Channing Frye on Goran Dragic: "Unfortunately for the Rockets, they didn't make the right decision."

I think they did most of their winning without Bledsoe.

That is not my argument at all. I never said what Lin can do in Phoenix. i questioned the opposite, that if Dragic had to face what Lin did , could the results have been better? I am not so sure. i know for a fact that Lin's team ( well, its Harden's team but Lin plays a big role), has made the playoffs both years he was here.

So everyone said Lin to the bench makes Houston better, because Bev covers up for Harden better. so you put Dragic in for Bev as a starter, does that make the starters better. Offensively yes, but defensively? Then what about the bench. One cannot use one arguement to justify Bev starting over Lin but then discount that argument when it comes to another player. That's my point.

 

Beverley is in the starting lineup not only because of his defense but because he fits better with the starters. Lin is ineffective playing next to another ball dominant player, but Dragic has not struggled playing next to Bledsoe. It's reasonable to assume Dragic would not suddenly become terrible playing next to Harden.

 

He's much better than Lin. I am simply stating a fact.

 

When did Lin become a postseason player?

 

Shut the fvkk up Frye...

 

McHale loves Dragic, he will never bench Dragic lol. Plus Dragic plays with fire and doesn't have confidence issues, he just goes balls deep, just like how McHale likes it in his PG's

 

we are discussing Dragic here, not somebody else.
The reality for Dragic is that he will always has good stat, his play looks wonderful, but his team will not success. That is the same reason Morey trades Peterson etc.

 

I don't agree with this. he has not gotten his teams over the hump, but that doesn't mean he will not. He just needs more opportunities to prove his season wasn't a fluke. I think I saw somewhere that at least 6 Suns recorded career high in points scored this year. Hope they can continue that trend next year.

 

He carried his team to a better record this year than the Rockets had last year. Who is Peterson?

ETA: If you are referring to Patrick Patterson, are you suggesting Morey traded him because he could not singlehandedly carry a team to the playoffs?

 

It's a team sport.

Suns were a surprise team, even not making the playoffs.

 

You do have a point there regarding how Dragic hasn't really played with a ball dominant guard yet. Bledsoe isn't a ball dominant point guard and is as comfortable playing off the ball as he is playing with the ball. And once Bledsoe came back from injury, Dragic's numbers plummeted across the board. I'm not sure if that's due to injury or just having less of the ball but I do see your point.

I do agree that the difference between Dragic and Lin may not be as great as some people on this forum claim it to be, but I still believe Dragic is a more polished offensive player than Lin who shoots 3s better and would thus fit better alongside Harden. Defensively, Lin edges it but it is closer than you think.

My two cents

 

You stated Morey made the correct decision. His decision was to sign Jeremy Lin and let Dragic go to Phoenix.

For Morey to have made the right decision, the player he replaced Dragic with must therefore be a post-season player.

 

I thought Morey would sign both players if Gogi accepted our offer.

The discussion should be did Morey make a mistake not giving Gogi the player's option. I think at the time he made the right decision. Of course now it looks like Gogi is worth that player's option, at that time, no one knew. Lots of players played well for the contract year, then they revert.

 

How does he fit better? At the time of the decision, his three point percentage was the same or slightly worse than Lin. So what other "fit" is there. The fact is that Lin can do so much more than just hand off the ball and stand in the corner, but this is not to say he cn't just play d and hand off the ball and stand in the corner. When Bev was out Houston won at the same pace despite missing a player so there was no drop off.

Houston's offense was very efficient already, just how much more efficient would it be with Dragic? I'm arguing it would not be much because like Lin, he will also be stunted.

 

1. Morey knows what makes a good team. Patterson is not in the final picture of the team to build, so he is let go to give play time to other players such as TJ. Same for Dragic, he has no position in a good team designed by Morey. By the way, he may not be in any good team in future, his team will always struggle for a seat of playoff.

2. The decision to let Dragic go is independent of other decisions, so Lin was not signed up to replace Dragic. instead, Lin was signed because Morey's plan to get super star failed, he needs somebody to handle the transition period.

