If you go by advanced stats, the only team in the entire league who has 3 top 10 players is Golden State. Steph, KD, Draymond. Some of the others get a lot of recognition, but those are the three that make them unbeatable, because historically it's rare for a championship team to even have two top 10 guys. With Butler, Houston would be the only other team in the league with the same top end talent. Im using "top 10" loosely, if the 10th best player is rated +6 and the 15th best player is +5.9, I'm including all of them.
People are overlooking we also land Luxury-Tax Profit in this PJ+EGo trade. @Carl Herrera @J.R. Something like $4m LT Profit. So, if you like rooting for Luxury Tax Profit as much as Tilman does, you'll love this trade.
please name someone besides DG, that essentially can do all the things Tucker does for the Rockets, especially key against the team to beat in GS. You make it sound like Tucker is some throw in that is invaluable. he's far from that
You don't think Covington is a better fit than Gordon on that Bulls/Wolves team? Thibs has never been about 3 point shooting so if he had to pick a player to replace Butler it's not unreasonable to think he would pick the 3&D guy over Gordon.
If all it took was EG, PJ, and a 1st I am sure the trade would have been made yesterday. Wolves gave up multiple lottery picks for Jimmy.
I think Covington is good but I think Gordon is the better player and the better fit for Minny. Just my opinion though.
Morey: "Imma pull the trigger on a Gordon for Jimmy Buckets trade." Tilman: "NO!! ANOTHER SUPERSTAR SALARY? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! I LOVE ERIC GORDON!" Morey: "But we'll actually save 4 mil." Tilman: "Then again..."
And I too agree with you that Gordon's a better player but this is the same coach/GM that has consistently made dumbfounded moves looking for glory of yesteryear. So I wouldn't put it past Thibs to do something illogical.
I was mostly talking about the playoffs. Harden and Paul are 1/2 in the playoffs, no question. In Philly, with how limited Simmons is shooting the ball, Butler would definitely be ahead of him, though you're probably right that Embiid is #1.
Fans overrate Tucker just how they overrated Beverly when he and Lou Williams got traded for CP3. This is essentially the same trade. One 3 and D role player, 6MOTY for an all star.
There has been "big 3s" in the past, LeBron/Wade/Bosh, Pierce/KG/Allen, LeBron /Irving/Love etc. These are fake big 3s, because they are really big 2s plus 1. Bosh and Allen are not top 10 caliber players or superstars, especially with lessened usage. And in the case of LeBron's Cavs it was a big 1 plus 2. What makes the Warriors unique is Draymond Green. He is able to maintain his top 10 caliber impact without using possessions that go to the other big 2, because his impact is from defense and passing. With Butler there would be some risk that he gets marginalized, but I think it's worth a shot. His impact is on defense and he is an elite shooter from the corners so that fits fine. Also CP can retain his impact even without scoring because his value is in facilitating and also defense. Harden, CP and Butler can work because only Harden relies on his offense to produce any value, the other two can both contribute in other ways than scoring.
this still didn't answer the post. probably because there isn't anyone in mind. good thing the majority of this board understood replacing bev/lou with cp3 was a no brainer and huge upgrade. The few skepticals dont overtake what the overwhelming opinion of that trade was
All these people are complaining about losing Gordon and Tucker for Butler? I like both of those players. I am glad they are on our team. But I would make that trade 100 out of 100 times. Having CP3, Harden and Butler? Wow. With Capela too? Give me that over Steph, Durant, Thompson and Green.
Before he joined the Rockets, I barely knew who Tucker was. Now I love the guy. It would really sting losing someone that steps up every night and does the dirty work and never complains. A package of Gordon, Tucker, and picks should be very attractive to Minnesota. I like Butler, it would be interesting if he joins the Rockets. I'm going to trust Morey on this one.
James Johnson. But yeah guys like that are unique in that they allow you to run our switch everything scheme. People are freaking out about Bzdelik retiring, well he was here two years ago where was the switching defense then? You still need the personnel, and PJ is key to that. With that said, Butler is too much talent to pass up. Talent > scheme.
