Exactly. Also, we know Harden needs the ball- I think a floor general like Rondo would be great, but some players are taken out of their game when the go from dominating the ball to playing off of it. Depending on which PF we pick up, Rondo may be in or out of the equation.
Dwight is not a playmaker. He's a finisher who needs a few post up bones thrown his way. Playing off the ball is not deferring. It's finding a way to get easier opportunities.
You only listed pg's. You have to consider the entire backcourt: Tony Parker/Danny Green Russell Westbrook/Thabo Sefalosha Patrick Beverley/James Harden Chris Paul/JJ Reddick Damien Lillard/Wes Matthews Stephen Curry/Klay Thompson Do you notice how one guard is a playmaker, and the other guard is a 3/D player? Dragic is a significantly better fit than Rondo, but if we don't address our gaping hole at PF, we won't win anything.
When we give the ball to Dwight and run the offense through him, that's him being a playmaker. Do you not remember game 2 of the playoffs? If you play off the ball like Ray Allen and Kyle Korver, that's not deferring. But if you let other people create open shots for you (like Chalmer, Beverley, Fisher), that's deferring. I don't think it's in Harden's nature to play like Allen/Korver.
How do you define "playmaker"? Sure, Dwight's supposed to kick it back out to shooters and they're supposed to hit shots. But a player who never averaged more than 2 assists per game (even with Morey's convoluted system of counting "passes that lead to passes that lead to shots") isn't a "playmaker". I don't know how badly we need a better PG over a better PF but it would be nice to have another player so the other team can't just key on Harden. Maybe even have three reliable ballhandlers (hence: good-bye, Jeremy) on the floor at times, with James H. at the 3. Just flat wrong. It's one thing to play a guy too many minutes because you have no system or plan to develop or involve other players; it's another where the system is basically, "Run, run run". We all see it: McHale on the sideline giving his one coaching nugget: "James! Push. Push!" I don't care if he is 24 years old, Harden has little left in the tank at the end of the season. I will say this: he'd have more gas for the games if he took his career more seriously than the strip clubs. But still, he could stand to keep it at 35 mpg. EDIT: I'd agree with you more if Dwight had Marc Gasol / Joakim Noah-like passing abilities. Hell, even Chuck Hayes passing abiliity. Alas, he's not on that level, it isn't a strength.
Ok my man its your opinion and I respect it. PF IMO is least of their concerns at the moment and we all know its impossible to have the perfect team. Rondo makes both Harden, Howard, Jones and Ariza much better than say a David West IMHO.
The cool thing about if the Rockets pick up Rondo is that we could finally determine between the finalists Ish Smith and Rajon Rondo who is the absolute worst shooting PG in the NBA!
For the sake of argument, let's say you're right. Harden is our elite.....and ONLY playmaker. Look at the Spurs. When they were at their best, they had 3 playmakers on the floor (Parker, Ginobili, and Diaw). Millsap is not a playmaker.....he's an elite role player. If we expend our assets acquiring Millsap, the entire burden of our offense would continue to rest on Harden. In essence, our argument comes down to this: You want Beverley / Canaan Harden / Daniels Ariza Millsap / DMo Howard / Dorsey I want Dragic / Beverley Harden / Daniels Ariza Ilyasova or McRoberts or Bass / DMo Howard / Dorsey
ok I am sure that Morey will not give out that NO pick or major assets unless he gets a top tier PF. I think he will go with this line up unless he can get that PF or get a real good role player with a team friendly contract. He will not forego the flexibility he has right now until he can lock the cap down with a playsr that gets us a chance at a finals appearance. Yes Harden is a high usage player that is also one of the best ball handlers in the world. This talk of finding that high usage ball handling PG is ridiculous and a waste of time. We need PG's that can play as a SG often and has high energy level. I mean does anyone really want to take the ball out of Hardens hands often? No matter what PG we bring in Harden will be handling the ball often. Any we bring in has to work well with Harden and Howard.
Remember the guy who was checking Harden in playoffs named Wesley Mathews, so your saying if the ball ('Sticks') in Hardens hands like the Portland series its a good thing?
Our system isn't anywhere close to "run, run run." We look to run if there's a fast break opportunity, but we're perfectly fine running a half-court offense. Nash's Suns were a "run, run, run" team, and they weren't fatigued in the playoffs. If that were true, his performance would've been noticeably poorer at the end of the season, not just the playoffs. Is it your assertion that in the last few weeks of the season, he played noticeably worse than in the beginning of the season? Absolutely wrong. In NBA history, very few all-star centers have had great passing skills, but they've still been considered playmakers.
I never said Harden was our only playmaker. In fact, I've said multiple times that Dwight Howard is also a playmaker.
Did you watch the playoffs last year? Our PF's were so ineffective that Omer Asik eventually took the lion's share of the minutes. Here's the game by game mpg for Jones and Asik for the Portland series Game 1: Jones (36), Asik (12) Game 2: Jones (26), Asik (24) Game 3: Jones (13), Asik (27) Game 4: Jones (22), Asik (33) Game 5: Jones (22), Asik (33) Game 6: Jones (18), Asik (32) Yeah, PF is obviously the least of our concerns...
Guys like Olajuwon, Robinson, Shaq, Kareem, David Robinson, and even Duncan had twice the assists and more than Dwight. They were all way better passers.
APG is a poor indicator of passing ability. Arvydas Sabonis averaged 2 apg for his career. Is it your contention that he wasn't a good passer? Good passes don't always immediately lead to open looks. The open look comes 2-3 passes later. When Dwight gets doubled, he passes out of the double team. As the defense rotates, the ball gets passed around the perimeter. Eventually, the defense won't be able to rotate any further, and someone will get an open shot.
