108 replies to this topic

[Rahat Huq]

New post, just summing up my thoughts from this thread:

http://www.red94.net/calm-storm/9729/

[JarredAllen]

I really cannot see Drummond being a Hasheem. Hasheem was no where near the athlethe Drummond is. Drummond could easily come in as a rookie and put up a solid 10PPG and 7RPG and 2BPG. Not great but he will grow into a player. He will score easy buckets from running the floor and catching the alley. The problem with Hasheem was that he never really played much american basketball and was surrounded with no talent at center to coach or groom him into a player. Drummond will have Camby/McHale and Hakeem leading the way for him.

[Lyfestyle]

I really cannot see Drummond being a Hasheem. Hasheem was no where near the athlethe Drummond is. Drummond could easily come in as a rookie and put up a solid 10PPG and 7RPG and 2BPG. Not great but he will grow into a player. He will score easy buckets from running the floor and catching the alley. The problem with Hasheem was that he never really played much american basketball and was surrounded with no talent at center to coach or groom him into a player. Drummond will have Camby/McHale and Hakeem leading the way for him.

My problem is more with labeling guys "Dwight 2.0" or some such nonsense. If he truly was Dwight 2.0, he'd be the undisputed #1 pick rather than being projected as about the 5th overall pick. He's got virtually no offensive game not to mention that his motor and overall interest in the game of basketball have been questioned, which makes me skeptical of his ability to score by simply running the floor. I think the team that drafts him will have a Derrick Favors-like situation: hopefully he'll be good enough in 3 or 4 years to warrant significant minutes (around the time he hits free agency and commands $12m a year due to his size).

[UncleCaveman]

Agreed about the second star. Looking through some rosters and thinking about who may be available...I'd love to see the Rockets make a push for Josh Smith if they still have the assets left after going for Howard.

Not sure what it would take to get ATL interested, but they're paying Joe Johnson and Al Horford 32-35 mil per year through 15/16 (Johnson makes 25 million at the end of his contract, is this real life?) and that's a lot of money to finish outside of the top 4 in your division every year. Gotta figure Smith wants out next season and that Hawks team is bereft of any sort of real depth.

I guess the big problem with this is what would ATL want from the Rockets, assuming they've given up the speculated 5th & 8th picks, plus Dalembert and KMart to match salaries.

[Alituro]

The problem I have with letting go of two top ten picks for Howard is that when was the last time we've had a building opportunity like this? We had #8 6 years ago and traded it for Battier. 10 years ago we had a #1 and found a hell of a franchise player albeit not very durable. 10 YEARS AGO! All year long fans have been wanting our team to tank just to be in this situation. Now we get here (maybe) and everyone wants to squander it for a rental of a diva, that may or may not pan out. I don't think anything less than a title will convince DH to stay, ORL brought him to the finals once and he's still not happy. So where are we after a year if no DH? Right back where we started, but this time we blew up a good nucleus, and don't have any lottery picks to go in a possibly weaker draft. There's a looooong road ahead if he decides not to stay. At least if we draft 2 top ten picks this year and they don't pan out, then we will be right back in a lottery situation again, and have retained a nice nucleus, albeit young. If the rookies take 2-3 year to be fully NBA developed, then we'll be in a situation to make some noise with them.

Everyone knows DH is a great player and it takes no complex math to figure that out. We pay Morey big bucks to use his math thingamafloggies and whirlygigs to find the best value in any player available. Now is his best ever opportunity to shine. I say let him go to work on the draft and see what he can pull out of his (hat). A perfect opportunity to evaluate Morey's merit. Take Drummond for instance, He's way more athletic than say, Leonard or Zeller, but Morey's math may give more value to the latter two, who knows at this point? After stewing a couple days over this, I say no to DH. I'd rather take my chances on developing the DH-Diva-Killer. I could see DH pulling something like a minor or fake injury, blackmailing for a trade or just whining constantly about his situation, he strikes me as that type of a B****, with his shenanigans in ORL. It's a shame that we're losing Lowry this summer and not letting him pout with DH.

Two top tens is something we shouldn't pass up, and it's a much cheaper gamble with much higher potential IMO. Maybe Morey is playing the "get DH" angle only to snooker TOR and SAC to give their picks up, with their respective GMs uttering "yeah right, he'll never stay" under their breath.

[UncleCaveman]

BUDINGER for Minny's 18th!? Former mid-2nd round pick for a mid-1st is exactly the kind of trade the Rocket's needed to do to position themselves for "the big trade". Clears up space for Morris, too.

Chase, loved seeing you fly at the rim and light on fire from behind the 3-pt line, but you would disappear WAY too often in big moments.

[Rahat Huq]

Keep in mind: Dwight and Josh Howard are close childhood friends. While the ESPN report mentions Howard as a contingency option, Howard might be the desired second star.

The question is what it would take to land him. You've already lost Lowry and the picks for Howard, presumably. Some combination of Martin or Dally to match salaries.

What is Luis Scola's trade value?

EDIT: I mean Josh Smith. LOL

Edited by Rahat Huq, 26 June 2012 - 03:22 PM.
I'm an idiot.

[Ostrow]

Does Josh Howard actually have any trade value or did you mean Josh Smith?

[Rahat Huq]

Does Josh Howard actually have any trade value or did you mean Josh Smith?

