I actually thought that Carl Landry played fairly well in Las Vegas this summer. He scored when open (I believe his FG% was very high) while not dominating the ball. He was very good setting screens, which is a large part of what he'd be asked to do on the Rockets. Also, he was forced to play a majority of his minutes at center due to the Rockets' lack of anyone (other than Kavlauskas) who could play big. On the Rockets, he will not be asked to play much center. That being said, I would like to see Landry look for a one-year deal in Europe rather than to risk not making the Rockets' roster next year. He is in the unfortunate position of not having a guaranteed contract on a team with way too many of them. If all 20 players (the 17 fully guaranteed deals, Harris, Deke and Landry) were all on equal footing contract-wise, and the decision was totally a basketball one, I firmly believe that Morey and the Rockets would have Landry on the team. As Landry's agent said, the team paid a MILLION freakin' dollars for the pick (let alone the future pick). The team believes in Landry. They just don't have a place for him THIS YEAR. Carl, if you're reading this, PLEASE see the long term picture. You can hone your game in Spain or Italy or Greece next year, picking up some additional tricks of the trade. Then, next year, when the Rockets have cleared several roster spots, you can come back and compete with Scola and Hayes for a spot in the PF rotation. The team obviously sees something good in you. Also, if you have a good year abroad, you might be able to get the Rockets to pony up more than the NBA minimum for you (a la Spanoulis or Scola). That being said, I sure would like to see the team trade some of our "excess" contracts in exchange for future picks or a trade exception in order to make room for Landry. But I just don't see a team taking on Rafer and/or Reed (both of whom have multiple years remaining on their deals) without having to take back some other team's "trash".
It's either that or we trim the roster to make room for him. Not likely though. Too many good players.
nice move morey... stock piling assets. landry doesn't really have a choice does he? other than playing overseas? might as well keep him around as insurance... until the trading deadline when they REALLY package their dead weight contracts for MORE HELP.
I don't know the answer as to if, and if yes, how much of the min tender has to be guarantted. Is it per day or some % of a 1 year min deal? We agree Landry is in a tough spot. He can earn a small check (how small who knows) and probably get cut when teams are not looking to add players. But then again, he was the 31 pick, he might be confident he can get picked up. Best choice for the Rockets is he signs in Europe with a lot more guarantted for what he can get here (he probably can if he wants to move overseas). Next best option is the trade him and salave some kind of second (most likely not a 31). Thirds best option for the Rockets is to have him in camp for the tender, with the likely consequence of him getting cut and being an URFA.
Landry seemed like a nice little pick. He was drafted for being the best player available. But, if he isn't the best of the 15 players on the Roster, that defeats the purpose for drafting him. Unless he is willing to play elsewhere while the Rockets keep his rights. I'm still in shock that Morey hasn't been able to move any of the guaranteed contracts. Wowwww, there are already a surplus of guaranteed contracts
indiana traded two future second rounders for james white's draft rights (31st pick) but they waived him before the season began. the gave him a guaranteed contract. so, it's not impossible that landry will be cut. imo rockets should stay firm.
I extreamly agree with you in this part. I am wondering how many people who labled Landry "sucks" had watch A single game he played.
I really think we're on a wait-and-see approach with Landry. It's not that Morey doesn't want to sign him but rather a question of can he sign him? The problem is pretty obvious: too many players, not enough roster spots. Why sign a guy now when you already have 17 guaranteed contracts? After some cuts and a trade or two this will all make sense. Why hang onto Sura's dead deal unless we planned on making a trade? Sura has absolutely no value otherwise.
What? The man missed out on being drafted in the 1st round by one position. Who in their right mind writes off a first round draft pick (with no injury or personal problems) before he's even stepped onto an NBA court?
With all the acquisitions of this offseason, is anyone really gonna question what Morey does in this situation? ...not me, whatever Morey decides, I'm good with!
Draft order is subjective. The fact is that our team, the Rockets, took Landry at 31st. But can his agent prove that Landry is actually just 1 pick away from the first round ability wise? No. From what I've gathered, it seems like the consensus is that none of the other teams would have even looked at Landry that high up. Had the Rockets not taken him, Landry would've probably gone in the mid-late 30s, closer to nbadraft.net's listing. The onus has always been on Landry to prove that his worth, and so far, he hasn't. What he's proved is that he has some NBA skills - hustling and having a decent scoring touch while being undersized for instance. But even then, it's been sporadic. Heck, it doesn't bode well when undrafted Mike Harris comes in during Summer League and outshines you as the "1st pick of the second round". Landry nor his agent isn't really in a position to complain. You can argue it's about parity with the other 2nd-rounders, but our roster is DEEP now, and Landry, so far, has proved to be a dud. Let's see if the Rockets keep him and if he pans out. I do think he'll be able to contribute sometime down the line, but definitely not now.
the bucks said they'll pick landry if hes in their 50 somethin pick. he should be thankful, hes with a good team. i disagree about if we didn't pick him, some other team would pick him right away. cause, there was big baby, josh, and other pfs right after this. i actualy feel bad about this pick cause landry costed us next years pick.
A lot of us here watched the summer league games. I believe that is why the feelings against Landry are so strong. Because they saw him in summer league and ended up getting Scola. If they had to do it all over again, the Rockets would not have bought the pick and drafted Landry. But, fortunately for the team, Landry is a 2nd round pick and they can play hardball.
Landry had a decent summer league, not exceptional, but better than some first rounders. In any case, his position has more to do with the subsequent addition of so many players the Rocket were not expectec to add, particularly bigs Butler and Scola than his own play.
How can my notions be idiotic if you look at the results? Unfortunately, I am not a stat rat. I don't have time to trace all the 3-point shooters and their percentages before, during and after joining the Rockets. However, apparently neither do you. I have given you concrete examples and you give me some "pathetic" air. We put up a lot of treys but they rarely fell when it counted. Under JVG we were a prolific three-point shooting team but not necessarily an effective one. I believe this will change under Adelman -- very similar to the way the Dallas Cowboys have responded to Wade Phillips as opposed to the Big Tuna.
