House Swapping: Trading House and TA for a Real Combo Guard

[the_Bird]

I think it all depends entirely on whether Houston decides to blow the whole thing up or not.  Signing Ariza is really odd; he's the kind of player that makes a lot of sense to have on a team like...  oh, the Lakers, a very good role player/ complementary piece.  Houston's not going to have Yao, McGrady's always hurt, they just lost Artest...  what's the point of having a guy like Ariza on that squad?  It's like when we had Scal on the 26-win team, he didn't do a [dang] thing to help, but put him on last year's squad and he was one of our most important bench players.  

Why DID they sign Ariza?  

Young and athletic swingman.  They got some nice young pieces there:

Brooks
Lowry
Landry
Ariza

Draft Picks are Buddinger and Taylor

So, unload Battier, you don't need him.  Let the young players develop.  Go hard after Bosh next season, and maybe you're back in contention, with or without Yao. 

[PosImpos]

I think it all depends entirely on whether Houston decides to blow the whole thing up or not.  Signing Ariza is really odd; he's the kind of player that makes a lot of sense to have on a team like...  oh, the Lakers, a very good role player/ complementary piece.  Houston's not going to have Yao, McGrady's always hurt, they just lost Artest...  what's the point of having a guy like Ariza on that squad?  It's like when we had Scal on the 26-win team, he didn't do a [dang] thing to help, but put him on last year's squad and he was one of our most important bench players.  

Why DID they sign Ariza?  

Young and athletic swingman.  They got some nice young pieces there:

Brooks
Lowry
Landry
Ariza

Draft Picks are Buddinger and Taylor

Scola too.  Hayes is a solid roleplayer and he's not very old.  

[jv2764]

I think it all depends entirely on whether Houston decides to blow the whole thing up or not.  Signing Ariza is really odd; he's the kind of player that makes a lot of sense to have on a team like...  oh, the Lakers, a very good role player/ complementary piece.  Houston's not going to have Yao, McGrady's always hurt, they just lost Artest...  what's the point of having a guy like Ariza on that squad?  It's like when we had Scal on the 26-win team, he didn't do a [dang] thing to help, but put him on last year's squad and he was one of our most important bench players.  

Why DID they sign Ariza?  

Young and athletic swingman.  They got some nice young pieces there:

Brooks
Lowry
Landry
Ariza

Draft Picks are Buddinger and Taylor

So, unload Battier, you don't need him.  Let the young players develop.  Go hard after Bosh next season, and maybe you're back in contention, with or without Yao. 

EXACTLY!

Stop the fascination with the 37 year old DA.

Then on top of this it opens a roster spot too.

[mgent]

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't want to trade or replace Eddie.  Last year he was our most productive bench player, he's a good value for his contract and he has a proven record in his role with the team.

There are by now obvious factors that lead me to suggest trading him now.  It's a good time to be a contender with expiring contracts.  With the economy in the tank, the 2010 free agent class looming, and owners' competitive impetus driving them to shoulder increasing luxury tax burdens to one-up the opposition, the asking price (in terms of trade assets) for talented players on long-term contracts has never been lower. 

Thus, I believe we have a unique opportunity to trade in House for an upgrade.  Now his contract could be used in conjunction with TA and Scal to bring in a bigger piece at a different position, but I'm assuming we add a 3 (hopefully Grant Hill), so I'll narrow my target to one combo guard I have my eye on.  Given the addition of a competent 3 with the LLE, I think we could and should obtain Leandro Barbosa.

Proposed Trade (I also suggested this on the RealGM board):

Barbosa (6.6 mil, plus 7.1 mil and 7.6 mil in the following seasons) for Eddie House and TA (combined 5.36 mil) - all numbers per Shamsports.

Why for Boston:  Barbosa is 27, with career averages of 13 ppg on 47% shooting (40% from downtown), 2.4 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1 steal and 1.5 turnovers in 26mpg.  According to 82games.com, he boasts a 48% eFG on jumpers and a ridiculous 66% eFG for inside shots (no small sample, they make up a third of his shots).  He is 6'3, blazingly fast and long-armed, making him capable of guarding the 1 and 2, even if he doesn't always do the greatest job.  Though he is a poor choice for point guard, he still possesses a greater knack for the position than either House or TA. His shooting, penetrating and decent passing ability make him an multi-faceted option on pick and roll plays and his speed allows him to advance the ball faster than House.  His size and shooting ability would also enable him to play off of Rondo.  Given the addition of Hill, Barbosa would complete an unmatched 8-man playoff rotation for Boston.

