Marc Stein,"Rockets determined to trade Omer Asik..."

[Jamaaliver]

Coming into this season I saw LaMarcus Aldridge and Horford as being on a similar level as players. Aldridge has taken his game to another level this year. I can't help but think that having a true center next to him has opened his game up and made him a better player. He can now focus on playing the four and has an advantage over most power forwards. Having a center that draws a big guy away from you, anchors your defense, helps you hold down the paint and rebounds with you is tremendous. I'm very curious now if he had a real center next to him if Horford could make a similar leap.

Vator, thanks for the input. I also have seen Lamarcus and the entire Portland team progress this season and strongly believe that a strong Defensive Center in the middle has helped their ascension.
We Hawk fans tend to fall into one of two groups:

1) Those who see the success AL has already attained while playing Center (All-Star, All NBA, double-double-machine) and see no need to switch his position.

2) And those that believe he could further dominate thanks to his size if switched to PF AND paired with a strong Center.

Aldridge is undoubtedly a more polished offensive player, so it was easier to find a blue-collar 'Big' that complements him. AL is in a slightly different situation because his offensive skills are so limited, ideally he'd be paired with a shotblocker with a solid post game.

Asik would help with interior defense and rebounding (two things we need improvement on) but his lack of offensive game is what gives a lot of us Hawks fans pause.

A couple of ideal Bigs include: Dwight (duh!), Pau, Brook Lopez (duh!), and even Gortat. Centers who can create their own shots creating open opportunities for our team of jump shooters.

[ATLHawksfan21]

Jamaal, I would add a third category. Those that want a true Center but don't want to settle for an average player like Asik. I'm all for getting a Center but it needs to be the right guy. Asik doesn't fit this system. You have to have some offensive skills to play in the Spurs system

Sent from my SCH-I535 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[theatlfan]

Ran across this today...

There have been reports about Asik to the Hawks for Paul Millsap, but sources close to the situation in Atlanta say that trading Millsap is not something under consideration

Hoops World

[parson]

New rumor, and at a price I'd not seen before. The link is: http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/530706/2 ... rBwJvuYwr0
The subject matter is whether or not Jeremy Lin will be traded but this part was interesting:

There are numerous trade scenarios swirling around, but Yahoo Sports contributor Matthew Smith provided a nice breakdown on how the potential trade involving Lin would end up.

"In this aggressive scenario, the Bulls receive Jeremy Lin, Elton Brand and DeMarre Carroll, the Hawks end up with Omer Asik, and the Rockets acquire Luol Deng and a conditional first-round pick from Bulls Here is how the trade -- which couldn't be completed until after the December trade restrictions have passed -- would impact each team," Smith stated in his recent article.

Brand and Carroll for Asik; that's a much lower price than I'd imagined, even cheaper than a 1st.

[azuresou1]

Ken Berger:

ESPN.com and Yahoo Sports both reported that Cleveland and Atlanta were among the front-runners for Asik. Atlanta's interest has been lukewarm, at best, sources tell CBSSports.com. Hawks GM Danny Ferry has taken a guarded approach to the so-called Asik "sweepstakes," and for good reason. He is said to be among the executives wary of Houston's attempt to overvalue Asik and create what another executive called a "false market."

Good on Ferry. Asik's not worth that much right now.

[Jamaaliver]

New rumor, and at a price I'd not seen before. The link is: http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/530706/2 ... rBwJvuYwr0
The subject matter is whether or not Jeremy Lin will be traded but this part was interesting:

There are numerous trade scenarios swirling around, but Yahoo Sports contributor Matthew Smith provided a nice breakdown on how the potential trade involving Lin would end up.

"In this aggressive scenario, the Bulls receive Jeremy Lin, Elton Brand and DeMarre Carroll, the Hawks end up with Omer Asik, and the Rockets acquire Luol Deng and a conditional first-round pick from Bulls Here is how the trade -- which couldn't be completed until after the December trade restrictions have passed -- would impact each team," Smith stated in his recent article.

Brand and Carroll for Asik; that's a much lower price than I'd imagined, even cheaper than a 1st.

That...would be an unbelievable coup for us.

I like Carroll, but the team won't fall apart if he's gone. Brand is a shell of his former self. Asik at the very least gives us the interior defense and rebounding Zaza used to bring (and Elton Brand was supposed to bring).
I'm all for acquiring Asik, but Millsap and Horford are untouchable in this scenario.

But a frontcourt of Horford, Millsap and Asik suddenly has enough juice to stand up to Detroit/Chicago/Indy frontcourts.

[parson]

^ It's hard to believe because of the much larger price Morey's been said to have been asking; however, it agrees with what I've been reading HOU fans asking for: a backup Center (to take Asik's place) and a wing defender. Getting Deng and a 1st lets the deal look better than it really is, considering that Deng's only being rented for part of a year and the 1st would be heavily protected.

[parson]

This news may just be real, seeing as how Wojnarowski is now reporting that BOS and HOU are talking Brandon Bass and Courtney Lee, with confusion about a possible 1st from BOS. Bass and Lee compare to Brand and Carroll. The 1st in question is, in the opinion of some, Morey's asking price, instead of part of the BOS offer. Looks as if Ferry made the Brand/Carroll offer and Morey wants a 1st, too.

[parson]

HERE'S a catch:

Rockets Fan Base ‏@RocketsFanBase

HAHAHA @dmorey just followed Hawks PF Paul Millsap! I'm not hinting ANYTHING. (noticed by @GoRockets7 )

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8:07 PM - 18 Dec 13

Morey scrambling and Ferry's sitting at the game (not on the phones). Interesting.

[SBM]

The whole Houston organization seems to be attention whoring. Following Millsap is too obvious so I don't think theres anything there. Sad thing is Asik is not good enough to be trying to make this into some type of sweepstakes. Millsap for Asik is not a good deal for the Hawks. We need them to sweeten the pot or find a 3rd team with a more desirable player coming our way.

[Jamaaliver]

The whole Houston organization seems to be attention whoring. Following Millsap is too obvious so I don't think theres anything there. Sad thing is Asik is not good enough to be trying to make this into some type of sweepstakes. Millsap for Asik is not a good deal for the Hawks. We need them to sweeten the pot or find a 3rd team with a more desirable player coming our way.

tcorbin, is that you?