What your saying my friend is that there is Moves to make Houston a contender or that they are already a contender. Your delusional. You still have Yao's contract status in the air ATM and he is 30 years old.
What makes you think Yao doesen't have much left in the tank? Yao should have plenty left in the tank. His skills don't require a lot of athleticism (ex.Duncan)to be successful. His presence alone can be beneficial. If anything Yao should be well rested and ready for next season. Barring any setbacks, Yao can still be efficient on both ends of the court. As for injuries, Big Z returned from his fifth surgery after 17 games of the 2001-02 season, and has not missed any games because of foot problems since. Big Z is still chugging along at 34. Yao at 29 should have plenty left the tank for a championship run.
I would do Brooks + 2010 1st for Rubio in a heart beat. If we're talking about special talent, look further than Ricky. He may not be an explosive scorer, but he's a tall, long, SMART point guard with unbelievable court vision (parallel to Nash's). Rubio may not fit on this current Rockets squad since we're lacking legitimate scoring threats, but he's a guy that you assemble a team around in the future. And to the guy that said gave Tony Parker as an example of a small PG/SG that was a legitimate scoring option on a championship team, he had the luxury of playing with a top 10 player all time and an unbelievable playmaker in Ginobili. Plus, Parker can finish around the rim better than anyone in the league on top of having a deadly 18 footer.
You need to relax, kiddo. There are moves that can be made to put Houston in contention next season when Yao returns. Brooks/Yao/Landry with another addition such as Caron Butler can be quite formidable. The Rockets are in no position to begin rebuilding, which is essentially what your trade proposal is. Everything the Rockets do should be focused on success in 2010-2011. Trading Brooks/Landry/Ariza/first rounder for Rubio, Minnesota's higher pick, and trash is not exactly prepping us for next season.
No, AB is not the reason. I think we'd be losing without AB, but that thing can be said to many players, for example Landry/Lowry. Overall, bench is the reason we are winning. All starters have a negative +/- for the season, which means they are losing against other teams starters. All regular bench players have a positive +/-, which means they covered starters ass. I'm not saying that's AB's fault, 40 mill short in starting lineup is the real reason. But he shouldn't take too much credit for team's performance either.
LOL. If you build a team around AB, just say byebye to Championship. AB can be an important piece to a championship team, but build around him is just beyound stupid. Sure AB can score a lot, but that is his only strength, and that strength is not even at star level. You basiclly can find a better/equal scoerer on almost every NBA team, and many of them have more dimensions in their games than AB. Current Rox starting lineup needs AB's scoring, that's true. But that doesn't mean he's that better than Lowry. If you compare them: AB is better at shooting, scoring, and .... that's pretty much it. Lowry is better at controling the tempo,passing, taking care of the ball, rebounding, defense, hustle, drawing fouls. It's hard to compare impact because they play with different unit and against different unit, but I can't just give that to AB based on Lowry's +6.6 per 48 minutes vs. AB's -1.9 per 48 minutes. I lean towards Lowry in that department.
Thanks, I think this merits another reply. I'm comfortable paying a combined $5 mil for our 2 pgs <i>right now.</i> As I stated Brooks is not due for a raise til 2012 so why lose brain cells thinking about how much cap he'll eat up yet? To me his value right now, while he's so cheap and so efficient, is at an all time high. I'm sure next year, because he'll be in his contract year, Brooks's value <i>will </i> inevitably go down, as while he will be restricted, he'll be due a big pay day (either from us or from a trading team). As such, our bigger priorities of concern currently are Scola (FA to be), Battier (cause he's eating up much valued cap space next year), and Lowry (I left TMAC out, he's a given). Brooks I'd just leave alone and enjoy his development unless someone offers a 'blow us away' type of a trade.
If Rockets have better finishers, then it's time to start Lowry. There is only 1 basketball, 4 scoerers +1 all around PG is much better than 5 scorers without much defense. AB needs to start right now because we have fine defensive players but not enough scorers in starting lineup. That is also the reason Ariza has to play a bigger offensive role than he is capable of. But that's not the formula for Champiohship. When Lowry can start, Arza won't start offense often, yet Rockets still have enough firepower, that team will be a well balanced Championship contender.
You've stated it well, perhaps in a different way than I was trying to articulate it. That's why I mentioned the trade for Kelvin Martin and Sacto's future first rounder. The following lineup would be pretty well rounded and potent: Lowry/Martin/Ariza/Landry/Yao. You could plug in Caron Butler for Martin and have less potent SG but better defense. In either case, that kind of a back court would be preferable, IMO to AB at the point. Lowry and Arize provide excellent defense. Martin is your primary off the ball wing player. Ariza returns to his role as spot up shooter. Landry and Yao are both hi low threats. Lowry can run with the team for early fast break offense, and then run the offense in half court with yao. He's a penetrator and finisher at the rim.
The only way I would trade Brooks right now would be if New Orleans went completely desperate and would give up and trade Chris Paul. The only other thing I would consider in terms of PG would be Rubio. I think the OP is very right in that he points out that Brooks will command a much higher salary at some point in the not too distant future. At his current salary, he is an absolute steal. At the salary he will try to get - not so much. Think T.J. Ford or Jose Calderon...
But AB still can't be traded unless we get a very good PG in return. One PG isn't going to get the job done. And the 2nd unit will need his scoring a lot.
You should read more of his posts. The dude seems to think we'd be better off as the Wolves or the Warriors, because then ZOMG HIGH DRAFT PICK WE WILL OWNZ NOW.
Similar playing styles?? They Do??? hmmmm i don't see it. Iverson put his body on the line every game all the time. I've yet 2 c brooks do that. No offense but I think this bbs overrates guys for no reason. Yeah he is having a good season no doubt about it but come on. Im sure if possible that if brooks can land a good player than he will be out of here. If packaged with McGrady ( thats if he is traded ) im sure another pg will be brought along. Who might be just fine. I don't mean to bring him up but i remember when guys use to overrate Gerald Green. Now look at him. Where is he.
it's funny, I'd rather start lowry and get a AB type player to come off the bench to be a scorer, akin to vinny the microwave, or for the younger folks around here, something like flip murray's++. I can't see to come up with a modern day vinny the microwave of the pistons, but you get the idea. in such an arrangement, the AB type player off the bench doesn't command as much of the salary or play as prominent a role in the team's success. As for the other PG, I'm actually a fan of what I see in Lull. We'd need a placeholder for backup pg, but that's not a huge role in any case. Having two plus PG's is a luxury and not needed for a contender.
bench the #1 scorer on the team. Sounds smart. Maybe with lowry starting hayes/battier/ariza we can finally have some offense! Stupidity in this thread is laughable.
