There's a lot to be said for putting together the best team you can before the season starts and letting them gel, instead of switching horses midstream. There's also something to be said for developing your players rather than buying players who have already established themselves as stars. Brooks, Budinger, Patterson, Hill, Ariza or Taylor could take it to the next level.
It's logical that Iggy would be available given his contract and the condition of his organization. Those other three, it makes no sense whatsoever to trade them at this point.
Also, besides the fact that trading for Iggy gives you a full season of him AND gives him a chance to gel with this squad, have you ever heard the expression "a bird in hand..."?
The article will touch on these subjects. Not sure about the insurance issue. Because the Rockets are a private entity and not a public company, there is no telling how much they profited over the past two years, from insurance or otherwise. Salaries, however, tend to be more "quasi-public" knowledge, since they are tradeable commodities.
Hill is not improving, he doesnt have good hands, his offensive game is raw, the only thing i like is his height and athleticism but we should trade him now before EVERY other team sees his flaws and thinks he cant improve then he becomes no trade value.
I like this trade. And not because it improves the team (which I think it does). But because every time Iggy touches the ball, I love annoying my friends by saying "EEG-UH-DOLLA" in the voice of an old, surprised black man. 82 games of that sounds like heaven.
I agree with others on here that 'Where there's smoke, there's fire.' But is this the best option for our team? Others have mentioned Granger and Paul. It doesn't seem Granger is being shopped, maybe he becomes available at the deadline. Maybe not. And Paul? Well it seems that any Paul deal would include a dead weight contract as a cost of getting Paul. This would limit the organization in the future, as well as require more of our team core being included in the trade. Which brings us back to Iggy. We don't have to give up any core pieces. We balance out our roster. We get a point forward that will make Brooks better, allowing him to shot more and run the offense less. We get KMartin injury insurance. We get more free-throws and more fouls against the opposing team. And, we get better starting D. Andre could also allow us to win match-up battles in the playoffs, similar to what Türkoğlu did for the Magic in '09. IMO, this would make our team contenders and Les & Morey have been telling us that they will be aggressive and spend money for the right player(s) to bring Houston another Championship. Also, if this trade does happen, it wold be better before training camp than at the deadline. Then Adleman could have a fine oiled machine come March. The Andre Iguodala trade is definitely an 'all in' move that would awaken Championship Aspirations in the Hearts of our Rockets. It would create an anticipation, excitement, even a 'banner belief' for all Rockets, especially the fans.
Agreed. Stefanski would have been better off pulling the trigger on that deal. Both teams win. But he can still make up for it by making the Iggy trade now, but instead of Ariza/Jeffries/Hill, I would push Ariza/Jeffries/Anderson/JT instead. Collins supposedly loves Battier, but Sixers are trying to get younger AND cheaper. Battier's acquisition does nothing for their rebuilding especially when they have a couple of youngsters at the position that need to be showcased. Ariza's youth & contract make more sense. I would throw in a pick before giving up on Hill this early. But if Hill is the trade killer, then I do it. Both Houston and Philly will win in this deal.
Good, I look forward to it. Well, there is information out there about both TMac and Yao's salaries being covered by Insurance.... I uderstand your point, tough to quantify..... To me, it is a MASSIVE factor, if the organization profited because they collected full payments on Yao and Tmac's salaries...they made an enormous amount of money in down years. Which allowed them to be much more aggressive in going after draft picks and into lux tax land..... I think that it is 100% behind the reason they are willing to take the hit, as they have never shown the willingness to do it in any previous year. I think they built a war chest and are using it....playing with House money. But, I could understand you not wanting to touch on that.......I just think it is a big factor.... DD
It's not so much that I DON'T want to touch on it. (In fact, I said basically the same thing you just said in my "Sit Tight and Play the Hand" article.) It's that none of us can truly know for sure the net profit that Les Alexander made off of insurance for Tracy's and Yao's contracts. However, just to make a "counter-point" for the sake of argument: --The insurance payments did not kick in until each player missed 41 games, and I believe that worked as sort of a deductible. So, Les probably still had to pay a portion of their salaries. --Gate receipts were obviously hurt at least a little by the absence of those two star players. While the Rockets essentially had lower expenditures last season, there was also less revenue for Les. (Pun very much intended.) --Les shelled out $8M in cash for the rights--yes, just the RIGHTS--to Jermaine Taylor, Sergio Llull, Chase Budinger and David Andersen. He then spent an additional nearly $14.2M in total salary commitments to Taylor, Budinger and Andersen, with a potentially high payout to be owed to Llull whenever it is decided for him to come to the NBA. It's not like Les Alexander made $50M in profit based off of insurance on Tracy's and Yao's contracts. In the end, after the draft rights and contracts handed out based purely on Les's willingness to spend money, the net gain may not be so great. DD, I think you and I are on the same page that Les is now choosing to put to work any "savings" he may have amassed based on insurance. However, I just think that those savings are not nearly as large as you do. Alexander appears, IMHO, to have clearly "out-spent" those savings this summer and will be paying a hefty luxury tax bill in the process. But I think we can both safely say, "Bravo, Les!"
AB has 1 and 1/2 year of starting and is easily better than half of the leagues PG's as of right now. How many guys do you rate ahead of him?
With the way the j*zz have fallen apart, I do wonder if they would take Brooks+Hill+2012 first rounder for Williams?
DWill CP3 DRose Rondo Westbrook Nash BJennings Collison CBillups those are the ones i'd definitely rate above brooks. some that are debatably better than brooks: TParker Jameer Nelson Stephen Curry John Wall maybe Devin Harris
