Not a huge fan of this move if it happens (especially w/out Yao), as I think he and Battier are too alike. We need someone that can create their own shot and/or shoot a high percentage 3. He just doesn't seem to mesh. I suppose he still has room to grow, though.
Yes, Ariza is a better player than Gortat, next step is to find a backup center through a trade. We still have many trade assets.
It's actually not that bad when you look at the splits. April and November truly brought his averages down. If you ask me, I think he can stick around 35% for the season. He has proven that he has put a lot of work into that shot.
I'd love for Ariza to get a chance to learn from Shane, just like some of our other players have. He could be our lock-down guy for the next 6-7 years.
Million dollar question. My gut tells me he can easily revert back to the NY/ORL scrubbish Ariza but I'd like to believe he's the real deal w/o PJ and Kobe. I don't think anybody knows for sure.
Trade Battier and Brooks to Minnesota for Rubio's rights and Brian Cardinal (cap fodder), then let him play in Eurore for a couple of years and not hurt our 2010 cap room. Wait, we already tried that. Oh well, maybe Minnesota will reconsider now that Rubio says he will stay in Europe for two more years.
Kobe had a training plan for him last summer, and he followed it like a bible. (That's what he said anyways.) Trev. is a hardworker and will be great for the Rockets. =)
why would Ariza sign with us when we aren't offering him any more money than the Lakers are offering?
I think people undervalue of a Shane Battier, he can be a really key piece for anyone who is looking to contend against an LA. I'm sure most GM's will agree that Battier is still the best thing to a good defender against Kobe. And if we end up signing Ariza, and seeing that we're not contending with LA in the near future (1 to 2 years), trading Battier could be ideal. But he could net us someone a LOT better than a Gortat.
Hopefully we get Ariza and let Artest go. As for getting another big, I think everyone needs to look at the Rockets summer league roster and the 3 young big guys we have on there. No wonder we didnt go hard after Gortat we have 3 potential young Camby-like players on our summer league team. Each of these guys is a beast on the boards and defense...excited to see which one will stick as either starter or back up to someone we acquire.
I like Ariza, He would be a great role player and we are not any worse off. Good job if this goes down. Then we find a big man.
I wonder if the Rockets feel that getting a quality center is important. With Yao now most likely coming back the second half of the season, maybe the Rockets plan to primarily play small ball for the first half of the season. We won two games against the Lakers with Chuck Hayes as our center, and maybe Dorsey is starting to make progress. Having 6'9" centers and below seem like a bad idea, but the more i think about it the more i think it might work. The way I see it, Chuck Hayes has no problem playing against today's NBA bigs on defense, which he showed in the Lakers series, and hopefully Dorsey won't have much trouble either considering that he's supposed to be a shot-blocker and great rebounder. The only problem is on offense... Hayes' and Dorsey's virtually have no low-post game. But we can have Scola to compensate for their weakness on offense. I know people might disagree, but I think with the roster we have now, we can at least stay competitive. With our defense, team chemistry, and high level of competitiveness we're still better than most NBA teams. Realistically, we can at least stay at .500 for the first half of the season, and then hope for Yao (and maybe Tracy) to help us in our playoff push. And if we still have Artest and sign Ariza, we can still be competitive in the playoffs as well. We're probably not championship-caliber by the way things look now, but I still have high hopes for this team.
I know Morey is just doing his job but why does he bother. He goes to Rashard Lewis house 2 seasons ago and and knows he can only offer him the MLE (Rashard wants a 10M plus deal), offers less than the MLE to Gortat (Orlando can match because he's a restricted FA) and offers the MLE to Ariza when LA already offered that to him. People he ain't coming, if Ariza doesn't get a better deal from someone else he stays in LA and defends the title.
Your gut is correct. Ariza cannot shoot any better than he did in the playoffs. He will revert back to form once he signs long-term. The difference is he will have big expectations on his shoulders for the first time in his career.
I agree that you don't overpay for need. I just don't think the MLE is overpaying for a quality big. They are hard to acquire. But Morey is the man!! I think Ariza would be extremely stupid to leave LA for Houston if we can't pay him more. I know our taxes and cost of living are less, but they just won a title and can again...and isn't he from Cali?
Wow it's crazy how smart Morey is, while everyone is going crazy in the NBA free agent market and overpaying for guys he is getting similar unproven talents for much much cheaper either undrafted or from the d-league.
