Rockets trade receives LOW grade I just thought that this article was interesting. Andrew Perna claimed the Kyle Lowry trade was actually a downgrade for Houston. His words were I think calling Alston a better shooter and scorer than Lowry is a bit of a head scratcher and misleading myself. Rafer Alston (who left with his head held high in a very classy way…IMO) was not an efficient scorer at all and many times hurt the team by getting his scoring via the volume shooting strategy. Lowry started 21 games for Memphis this year averaging 25 minutes per game, 9 points per game, 421 Field Goal Percentage and 5 assists per game. Better numbers than Rafer Alston was putting up. Lowry is 10 years younger has a very high ceiling IMO. I don’t know who will eventually end up as the starter for the Rockets but for at least one night the Brooks / Lowry combo (25 pts combined and 10 assists combined) out performed the average Brooks / Alston combo (21 pts a game and 8 assists a game). Personally I am a big fan of the trade and have high hopes for the team because I do think they improved both offensively and defensively. Furthermore I happen to believe that Lowry will only improve exponentially by playing with some real talent as well as for a coach that knows something about point guards and offense. So I just wanted to take note of some of the writers that do not believe in the trade and Andrew Perna just happens to be the first that I noted…plus I just think he is wrong in his assessment of the trade. http://www.realgm.com/src_feature_p...ding_the_deal_magic_land_alston_in_three_way/
We gave up the better player. Generally you lose in those kind of trades. I don't think we're saving money either because Cook + Lowry make as much Rafer next season.
It is debatable and I think we got the better player. Ralfer was good at running the offense but he took too many shots especially in clutch situations. I prefer the upside of Kyle who is much younger.
This trade for the Orlando Magic is mainly good for the short term. I really don't think that Andrew Perna is looking at career upsides all that much. In Rafer, there really is no upside as far as his career is concerned while Lowry has a chance to only get better as time wears on given his age. Down the road, when Rafer is in the games for the Magic, it will be quite interesting to see how opposing defenses adjust when he's in the game and how they play the passing lanes for whenever the ball gets in his hands. Rafer could be an offensive liability if the opposing defense plays the passing lanes really well when he has the ball and force him to shoot jumpers.
Lowry is a trade for youth, potentials and future. So, it depends on how Lowry will pan out. Rafer is a veteran. For a team like the Magic that looks for a deep playoffs run right now, its coach will take Rafer over Lowry all the time. Rafer is better for now just for his veteran experience, steadiness and being a better passer.
He isn't a good 3pt shooter, but to say he isn't a good shooter is misleading. He went 2 or 3 last night...(should of been 3 of 4 because he got robbed of a and 1). He's a better scoring than Alston, because he can drive and finish and he gets to the line.
I trust Morey more than these sports writers. Rockets got C's and D's for draft grades for drafting Brooks and Landry, while other teams got A's for guys that ended up as busts.
Realgm is the dumbest site, ever. Try ESPN those guys actually know what they are talking about or NBA.com.
The weight of the evidence says Alston is the better player. At time of the trade, Alston started ahead of Brooks. Lowry was a bench player. After the trade Brooks started ahead of Lowry. Alston, I beleive, started for Orlando. Lowry may,however, end up being the better player when everything is said and done. I still think Lowry's inability to hit the three could hurt us, but I was pleasantly suprised by his ability to draw fouls and defend. My gut feeling is this trade was more about Brooks. I think the Rocket's staff thought it was time for Brooks to start, but didn't want to demote Rafer. So, they trade Alston to Orlando. Alston gets a chance to remain a starter for a playoff team. The Rockets start Brooks. And, as a bonus, the Rockets get a young prospect who they've had their eye on.
To me, this is just the kind of subtle genius of Morey. Pulls head scratching moves that no one really understands that turn out fine. Not saying this trade will necessarily work out, we don't know that yet. But look at the Brooks. Landry. We were ALL puzzled by these moves, but they turned out great. I admit, I'm puzzled by the latest trade too, but I'm hoping it turns out to be one of those Morey moves that proves everyone wrong.
Lowry's stats as a starter are better than Alstons IMO. Lowry only got sent to the bench because Mike Conely was the number 3 player picked in last years draft. A move I dont disagree with but Lowry did not get sent to the bench because Conley suddenly started out performing him. I'm not knocking Alston but I agree with Morey when he says this trade helps the Rockets now.
Normally when you trade a 32-year-old player who's in his 4th year with the team, you can say you know what you're losing. And while we do have a pretty good idea that Rafer is playing at or near his ceiling, the problem with relying on him as your starting PG is that you don't know what you're getting from night to night. He's a streaky shooter who has games when it looks like the hoop is smaller than the ball. So while it might be right to say that Rafer is a better PG than Lowry right NOW, you'd also have to say that Lowry's upside has far more potential than Rafer's already-established upside. I also think that Adelman was not that crazy about the way Rafer ran his offense. Sure, he tried his hardest and did a decent job in setting things up and making sure the ball got where it was supposed to be, but I think Adelman wants a higher-octane offense than Rafer is capable of directing.
Most people dont think intuitively. Getting rid of a guy who takes 11 shots per game and only makes about 3-4 of them means more touches for Yao, Scola, etc
I'm stillllll puzzled by that Battier trade... nope...not proven wrong yet...esp with Tmac playing 10 games a season
