[Source] Rockets expect to keep Omer Asik for the rest of the season

hmm..seems Boston is the way to go...then re-sign Camby again..

 

Might be a bit of a stretch to say that he was targeting free agents or cap space in 2015(even though its possible that there was some high-level planning) when the 2012 team was currently gutted and looking to make moves ASAP for a star player, but I see your point.

I remember Morey taking an interview shortly after where he essentially said that the player options on final years of contracts almost always work out negatively for the team in the end of all deals that size.

I think the player option vs. team option just signaled to Dragic and his team that if we sign you, we want full abilities to trade you, and that's why he went with Phoenix's offer instead. I dont begrudge Dragic at all for not taking the deal... If you are an NBA player, knowing you are much less likely to be traded is worth going to Phoenix over a slightly better destination in Houston where you could be dealt to the Bobcats or the Kings at any point in time in a trade.

I think the Dragic deal was simply about Player options = Bad for trades Vs. Team Options good for trades.

 

I agree with most of what dobro is saying. But I disagree with his assesment of Lin's signing and the handling of Asik's situation a bit.

Firstly, if signing Lin was mostly for $$$ then that's definitely on the GM for not making the best basketball decision (which was to re-sign Dragic). The signing had more to do with the hype Lin brought from NY than pure basketball. Not to say Lin can't play, but he's not worth that contract. Has he improved? Slightly. But he's still a turnover machine. In the open court he's effective, but he's basically useless when the defense is set. Bottomline, you can't trust Jeremy Lin down the stretch due to his sloppy ball handling. The same problem he had in NY. It was a gamble that Morey should've back away from. He should've let NY keep Lin and signed Dragic.

Secondly, the Asik situation has been complete disaster. A player ASKED to be traded this offseason but you convinced him to stay. Only to have him request for a trade AGAIN during the season. You can place blame elsewhere if you choose, but this falls strictly on Daryl Morey. Not only hasn't he got rid of Asik, but apparently he's making demands (2 1st round picks) and setting his own deadlines through the media. How about keeping everything low key? How about not convincing you're disgruntled center to stay and not making him any promises you can't keep?








I like Morey, he's done a great job. But these two things are his mistakes that he'll need to fix

 

Not sure why you disagree with what I said because it was pretty much the exact same thing. Dragic was and still is the better player of the two... thats a fact and thats on Morey.

However you cannot just throw out the contract situation with the final year. Its an important part of the deal both then (rebuilding in 2012 with the need to stay flexible) and now (2015 free agency flexibility).

All I'm saying is IF Morey is lucky enough to strike gold in free agency in 2015 (LMA, Love, etc.) than we will be thanking our lucky stars that Morey went with Lin instead of Dragic because Dragic might not be able to be moved in that final year, and Lin will be off the books in time for the free agency frenzy.

Did Morey make a poor basketball decision by choosing Lin over Dragic... yes. Can you say it was the wrong move long term for the organization.... no.... at least not yet.

Nobody convinced Asik of anything. They TOLD HIM they were not trading him. There is not convincing needed. He asked out, and they said no. The reasons they said no, while we can speculate, we will never know for sure.

However, as I've said before and I'll say again... IF THE DEALS WERE THAT BAD (franchise crippling financially) IN DECEMBER (when the market in theory should have been better), I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW TERRIBLE THEY WERE BACK IN JULY.

I'm all for trading Asik ASAP as I'm sure Morey is too, but not at the cost of crippling the team financially moving forward with a horrible deal. Again, if you see a report of a deal that Morey turned down that is MUCH BETTER than the Bass/Lee/late 1st rounder deal than I would agree to your point that he is making a mistake here by not moving him, but we cannot prove that and must assume by reports that pretty much every offer they have gotten has sucked A#$.

Did Morey botch the Asik situation.... maybe, but only if we KNOW FOR SURE that there was a deal he didn't do to move him. If there was only deals as bad as the Bass/Lee deal than Morey is making the right move by sitting on Asik even at the cost of the cap space this year and next and his reputation for trying new ways to auction him publicly, etc. even when they dont work.

 

I wonder if the "Rockets expect to keep Omer Asik for the rest of the season" really means the "Rockets do not expect Omer Asik to pass a trade physical for the rest of the season"?

 

Bingo, spot on.

 

I could definitely see this as being part of it.

 

I was wondering this as well.

