That's a huge upgrade. It is not even a question. It would be an all in move though, since both Z and DH have similarly limited time left as top players. Like stocks it is often better to diversify your portfolio.
Depend what you mean better? Better American? ZBo. Better player for Houston Rockets? DMo. Who had better NBA career so far? ZBo. 29 out of 30 NBA teams would take DMo if they had to chose between two of them right now.
Because in TODAY's NBA, stretch 4 like DMo is the best kind of 4. Plus he has inside game and much more. And stretch mark 4 like Randolph is of no use, unless you have a team with stretch 5 who has no inside game.
Also, this is Chuck Wagon all over again. You don't watch the guy play and think he's good, based on info from many years ago. Last year ZBo was already on a decline, all the interviews where he admitted how he gave the team to Marc and Conley. He doesn't fit the Rockets. Unless we part ways with Dwight. Otherwise no way Jose Calderon.
Ok I know you're a huge DMO fan and I'm a fan as well, but how would you know that 29 out of 30 teams would take DMO (12pts, 5.9 boards) over the proven Z-Bo (16pts and 10.5 boards) last season? DMO has played 5 entire minutes in the playoffs and Z-Bo has played in 60 games total. I love DMO and his game but I'm not sure about 29 out of 30 teams taking DMO over Z-Bo like you profess.
WOW. Everything has to take salaries into account dude, what's the point of comparing players without taking into account their salaries, esp. if the discussion is talking about possible trade scenarios? The statement "ZBO is an upgrade over Jones and DMo" has no value add or merit into the conversation unless you put salaries into perspective. You can also say Lebron is an upgrade over Sam Dekker and it has as much value as this statement.
Because Z-Bo is old, injury prone, sucks at D and has a bad contract. Z-Bo's pts and rebs are inflated in Memphis because they don't have good perimeter shooters outside of Conley Jr. and they play a lot of mean D, this means players on both sides throw up bricks which ZBo and Gasol can collect. Also, since they suck at scoring in the perimeter they try to grind it inside which again inflates ZBo's pts. If you consider ZBO was option 2/3 last year and had 16 pts whereas DMO didn't even have plays run for him and scored 12 pts then you see the big difference, esp. since DMO will get better and better whereas ZBO will get slower and slower, in fact he's already a terrible player IMHO he's just being helped by Memphis' system and the fact that Gasol is unselfish and lets him take all the shots.
While everyone keeps hating on ZBo. He dropped 26p 9r 4a 3s last night on Blake Griffin one of the better 4's in the NBA. He may be old but he has the old man game. He ages gracefully! He gives Rockets a legit mid range threat that outside of Harden and Lawson we don't have. I wouldn't be opposed to this at all.
A 4 also has to rebound. Dmo is a terrible rebounder (all of our 4s are), and was a big reason why we gave up so many 2nd chance points last year. Randolph wouldn't be my first choice for this team, but he'd definitely be a significant upgrade. So the question is whether we think he can maintain a good level of play for 2 more seasons after this one. I'm not sure.
Yes he is def an upgrade over Dmo and Jones. He knows to how play in the paint, and is a very good rebounder. He's physical/fights to get to the ball for a rebound. Unlike Capela, Dmo, and TJ, who dont get to the rock with any substantial contact. Basically he's a good complement to battle opposite Dwight inside the paint.
Well, he knows how to play the game at a professional level, something I question Jones and D-Mo will ever quite understand. That said, he'd probably be immediately and irrevocably injured as soon as he got here. There's something about Houston sports and injuries. Pass on all three. Recruit J.J. Watt to the Rockets.
I find it hilarious when someone brings up lack of rebounds when they want to say something negative about DMo. ZBo can't shoot 3s. That's a MUCH bigger problem than DMo not being great ar rebounding. DMo compensates that with boxing his man out. You can't compensate not having a 3 point range. You saw how impressive Harrel was to start the season. he got the points and rebounds. But he has no range. His being on the court didn't help the rest of the guys as much as a good stretch 4 would. Harrel's man would always leave him and go double Harden or someone important. We have Harden and Lawson who struggle majorly if they don't get the room to drive to the basket. And when you have Randolph and Howard in the paint, plus their guys also in the paint, how is Harden getting anywhere near the basket? bringing Randolph in would mean making him the focal point of our offense. DMo compliments Harden. I'm biased, but I think it's pretty clear that ZBo is a bad fit and will only get worse, when DMo is a good fit and will only get better.
So you say lets play 5 centers and rebound the ball. Rebounds don't win the games. Scoring more points than opposite team wins the game. By adding Randolph you'd add rebounds, granted, but you'd remove floor spacing. We're similar to Memphis, we also don't have great knockdown shooters and just like Memphis we'd struggle because of clogged lanes. We take a lot of easy open 3 pointers that helps our average shooters. Why do you think McHale is playing 4 smalls and one big this season? Floor spacing. What are we arguing about though? Randolph is better player by the most common definition, but he's a dying breed. For a guy that good he's making only(?) 10 million for a reason. Randolph doesn't fit in other NBA teams, that's why him being better than DMo is irrelevant.
