UPDATE AT 9:23 AM ON 12/09/12 below.
You can read my stream of consciousness from the front page: I didn’t like the deal from the start. Not because we’d lose Scola/Martin but because I thought it ensured mediocrity. I didn’t understand why we weren’t getting Chris Paul if we were giving up all the assets to get him.
Then Dwight Howard’s intentions were revealed which Morey probably knew all along.
The reason myself and others felt Paul was worth the risk without an extension was because the team would still have cap space in the summer to pursue another max free agent. The hope would have been to convince Paul to stay in Houston by also attracting Howard.
But if Dwight’s heart is set on Brooklyn, it didn’t matter. (ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported that Magic center Dwight Howard will ask for a trade to the New Jersey Nets.) There was no point in pursuing Paul as that slim chance of retaining him would be nill. Zero.
That’s why, I’m guessing, the Rockets no longer wanted Paul for themselves. They knew now that they couldn’t keep him. This probably was not the case earlier in the week when the reports were of their intent to take the risk.
This was Morey trying to make the best of this situation and get what he could – an All-Star replacement for Yao Ming.
With no Dwight, the Lakers, even with Chris Paul, suddenly aren’t that scary. As ESPN’s John Hollinger opined, the Rockets, if adding Nene (via free agency), could have competed for the top seed in the West. In my opinion, with no Dwight to the Lakers, and Nene in Houston, the Rockets would have been the superior team in 2012.
In dealing Martin, the team would be banking on youngsters Terrence Williams and Marcus Morris to emerge. Lowry is Billups in the Detroit model and Gasol/Nene is as good as any frontcourt duo in the league.
Adding Gasol and Nene would have given the Rockets the framework for a top-4 seed in the West. Anything beyond that would have depended on the development of Morris and Williams. Despite his struggles, the club clearly feels strongly about the latter, having dealt away a first-round pick to acquire him last season.
With as bad as this mess has looked for Stern and the league, let’s hope he pulls back and allows this deal to go through.
UPDATE AT 8:00AM ON 12/09/11:
I’m trying to understand this argument that we somehow “gave up too much.” Because for the life of me, I simply can’t understand it. I can completely understand not wanting to bring on a 31-year-old. I was in that camp. I still even might be, I don’t know. But I still cannot somehow understand this notion that we somehow “gave up too much” as if Luis Scola and Kevin Martin had value greater than a top-3 All-NBA big.
Newsflash: Adding up player point totals as some form of comparative measure is not only embarrassingly primitive but just completely reflective of a lack of understanding of basic statistics, value, and basketball. By that similar logic, that same package isn’t worth Lebron James either.
Look, there’s a lot to not like about this deal. Maybe it’s not the right move to make. Maybe the team dodged a bullet, and if it doesn’t go through, Les Alexander allows Morey to tank and we end up better in the end and all live happily ever after. I don’t know. But no one should be crying over losing the guys we did like it was ‘a lot to give up’, especially when we have younger backups in Courtney Lee and Patrick Patterson with whom the team actually had a better winning percentage when in the starting lineup.
UPDATE AT 9:23 AM on 12/09/11:
You look around at the West right now and one thing that is immediately apparent is that it is weaker than ever. Dallas will take a huge step back losing Chandler. Roy and Portland are finished as are the Spurs. The Jazz are rebuilding. The Clippers probably aren’t ready yet for prime-time. Memphis is constructed the same as we would have been. The Lakers, without Dwight Howard, don’t scare me, Chris Paul or not. Only the Thunder really stand out to you as a clear-cut favorite. You have to believe that in landing Nene and Gasol, you’re right there in the mix for one of the top seeds for the next few years.
Look, I would have preferred the Harrison Barnes sweepstakes too. But Les Alexander was not going to let that happen. If in ‘win-now’ mode, you really can’t conjure up a better scenario than reeling in Gasol and Nene without losing Lowry. The team replaces Yao Ming and is right back in the mix with an All-Star big. With a rotation of Gasol, Nene, Hayes, and Patterson, Houston would have had the best frontcourt combo in the league.
How far they went would depend on Morris and T-Will. Lowry, Lee, Nene, and Gasol would have been constants – you know what yuo’re getting. But they’d need that dynamic perimeter scorer/playmaker to be dangerous. Marcus Morris and Terrence Williams certainly each have the talent to be that guy. Hell, the team was willing to fire Rick Adelman over that point (regarding Williams.)
Now we see what happens as this day unfolds. The league has a bad situation on its hands. My guess still is that this eventually gets passed through.