 

Until Lin comes off the books, we can only call it as we see it. As of NOW, the Lin signing was a risk that did not pan out the way many assumed it would.

No. He requested a trade due to the fact he did not want to be a back up again. Then the Rockets PROMISED him a starting job, which is what lead to the abysmal TT experiment. Once that failed, he went back to the bench and asked for another trade.

He did botch it. First off, he overvalued Asik's worth. Secondly, he went to the media and announced a deadline as if he had leverage in this situation. Anytime a player requests for a trade it puts the onus on YOU to get rid of him. By announcing a deadline publicly, your only putting more pressure on the organization to get something done. Then when nothing happens, Asik comes back to the team not wanting to play even more.

The whole situation was mishandled. Hopefully we can get rid of him quietly before February

 

Has this quote from Wexler's article already been posted?

http://www.csnhouston.com/basketbal...nsure-return-knee-injury?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo

 

Wait what? Can you explain to me, why as of now, the Lin signing did not pan out? I think it did...

And wow, Rockets management PROMISED Asik a starting job when he wanted out in the summer? Whoah, you're privy to these conversations?! Dude, let's be friends -- I want to meet Daryl Morey.

Finally, how did Morey overvalue Asik's worth? It's about what other teams are willing to pay at a given time. The offers were not good enough so instead of a trigger-happy bad GM that most other teams have, Morey sat on it. I bet other GMs in similar situations would have done the Boston deal /shudder. When Asik is already whining (through his agent) that publicly about being moved, you've already lost that leverage. The only thing Morey botched was he underestimated how much of a pansy Asik would be if he had his starting role taken away. Mind you, there are a lot of players who say they want out or are disgruntled but turn that frown upside down once their team starts WINNING (ex: see Aldridge from before this summer to now). If the summer market for Asik was weak, as it logically would be at that time, coupled w/ this belief that Asik would at least play, even if unhappy (until moved)...I just can't see how Morey didn't make the right decision here, unless he could see the future of course.

 

I'm not sure I understand what the Rockets were "Risking".... that they would acquire two superstars in less than 14 months???... thats a pretty nice risk if you ask me. Had the Rockets not acquired Harden and Howard, the roster would be Lin, Asik, Parsons, and 12 guys on rookie contracts... They would have NEEDED Lin & Asik's salary to avoid the minimum penalties.

There was only risk if you considered the Rockets a contending team with 2 superstars needing supporting players.... Its funny how you judge everything in a vacuum and fail to even consider circumstance ever in your arguments.

Still.... you are arguing at NOTHING here, because I agreed with you to begin with that Dragic was and is the better player. You arguing with a wall dude, but still failing to understand WHY things happened at the time.... anyways moving on.

The Rockets never PROMISED him anything. They tried to play their best 5 players on the court at the same time and it didn't work. Asik's stance never changed...even in the small interview he did he kind of strugged his shoulders and said...."We'll see"..... Obviously he never thought it was a foregone conclusion.

Asik in on a contract with the Houston Rockets to play basketball, and get paid for it. Not sure what the argument is here.... There are no guarantees with playing time....ever in professional sports. The Rockets were "Trying" to trade him the entire time... even during the TT experiment... they were just trying via a different method... which is to increase value by playing him as many minutes as they can. Ever heard the saying "If you dont use it you lose it".... well with basketball player value, I would assume the saying rings true as well.

He tried something new to create a buying center for Asik. Obviously it didn't work, but the point is obviously Morey was desperately trying to trade him as you so desire.

If Morey was having to go through extreme measures to try and trade Omer what does that tell you about Omer's value across the league and what kind of offers they had for him traditionally???? Do you think Morey was dumb enough to hang up the phone every time a team called about Omer???

You are failing to realize here that OMER ASIK IS VERY, VERY DIFFICULT TO TRADE... you can't just snap your fingers and trade a player with such a limited market on such an insane contract that owners are scared sh$%less about.

I'm not making excuses for the guy, but I am living in a world of reality where I realize the difficulty in the most basic form of business when bartering with a multi-million dollar product with virtually no market(few teams need a starting center), limited use(bad offensive game), product deficiencies(health & attitude issues), and a high price tag.

Some fans need to pull their heads out of the arses and realize that you can't just snap your fingers and make a trade out of thin air... it just doesn't work like that in any industry, market, sports league, or whatever.