Any chance the Rockets will trade Lur for some shooter who's available right now? Is anyone available anyway with a 37%+ shooting percenteage?
Guess what...yes. Tyronn Lue career 3-pt %: .385 http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/statistics?statsId=3266
You're a stand up guy to admit this wiz. I too liked the original pick up of Pike, but he turned out to be a non-factor here. I still believe last year was an aberration for him (shooting wise) and he will return to his normal stroke. He will just get to do that for the Bulls. Otherwise, Deke should give us some tough veteran minutes off the bench while keeping the lane closed down while yao is getting a breather. If last year is an indicator, the scoring punch we lose while Yao rests will be offset by the scoring punch MoT brings from the bench. And oh, yeah, we still have Mcgrady.
Using Last year's numbers: Francis, Mobley, Piatkowski, M Jackson, Wilkes, and Griffin attempted 845 3pters, made 294 for a 34.8 percent McGrady, Gaines, Lue, Ward, Sura attempted 1017, made 362, at a percent of 35.6 Removing Jackson, Wilkes, and Griffin moves the ex Rocks up to 35.3 percent.
My two cents about this trade is that it is a no brainer! Pike, Griffin and Wilks had no future on this team. Pike was a HUGE dissapointment with his shooting and thus got in JVG's dog house, Griffin was always injured and Wilks just wasnt good enough. We move those 3 useless players for a player in Mutombo, while older than dirt, still fills a SERIOUS hole on this team which is SHOT BLOCKING and DEFENSE when we take Yao out of the game. With Yao out of the game and forced to go with either Taylor/Howard or Spoon at center this team would have been in SERIOUS trouble in terms of defense. Our team defense isnt going to work if we dont have a shot blocking intimidator back there and while Mutombo is WAY past his prime, moves slowly and is older than dirt, one thing he can do is block shots and anchor the defense. We just need him to play 10-14 mins a night while Yao is out of the game so our defense doesnt fall off the cliff. And I personally believe that Mutombo playing FOR JVG and EWING has a good chance of getting a second wind. Ewing is someone he looks up to and haivng him coach him might really light a fire under Mutombo to play his best. JVG's slow down system is ideally suited for Mutombo so I feel that his productivity will be much better than his play the last few years in NJ/NY where their systems just didn't fit his style of play. This really is a very nice under the rader trade for the Rockets to fill a void on the team that they were missing with trading Cato. And the best part of the Mutombo deal is that his 5M comes off the books after this season so he really is a LOW risk cap move. I dont anticipate any more roster moves by the Rockets after this trade. I think the team we have right now is the team we are going to go to war with this season. Of course the team always will look to upgrade, but all the glaring holes have been filled. Talk about an OVERHAUL! OUT: Francis, Mobley, Cato, Pike, Griffin, Wilks IN: McGrady, Howard, Lue, Gaines, Mutombo, Ward, Sura PG: Ward/Lue SG: McGrady/Sura SF: Jackson/Nachbar PF: Howard/Taylor/Padgett/Spoon C: Yao/Mutombo IR: Gaines That's a pretty nice lineup. I think our second five of Lue, Sura, Nachbar, Taylor and Mutombo is greatly improved from last year and that added depth should really help this team. The PG position still is a bit shakey to say the least however we are not building this team for a run at a championship THIS year. We are just trying to fill holes. And with that in mind, we did a good job.
That's the only part of your post I would disagree with. If you have Yao Ming and T-Mac, arguably the best or second best players in the league in their respective position, you HAVE to have it as your goal to win the championship. There are 30 teams. Only 5 positions. That means only 5 teams at the most could have the best player at any position. 10 teams max could have the best or second best player at a position. We have the best or second best player for 2 out of 5 positions. It has to be our goal to make a run at the championship THIS year.
Are you talking about percentage or makes. Because the former would be great, but I'd loathe to see the latter. T-Mac needs to do what he does best, attack the rim. And even when Yao gets doubled, I'd rather see him cut to basket than hang out at the 3 pt line and shoot jumpers. He's so quick and athletic, with his long strides that it would be almost a waste if he wasn't focusing on throwing it down and drawing fouls every chance he gets. We got guys like JJ, Ward, and Lue that can drain the open 3, and we got guys like Howard and MoT that can hit it from the high post. But we only have one freakishly athletic guy that can throw down a monster flush anytime he doesn't have 3 guys draped all over him.
Even if Mutombo does get hurt its still a good deal. Pike does not play well in a JVG system. His defense was the worst of any Rocket last year. The reason he didn’t play much last year wasn’t so much his shooting, but his defense. Everyone knows that he is a good shooter, and that all he needed was to be left on the floor until he got his shot and confidence back. Unfortunately, his defense was so bad that he was a huge liability. He showed no signs of improvement. It’s funny that the two worst defensive players on the team came from the Clippers. Perhaps Pike had such a high FG% with the Clippers because he never had to play defense before.
yeah i agree, it is in our interest to make a run at the championship this year. Something in me tells me we have a legit chance with the squad we have right now.
Anyone else think the trade will help Chicago have a pretty well-rounded roster next year? Certainly next year the Bulls will have no superstars along with being a little young(though there are a couple of veterans), but defense, rebounding, and mostly good-character guys are plentiful, with Curry and Gordon likely being the leading scorers. I'm guessing their rotation will be somewhat like this: PG - Hinrich, (Wilks, Duhon, Frank Williams, or Pargo) SG - Gordon, Piatkowski SF - Nocioni, Deng PF - Chandler, Othella CT - Curry, Antonio Davis
I think the team as it is presently constructed can win a championship. I just don't see that as a reasonable goal this year. To many new players learning a new system with new teammates. Give them a year or two together and we have a real chance. Beside, San Antonio is going to be hard to get by this year. They have the personel, the experience, new blood, something to prove, and a vacuum looking to be filled.
It's not always about numbers. How about we get some chemistry first? How about we try to get out of the first round first. I mean, we make a TON of changes and yet we are ready to pronounce this team a championship caliber team, a team with goals of going to the finals? I think it is a bit of a stretch to think this team as constructed right now is a championship caliber team. It has some nice potential but we have to earn our stripes first. Let's not get too carried away here. I feel the moves we have made are nice STOP GAP moves and I hope will allow us to get the 2nd round of the playoffs. But I still feel before it is all said and done will need to stengthen the team at PG and PF over the long haul. Please dont misunderstand my post. I am not dogging the team nor am I dogging the team's moves. I like the moves, I just feel these are solid moves, but not the kind of moves you make when you are the precipice of becoming a championship caliber team, something I believe we will be at in a few years and by that team guys like Howard, JJ, Sura will be too old and we will replace them with other players and perhaps will throw around a lot of money for even better players. Let's get out of the first round first. But back to point of my ORIGINAL post.....good move in the trade for trading for Mutombo!
I expect Pike will have a bounce back year and that AG will return to Rox. I believe that Deke will be good for Rox and for Yao -- and that Rox will be good for him and that he'll remain a Rock for two more years.
Another article: http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/bulls.asp Bulls on the verge of trading Mutombo to Rockets By Mike McGraw Daily Herald Sports Writer Posted Sunday, September 05, 2004 About three weeks ago, the Houston Rockets thought they had a deal to acquire veteran center Dikembe Mutombo from the Bulls for shooting guard Eric Piatkowski, point guard Mike Wilks and swingman Adrian Griffin. Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf reportedly turned down the deal, however, concerned that it would add about $2.8 million to the payroll over the next two seasons. Now the same trade is on the verge of becoming official because the Rockets have agreed to include cash to cover Griffin's $870,000 salary this season, according to sources close to the deal. The Bulls would most likely release the 30-year-old Griffin, who played in just 19 games last year because of injuries. This trade would accomplish two of the Bulls' remaining off-season goals - finding a new home for Mutombo, who wasn't excited about playing for the Bulls, and adding a tall shooting guard with experience. Mutombo came to the Bulls from New York along with Othella Harrington, Frank Williams and Cezary Trybanski on Aug. 5 in a money-saving deal that sent Jamal Crawford and Jerome Williams to the Knicks. Mutombo's agent, David Falk, has pressured Bulls general manager John Paxson to trade the 38-year-old Mutombo to a contender. The 6-foot-6 Piatkowski has spent 10 years in the NBA, most with the Los Angeles Clippers. He wasn't a hit in Houston last season, averaging just 14 minutes and 4.1 points per game. For his career, Piatkowski has averaged 8.2 points and shot 43.6 percent from the field. He turns 34 later this month and has two years and $5.75 million left on his contract. The 5-11 Wilks, a 25-year-old Milwaukee native, has appeared in 72 games for Atlanta, Minnesota and Houston over the last two seasons. Once this trade is complete, the Bulls will have 17 players under contract - two more than they're allowed - plus unsigned second-round draft pick Chris Duhon. The Bulls like Duhon, but they've talked about trying to find him a place to play overseas this season. If Scottie Pippen hangs up his sneakers because of a sore left knee, the Bulls likely will release the aging star to open a roster spot while paying his $5.5-million salary. Jannero Pargo's job is tenuous, because he has the only non-guaranteed contract on the roster, and the Bulls will gain an extra backup point guard in Wilks.
The key here is having good role players at the other 3 positions that complement Yao & T-Mac in this case. That may happen this year or next or the year after that. It took the Bulls & Lakers time to do that.
