I've lurked here on clutch fans for around 18 years and never thought I would post a thread. I never saw the need as you guys always have always kept me thoroughly entertained. The summer time boredom has set in so I thought I give it a go. Our current salary cap situation has me a bit concerned. With CP's contract and Clint's signing, it seems as though we will operating over the cap for at least the next few years if we want to maximize this window of opportunity that we are currently in. Imho we have 4 true project players: Hartenstein Chee MCW Bruno We have several players on short term deals, so if any of these guys can develop and even become SOLID rotation players, that would be a huge win and could save the team even more money in the future. With the age and injury history of some of most important players, one of these guys may be asked to get impact minutes this year. Let's say we lose both PJ and CP for a stretch. GG and Ryno i guess but then who comes off our bench that we can trust? Most of you don't even "trust" Ryno in that scenario. Maybe Melton, but is he ready? Needless to say it would be nice if any of these could eventually crack our top nine but who? I personally think it could be Chee, but I'm also rooting for Bruno. If the rockets start can turn MCW into a plus rotation player I'd be pleasantly surprised. Maybe none of these guys will pan out but one can hope. Just wanted you guys opinions on a matter that doesn't involve you know who
aww, man, if you had mentioned you know who this could have been today's you-know-who thread!! so disappoint /jk just kidding. nice post!!
I suspect that Hartenstein will take a limited number of minutes, or at least he’ll have the chance to earn them. I’m not sold that Qi is ready. It’s an endurance/consistency thing. MCW might play if people are hurt.
While some of the 4 u named might get more minutes, I think Melton is the focus of future minutes. Him and Hartenstein are the two I see still on the roster passed this year
None of those guys are ready. MCW has been around awhile and has regressed. Wouldn't get my hopes up. He is better than Aaron Jackson though. Maybe MDA can get something out of the other 3 guys though. Id rather they play a lot in the RGV than get garbage minutes here.
D’antoni can probably get some decent rotation minutes out of MCW or Bruno. I think Chee and IH are still just too raw, experienced opponents would feast on them. I do like Zhou Qi’s potential though. But yeah I could totally see MCW having an ok stretch in the regular season but non-existent if it was a playoff situation. Random thought: Luther Head. He use to have a lot of stretches where he appears to be a decent rotational player. Solid off the bench scorer. I don’t think he had a single playoff appearance where he wasn’t god awful.
Just checked it. In 2006-07 he averaged 11 points off the bench in the regular season on roughly 44% shooting from both the field and three point line. Playoffs....30% and 26% for 4 points a game. He literally just couldn’t handle any pressure.
There is not a “star” amongst them so why the RGV where said player is the most talented player and the offense or defense is changing because they are on the court. Let them grub and grow playing off the all stars like they will for the rest of their career. Let them develop in their role playing their role with the coach and players. Our goal should be to develop our players quickly because they play a lot of “garbage” time because we are blowing out other teams. Let coach see, experience then grow to trust them. This will never happen if they are not on the team. PLUS I hope the years of the Trevor Ariza of the world logging crazy minutes are gone. Please develop and protect team with “garbage” time.
This may be true. Some have suggested that we plan to use him as a defensive wing who can also play make. Isn't that sort of a project? I think trying to get any kind of efficient offensive production out of him is a project alone. They signed him for some odd reason. I just hope they have a plan that works out.
MCW is 26 years-old and already on the downside of his career. When I think of a project, it's someone that can improve enough to become a key rotation player. MCW doesn't have that kind of upside. He's what you would call a "he is what he is" player. There are reasons he's been on 4 teams in his 6 years.
MCW is beyond a project. This is an intervention. This is straight rehab. And if it doesn’t go well very much could be his retirement home. He will join the ranks of Bobby Brown.
Morey seems to treat part of the NBA roster allocation as gardening space for low-cost experiments. Makes sense to me.
I see Melton as a project too, but more likely a short-term project, and quite possibly able to contribute off the bench later in the season. The others are still 2 years away from being 2 years away.
I think J Cheese, Caboclo and Melton are all going to pan out and be our starters/rotation in a few years. One out of these three will be an all-star. Hartenstein and others Vipers players are just just going to be "Nanu's": if we make cash out of them it is better than expected.
I like the idea of Zhou "The Octopus" Xi and "DeQuick" DeAnthony Melton making it. If Xi can make himself bearable everywhere else on the court, his arms would be welcome on defense. Melton is lightning quick and his disruptive defense could put a jolt in the team at moments. We need occasional defenders that can play in big moments. Like Xi would be perfect to guard in a last second play where they need a three and we need long arms. DeAnthony could help take a hot player out of their rhythm by picking them up for all 94 feet. To me the others don't have the tools yet. Meaning Bruno and Hartenstein because they're both too slow in my opinion to play a role. MCW is a proven NBA player, but he needs to work on himself. He's no project, he just needs to put in the work on his own game and get his career going again before he finds himself on the way out.
I think Clark can contribute within a year as well. Melton perhaps a bit quicker. I hope TF/DM will sign him soon.
