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I hadn't made the correlation with how similar the Ariza deal was to the Alston deal. Iiiinteresting.
As far as the trade, I went through some of the similarities with the Rafer Alston-Kyle Lowry deal last week, but left one out.
It was bizarre that season the way Rafer had gone from reviled to cherished the day he was traded. The guy was ripped locally through much of his tenure, until the day he was traded. Then he was described as a guy the Rockets could not live without.
Though not to the same degree, Ariza has received similar treatment. For one season, we kept hearing about all he did not do well. Then he was traded and was described as indispensable.
In a lot of ways, Ariza is a more exciting player than Lee (despite Lee's youTube dunks on LeBron James.) Ariza is more likely to jump in a passing lane and create a fast break with a steal of deflection. But Lee is a proud defensive player, better on the ball against quickness. He is more likely to limit off-the-dribble penetration, and he gives the Rockets that emergency combo guard they lacked last season.
Ariza is better suited to defend against size. He might be more likely to produce the occasional game-changing performance.
Ariza should flourish with Chris Paul. He runs the floor well and Paul creates openings all around him. Paul also dominates the ball, which is not always a good thing but will help Ariza, if only to keep Ariza from his tendency to over-dribble.
Ariza generally played up to his contract last season, once he stopped letting the frustration of his early-season offensive struggles impact the rest of his game. He should be a solid, mid-level guy with the Hornets, too.
The Pacers would seem to have made out best in the deal, getting a young point guard on a rookie contract who even fits their style. They had made no secret of their urgent desire to get a point guard and got what they needed.
The Nets should have done better with all that cap room than a season with Troy Murphy before trying to go into the free agent market again.
The Rockets might not have gotten a player better than the one they traded. In time, he might be. But under their circumstances, they might have made themselves a better team.
Before leaving the trade entirely, a couple things should be cleared up just a bit.
The Rockets never said that they needed Trevor Ariza to reach some other level to be happy with him and the deal. They could give him the opportunity to expand his game and that opportunity was a primary reason he signed with them, but Daryl Morey said many, many times that the he would consider the deal a good move if Ariza played as he did for the Lakers.
For the Rockets, Lee is a fine fit. That they chased him for more than two years does not mean they would have taken him in the top 10 of that draft or would have offered the same sort of deal they would to get Carmelo Anthony.
