Yeah. I'm actually a bit pissed. Was hoping Johnson would play well but just barely not enough to avoid being waived on January 7 (I assume his contract is non-guaranteed). I was hoping the Rockets could maybe add Johnson next month (either after a trade or if Brewer gets waived). I really liked what he was doing in RGV.
I honestly thought it was a bit deceptive in that I couldn't really tell what he could do. Much of the points I saw being scored in those RGV games were due to some really crappy defense and sub-par competition. He obviously had athleticism and a decent jumper, but you knew he wasn't as good as his D-League numbers. It's the same reason I'm wary of Troy Daniels. In the D-League, he reminds me of a modern-day Craig Hodges (now there's a blast from the past). I'll be interested to see how Daniels and Covington play now that Johnson and Canaan aren't there. Johnson had a couple of good defensive plays against Harden in the first half tonight. I'm watching it DVR'ed and have only made it to halftime, but it looks like he pretty much did all his damage in the 2nd quarter or at least by halftime.
Covington and Brewer have a lot of work to do in order to convince me it wasn't a mistake to cut one of them and pick this guy up. Right under our freaking noses. He'd do well in our offense too and seems like a willing and athletic defender.
Can't believe Morey let this guy get away. We could have really used Johnson on our bench to back up Parsons, we really lack depth at the wing position. Playing Parsons 44 minutes a game is not an option McHale can keep going to.
IDK if it's just me but Brewer has lost a lot of athleticism, lost some drive to the hoop and his shooting stroke cannot be corrected for time being. Covington is much of a tweener. It's all about D with him. Not worried about his shot.
Brewer is just an expiring contract for trade bait. He didn't look that good in preseason either. Our bench needs more depth. Maybe Morey can pull another D-League or Euro rabbit out of his hat.
DAMN. DAMN. DAMN. This makes me sick. James Johnson is exactly what we need. He's an energetic, tough, athletic, terrific ball-handling point-forward, that can DEFEND the 2, 3 & 4 positions and makes corner three's. Tonight against Dallas in 22 minutes James Johnson went for 14pts, 7rb's, 6asst's, 1steal,1blk, 1-2 3pt, 5-7 from the floor. Sure hope we can land Wilson Chandler, a much more expensive option.
James Johnson reminds me of a taller version of Mike Harris..... Those used to grow on trees but not anymore lately
How did we let this happen? I need some answers ? if we had waived brewer what kind contract could we have signed this man to bimathug ? James Johnson ex RGV, grizzlies swingman, last night 22mins 14points 5/7fg 1/2three 2/2ft 7reb 6assist 1blk 1stl 0to Garcia & casspi combined last night 24mins 3/10fg 1/7three 4reb 0/3ft 4reb 1assist 1blk 1stl 0to
The problem is, almost every player looks good in the D-League. They play no defense, there are very few rim protecting big men, and the offense is high scoring back and forth. So a player averaging 20 pts 8 reb a game is not going to stand out. My guess is, Morey needed to keep Brewer as an expiring contract trade chip until an Asik trade could be made, which it wasn't.
The Rockets still have their Room Exception, but the veteran's minimum would've gotten it done. But... This. Brewer's contract is partially guaranteed and has already passed the base guarantee amount. It can be used to take back an extra $1.8 million or so in salary from another team; and the other team could just waive Brewer with minimal cap impact and without even having to pay him. If Brewer is not waived before January 8, his contract will become fully guaranteed. Hence, there's a good chance that Brewer gets traded or waived by January 7. If not, then at least he'd still be decent filler leading up to the trade deadline. Plus, I'd imagine that he's a pretty good teammate. Still, I'd wager that Morey would prefer the open roster spot after January 10 to use on someone like a James Johnson.
Bima, Care to comment on Garcia and his future here? He signed a cheap deal to stay here. After outperforming last year, he is now somewhat underperforming. I though possibly he agreed to stay here cheap so we could pay him in 14 with his early bird rights. If that is the case, are we stuck with him?
Well, Daniels is a better ballhandler and can get his shot off anytime. If you close out on him, he can dribble drive and is developing a nice game off the bounce.
Way better than Covington - a lot more polished and ready to play in the NBA, IMO. Also right sized, IMO - he looked better than any PF the Rockets have on their current roster.... DD
Yeah, I wish we had James Johnson to throw at Durant last night. We could have at least injured KD to slow him down.
