If this deal was proposed to Morey, i'm pretty sure he'd be interested but would rather wait for the sixers to struggle and pile up the losses then maybe they'd be desperate enough to throw in Speights in the deal. :grin:
Like it or not, the Heat have changed the thinking a bit. You need extremely talented wing defenders to beat them. (As well as the Lakers/Celtics) Looking at the competitive teams, the Rockets have an advantage over everyone at Center, the Lakers and Heat at PG, and nobody out there is going to kill this team from the 4. If you want to think about winning, you do what you need to do to maintain those advantages while narrowing the gap on the wings... and the best way to do that is through defensive waves and lots of ball movement on offense. Iggy would help the Rockets narrow the gap and with Battier available would be able to devote more energy to defense or play with another strong wing defender at the same time. So, I say go for it as long as we keep Battier... in this climate you need at least two elite wing defenders. Iggy is stronger than Ariza and any upgrade you can make that brings you a stronger wing defender (and even improves your offense) without sacrificing advantages at the 1 and 5 (not to mention still maintaining roster flexibility to make a killer trade) are no-brainers.
I don't think you can wait, there are just too many players on the Rockets right now that deserve minutes. We are overloaded, we need to move some pieces BEFORE training camp if possible to give this team the best chance of success. DD
Very good post, plus you're basically picking the guy up for 2 players that play the same position. I think he would also benefit from not playing as minutes as he's had to in Philly and he's never had the talent he'd be surrounded by here. Also Smith and Hill are throw ins, I don't see the infatuation with Hill from some of the guys here, he's done nothing to deserve it, he's not going to be a 5, backup or not and Patterson will most likely keep him on the bench in the long run. That also puts 5 guys in the starting lineup that can put the ball in the hole, 2 guys who can take their man off the dribble (Iggy and Brooks), 2 who can score down low (Yao and Scola) and 2 who would be deadly from an open 3 (Brooks and Martin). That's a pretty dynamic and versatile lineup in anyone's book. I also like the idea of getting Hawes instead of Smith even if it means giving up another minor asset. That would give a younger better rebounder than Miller to backup Yao. Although I would still pursue Miller for a minimum salary for vet experience and he'd be servicable if Yao did go down again.
That trade would be really intriguing... basically you`d have a starting five of borderline all-stars (Brooks, Martin, Igudala, Scola and Yao) and with Lowry and Budinger and Battier of the bench a real nice supporting cast with players, that could be starting on other teams. Big men of the bench would still be a problem - you`d have to see how Pattinson works out. Hayes is servicable, and if you sign Miller you`d be ok probably. But IF Yao can stay healthy and be a 20/8-10 player again, this team would actually scream Finals! Without Yao that team would actually kinda look like the Pistons did a couple of seasons back... a very well rounded teams without the really big stars, but a team that can win it all if all players work perfectly together. On the other hand, you`d take on a really big contract (probably a little overpaid) and give up a promising young big. We´d go from a team with great value contracts (Landry, Scola, Lowry, Brooks and Budinger - I think all of them together made under 10 million last year), to a team in which most players get paid to their market value... and if some of those guys decline you will sit on their contract. But you know what? That trade would be exciting, and after last season I really could use as much excitement as possible, so I´d be all for it!
I glanced over that RealGM thread talking about this proposal. Other than the 76er homers that want Rockets picks to be included it appears that Philly fans would be receptive to this deal. They seem to recognize that Ariza is a better "fit" with Holliday/Turner handling the ball. They are mixed on Hill. But that Philly "insider" said that the 76ers are looking to reduce costs and like the idea of expiring contracts to make moves. They get that in this deal, jeffries being the expiring. And it sounds like they like what Ariza can bring to the table defensively. It sounds like right now Philly is doing their due diligence with Iggy, seeing what offers they can get for him around the league. And it sounds like they are more motivated to move Thaddeus or Kopono (6.6 expiring). Of course, if they make the Iggy trade, that gives them a cheaper replacement in Ariza, and then they can couple Jeffiries expiring with Kopono's for another move down the road. Bottom line, I think the league looks at Iggy's long contract as a negative so that is really driving down the asset return they can expect. And perhaps an Ariza/Hill+Expiring is about the best they can do. Again, as I said before, I am "all in" with this trade.
I'm about as torn as you could possibly get on this idea. It's an excellent trade from an asset perspective and most importantly it adds the playmaking wing that this team has sorely lacked ever since McGrady's big nosedive. The other part of me thinks we're taking on WAY too much salary in this deal. We absorbed Martin's contract last year, just gave extensions to Scola/Lowry, with Yao due for an extension soon and now we're adding Iguodala's contract on top of that? That's a lot of spending for a move that doesn't clearly put us over the top.
For those concerned that he wouldn't be effective without the ball. Well he played with Iverson, one of the most ballhogging player in nba history and he was still effective. He's very versatile.
Iggy-Martin SF/SG combo will be good....Ariza/Martin duo is too skinny physically...i want that trade.
We don't have anybody else in the starting five who needs to dominate the ball anyway. Iggy is a good passer and I don't mind a lot of plays running through him. He would get a lot of assists with our supporting cast.
I disagree. A crowded bench is good motivation to work your ass off during the Summer and come to training camp ready to earn minutes.
Man the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Keep battier expiring for a bigger trade, like brook+battier(expiring)+both 2011 and 2012 picks+filler for paul+filler. paul/lowry Martin/taylor Iggy/C-bud Scola/Pat Yao/Hayes/Smith. Damn that line makes me want to drool.
Why does everyone keep on saying his a play making wing. Last time I checked Iggy struggle creating play's off the dribble for himself and others. Sure he looks great in highlight reels, but come on people. The way people are taking about him, making seem like this guy has great play making skills, while the truth is he struggles to create off the dribble due to his lack of ball handling ability. Now as far as the trade, I really don't care about losing Ariza. But Jordan Hill, is still our only athletic young big over 6'10 that we have! To give him up is something I'm not willing to do just yet. If 'Da_Spark' is right and this deal was brought up to Morey by Philly than the best move would be to wait until the trade deadline(when philly will more desperate to unload Iggy's over bloated contract). Philly will surely continue its struggles this up-coming season meaning Iggy will still be available come the trade deadline. Where we would have to give up less assets in order to obtain a disgruntled player in a bad situation in Philly..
Don't want another situation like last year... if we get Iggy I'd rather do it before the season starts so he has time to train with the team and get used to the system. After we traded for Martin it took a lot of time for the new rotations to gel, which was the real reason we slumped at that point in the season, not because we lost Lowry.
So, what do you tell Chuck Hayes, or Shane Battier or Trevor Ariza when they are playing so few minutes? Or how do you keep Jeffries in tune and on the radar of other teams? I like earning minutes, but sometimes, there are just too many good players and not enough minutes. DD
I agree, but the longer you wait ... the more teams that will be interested in trading for Iggy. The Mavs, Spurs, and other 'contenders' will consider a young, potentional wing like Iggy ... and maybe they could give Philly a more attractive package than the Rockets are willing to offer.
