It appears to me that Houston is starting Patrick Patterson and giving him plenty of minutes so as to maximize his trade value, as the decision was made before the season started that Patterson is not the long term solution as the starting PF and that it's best to get something for him via trade. It also seems fairly obvious that Daryl Morey seeks to package together one or two players on rookie contracts with some of these expiring contracts (and possibly one or two draft picks) in exchange for a star PF. Probably Paul Millsap, but that's just my best guess. Although the Rockets can't pull off such a trade for a while, as many of the players most likely to get dealt are ineligible to be traded at the moment. My projected January/February trade: To HOU: Paul Millsap; DeMarre Carroll (filler) To UTA: Patrick Patterson; either Marcus Morris or Terrence Jones; Daequan Cook (expiring contract); maybe a first round pick Revised HOU roster: Starting lineup PG Jeremy Lin SG James Harden SF Chandler Parsons PF Paul Millsap (signed to an extension following the trade) C Omer Asik Key reserves: Carlos Delfino, either Marcus Morris or Terrence Jones, Toney Douglas, Greg Smith End of the bench (little or no PT): Royce White, Cole Aldrich, DeMarre Carroll Stashed in the developmental league: Donatas Motiejunas, Scott Machado And the Rockets' rotation in 2013-14 would look pretty much the same. You'd simply be replacing Douglas with Machado, possibly Smith with Motiejunas, and hopefully Delfino (whose 2013-14 option will, in this scenario, be declined) with White, and letting Douglas, Aldrich, Delfino (probably), and Carroll all walk. Or maybe Delfino is viewed as excellent bang for your buck at $3 mil and Houston keeps the guy, although I have a hard time justifying this move if White looks like he's ready to be a rotation guy.
I would be thrilled with this, except I absolutely want to keep Smith. How can Smith get more PT instead of Patterson? Other than making an occasional 15-footer (and I think this is something Smith could probably do), I can't see any reason that Patterson is playing over Smith.
I don't know how much of it was Brow being really passive on the offensive end and how much of it was Patterson taking him out of plays, but Anthony Davis was held to single digits. It's something that's never before happened when he gets full minutes. That must count for something! I'm prepared to give the credit to Patterson? I guess?
He has shown glimpses of improvement in the paint but he doesn't work down there consistently. Rebounding has been mediocre at best. Kind of disappointing over all. Had a heck of a game against Mimi though.
Patterson is essentially a larger, well rounded but softer Chuck Hayes. He defense is good most of the time and he has better offense, but despite his size, he doesn't really go up for rebounds and at times makes errors of judgement that hurt the team. However, there is no guarantee this can't be corrected. This is his 3rd year, he may develop out of these early tendencies but time will have to tell and due to the make of the roster, he may not do it here.
i would trade any player who sets lazy slow screens or outright rejects a request to set one....forget about the soft issue
Agreed, I wish the Roxx could have a young version of Amare or simply a young Amare without health issues.
Oh man, a bit of a detour, but imagine Chuckwagon back on the Rockets alongside Asik? That would be the best defensive frontcourt in the league, no question. That's arguably better than even Howard / Gasol, depending on how good a defender you feel Pau Gasol is--not a very good one, as far as I'm concerned.
What kind of argument is that? Patterson doesn't play like Hayes at all. Patterson plays more like Horace Grant more than anyone else I can think of.
He is not soft he is probably our best post defender. He is very inconsistent and his jump shot is shaky. Do I like him as a starting 4? No I am still on Mr. Jones's band wagon Im telling you this kid is special and is the one upper to P Pat!
Patterson's complete aversion to contact in the paint is going to doom his career. From what I have seen, I honestly believe Terrence Jones can be our stud PF of the future. Wish he could see some more PT.
Scola is not soft at all. If scola have Ppat's athleticism ability, he will use it for sure. And here, we are talking about the player who has the ability but not using them properly=SOft.
When I said he's a backseat type of player his rookie year,that's pretty much what I meant. He doesn't have any special traits at all. He's not oversized for his position,he's not explosive for hisposition either. He's just a solid guy. The guy posted the youtube vid with him running on a break and dunking the ball,but that's a regular nba play to me. How many times have we seen him get a rebound in traffic,and go up and dunk the ball? I can't remember him doing it. I've seen guys like landry nd brandon bass do it a lot. Randlph doesn't do it either,but he has extremely long arms and get off the floor very quickly. Patterson will have a long,solid career in the nba because he plays hard and is serviceable, that's it.
Patrick has clearly failed to get the job done to this point. If he doesn't turn around soon, other players need to get an opportunity.