Why for Phoenix: Phoenix is currently trapped in between luxury tax hell and rebuilding.  Even with just 11 players on the roster (and most of them spare parts), the Suns payroll clocks in at 75 mil, about 7 mil over the expected luxury tax threshold.  Their cap space in 2010 doesn't look that great either.  Barring the unlikely event that Amare opts out of 17 mil guaranteed, they'll have commitments of around 41 mil, which I believe is only enough room for a max player if they renounce Steve Nash.  Unloading Barbosa for House and TA would save them a little over 1.2 mil in salary (2.5  once you count the luxury tax) as well as bumping their roster up to 12 and saving the costs of whatever minimum player they would have dragged in for that spot.  Furthermore it would shave 7.1 mil off their cap for next year, putting them at around 35 mil and carving enough space to resign Nash (or a younger PG) and a max player to team up with the still relatively young core of Stoudemire and Richardson for 1 year, with the option to reload again the next year.  Of course they'd probably prefer to unload Amare or Richardson, but I think this would provide them quick, attainable savings

I am certainly down for a true combo guard.  House can't handle the ball like a true point and is more effective off the ball, yet he lacks the length and defensive ability to play the 2.  TA is really a swingman, he can handle the ball all right, but can't shoot like a SG and is again too short to really play SF.
My only problem with your idea is...we know House can knock down the shots like nobody's business.  I would only be in favor of a trade if we're sure a guy can hit his shots like House does.  Also you're taking a risk that the guy won't fit in with our team as nicely as House already does.

[the_Bird]

Thing is, as much as I would love Battier, we ain't gonna get him.  We can offer cap relief, but so can lots of other teams who also have much more attractive sweeteners.  You can't really complain about it, but our draft picks aren't exactly the most attractive in the league!  We don't have the kinds of younger, cheap talent that they might look for in return (outside of Perk and Rondo, who aren't going anywhere).  

So, they might trade Battier, but it'll be somewhere else.

[jv2764]

Thing is, as much as I would love Battier, we ain't gonna get him.  We can offer cap relief, but so can lots of other teams who also have much more attractive sweeteners.  You can't really complain about it, but our draft picks aren't exactly the most attractive in the league!  We don't have the kinds of younger, cheap talent that they might look for in return (outside of Perk and Rondo, who aren't going anywhere).  

So, they might trade Battier, but it'll be somewhere else.

My fear is if another Eastern Conference Power gets him.  I dont think Houston will trade him within the conference.

[PosImpos]

Thing is, as much as I would love Battier, we ain't gonna get him.  We can offer cap relief, but so can lots of other teams who also have much more attractive sweeteners.  You can't really complain about it, but our draft picks aren't exactly the most attractive in the league!  We don't have the kinds of younger, cheap talent that they might look for in return (outside of Perk and Rondo, who aren't going anywhere).  

So, they might trade Battier, but it'll be somewhere else.

My fear is if another Eastern Conference Power gets him.  I dont think Houston will trade him within the conference.

Yeah, but which of our rivals actually has the pieces to trade for Battier?  Orlando and Cleveland have both used up what they have of value, so they're not really in any more a position to get him than we are.

[vjcsmoke]

Chris Bosh is from Texas, isn't he?

Just sayin'...

EDIT: It doesn't look like Houston has a lot of money tied up after this coming season.  Ariza, another year of Yao, Battierm but that's about it of note.  Landry at $3M, and I'm not sure about younger guys who might need extensions.  Certainly, if they unload Battier they should have plenty of cap space.

If the Rockets are making a serious push for Bosh in 2010, they'll need all the extra millions they can get.  That's when the Celtics strike at this year's trade deadline to get Battier.  I would love that move!

[GKC]

Chris Bosh is from Texas, isn't he?

Just sayin'...

EDIT: It doesn't look like Houston has a lot of money tied up after this coming season.  Ariza, another year of Yao, Battierm but that's about it of note.  Landry at $3M, and I'm not sure about younger guys who might need extensions.  Certainly, if they unload Battier they should have plenty of cap space.

If the Rockets are making a serious push for Bosh in 2010, they'll need all the extra millions they can get.  That's when the Celtics strike at this year's trade deadline to get Battier.  I would love that move!

The best part is that we can do that without giving up house. It would be TA + Scal + Pruitt.