Rockets showing interest in trading for Ricky Rubio?

A lineup of...
Rubio / Beverley (Jet?)
Harden / Thornton (Jet?)
Ariza / Brewer
Dmo / Smith
Howard / Capela
could compete with any team in the league.

 

If you are playing a video game, sure. This is real life though. Players have their own playing styles. Teams have fits and needs.

 

Of course, apology accepted. Thank you.

I completely agree with your stance on Rubio. Don't we need the opposite of a ball handler that can't shoot... i.e. a spot-up shooter that can defend, seeing as Harden is our defacto "point guard?"

 

I like our team with Harden and Howard - we can go toe to toe with almost any other team with the right supporting cast. But D Mo, Ariza, Brewer are not Draymond Green, Iguodala, Bogut. There's a leap in quality there; GS has an absurdly deep roster. San Antonio as well, depending on what version of Parker and Ginobili show up.

I think we compare favorably with almost any other team.

 

Offensively Smart is similar to DWILL in his prime. And perhaps if Smart can continue his shooting improvement he'll get even closer to being DWILL offensively.

But defensively Smart is on another planet. He's got a junk yard bull dog nasty streak that puts him on a whole nother planet from Dwill. Defensively Smart is a bigger, stronger, more athletic version of Kyle Lowry when Lowry was on his rookie deal.

 

The similarity between D-Will and Marcus Smart is merely biological.

 

Finding another "shooter" who can't handle the ball or create for others isn't going to stop James Harden from committing 13 turnovers in a playoff game.

 

And what exactly are you going to do with a passer who cannot shoot accurately at any shooting range when Harden is NOT turning the ball over left and right, which is the vast majority of the time? Hope he hits one or two of them eventually?

 

A little but I think you are underselling our guys.
Dmo is close to Green
Ill take Ariza over Iggy
Bogut is better than brewer but its not a huge difference.
Beverley is comparable to livingston in talent
Smith is comparable to Barnes in talent

They had better chemistry, health and coaching which made their talent seem far superior. Our roster healthy wasn't that much worse than theirs last year.

 

Only a fool would ask Ricky Rubio to be a scorer. You don't hope for him to be a scorer. You hope for him to spell Harden on the ball-handling duties and create EASIER scoring opportunities for your players. Rubio was top-4 in APG (2013-2014) behind the likes of Chris Paul, Ty Lawson and John Wall (elite talents) so there are ways to incorporate his skills into making life easier for Harden.

 

The season before last when they had Rubio and Love(who was putting up MVP type numbers), the wolves lost more close games than anyone else in the league. The reason, they were play 4 on 5 on offense. We already have a liability on offense in the last few minutes of a game in terms of poor FT shooting. We don't need to put more pressure on Harden with someone that doesn't need to be guarded at all because he can't make a layup.

 

I don't think anyone is asking Rubio to be a "scorer" but just to keep defenses honest by shooting at a higher percentage than what he's shown so far in his career.

Rubio can make Harden's life easier by handling the ball but he can make the ENTIRE team's life easier by having the ability to shoot the ball at a respectable clip.

What he showed last year with his mid-range game, according to the stats, is promising but he had career lows in FG% and 3PT%.

It doesn't matter how elite his passing is if he can't hit 40% of all his shots.

 

I'd rather have Bev starting, at least he can shoot. Have Rubio off the bench as a "playmaker" since he's dead weight with the starters due to the fact that Harden will be handling the ball most of the time and Rubio is worthless off-ball.

 

Let me ask you this again, since you clearly missed it the first time. What are you going to do with Rubio when Harden is handling the ball, which he will be doing most of the time? Are you going to bench him, a player making over $11M a year? Are you going to try and play 4 on 5 on offense since he can't do a damn thing without the ball on offense? Are you going to hope he rises above all odds and doesn't brick? Our core is Harden and Howard. Any player we think about getting HAS to fit in with at least Harden, preferably Harden AND Howard.

 

Reality is on offense, we are 4 vs 5 (Rubi?) on defense, we are 4 vs 5 (Haren?)

Our starting PG should be upgraded version of Bev, covering Harden's D side. And let Harden run the offense, and be ready to shoot that 3 at a high percentage.

We need a proper playmaker in the backup PG so the 2nd unit can run smoothly while Harden sitting.

 

Harden's defense isn't as bad as Rubio's offense, anymore anyways.

 

Looks more like a champion than a dinosaur. Shooting is huge, but being able to guard multiple positions was much bigger for Golden State. People like you really close your mind and focus on one part of the game: shooting. You can effect the game with passing, defense, rebounding, low turnovers, leadership, communication. Shooting is sexy, but it's not everything amigo.

If you stopped thinking everyone is an idiot because they have a different opinion than you and just read a little with an open mind, it might help. Morey is a very smart basketball GM and if he's interested, Rubio is probably good to great depending on how well he's used.

You know what does a great job of creating space? Even better than shooting? Good passing.

You keep worrying about Rubio's poor shooting, but what about the increased efficiency of any player that plays with him?

 

Yes, but he will be if our offense becomes 4 vs. 5, where he will have to spend more energy.

 

Haha I love your optimism and I wish it were the case but I think you're a lot higher on our role players than most. D Mo is an above average forward but Green was near the top of the league in BPM, DBPM, DRPM, RPM, VORP, and WARP. Not close.

 

Rubio as a sixth man would work well for us. Not so sure as a starter.