Sure it did. Head is really effective against poor defensive teams who leave a player they shouldn't wide open. We saw what happens in the playoffs, would have been even worse against the better perimeter defensive teams in the league. Cook, even if covered similarly taken out, at least brings a big out of the middle. Battier and Tmac were already at their max minutes as was Rafer. Not a single minute given to Head detracted from minutes to Battier or Tmac. Luke Walton even was more of a squeeze on Cooks minutes than Battier was on Head's, even though that is a slight stretch. Luther only had to compete with JL3 and VS for back-up 3 minutes and the completely unreliable and oft unhealthy Snyder and Wells for back up SG minutes (both whom played less games than VR or Brown--since you brought that up). Meanwhile Cook competed with bench players that included Turiaf and Radmanovic for back-up PF minutes and Bynum and Turiaf for back up center minutes. If you think the compitition was remotely comparable we have to agree to disagree. And again Cook for the last 2 years have been with the best Lakers 5 unit and certainly held his own performance wise with that group. Seems like they underutilized him trying to develop younger players with more upside. I think Head has a tad more upside and maybe a tad more value, but they are pretty close IMO and the Rockets far more need another guy to provide PF and C minutes, positions you normally have to pay a premium on anyway. Swap picks and this deal is a good one absolutely. As for cost and salary, 3.5 mil per year steady for 3 years isn't bad at all for a solid bench big. We would have to pay Head a lot more than that to resign him if he is as valuable as you say he is.
What's cook capable of doing that Novak isn't? No point in having 2 players who do the same thing especially when both of them aren't rebounders and shot blockers which is what we need in the PF position.
I don't think I've ever seen a trade that has gone down just as the rumors stated. Or at least I can't remember any. I don't want to trade luther, I've had high hopes for him every since we drafted him. If we can get better, then so be it. I don't think moving up 6 spots in the draft and attaining cook is better.
If you are talking about sample size, Cook made 160 3pters in his career. Is that not enough to judge his shooting ability? In fact, Cook seems to be a more consistent shooter. He shot .392, .429, .400 the last 3 seasons. Head shot .361, .441, his last 2 seasons. Both careers average around .400. Again, Cook does not play "sparingly." Stop making that assertion after I've shown his PT. He played 146 games averaging 17.5 mpg over the past 2 seasons. He is not an "end of the bench" player. He is an "end of rotation" (about #8) player. Yes, he shot less than Head. But guess what, they happen to have the biggest ballhog on their team, while Houston has 2 unselfish superstars creating shots for the spot up shooters. The only proof you have with the question, "What does Head do better than Cook?" is PT and the records of the two teams, as if playing more on a better team necessarily means a better player. You still haven't given anything substantial that Head can do better. First, you exaggerate Cook's allegedly "sparing" PT. Then you ignore the fact that Head's minutes has to do with the depth of our perimeter. You said Battier was in front of Head. You didn't realize that your point actually go against your argument. We didn't have a backup SF. T-Mac was our backup SF. Given the fact that Head was essentially the only backup SG (Wells didn't exist, and Snyder was injured most of the times), he got to play whenever either Battier or T-Mac rested. And given the fact that Heas was essentially the only backup PG (VSpan in the doghouse and Lucas was not NBA material), Head is pretty much backing up 3 positions because we were so thin at all those positions. You don't see that James is by far a better PG than Head? You don't think with Alston and James, Head will get zero minutes at PG? You don't see Wells is a lot more likely to play more under Adelman? Snyder, Spanoulis, and Lucas were all unproven players. We were excited about their potentials. But nobody knew how they would turn out. Wells and James are proven veterans. I don't like James as a person. But he is not a headcase. He is a better scorer than Head. Wells is a headcase. But he has shown that he was a starter material in the right situations. I don't think Wells is a long term solution. James will probably stick a lot longer. I am all for it if we can package Head to get a good starting PF instead of Cook. But if the only deal we have is the one discussed in this thread, I am fine with it too--provided we swap the pick and can pick up someone good with #19. This is not a big splash trade. I don't know why I spent so much time arguing about two one-dimensional role players.
