David 'Dubi' Pick: Doubleheader reports from my man @bigyellow8: Oklahoma grad Taj Gray to Ashkelon & Houston Rockets' DNP Diamon Simpson to Ashdod. Twitter Headed to Israel!!!! Discuss lol
The writing was on the wall for Diamon Simpson the minute the Dwight Howard trade went down. (Actually, IMO, the writing was on the wall even before he signed his contract with the Rockets back in April.) With 19 players on the roster (including 17 with at least some guaranteed money on their deals), there was virtually no way of him making the Rockets' final 15-man roster by the start of the regular season. It was smart of his agent to field potential gigs for him back overseas. I would even imagine that the Rockets advised Simpson's camp to do this. I've heard nothing negative about Simpson as a Rocket. If he came in, practiced hard and helped where needed, them I am glad he's going to get a solid paycheck next season rather than hold out hope for an NBA roster spot that isn't there, only to be left without a job.
Roster slowly coming together & cutting the fat. Jordan Moore Harrellson Williams Simpson Still have 18 players. (Not that it really matters but also just seeing numbers distributed to players but that may be old. Asik #3, Brockman #40, Delfino #10, Douglas #15, Forbes #0, Johnson #5, Jones #6, Lamb #1, Lin #7, Livingston #8, Motiejunas #20, Smith #33, White #30)
Fortson should be next. The final spots should come down to Greg Smith, Brockman, JuJuan Johnson, Forbes, Livingston and maybe Toney Douglas. Perhaps Machado, too. Looking at the roster, keeping one more big, one more wing and two PGs would seem ideal. Of course, ideally you want to keep the best players, period. I imagine guaranteed money will be a factor, too. Still: Asik Motiejunas [G.Smith/Brockman] Patterson Jones White Parsons Delfino Morris Martin Lamb [Douglas/Forbes] Lin [Livingston/Machado/Douglas] Unless the Rockets really like JuJuan Johnson, I don't see him making the team. Hopefully we can find a taker for him. Brockman or Greg Smith may come down to guaranteed money. I don't mind Brockman -- I think he's a nice 5th or 6th big to have -- but I'd rather keep Greg Smith for whatever upside there may be. I think Douglas may have shown enough in his first two seasons for the Rockets to think that he can get back to that level, making him a potential asset down the road. I think both Forbes and Livingston can play some, so I wouldn't be surprised if we kept either guy. Machado struggled in his first few summer league games, but looked solid in the last few games. He may be worth a flyer or he may just suck. I don't know, so I'd be fine either way. It'll be interesting to see how it all turns out. In the end it probably doesn't matter one way or the other.
Livingstone isn't a PG, so no point listing him as a potential backup there. You can guarantee Douglas a spot, he's got a guaranteed contract, and it'd be pointless to eat it and walk into the season without a backup PG who has played NBA minutes before. Sure, he's a chucker, but a chucker who has made plenty of 3 pointers at the top level [prior to last season he shot 39 and 38 % from 3 land] Basically 3 more guys need to go. Non-guaranteed money most likely = bye bye. So Fortson and Greg Smith are in trouble. I'd suggest Brockman is by far the least relevant 'big' on the roster at NBA level, so his $1m deal will most likely get eaten. I have a hunch Greg Smith will be around, he's the only other guy on the roster who qualifies as a 'C' (with Asik), so it then leaves one of the wings in trouble, Livingstone is $1m guaranteed out of $3.5, so most likely we'll try and make a minor move using him and someone, or else he's gone too. Fortson Brockman Livingstone Smith That's my list of "who is next" - bearing in mind we can keep one of them.
I would add Forbes to that list. I figure he'll either be cut or traded. We already have several small forwards ahead of him and some, like Morris, haven't even played yet.
Oh my gawd! It's Livingston for frak's sake!! Why am I seeing so many people call him Livingstone these days? Also, it might be debatable now whether he's still a point guard, but he did play point for the Clippers and Washington, and possibly other teams throughout his career. So I'm not sure writing him so clearly off as a non-PG for the Rockets is a sure bet. Though the rest of your post makes sense.
The Knicks include enough money to pay Tony Douglas salary so technically Rockets could cut w/o much hit to the bottom line. Still would need to pay who ever take his spot. Unfortunately, TD is really SG in PG body while Rocket really need that backup PG. TD did shoot ball nicely his first 2 season, but of course he was one worst players in NBA last year. Still I agree Rocket are frugal to cut and then sign player they would have pay instead. I would try limit Lin 32-30 mpg considering it's his first coming in as starter. I like see if Royce White can actually play point forward and play 2 SG lamb/martin/defino/TD with in.
Livingston's a PG every time I've seen him play, including when he played against us last year. BTW, was that his best game last season?
Shaun has played PG pretty much his whole career. If somewhat healthy he would be more suited to run the point over Douglas.
I'm worried about the backup PG situation. Last year D'Antoni ran Lin into the ground because the Knicks backup PG was Douglas. And look how that turned out...If Lin goes down then who else is there?
Lots of players underachieved when they played for Knicks. Hell, the whole team underachieved for the last two decades. Judging on how a player played in NY is not a true reflection on his potential or abilities. Give TD a training camp and few games before we pass judgement on him.
