19 replies to this topic

[MichaelPina]

Here's my piece on why trading for LaMarcus Aldridge would be perfect, and also, realistic. Thoughts? http://www.red94.net...e-perfect/9987/

[ale11]

Nice take, Michael. He would definitely be more suitable for us than Josh Smith, and much more reliable. Everything depends on how Portland plays this season....

[blakecouey]

I agree with ale, if Portland sees itself falling short of the playoffs, or realizes it is miles behind the top of the west, I can see them making a deal. Now if that deal is with Houston, who knows...but I would be all over it.

[MichaelPina]

Nice take, Michael. He would definitely be more suitable for us than Josh Smith, and much more reliable. Everything depends on how Portland plays this season....

Couldn't agree more. I just don't see how Portland can contend with what they currently have.

[feelingsupersonic]

Very good piece Michael. I have thought for awhile Aldridge would be a good superstar for the Rockets, both his style and public perception would fit well in the Rockets organization and in Houston. Also, Aldridge is a superstar (at the power forward/center position) whereas Smith and Gay are definitely not, apples and oranges. If Aldridge were on the Rockets radar I would hope they would make that happen. The deal is a no brainer. I think this deal as a hypothetical is just one more sign the Rockets are in a good position to rebuild and I look forward to seeing what Morey and his team will do this year.

[Rahat Huq]

Unlike Josh Smith, Aldridge is a guy I'd definitely consider for the right price.

[Alituro]

Aldridge was my favorite player in the league before Durant emerged. Mostly because I can't stand the hype Lebron, Howard, Wade and Kobe are constantly surrounded by and in contrast the lack of hype surrounding Aldridge coupled with his impressive numbers and skills. He's the type of guy you clean house for if necessary, I'm all-in on Aldridge.

[amacbrooks12]

Lamarcus Aldridge is a superstar ?

[rockets best fan]

Unlike Josh Smith, Aldridge is a guy I'd definitely consider for the right price.

disagree. alridge is a very good player/borderline star, but superstar? I don't think so. while he is a scoring machine his rebounding leaves something to be desired. yes alridge is a good robin, but he will never be batman. alridge is not a center he is a PF which is by far his best position. I fully expect one of our younger players to blossom at PF, so I see a trade like this creating a logjam at a position which I think we will have a player of alridge caliber if we just play our rooks. it may take a couple of years of development, but PF is 1 position I feel pretty good about moving forward. besides it would probably take a king's ransom to get him away from portland. don't get me wrong I like alridge, but not in a rocket jersey.

[amacbrooks12]

rockets best fan :

I agree with everything you said except when you stated you'd rather go with our young PF prospects than trading for Aldridge . Our rookies and young PF's will most likely never be on the same level Aldridge is , and although Aldridge is not a superstar ( IMO ) , he is defitnetly someone we should be going after because he is arguably a top ten player in the NBA right now & guys like him dont come around very often . Lamarcus Aldridge is the kind of guy that if you get an opportunity to aquire him , you do it in a heartbeat because he instantly makes our roster better and he by himself would make us a playoff team . Either way , whether we keep our young PF's or go after Aldridge , we're in a win win situation so either path we go on im happy with because I really do believe in our young guys .

[Alituro]

disagree. alridge is a very good player/borderline star, but superstar? I don't think so. while he is a scoring machine his rebounding leaves something to be desired. yes alridge is a good robin, but he will never be batman. alridge is not a center he is a PF which is by far his best position. I fully expect one of our younger players to blossom at PF, so I see a trade like this creating a logjam at a position which I think we will have a player of alridge caliber if we just play our rooks. it may take a couple of years of development, but PF is 1 position I feel pretty good about moving forward. besides it would probably take a king's ransom to get him away from portland. don't get me wrong I like alridge, but not in a rocket jersey.

I fail to understand how you would be for trading a SG, lotto pick and a swing man rookie for Josh Smith, perpetuating our logjam at PF, but against a trade that would include a couple or a few of our young guys (PFs) for a much greater player in Aldridge? To me, Aldridge can be the cornerstone, but never Smith.

[Sir Thursday]

Aldridge is a great player. But once again, you're looking at improving a position where we already have ridiculous depth. Unlike Smith, who can potentially play some SF, Aldridge will be taking up one of the big man spots. On the flipside, you can play LMA at centre more which would kind of equalize the big man rotation a bit. But realistically, you're going to have to ship out two of Patterson, Jones, White and Motiejunas for it to work well. Otherwise someone's going to end up buried on the bench.

Also worth bearing in mind: Aldridge is 27. All of the arguments about Smith being too old by the time we're ready? Well they apply to Aldridge too, if not more so. Personally I would not do this deal unless we were thinking about contending in 2013/14. And I think it's unlikely that we could challenge that early because the Lakers are still going to be in the way (Thunder too, but they aren't going away any time soon, not much we can do about that). Letting at least one of the dynasties subside slightly seems like the way to go.

St

[ale11]

Lamarcus Aldridge is the kind of guy that if you get an opportunity to aquire him , you do it in a heartbeat because he instantly makes our roster better and he by himself would make us a playoff team .

