This has definitely been derailed by D&D worthy discussion. I think the discussion should definitely continue, but not in the GARM. As for KJ, I'm excited about what I've seen from him so far this preseason, but we'll see. I remember being present when Kelvin Cato had a triple double (with one of those doubles being blocked shots) in the preseason. I became convinced he was going to be an all-star caliber player. He never came close. And KJ hasn't done anything nearly so impressive yet.
There was already a thread on the topic of KJ's previous comments about the Dallas cop killings. This discussion is important but is not in the context of the player KJ McDaniels and his future success as a Rocket/NBA player. Please take this discussion to D&D.
I don't know if anyone's said this already, but this slightly improved play from KJ makes me far far more willing to include Ariza in a trade if necessary. We won't be competing for a ring at least until next season and Ariza isn't going to be a starter that long. Might as well get something for him, maybe there's a team out there desperate for a vet 3 and D.
I think we're probably a bit biased on this one. Ariza is nowhere near as bad as the board makes him seem. He's still a good defender and a good 3pt shooter, a team focused on winning this season would love to get 25 minutes from him. I can easily see the Sixers, Wolves, Clippers, Pistons, Bulls or Bucks having interest in him. That's not to say they'd give up a prized asset. But probably a younger, lesser player with potential to grow and at least a couple of years left on contract. Kind of like what we did with Beasley/Ennis. Maybe even just a lottery protected future first, who knows. A contender wouldn't be interested in McDaniels at all. Heck, I wouldn't be interested in him if he weren't already on the team. He still needs to develop but we happen to be in a good situation from him - at least a year away from contending seriously with an offensive system that can mask his lack of range and accentuate his athleticism. Our roster is a bit too old for where we want to go, and there is a talent gap. There are several teams whose roster I would swap with right now and that's not a good place to be. You don't have to have the most talent to win it all, but you go to be comfortably in the top 10. We have to take some risks to get there because it's not going to happen by draft or signing a beta like Kevin Durant. I'm just saying, there is no reason for us to have Ariza anymore. If Ariza is not going to be the guy locking down scorers for the next few years, then we give KJ a shot, and if he fails then we need to find someone else anyway. That makes Ariza a useful asset, and we also then give some minutes to Brewer to try to take his trade value from NEGATIVE to ZERO lol before unloading him too.
Seems like MDA is giving him every chance to prove he can contribute, due in no small part to Bev's absence. Unless he can demonstrate any ability to shoot though, he won't play this year. I still haven't seen it. A perimeter player who can't shoot nowadays is worthless. Being unable to shoot even as a big is detrimental, but as a perimeter player it's a death sentence.
As long as he eats into all of Brewer's mintues I'm cool with it. They both are not reliable shooters but at least KJ is probably one of the most athletic players on the team and can play defense.
