Ariza is a good player, and his stats post-trade were as you said pretty good. However let's not forget that most of those shots and rebs he's had this season will be taken by Yao Ming, so I don't think his stats will take off once Yao gets on the court. With Yao, Scola, Brooks and Martin already on the court, there will be less shots to go around and its efficiency that will matter more than volume production, and Lee has Ariza beat in that regard. This trade was a lateral move at worst, IMHO.
Yet we only had him for a year and he never got to play with Yao. Not a great way to read a fit, especially after he turned it on after All-Star break. I was yelling for his head in the first half of the season like everyone else. When he had Martin and looked more comfortable, I could not wait to see him with Yao. If he would have come out clunking again, we could have gotten something done at the deadline for him. The way I see it, there can only be two reasons Morey pulled the trigger on this trade right now: 1. It was purely financial and Les didn't want to drop that extra 10 mil this year. 2. Morey has a big move in mind for that exception that he will get done. Because we know, as Rockets fans, trade exceptions DO expire. I really hope its #2.
LOL aren't you getting a bit too worked up over Ariza? 13 pts, 4 assists and 6 rebs are pretty good but not exactly earth-shattering, especially from someone who will be demoted to the 5th option next season. Yao will get most of the rebs and pts Ariza won't be taking, and I'm not gonna lose sleep over the 4 assists. And as an aside, I think Ariza will produce even more next season with Cp3. His game is built for pass-first guard like CP3.
It was meant as more of a joke, but as I said Scola and Lowry are the first players we have paid since Morey. Don't get too attached to anyone on this roster or we might see you die publically on the boards like when we didn't resign Von.
LOL - I said sign Von for at most around $2 million.....once he got a better deal, I was over him. There is no context of that on the interwebs, some folks don't comprehend very well. No worries, I ain't scared. DD
Ariza was a very tradeable piece. Morey knew that when he signed the guy. I remember there were a quote on Morey that Ariza was one of the top players on the team that other GMs were asking for. Ariza is a good role player. Signing him for the MLE is not a big risk because if he didn't work out, you could always find takers for him. If the locker room rumor was true, then the reason for trading him was obvious. If it wasn't true, then he would still have been a good rotation player for us. But Lee fits better both in skills and in mentality.
i was fuming but after research and remembering Lee STARTED on the 09 Magic finals team, Im excited about it now
There's nothing that anyone can say that will ever convince me that Lee is a better fit on this Rockets team than Ariza, as currently constructed. I really hope this is one of those trades that sets up something. In Morey we trust.
Hated it at first, think it's fine now. But knowing Morey I had expected him to be able to pull this off by dangling Jeffries or something.
It's more that he was scoring efficiently while contributing in every other statistical category. I believe he would have been considered the "fourth option" at the time he was putting up those stats. Though his totals would most likely drop with Yao, his efficiency is likely to go up. I'm not saying those stats are earth shattering for first or second option, but for a role player, yes...I would say those numbers are about the best you could hope for.
Look if we are going to have to rebuild, which we might have to do after this last year with Yao, it is better not to be straddled with Trevor's contract. DD
I was right about this all along. Hated this trade from the beginning. I even think it was not Morey. it was Les.
Not to single you out, but you were extremely vocal in expressing your joy when the Rockets traded Ariza. You thought they would be fine with Battier in the starting lineup. You were wrong. I'm sure you will come up with some revisionist history in which you absolve yourself of being incorrect, but the fact remains that Trevor is a better basketball player than Lee, Battier, or Budinger. Also, his contract was an MLE deal (for a championship role player in his prime), which is easy to move and fair value given what he brings to a team. Moreover, according to those with inside info, Ariza was one of the most sought after Rockets by other teams. If you want to talk about the team being straddled with contracts that may be difficult, the deals given to Lowry and Miller are the ones you need to bring up. Trading away Ariza was strictly a financial move.
Signed, sealed, delivered, the deal is done so let us move on. The Rockets have what they have and we shall see how all they will play the hand that they were given. No need to cry over spilt milk.
I am not one to say: "I told you so!", unlike a certain poster on CF, but I was speechless when they traded Ariza, especially how he performed along side Martin post All-Star break. This team is much weakened defensively without him.
