It's known that you get diminishing returns with higher salaries. Nonetheless, players that can actually make their salary worth it at that level are still rare commodities. Long story short, you can't pay anybody in the NBA to give to us what Dwight gave us in the playoffs last year. It's just really hard to find that level of production. So give him a shot--the level he can approach playing far exceeds any other option out there. He'll come around, because he's done it before.
I will be the better man and abstain. It is clear that you are mocking my position. Keep this in the other thread; let this thread be.
What the hell? Are you paranoid? I wasn't talking about you, I don't even know who you are. Apparently you've been referring to people as haters if so you are not the only one. Get over yourself.
Does Dwight's contract come off the books when it is time to go after Durant to join up with Harden? If memory serves me right (too lazy to look it up) that would be a good return on Dwight.
FIFY. Interesting conversation, is he earning his money? Probably not when you consider time missed and his inefficiency on both ends due to his knees. The real question is will his knee get better? Because if the answer is no, then we are probably stuck with another situation like Yao, and as a fan that would be very disappointing. I would think Dwight is untradeable atm, and our only real hope is he can recover. DD
I think it's too early to know if the Rockets are getting a good return on their investment in Howard. The good thing is Howard isn't the engine that makes the Rocket runs... At this point the team just needs him to rub some dirt on his vagina and get back out there because the team is better with him.
Just a hunch. If the Thunder does not win it all in the next 2 years, including this one, he is getting the hell out of OKC, not really a wild speculation. Possible destinations are either Houston to join with his superstar friend or Washington, his hometown and home of one of his football passion: the Washington Redskins. Dude is often seen at the sidelines with Daniel Snyder. It would a tantalizing experience as Rockets fans to have both of these guys playing for us in the prime of their careers. Morey is super smart and I am sure he is planning his moves with a Durant to Houston possibility.
I knew before bringing in Dwight that we probably wouldn't get an ideal ROI because of his health issues and the fact that he's never been efficient on offense. I thought the best reason to bringing him in is for marketing to free agents. On the surface, having 2 stars I thought would help Morey get star #3. Howard's ROI would've been amazing if we could've landed Bosh. Instead... hope for LMA/KD?
i think we should all calm down and wait until we have a full squad on the court. This is something we haven't had since Dwight came here
It will be very nice if Harden will earn MVP award for regular season, and for D12 still there's chance to earn MVP playoffs award, that's why we invest in people like Howard, and it's call returns of investment. If beast will rise the paybacks will be the rings.
he is clearly playing hurt and still avg 16 and 11... obviously a guy making 21 mil should post better numbers, but what he brings on the defensive end is where we are getting our return on our investment.... he's not blocking shots like he once did but he alters so many shots at the rim and grabs so many defensive boards which is one of the small problems we have (20th in the NBA)... after watching last years playoffs, I know he will come out and dominate whoever we play... so the answer is a big YES
Whatever ROI he's lacking in basketball value, he's more than likely making it back in merchandising, ticket sales and national attention. I doubt Les lies awake at night worrying about it. From a basketball perspective only, we should still count ourselves lucky. Amar'e Stoudemire still exists. Carlos Boozer and Rudy Gay also get paid more than Harden. Detroit pays Josh Smith more to play for Houston than Houston pays Harden to play for Houston. What I'm saying is, using Harden as a reference point is totally useless. If you just look at the league's 30 biggest contracts, even an injured Howard is probably at worst the 15th best on-court contributor on that list. We all hope for more, but let the execs worry about the $, let's spend our time on Clutchfans worrying about the wins.
There is a difference between having plenty of stars to chose from and in the end selecting Dwight AND Dwight being the only one on the market at the time and also someone that wanted to play for us. That money was going to be spent one was or the other. Dwight was the best option available at the time. The team is going to be better with Dwight rather than without him. I was never a big fan of Dwight, but signing him when the opportunity presented itself was a no brainier. That being said, I have been aware of Dwight's limitations long before he joined the Rockets and I am still not convinced he can play the part that Rockets are forcing him to play....just as the teams before him forced him to play. The day that the Rockets and, more importantly, Dwight himself accept the limitations to his game, is the day that the Rockets will take the next step as a team.
Is it really though? Didn't Morey say the most efficient contracts in the league where rookie contracts and max salaries? Obviously if you mean mathematically then yeah there are guys getting paid $10M grabbing 10 boards per game. Paying Dwight $20M isn't going to make him average 20 rebounds. But since you can only have 5 guys on the floor Dwight should win his matchup at least at twice the rate of a $10M per year guy.
The only time Howard has consistently played like a max player was during the Portland series. While I definitely expect a max player to perform that way in the playoffs, I think they should earn their money all year long and then kick it up to even a higher level come the playoffs, like Hakeem regularly did. I do not like watching Dwight coast at his salary.
