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

Ok, please bear with me. Can we agree that there is no way we can magically transfer dragic into Lin and vice versa? Ok if that were the case Dragic would have had to sign with Rox instead of Suns. It,s all great because we now know that he is ahead of Lin, even I can agree to this. But if he were forced to develop in the Rockets system, with Harden, do you think we would see the same player today? The Suns did a great job and developed him into the player that he is today. Is it possible that he would not be that player if he were a Rocket all along. that is all I am saying, because we know that is what we have with Lin who was developed along with Harden. What we also know is that several other exRockets who developed into different statistically players after leaving the Rox - Lowry, Brooks.

 

You can't possibly know that. At the point that Dragic was up for renewal, there was only 2 ways the Rockets were going to get a Superstar.

1) Cap space. Dragic wouldn't kill you immediately, he could have later down the road depending on how the team filled out.

2) Trade fodder. This is where Dragic's contract DOES kill you. If the other team does NOT want K-mart in a trade, then who would you have had to trade in terms of contracts?

Remember, this is who we had on the books in 2011.

Kevin Martin ($11.52 million), Luis Scola ($8.59 million), Kyle Lowry ($5.75 million), Hasheem Thabeet ($5.13 million), Jonny Flynn ($3.41 million), Jordan Hill ($2.86 million), Terrence Williams ($2.37 million), Courtney Lee ($2.23 million), Goran Dragic ($2.11 million), Patrick Patterson ($1.96 million) and Chase Budinger ($884,293).

Scola, Lowry, Thabeet and Flynn were traded.

So what trade chips did you have left to build a trade package? K-mart and Dragic's new contract (which would have been in the $8M range). After that it's all small salary contracts. That's why the player option was such a sticking point.

3) Dragic is no Manu. Please, that is possibly one of the most ridiculous comparisons possible. Dragic had a streak of games with no previous seasons indicating "break out" performance over his previous 11 seasons in the NBA and Europe. Even last year he was nowhere near "all star" material. Manu was all rookie 2nd team in his first year and was critical in the Spurs' 2002 run to the Finals.

That you would even compare Dragic and Manu is a joke. Dragic's first 3 years in the NBA isn't even in the same stratosphere as Manu's first 3 seasons in the NBA.

Dragic is very good this year, but let's not pretend like he was lighting it up season after season prior to this year. He had his ONE streak in 2011/12. Last year and every season prior to 2011/12 he was nothing special.

 

I hope that Frye and Dragic have fun watching the Rockets in the playoffs :grin:

 

LOL at LOF's taking cheap shots at Dragic for Phoenix missing out on the playoffs.

You do realize they were projected to have between 19 and 25 win by almost all experts and have a top 3 pick.

Fact that they even have 47 wins clearly makes them the uncontested surprise package of the season.

 

It was the right move to let him walk. The team was in a different stage, and Dragic's not even a third star on a contender. Not that he's making that kind of money, but when a consistent, third scoring option is brought in, Dragic's role would drastically decrease.

The bad move was signing Lin. Which was separate, because he was brought in as a gimmick. Wasn't a pure position replacement.

 

LOL, some of the DOFs whine and cry non-stop for two years and make Dragic look like the greatest player Rox ever lost to free-agency. One the other hand, they claim a team with Dragic is supposed to suck and shouldn't win more than 19-25 games a season.

 

He played well for the Rox when he took over the starting role. Anybody who followed the Rox, knew he had that potential. So did Lowry and Brooks. If anything, you can say the Rox gave them their break.

A guy like Dragic can beast on a team with no expectation. Put him on any contender, and it's just a completely different story.

Lowry is the PG we should get back. If he's truly been humbled as he says he has, he could focus more on defense, where he can be a wrecking ball of energy. Imagine he and Bev with no Lin.

 

Back then, I was hoping we could keep Dragic. But we didn't. I was disappointed.

But when people are whining NOW about losing Dragic, they keep looking at THIS season and keep forgetting what Dragic WAS before this season. And if you want to compare him to Lin, compare them 2 years ago. They looked very much on the same level.

So all the whining is from hindsight THIS SEASON. That just shows you that Morey is not perfect in talent judgment.

It's funny that some posters who normally defend Morey to death come out to whine about the Dragic non-signing just because it is indirectly connected to trashing Lin's current state.

I have said it repeatedly. The first mistake Morey made in all this was cutting Lin in favor of Jonny Flynn. No matter how logical that move was at the time, it came back to bite us and set into motion all the Lowry-Dragic-Lin commotions.

 

Did you just start watching the Rockets last season?

Kyle Lowry is about the same player as he was as a Rocket, the same could be said for Brooks (by the way, Brooks is not playing that well). They didn't "develop into different players after leaving the Rockets." They are doing what every Rocket fan knew they are capable of doing.

You are basically implying that Lin's growth is completely halted in this Rockets' system. Did Toney Douglas blow up after leaving the Rockets? Courtney Fortson?

It's far too easy to attribute success and failure of a player solely on the system they are in, and not give credit to their natural abilities as a basketball player. Dragic has had an amazing stretch of games when he played for the Rockets, and everyone back then already knew he had potential. This isn't some "never saw it coming" scenario with Dragic (although his growth is still surprising).

 

The best summary of the discussion.