After reading this, what was Morey thinking? Too many holes in his game and he doesn't have the intangible of the drive to succeed overcoming his mental disorder and a huge ego. Even without his current issues, White would take years to develop so the Rox should work out a buyout now rather than later.
The thing about White is that he only have a unique set of skills that would make him successful in certain situation. He is talented but his weakness outweighs his strength. White can only be successful if he has the ball in his hand to make plays but in the NBA, so many teams already have superior play maker. Royce inability to shoot the ball really makes him a big liability and he's an undersized PF, which in the NBA he will get exposed by longer and more athletic Forwards in the league. At the end, White is talented but he's not worth all the off court troubles. White has tons of holes he need to work on but it seems like he's really lazy and doesn't have any type of motivation. He seems like the type of player that settles at where he is right now, believing that he's more than good enough and doesn't have to improve on anything... White skipped out on the most important part of the start of the season, training camp. Every player in the NBA knows training camp will be tough and harsh and coaches will push players to their limit. I think White knows this and found an excuse to not show up to training camp even though the Rockets came all the way to White's house to pick up him... Its like he wants to be the star in the NBA but doesn't want all the hard work and painful growth that comes along with it. When he was playing during the summer league, it was obvious that he's a lazy player to begin with. It seems like he doesn't want to put too much effort into it. His ego is telling him that he's more than good enough. That's why he didn't have any problems at Iowa when he was the star. All this time away from the Rockets, Royce has yet to put in any type of hard work on the court or work on his game while he's away from the Rockets. He has an excuse to skip training camp, and he doesn't show up to practices. Royce could have easily handled his issues while he was at training camp but he chose to hold out as long as possible, when all the hard part of training camp was basically over. Every single Rockets player busted their tail bones in training camp. Training camp is where the coaching staff can learn more about the players they have and see what exactly they capable of. Plus it gets them ready for NBA game shape and work on their condition. When Royce finally joined the Rockets, he only went through a few light training session which is nothing compared to training camp. Now, he's still sitting at home eating Wendy's and have not spent any time in the gym to work on his conditioning and weaknesses or to improve his game.... IMO, any NBA player that have this much time off would at least work on their conditioning and practice their games... Royce thinks everything is cut out for him. I think since White was in High School all the way to Iowa State, everyone was coddling him and let him do whatever he wants and he was the star when he was in HS and Iowa. So he thinks he is a star player in his own mind... But when he came to the pros. reality hits him and he doesn't know how to handle it so he decides to go AWOL and lashes out at the one team that supported and believed in him...
Oden & Roy both cherish the opportunity to play in the NBA that they went through excruciating rehab and conditioning programs in order to have that one opportunity to play again, after potentially career ending injuries...that's how important the game is to them. That's how much they love & respect the game & their fans. Royce White should take a leaf or two out of their books.
The "why didn't the rockets see this coming" question is overrated. You can't predict how someone is going to change over time. They knew he had a disorder that would be a challenge. They knew he wasn't a lock to be on the roster. They knew there was a risk. What they probably didn't see coming was how much of a pain in the ass he'd be. It's the hypocrisy and immaturity they didn't expect or predict. If he would have gone away quietly, the question wouldn't be asked so much.
Those guys work hard and cherish every opportunity that they have. Royce on the other hand, thinks every thing should be handed to him and that he's a star but doesn't want to put any type of hard work or effort into it. You can tell that he easily won't be successful in the NBA based on the type of person he is. If Royce truly love the game, he would do whatever he could to get on the court. But it seems like he's trying to find excuses to avoid any type of hard work that is required. He skipped out on training camp even though he could resolved his issues while he's at camp. This entire time, he's still sitting at home doing absolutely nothing. I doubt he's going to the gym to work on his game to improve on his weaknesses and work on condition.....
I just hope there is no buy out. I hope he doesnt get a penny if he decides to never play. otherwise it would be a huge legal hustle that he got away with. Dude didnt come up with all this until the D-league came up
Based on what we saw this Summer and in the pre-season.... What the hell was Morey thinking? As a basketball player, there is no doubt that the guy does have talent. At 6'8" he has great handles, and can thread the needle. However, against NBA players it was obvious that he was well out of his league in talent and size as a PF. Not big enough to be a big, and not skilled enough to be a wing player. Royce White is a tricky fit on the basketball court. Sort of a worse offensive version of Terrence Williams. Despite his off the court issues, Royce White STILL was not so over whelmingly talented enough to make it worth the Rockets while... If anyone short of a young Lebron James would be.
I have no problem criticizing Maury and he should get some of the blame because he made the final decision in drafting Royce White, but I assign more of the blame here:
