You think PJ is going to the bench? I thought he would stay in the starting lineup and take the toughest 3 or 4 on the other team defensively and let Melo play accordingly. However, this is going to require James to step up his defensive efforts.
Starting 3 (replacing Ariza) but will also back up 4 and 5. Unless Rockets trade Ryno for a better than already on roster 3D player.
Regarding paying Ariza.....half of me wonders if Morey was having flash backs to when the Rockets got past the Clippers to the WCFs, and then that offseason decided to offer that deal to Corey Brewer. And then it looked bad VERY QUICKLY.
1 month ago, I thought no one wanted Anderson contract. After reporter suggested that we can deal Anderson for 3 players, I feel that we will be improving a lot. Anderson for James Johnson, Wayne Ellington, Justise Winslow 21 million for 24 million Heat save $14 million Why takes so long? Do it right away. Regress 10 games or improve 5 game? Anderson! Anderson! Anderson!
we need more posts like this and less melo threads. this actually might deserve its own thread lol. one thing i want to expand upon from this post: we are only as good as our weakest defender and our rim protection. our weakest defenders from last year's playoff rotation were green/ryno/nene... their minutes will be replaced by melo who's pretty much the same as them. harden is the same. we didn't have luc in the playoffs, so no loss there. the only one is ariza. so of course morey is looking to trade ryno for an ariza replacement. but the debate is always bazemore or johnson. i'd be happy with either but consider this one fact... last year's playoff rotation rim protectors: capela. we were robbed of a championship that we should've won with only 1 rim protector. add a second one so we can have one on the floor at all times, and one that can play alongside capela to stay in the paint when he switches out on a guard... that's actually an upgrade over ariza.
james johnson would be great because he can play with capela so we have on the floor at the same time, and he can play small ball 5 so we always have at least 1 on the court. add joe chee to the rotation just for 6-8 minutes when our small ball lineup can't keep the opponent out of the paint. maybe offer the remaining MLE on lucas nogueira even though the raptors would match in a second. i'm not sure who else would be an option via trade. its a weird situation since our centers should be able to switch onto the perimeter too... and we like to go small so when capela comes out we dont really need another center, but a PF who can block shots and play small ball 5 would be perfect.
It still looks good on paper, but the end product can only be assessed by halftime and ASW. And there may still be trades/signings.
I think winning 60+ games is not as nearly difficult as people here make it out to be. The MDA system works in a season format but it will be put to a hard test in elimination games. Plus older players are not themselves and injuries happen faster in the postseason. Year in year out. And yes, it will not exactly be 65 (unless fate wants it so.) That said, I have absolutely no idea how the Rox looks like with Melo and Ennis. If healthy and fit, CP3 and JH are going to guarantee winning at least 55 games.
even better. he had a crazy high blk rate of 8.2%, with 1.0dws, 6.2dbpm, 0.8vorp, 123Ortg, 98Drtg that's really impressive. granted he played only 8mpg and playing on a great team helps those stats a lot (especially the win shares and the O/D ratings. still, there is enough there that i think he HAS to be worth the vet min, make it NG and give him a shot in camp.
