers/Spurs. There won't be as many 50 win teams next season. Don't get me wrong... It will be another incredible season though.
Don't really think it's overpaying. Rockets are paying about the same amount for Battier. I guess this was their big signing hinted upon when they sold their pick to Portland.
Posey has looked better then Battier in the playoffs, but that could have to do with the situations that both of them have been put in.
I think this hurts the development of Julian Wright, That kid could turn into a solid player, this will just eat into his minutes. I think the deal is structured for two long of a period if i was a hornets fan.
yeah but Battier starts, it is still unclear if Posey is going to come off the bench or be a starter at the 2 and push Mo Pete on the bench. WHich some Hornets fans are seriously doubting will happen. If the Hornets are paying 25 to Posey to come off the bench, they are getting robbed... they could have had 2 quality backups for that price.
Paul, (Pargo/FA), James Posey, MoPete Peja, Wright, Butler West, Ely Chandler, Armstrong If they lose Pargo in free agency they could be in a small bind with only minimum contracts to use. Butler for Francis + Head + Novak (via min exception) would fill out their roster better than min salary free agents.
Actually there will be more contenders next year. This year the Clippers were pretty crap, but next year it seems they are trying to contend on paper. They now have Kaman, Thornton, Baron, Camby..which makes them a marginal playoff team. Now the battle for that last playoff spot will be hotter than ever. Portland will be a strong new force, that is really young, but really talented. With Oden, Aldridge, Roy, Bayless, Batum...wow that is one insane lineup waiting to be developed. Trust me...it'll be an even tougher WC next season.
That is the issue. Mo Pete is their biggest weakness and they now have a reliable backup to put in when he isn't playing well enough. More than anything though, Posey will finish games. Paying $25 million for a 31 year-old backup is questionable but Posey is the kind of player the Hornets need. How effective he is the last couple of years of the contract is to be determined.
Mo Pete is not a good starting 2, but neither is Posey. I know he played very well in the finals, but seriously, He would not be a huge upgrade over Mo pete. In fact, I'd say Peterson is a better offensive player. Posey has no ball handling skills, and his career 3 pt shooting percentage is lower than Petersons. Posey is a better defender, but age will catch up with him within the next few years. Bottom line is, the Hornets gave 25 mil for an aging bench player. Risky move, especially when you have needs elsewhere. IMO the Hornets need a player who can come off the bench and handle the ball and create shots for team mates. Right now there only PG is Paul. James and Pargo are both SGs IMO. That puts way too much pressure on Paul and West to make all of the plays. If the organization was just a little more patient, Julian Wright could have develped in to a better, younger, more athletic version of Posey, and they could have used the money they gave him to make Paul's life a little easier. if the hornets can't get past the second round with Paul playing like superman, and a fully healthy squad like was the case last year, then they're not going to be able to get much further if all they are adding is Posey. They were incredibly lucky to not suffer through injuries last year. That likely will not happen againn. Can you imagine if Paul even missed just 10 or so games. I dont think the Hornets would be able to win any of them, and in the western conference, that could mean youre out of the playoffs.
Your are correct to some degree. Posey and Peterson are both sub-par for starting SGs and I think relatively in the same ball park as player. That said I think Posey helps them alot, is a notch or more better in some important respects. Posey is a much better defender than Peterson (better on the boards too). I also think he gets more easy buckets at the rim (help with the running game more). Looking at their effective jump shot last year, they also were basically the same with great setup men around them (53% for Posey and 52% for Peterson). One cannot also discount the needed veteran presence Posey brings--their mental weaknesses and inexperience really caught up with them when they coughed away home court advantage and also in their inability to put away the Spurs (and mind you when the Spurs still had Manu and were a very good team). So I am not sure whether Posey will start over Mo P, or visa versa, but it really doesn't matter. Posey substantially improves their 2/3 rotation with Peja and Peterson (and again be by fair the best defender). And IMO he helps in some of the biggest weaknesses for the Hornets--experience, stability-constency, and perimeter defense. He would have been on the "A" MLE target list for that team. He is probably the single best MLE they could have brought in for immediate impact. Nothing wrong with making Wright have to earn minutes over 3 capable guys (Peja, JP, MP) than just handing him minutes by default. That is like us just handing a regular rotation role to Brooks with no alternative plans if he struggles/doesn't come through. Well, they are exceedingly young and got within a couple of games of home court in the West and probably with more experience (see Posey) would have knocked off a Spurs team playing really well until they met the Hornets. Speaking of "injuries", that is another reason why this move is good. Now if either Peja or Mo P got injured there is much less, if any, slippage. Of course if Paul or West or to a lesser but still vital degree Chandler get's injured they are not the same team. No elite team can sustain injuries to their superstars and stars and perform at the same level. Take out Lebron or Kobe and the same effect happens. But ask Boston how important being able to input JP in there instead of say Tony Allen when Ray Allen went down. It was huge.
so now the truth comes out, he's only after $$$ and 2nd then a winning team whoever that dumbaz was sayin im stupid for thinkin he's never coming to the rockets - there u go, you're a moron if he really didn't care about $$ he'd just help boston repeat
posey and peterson both do different things well, although they are nowhere near the top tier of sg`s of the league, posey and peterson can play with paul well, they will get a lot of open looks. peterson always gets those 3`s and so will posey. plus posey actually plays defense, and will get the difficult cover whild peja gets the easier of the 2. great pick up for the bugs, dont care about him being 31 or whatever, still lots of gas in the tank. if we stay healthy though, both yao and mac especially, we`re still a much better team than them. they can`t handle Yao while we can`t handle Paul.
IMO the 2 biggest weaknesses the Hornets had last season were not experience, depth, defense and shooting(the things Posey will provide them with). To me, the Hornets lacked someone other than Paul to create and run the offense. You can't put that much responsibility on any one player. Paul is great, but I think too much is being put on his shoulders. Another big weakness for the Hornets is inside scoring. Other than West, who is more of a high post scorer, who do they have to score consistantly down low? They will be incredibly dependent on Paul, West, and three point shooting. Sounds to me like the Rockets teams before we got Scola and Landry.
Mo Pete and Posey are similar players but this is still a good move for the Hornets. A pricey move, yes, but anybody that's watched Posey win championships knows his value. He's one of the better role players in the game and can take over games in spurts. He'll step up & knock down big shots whenever relatively untested stars like Paul & David West crumble in crunch time.