because one of the one dimensional role players is better than the other. Head is better than cook. Plus, head has shown improvement over the past 2 years. Yes he still has his flaws, but the guy seems dedicated to get better. Cook, on the other hand has been the same player for several years now. Its possible he could get better but his longer track record doesnt show that. Im not totally against trading head, though. he is a good asset but cook/head doesnt do anything for me
Is 4 years not a good enough sample size to determine whether a player is good enough to be a key rotational player on a successful team? The guy has had 4 years to prove his worth to 3 different head coaches and in 4 years none of them have deemed him worthy of being a legitimate backup to their starters. If you want to say 16mpg is a significant amount of playing time. Fine. It’s a significant amount of playing. It is enough playing time for a coach to carefully assess a player’s worth to his team and determine that he’s not worth playing more than 16 minutes a game. 160 3-pointers is what you would expect in a season from a great shooter. It’s not what you would expect after 4 years. I don’t know if I haven’t been clear enough, but Luther Head is a substantially better shooter, especially behind the 3-point line. And he’s capable of playing on the floor without being the complete liability that Brian Cook is while he is on the floor. Players that play few minutes play few minutes for a reason. When the Rockets signed Stromile Swift, everybody was ecstatic (I was one of them). This was a player that averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds in only 20 minutes a game. All he needed was to go to a team that would give him the playing time he couldn’t get playing behind Gasol and he would break out. Houston seemed like the perfect place for him. We had a hole at the 4 spot, plus 2 superstar players that would draw all the attention and get him easy baskets. Swift comes here and his playing time and numbers are almost identical to what they were in Memphis. This assertion that Brian Cook is somehow being held down by the likes of Ronny Turiaf and Vladamir Radmanovic is ludicrous. The only reason Cook gets any playing time at all is because the Lakers have almost no other good 3-point shooters on their team. Furthermore, this assertion that Luther Head was simply GIVEN his minutes rather than EARNING his minutes is also absurd. Jeff Van Gundy does not GIVE minutes to anybody, doesn’t matter how thin at the position he is. If you do not earn your minutes, he would just assume grab a 40 year old veteran guard off the street and give him you’re playing time. Luther Head earned his minutes by shooting the ball extraordinarily well and making few mistake. Show me an instance in which a player has shot the ball as well as Head did last season and did not receive significant playing time (ie. more playing time than Cook got). Shooting is at a premium in the NBA. If you’re a good shooter, you will get a lot of playing time no matter how stacked at a position a team is. If a good shooter does not get significant playing time, that should raise some red flags about that player. Like maybe that player really REALLY sucks in all other aspects of the game. Nobody knows how Wells and James will turn out. They’re completely unpredictable. You don’t think the Rockets and T-Wolves thought last summer when they signed Wells and James, that both players would have excellent seasons for them and that they would finally stick around for a long time? Why will James probably stick a lot longer? You’re whole argument is based on hope. Hope that Brian Cook was somehow being held down and that a change in scenery will turn him into a key role player on a championship caliber team after failing to be one in LA for 4 years. Hope that Bonzi Wells will somehow get his act together after blowing it time and time again. Hope that Mike James will finally stick after jumping from team to team every single season of his career. There’s very little proven evidence that any of that is likely to happen. It’s much more realistic to expect that what those players have been in the past, is what they’ll be in the future. It’s not like we’re dealing with a bunch of rookies here. A Head for Cook trade just REEKS of a knee jerk reaction. The kind of knee jerk reaction that prompted the Rockets to panic and trade James for Alston after Sura injured himself. The Rockets don’t have a power forward and you guys are in panic mode, willing to take on anybody as long as they’re a power forward. All I’m saying is wait and see if there’s a better power forward out there that will be available. There HAS to be one out there better than Cook. If Cook is the best we can get to play at the power forward position this summer, I’d be willing to head into the season with a Hayes/Battier combo at the 4. Certainly couldn’t be any worse than Hayes/Cook. That should allow Wells, Head, and James to all get decent playing time. Wait until the trade deadline and see what power forward you can get for Wells, Head, or James.
Name me one. At first glance, you can say Utah. And I'll say you put Battier on Okur, Yao on Boozer(yikes), and Cook on Kirilenko. Kirilenko is nothing too special on offense. Then you say Phoenix. This might be the only worry of any team. If they keep Jones at SF, you put Battier on Marion and Cook on Jones. Really there's not a single team where they have 3 very dangerous frontcourt players(unless Pistons keep Webber--that's the only imaginable problem). San Antonio? I think Cook could do just fine on Oberto(he's not really one to guard). If Cook's defense is comparable to JHow he can guard the other team's dirty working big man just fine.
Reports have Acie Law IV falling to the Heat at 20. Do you like the trade any better picking #19 with Law on the board?
What does Cook give you that Novak can't give us with the exception of experience? Luther has been a big part of what we have done & are trying to do-for Cook! Novak will outplay cook if given the same oppurtunity to get minutes. I would consider moving luther if we can guarantee law out of the deal.
why does everyone see novak as this end all be all? I mean cook isnt great. but on the rox he can provide a role. He is better on the blks than mostr think, he has a mid range shot and thats one element the rox can use. Who are they giving up? A undersized 2 guard that cant run a offense nor beat people off the dribble. I think it would be a great trade for the rox all the way around.
Cook is a lot better than Novak at this point of their careers. There's really no dispute. If Novak could at least hold his own like Cook, then he would of had a lot more playing time under JVG
Images can be resized ya know ... HTML: <img src="http://www.uk.pg.com/images/charminPack_IL.jpg" width="512" height="512" alt="image" /> <img src="http://www.uk.pg.com/images/charminPack_IL.jpg" width="512" height="512" alt="image" />