Not necessarily, he didn't make Portland a playoff team

[ale11]

disagree. alridge is a very good player/borderline star, but superstar? I don't think so. while he is a scoring machine his rebounding leaves something to be desired. yes alridge is a good robin, but he will never be batman. alridge is not a center he is a PF which is by far his best position. I fully expect one of our younger players to blossom at PF, so I see a trade like this creating a logjam at a position which I think we will have a player of alridge caliber if we just play our rooks.

Agree that he isn't a superstar, but there aren't much PF better than him, and of course, to go through with any kind of deal that bring us a PF, we have to send away two in order to free up playing time for the ones who stays, and for Aldridge as well.

[amacbrooks12]

ale11 :

Your right , Aldridge didn't make Portland a playoff team . But I did say if he came to Houston WE would be a playoff team automatically because of our deph , young players , and potential stars on the team . Portland doesn't have Chandler Parsons , Jeremy Lin , Omer Asik , and three great rookie prospects to surround Aldridge with .

[Cooper]

Well at least 2 of the rookies would have to be in the deal. But parsons Lina and asik compliment LA well and I think they would be a a 7-8th seed and still have money to get a guy like james harden which would make them a 4-5 seed range

[ale11]

amacbrooks12:

I agree with you at some point. Lin would be the most benefitiated, and it would take some offensive responsability from Asik (if he has one). But as we stand now, Batum is better than Parsons and Wallace (later traded, around the time Portland fell in the standings table) is also better than what we have currently on our roster. Of course I believe that we are in a better position than Portland was last year (or even this year) but it still won't cut to make the playoffs....I mean, Utah is getting better, Golden State (injury sake) is getting better, Phoenix is consolidated as a 8th-9th seed right now, Minnesota (also injury sake) is getting better. Even with LaMarcus, we won't make the playoffs this year, maybe next year.

[rockets best fan]

I fail to understand how you would be for trading a SG, lotto pick and a swing man rookie for Josh Smith, perpetuating our logjam at PF, but against a trade that would include a couple or a few of our young guys (PFs) for a much greater player in Aldridge? To me, Aldridge can be the cornerstone, but never Smith.

in my statement on josh smith I said right out front he would have to play small forward to make it work still giving us room to let our current power forwards blossom. PF is a position we have a couple of rooks who (IMO) will reach alridge level. 2 positions I think we should wait b4 we start trying to bring someone in (PF and SG). the young players we have at those positions have high upside. I want to see how they pan out first. for those of you who think alridge can play center....forget about it. he is not an effective center or portland would have put him there a long time ago. I am not trying to trash alridge. I told you I like him. I just don't believe he is a good fit for the rockets. also he is not a center piece to be built around. if alridge is your best player there won't be any larry obrien trophies in your future. he is simply not good enough to take a team to that level.

[Alituro]

in my statement on josh smith I said right out front he would have to play small forward to make it work still giving us room to let our current power forwards blossom. PF is a position we have a couple of rooks who (IMO) will reach alridge level. 2 positions I think we should wait b4 we start trying to bring someone in (PF and SG). the young players we have at those positions have high upside. I want to see how they pan out first. for those of you who think alridge can play center....forget about it. he is not an effective center or portland would have put him there a long time ago. I am not trying to trash alridge. I told you I like him. I just don't believe he is a good fit for the rockets. also he is not a center piece to be built around. if alridge is your best player there won't be any larry obrien trophies in your future. he is simply not good enough to take a team to that level.

The Smith at SF qualification makes sense to me, sorry I overlooked it. I know Aldridge is no center. Either way, after some more thought, I don't think either of these deals should be made until closer to the trade deadline. As was said above, it's not a stretch to hope that any of our rookies have the potential to be 100% the players Smith and Aldridge are (especially D-Mo). Also as was stated above I agree that these may be deals to make if we are expecting to contend in '13-'14, but we're still a good ways away from that and both will be past their prime by the time we're ready for someone like them.

[rockets best fan]

amacbrooks12:

I agree with you at some point. Lin would be the most benefitiated, and it would take some offensive responsability from Asik (if he has one). But as we stand now, Batum is better than Parsons and Wallace (later traded, around the time Portland fell in the standings table) is also better than what we have currently on our roster. Of course I believe that we are in a better position than Portland was last year (or even this year) but it still won't cut to make the playoffs....I mean, Utah is getting better, Golden State (injury sake) is getting better, Phoenix is consolidated as a 8th-9th seed right now, Minnesota (also injury sake) is getting better. Even with LaMarcus, we won't make the playoffs this year, maybe next year.

agreed alridge will not make us a playoff team. the west is simply too good right now. what alridge will do is put us in that 11-14 spot on our draft pick. isn't that the cycle we are trying to break? even if I was going to do the alridge deal doing it any time b4 the very last moment of the deadline would be totally stupid. if we truly want to break the cycle we're in, and build a championship contending team, we are going to have to wait on our young players, make good draft picks and stay ready cap wise to aquire star players that fit the type of team we are trying to build. that requires us to take some lumps along the way. quick fixes only lead to the 14th draft pick.