LOL, thanks.

[Lyfestyle]

Does Josh Howard actually have any trade value or did you mean Josh Smith?

Seriously? Of course he meant Josh Smith.

[Ostrow]

Josh Smith and Dwight played on the Atlanta Celtics (Along with Randolph Morris and Brandon Rush) together in high school. Best high school club team I've ever seen. Including Mayo/Bill Walker (played against), Love/Taylor King (played against), Oden/Conley/Daequan Cook/McRoberts/Eric Gordon, and D-Rose/Gordon.

[Ostrow]

Seriously? Of course he meant Josh Smith.

Do you know that Josh Howard and Dwight Howard weren't childhood friends? it's possible. I figured he meant Smith but who knows. They should also go after Morris. He'd be VERY easy to get.

[JarredAllen]

Pro's for getting Dwight:
Best center in the league.
Would make our team playoff caliber.
Possibility of signing another star.
Excite fans for one year.

Con's of Dwight:
We get a spoiled Child who isn't mature enough for his fame.
We lose most of our core team and bench.
We miss out on another star because they know Dwight will not sign with Houston next year.
We lose Dwight in one year, have the 24th pick, no nucleus for a team and can't rebuild until the following year.
We have to deal with media BS with Dwight who could fake injury or have a real injury from back.
In a year we become the laughing stock of the league with no star......again.
Players who we thought would be busts in this years draft become decent players. Drummond, Rivers, Henson, Zeller, Waiters, Leonard.

And in the end after one year with Dwight, we end up back where we started before we had Dwight. A poor team just good enough to miss the playoffs and get the 14th pick.....again!

Not seeing the logic with Dwight! Personally if I were a star, I would rather play around the talent we have now than Dwight. Players will know that Dwight will not remain in Houston and therfore decide to sign elsewhere. What other star will say, "I'll sign a long-term max contract with you, knowing that you will lose Dwight and I will be left on a team that can't make a playoff run!"????? Common Sense guys!

[Lyfestyle]

Con's of Dwight:
We get a spoiled Child who isn't mature enough for his fame.
We lose most of our core team and bench.
We miss out on another star because they know Dwight will not sign with Houston next year.
We lose Dwight in one year, have the 24th pick, no nucleus for a team and can't rebuild until the following year.
We have to deal with media BS with Dwight who could fake injury or have a real injury from back.
In a year we become the laughing stock of the league with no star......again.
Players who we thought would be busts in this years draft become decent players. Drummond, Rivers, Henson, Zeller, Waiters, Leonard.

I think you're missing it, here. On point one: our best CURRENT player is a spoiled pussy.
Losing our core team and bench doesn't frighten me much as these are a collection of players that can't even make the playoffs.
If Dwight does want to leave, we'd be in a position to offer him a much, much larger contract than he could get from another team. Thus, getting something in the form of a sign-and-trade is likely. You wouldn't lose him for nothing.
I'd rather deal with media BS than be a total irrelevant non-story as the Rockets have been for 3 years now.
I'd rather be a laughing stock than a 9th-place team as you're more likely to get a better pick.
No star is even considering coming here without Dwight. Howard makes us relevant and if you're a star, playing with Howard for even one year is far more attractive than Houston without him.

[Cooper]

Saying you have Dwight 2.0 in a player that may never even be a starter in the league is insane. Hasheem Thabeet, anyone?

Saying you have Dwight 2.0 in a player that may never even be a starter in the league is insane. Hasheem Thabeet, anyone?

Hasheem weighs like 150 pounds and is unathletic, Drummond has a 7-6 wingspan and is a solid 270+ he's a freak athlete. I'm not saying he's as good as Howard right now but he's a similar prospect as Howard was when he came out.

[Ostrow]

There's been a lull in any new rumor/information and I don't like it.

[JarredAllen]

I think you're missing it, here. On point one: our best CURRENT player is a spoiled pussy. Losing our core team and bench doesn't frighten me much as these are a collection of players that can't even make the playoffs. If Dwight does want to leave, we'd be in a position to offer him a much, much larger contract than he could get from another team. Thus, getting something in the form of a sign-and-trade is likely. You wouldn't lose him for nothing. I'd rather deal with media BS than be a total irrelevant non-story as the Rockets have been for 3 years now. I'd rather be a laughing stock than a 9th-place team as you're more likely to get a better pick. No star is even considering coming here without Dwight. Howard makes us relevant and if you're a star, playing with Howard for even one year is far more attractive than Houston without him.

What i find funny in your post is that I say Dwights will leave after one year because he doesn't want to play here, You then reply with if Dwights does want to leave, we are in the position to offer him way more money! LOL If he wants to leave because he doesn't want to be here, Money wouldn't matter! Also I am pretty sure he is financially set already, along with the fact other teams will be able to give him the MAX (which is set at a price that you can't go above) contract. Further, you missed my point on no other star wanting to join because even with Dwight, they would choose not to sign a contract because Dwight would be leaving. Yeah!!! Let's trade him before next years deadline! Now we traded everything for a half year of Dwight and nothing to show for it! Our team as it is, with more experience and a full offseason are capable of making a playoff seed. So whats the point of getting Dwight, only to lose in the playoffs, like we could do without him and lose out on building upon the pieces we have. Dwight doesn't make us relevant, Dwight makes us a relevant first round playoff loser!