New Article - The Curious Case of Daryl Morey’s Point Guards

Ridiculous article that's nothing more than red meat for LOFs. This is the 2nd article I've seen linked by this author and he's clearly trolling for site hits.

 

that's what everyone does when it comes to Lin, negative or positive.

 

Sad, sad, sad. It's poisonous.

 

Holy sweet baby Jesus. Chris Baldwin, come to cf and your head will come off.

 

I think part of the reason D Morey flips his point guards so much is simply cost savings as well. If you look at the pattern the cheaper point guard replaces the more expensive one.

Brooks replaces Alston. Lowery replaces Brooks. Dragic replaces Lowery. Lin replaces Dragic. Beverly replaces Lin.

The big difference here is that Lin isn't tradeable and actually has value off the bench. So I am not sure he gets moved - he's always going to be seen as overpriced and a massive cap hit.

I think Morey didn't make the decision to start Bev, I think that came from McHale. And I do think the Rockets are taking a wait and see approach to things with the goal now of maximizing wins. If they can move Lin for more wins - they will do it. But until then, I expect Lin to be the 6th man.

 

your logic has a hole. do you mean all those replaced PGs don't have value off the bench?

 

The article would be good for those who do not know recent Rockets history. But no Rockets fan, except some LOFs, would find it insightful.

Except for Harden and Howard, no one on the roster is here to stay for a long time. Bev and Parsons would be gone as quick as everyone else.

Morey does not seek to invest in PG in the long term so Bev will be gone in a year or two. With 6 different starting PGs (Alston, Brooks, Lowry, Dragic, Lin, Beverley) in a matter of 7 years (2006~2013), it is hard to see that trend will stop with Beverley when he is no more talented than his predecessors. Particularly with Beverley's aggressive style of play, the whole league is probably going after him in this season; it would be hard for him to stay healthy. Adding that to Morey doing his job as usual, Beverley will be gone within two years.

Morey will not pay Parsons, so Parsons will be gone just as fast. It is no secret that Parsons wants to get paid as he repeatedly asked for pay raise last season. With his pretty face, aggressive marketing strategy, and serviceable game, Parsons will be very expensive when he hits the market. And Morey is not going to pay him much knowing full well that Parsons' success is there mostly because of Rockets' system. Parsons, like any normal man, would look for greener grass and be gone like every one else.

P.S.: The PG position has lots of wear and tear and Morey can always pull one quality young PG out of thin air. There is really not much reason to have long term investment in that position.

While Casspi is a PF, he can very well be the replacement for Parsons at SF. He just needs to improve his defense and consistency in 3-pt shooting.

 

It's a good article but a couple of points. Brooks and Lowry lost their positions due to injury and in Brooks' case it did seem to affect his play. While coaches often say that players don't lose their positions to injury that happens a lot. Sometimes a backup just comes in and shows he can play as well or better than the starter and the decision is made to go with the back up.

Another point is that the Rockets have a long history of instability at the Point Guard position. Really not since Francis have the Rockets had a franchise point guard and even then when given the chance they moved him. Prior to Francis there wasn't a franchise point guard except for Kenny Smith who shared a lot of time with first Scott Brooks and then Sam Cassell. Prior to Kenny Smith there wasn't a franchise point guard since Calvin Murphy. As far as the Rockets are concerned Morey and point guards isn't a curious case but more the norm.

 

The PGs we developed were all undervalued by the league--Brooks, Lowry, Dragic, Lin (compared to the contract we gave him).

They are not All-Star guards, they had a flaw or two. Thus their back-up have proven to be competent as well. Only Dragic spurned us. AB's game and attitude soured after Manu injured him. Lowry in his last year produced near All-Star numbers but clashed with McHale. Eventually the TOR pick we got for him was crucial to get Harden.

Once we get the perfect fit to Harden and Howard or get an All-Star guard, then we will stop churning them out.

Sorry, when success is defined by championships, there is no room for sentimentality.

 

The problem with Lowry and Brooks is that they were never the same player the season they came back from injury. Brooks lost his shooting stroke and Lowry never regained his explosiveness.

 

We needed to keep enough cap room to be able to make a trade or sign a free agent for a star. We have the stars now, so how you manage cap space is different.

 

ok, reasonable argument.

 

Thanks for this article. I really do think Lin will be traded. Morey seems to be the kind of GM that trades well in terms of getting most for value, and if Lin has a 'breakout' year then his value will be increased. They can keep Bev as the starter because he is cheaper and have Brooks for backup. Asik is tradelable as well. Morey already mentioned he still is planning for another move - so I really can't see Lin as part of their long term plan.

The question is - where in the NBA could Lin possibly go?

 

Great article. I loved Lowry and Dragic the most. I also love Lin's attitude and would still like to see him succeed with the Rockets though.

 

Probably only Lakers on the West....and one or two teams in the East might take him. If he improves, I can seriously see Lin in either La or NY after his contract is up.

 

In this instance the ancillary player is not so clear cut between Parsons and Lin. The offense just does not run as smoothly, gets sticky using McHale's word, whenever Lin is not on the floor for long stretches.

Thanks to OP for the links, very nice site.

 

That guy is a douche with an obvious agenda. You should disregard his articles.

 

After reading the title, I thought I would have come across something like this:

 

Comment on that post:

"Chris, this is your best Lin story yet. Great job! It was written with integrity, truth and unbiased eyes."

Of course from a person whose profile pic is a collage of Lin pics.