He is probably a top 5 perimeter defender in my book at least one on one. He shut down Ron pretty hard core in the playoffs. I didn't see anyone all year shut him down like Ariza did. I still don't know if I am wild about this. It would be good if we sign and trade for him but 5 years? I have my doubts about that. I would also be surprised if we had Battier AND Ariza rotating minutes at the 2/3 considering they are not that great offensively but I think our perimeter D would be even better than Shane and Ron last year. I assume we would look to trade Battier for a center if we sign Ariza unless we can get another 2/3 that can score (Wafer). I would hate to lose Battier but I think Ariza may be able to bring as good of defense as Shane can although nobody plays help D like Shane does which would be sorely missed. Hopefully if we do sign him, we find a way to keep Shane and somehow still score enough points to win some games.
I like it. Trevor is 24 and is great defensively. Rockets are retooling and Trevor fits into the Rockets long term plans as Shane isn't getting any younger
Don't see how you can make this work without putting a crimp in your salary cap, unless it's a sign and trade for Artest, but then we're talking about a major contract. A major contract for a role player?
I'm not sure if this was sarcasm, but in case you missed it, Ron Artest is a freaking terrible offensive player, and Ron Artest's basketball skills did a pretty damn good job of shutting down Ron Artest this year.
This is interesting. He is not much of a 3 point shooter, but good overall career FG % of 47 %. He just turned 24, he's 6'8, good athlete, and decent defender. I wish I'd paid more attention to him during our series. All I remember is we kept leaving him open from 3 and he bricked quite a few. But overall he still averaged 10 points on 50 % shooting against us..... If we are indeed rebuilding, I'd much rather pay this type of player the mid level vs Gortat, who seems much more fit to play backup center or spot starter. Gortat would've been a good get with Yao. W/o Yao, I dont want to risk $ 30 mil on a guy who averaged 3 points and 4 rebs. Let the Mavs take that risk.
I agree that this increases the chances of Battier being traded. Ariza is similiarly to Battier defensively, but his offensive game depends more on slashing than sitting on the wing, catching, and shooting. I think he might be more of a Battier replacement than a Ron replacement. Or, if you choose to look at it this way, he could be a replacement for both. But, we already know that Morey is willing to trade Battier, he has a sizeable contract, and is pretty useless on a rebuilding team. So, I have a feeling that if Ariza is brought in, Battier will be shipped out.
If you weren't planning on resigning Artest, how does a sign and trade help the cap? (That was a rhetorical question.)
True, but he'd be a good young piece to have for a rebuilding team. If we could have him for 5 mil...
Really, Ron Artest is a terrible offensive player. I am afraid to ask you what you think about Chuck Hayes, Mark Madsen, and Flyin' Ryan Bowen's offense. What words would you use? Atrocious? Grotesque? Disturbing? Artest is a talented offensive player at times who takes dumb shots and is wildly inconsistent but to say he is terrible is an exaggeration. He would be the third or fourth most talented scorer at the very least on any team in the league which is where he provides the most value (like on Indiana). Unfortunately on ours he felt he needed to be #1 or #2 and he was right at times. Other times, I, like you I am sure, wish he would have trusted our teammates more instead of taking bad shots.
If folks want to retool/rebuild this is a perfect chance. He is young, good athlete, better than average defender and he knows whats it like to win a championship. I would be happy to replace Shane for Ariza
It doesn't which is why this doesn't make sense. Assuming we're talking about big bucks here, which is almost certainly the case.
Ariza!!! Perfect he replaces Artest and can be our lockdown defender for however many years we can sign him....get it done baby!! We have to keep these guys from going to Cleveland....Dallas gets Gortat not a big deal to me as long as its not San Antonio or Cleveland.
