This is very simple for me and the Rockets. Courtney Lee can hit a wide open jump shot in his sleep and Ariza cannot even make one when he is awake! Enough said!
Someone over at realgm called Les cheap. Was that you DaDa? On a side note, there are some hilarious Morey/Darth Vader sigs over there.
The move is as much about shedding the contract and giving Chase and Battier more minutes. The "he has a ring" argument is ultimately useless. Adam Morrison has two rings- is he better than any other bench player in the NBA? Ariza is a role player while Chase and Lee still have upside to be explored.
Its not that i dont like it because of Courtney Lee himself. Well kind of that too. Its that he isnt going to start and he is behind Martin. So even if your argument is he is better than Ariza or not? What does it matter to have traded for him to be behind Martin who will play more than 30 minutes of every games while Courtney Lee is definately limited on minutes anyways? You take away Lowrys minutes at guard and Budingers so you basically added depth to our bench.
Oh oh, Da Da, what if Ariza was traded so the Rockets could showcase Bud before the trade deadline? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Kyi0WNg40
I love the fact that right now the poll reflects about a third for, a third indifferent and a third against until you add in the X-factor, the final option, "I like the trade because In Morey I Trust," which pushes it up to a +7% approval for the trade. I voted for the first option because it's the main reason I like the trade. I think we will be better in the following ways: 1. It gives Budinger playing time that he wouldn't have had with Ariza here (in much the same way losing Alston was partly about investing in Aaron). 2. Ariza just didn't fit in here. If we're going to make a run with a healthy Yao (fingers crossed) we need higher percentage shooters around him. Lee is one. 3. It gives us great flexibility in making future moves and gets us out from under one of Morey's only bad contracts (Ariza was way overpaid for what he provided this team and for too many years). But even if none of those reasons existed, even if I thought it made us a worse team, I would have known based solely on the fact that Morey pulled the trigger that I was wrong. Just like I was wrong about the Brooks pick, just like I was wrong about the Alston trade. I got tired of Morey being right and me being wrong. From now on, I'm trusting all his moves until proven otherwise. But this trade's a good one for so many reasons that approving it is a no-brainer.
Kyle's reaction to the trade: [rquoter]it's a biz but when u lose a great friend it hits u a lil.[/rquoter]
I saw another note that Courtney Lee held his opponent to 15 PER. That's top notch defense. Offensively, Lee is already better (higher PPM, better %, higher PER), and Lee has much more upside compared to Ariza. So, solid trade!!!
Funny how you fail to include the other stats and only those that purposely make him look worse. Here is the real picture: Courtney Lee 12.5 PPG 43.6% FG 33.8% 3PT 86.9% FT 3.5 RPG 1.7 APG 1.3 SPG 0.3 BPG 1.07 TO 33.5 MPG $1.23 Million Trevor Ariza 14.9 PPG 39.4% FG 33.4% 3PT 64.9% FT 5.6 RPG 3.8 APG 1.8 SPG 0.6 BPG 2.2 TO 36.5 MPG $5.85 Million This means that Ariza is a marginally player on the defensive end and a much worse shooter, especially from the charity stripe where he should be canning them for at least 70% for free points. Now, if you take a look deeper beyond the basic stat line, you will see that last year with a dominant paint presence in Dwight Howard, Lee shot 40% from downtown on 203 attempts. Ariza has never sniffed remotely close to 40% his entire career in his 6 years of playing. The conclusion is that Ariza is a marginally better player stat wise, a much worse shooter from the charity stripe, a worse shooter historically from the perimeter, all for almost 5 times the pay grade. All factors considered, Ariza is not a better player.
Marginally (better) = 19% more points, 60% more rebounds, 123% more assists, 38.5% more steals, 100% more blocks. much worse shooter = 3.8% less shooting percentage, 22% less FT%. The words.
I like this trade. I see it as getting paid $10 million dollars to trade a Toyota Carola for a Honda Accord.
One of the main reasons this trade is so cool is that we can finally have a TRUE Defensive veteran STARTING at the SF for us. Adelman had a promise to Ariza, that he would be a starter, and I feel that he didn't always want to hold that promise. With Ariza gone, Battier can start again and bring that D. Thank god.
Hopefully for every friend lost there's a friend gained. Ariza didn't die, they can still be 'friends'. Besides, I'm sure Martin is ecstatic to have Miller and Lee on the team.
Honda, Toyota, Hitachi, Sony, Samurai, they all make the same cars anyway. Good on gas but no defense. :grin:
I came down on the "bad trade" side, despite my faith in Morey. I agree with ESPN that this is basically a salary dump, which doesn't give me a lot of faith that Rockets Management has much faith in this team going far in the playoffs. If, however, this trade provides salary flexibility for another big trade, then I'm for it. But right now, Ariza for Lee is a downgrade. Redao laid out the statistical superiority of Ariza to Lee, and this without going to Ariza's vastly improved splits when Martin joined the Rockets. Go to basketball reference and compile Ariza's stats playing with Martin, and you'll find a player only a hair behind Igoudala. (Surprised me too.) I'm also not seeing the great talent that Courtney Lee is supposed to be. Adjusted plus minus is not kind for Lee, either on the Nets or Magic. Looking at this through Red Rowdy-colored glasses, the Rockets have exchanged a starting 3 for a backup 2. I don't see that as making the team better. Look, Ariza was bad the first half of the season. He's not "the guy," and he doesn't perform well when he was forced to be the guy. As a complementary piece, he's great. And I disagree with those of you who think that Battier is still a 40 minute NBA quality 3. I like Battier more than just about anybody. I loved the Rudy Gay trade. But Battier is a year older, not better, and he's slow, and he is not hitting his bread n' butter corner 3 like he used to. Finally, New Orleans getting rid of Collison means that everyone---including the Rockets---can really kiss their chances of getting Chris Paul goodbye. Of course, New Orleans is dumb enough to get rid of him anyway... Who's left for the Rockets to try and target for a massive upgrade? Carmelo? Iggy? If the Ariza trade helps the Rockets later land one of them, then I'll be pleased. But right now, it looks a bit like a white flag. We'll see. Maybe Lee will be the second coming of Landry or Brooks?
I heard Courtney Lee and Kevin Martin are gay lovers. J/k, but apparently they train together in the offseason so guess that may translate into chemistry for the team.
I voted for indifferent, doesn't really have an impact. We did lose our most atheletic player though. (Maybe except for J. Taylor)