3. if Dragic is in the team, Rockets will be Dragic's team, thus Harden may not come, Howard may not come. Rockets will be a team in the position 9 year after year.

In a word, Morey made the right decision.

 

This is what I'm not understanding. So many of you keep saying he isn't a winner, he can't even manage to get his team into the playoffs, his teams will never get there, etc. But how can you make that judgment when basketball is a team sport, such that how far you go in the postseason is dependent on the team as a whole? The Rockets did not have an All-Star player when Dragic was here. He's the closest thing the Suns have to an All-Star. It isn't surprising he hasn't single-handedly led a team to the playoffs... most players are not capable of that feat, but he came damned close this year.

I'm not even arguing that Dragic would be a better fit than Lin on the Rockets. I suspect he might, but I think that's irrelevant at this point. But to argue that he isn't that great or will never succeed because he could only carry a team of meh to pretty good players on his back to the 9th seed (with a record that would've been good enough to bounce the Rockets from the 8th seed just last year)... that just makes no sense to me.

 

I don't understand your logic.

First, it doesn't matter what Dragic's shooting percentage was 2 years ago, what matters is the player he is now. Players make improvements, and Dragic has improved and is clearly a superior player to Lin.

Second, it doesn't matter what pace the Rockets win at with or without a certain player. The Clippers won at a similar pace without Chris Paul, it doesn't mean they are just a good a team without Chris Paul. Sample size and competition and a ton of other factors matter.

Third, you are still sticking to the idea that Dragic will struggle with Harden, when Dragic right now is clearly thriving together with Bledsoe who is almost equally as ball-dominant as Harden.

Furthermore, I don't see how any of these factors would suggest the Rockets would be 6th seed or worse if they had Dragic instead of Lin.

 

Wow some people really have interesting ideas (and that is not a compliment). Sportsfan just stop posting, those are a couple of terrible uninformed posts.

Let's get some things straight:

Patterson was traded because Morey needed the cap space to sign Howard, and he expected he could trade Robinson better in the summer than Patterson. Patterson could be a role player with a championship caliber team, and I expect that Morey would love to have Patterson on this team.

Dragic is a better player than Lin, and the Rockets would have been better with Dragic than they are with Lin. What Dragic did with the suns is amazing. That he didn’t make the play offs is irrelevant. If he was with us we wouldn’t ask him to be the number 1 option, he would be the 3 option. His skillset is very good, and I believe he would be good next to Harden. If dragic wouldn’t have wanted the player option Morrey would have signed him in a heartbeat.

Morrey didn't sign Dragic because Dragic wanted a player option, and Morey wanted flexibility in being able to sign a superstar (which Dragic isn't).It had nothing to do with whether Morey thought Dragic could be part of a championship team. Morrey believed Dragic couldn’t be the number 1 option on a championship team, so he didn’t want to lose flexibility. At the time I understood the decision, we didn't have Harden yet, and having Dragic with a player option would hurt our flexibility. I do not know what Morey would have done if we already had James Harden at the time he made the decision.

If Morey really want to try and add a third max player next summer (and succeeds) he made the right call not signing Dragic (because that player option would have made it more difficult, although I expect Dragic to opt out of his player option). I would have preferred to still have Dragic because that would increase our chances this year and the next. (also I wouldn't mind keeping dragic and letting parsons become a restricted free agent, I believe Harden, Howard, Dragic and Parsons are a good enough top 4 players for a championship)

 

Dragic 4th yr option wouldn't have prevented the rockets from getting a superstar at no point. Dragic was playing very,very well his last yr here. Even without knowing you're getting harden,you have a pg who played at an extremely high level under the coach. The spurs didn't worry about superstars in the future when they matched the deal for manu that denver offered him. If dragic had continued to play at his level,which he has,you don't need a 3rd star because between he and parsons,that's your 3rd guy. This would be a real threat with dragic on the squad

 

Yup right, if Dragic is here, he will score 20pts along side Harden as 3rd star, and live happily ever together with satisfied rocket fans.

Morey, make it happen!