Never been more hype about a player that hasnt done much of anything in the nba. Dude is a knucklehead, if we're counting on him we're screwed.
In what universe is DMO a "knucklehead"? What has he done to merit that distinction? I agree he hasn't accomplished a ton yet but if the guy plays anything like he did last season, he's gonna get PAID. He's a young dynamic big with an elite post game (yes I said elite), who stretches the floor, is an excellent passer out of the post and otherwise, plays above average defense, and runs. His one weakness (and nearly every player in the league has one): rebounding. I think Jones has a lot going for him too, but I think if we were going to call a PF on this team a knucklehead we should probably start there.
J Hard is a very well known Donatas hater, I have him in my ignore list for a long time. Don't bother arguing with him.
While I love D-Mo's post game, his team defense is where we desperately need need him. It's not that D-mo is a super elite defensive player, he's merely good, but the gulf between him and everybody else we could play at the 4 is massive. He is also not afraid to box people out, so when Dwight goes to block shots there won't be forwards getting constant uncontested putbacks. When you throw in his ball movement, and possible floor stretching (still not completely sold on his 3 ball) he would be exactly what we need at the 4.
I don't see us trading for someone with guaranteed salary beyond this year unless that player is a star. While Kieff is a good player, he doesn't guarantee us a championship this year, and his salary could prevent us from landing a big name next year.
Salary would need to match as Rockets have a hard cap. Besides for small contracts that won't affect big name signing, the contracts needed to match extend past this year. Therefore, trading for Kieff would not prevent Rockets from landing a big name.
Has anyone had a back injury like this before? I saw dmo in May and he was walking around fine. I've also seen him recently several times at the club. I realize there is a big difference in walking around and playing, but the guy looked in no pain in May. What takes so long with this injury?
The proposal's I've seen are mostly a bunch of young, cheap guys for Kieff. That is NOT a trade I see us making. Those players are what will give us depth if KD does sign. IF we were to trade for Markieff, it would be sending out Beverley or Brewer with TJones. In any trade proposals, everyone needs to remember that we would need to send out ALL of Ariza, Brewer, and Beverley. Ariza should be easy, but don't be surprised if Brewer and Beverley are a little more difficult.
Rockets are the master of prolonged mystery injuries. Jones last year was supposed to miss only a few weeks, turns out he missed over half the season. D-Mo was supposed to miss only a few weeks last season, isn't back yet for the start of this season. Now, Jones got a cut in his eye and is going to miss an indefinite amount of time.
One thing I've noticed during all our home games is that Dmo is only courtside during the 1st half only. Does his back start aching from the sitting or am I reading too much into that?
Reading too much into that. This is what's really happening (cyberX source) He wants to hit up Mens Club / Treasures before Happy Hour ends & door fee goes up.
I think he either leaves for a rehab session or just moves to the end of the bench where backboard is blocking him from our vision.
That may be the case, but you said that these deals would impact getting a big name. They wouldn't. Guys that have been proposed to go in a MM trade have been Jones and guys that don't get off the bench. Rockets depth would be improved as MM is better than Jones.
I disagree. Shedding Morris, Ariza, Beverley, and Brewer is asking too much. While they may all be on below market or fair deals, unloading so much salary is more difficult than it sounds, and losing young talent in the Morris trade puts us in a difficult spot filling out the bench.
??? If MM's contract has to be shed, guess what...the young guys on contracts traded for him would have to be shed if a trade didn't happen. So basically, you are saying Morris trade doesn't impact Rockets ability to sign a big name, but to save face you are saying other things would. If other things would prevent signing big name, MM trade wouldn't prevent signing a big name.
What I'm saying is that trading 4 guys on mid-level contracts to open up room for Durant would be very difficult, even in a year when the cap is exploding. Trading rookies is easy, but they are more valuable to us as contributors that help us fill out the rotation and stay under the cap. Markieff is making $8 million this year, which means we would need to send out $6.4 million in salary to make a trade happen. That means TJones, KJ McDaniels, and one of Capela, Harrell, or Dekker would have to go without touching our mid-level players. Your roster is down to 12, you are at the apron with no room to add any other players, and you've now added another $1 million in salary commitments to your 2016 roster. IF we were sending out Brewer and TJones, I could see it. That's shedding some salary in 2016, but I'm still leery of having to unload Morris, Ariza, and Beverley to make the numbers work. Mid-level guys are an acquired taste. Rookies and stars are easy to move, but mid-levels have to fit within a specific scheme and team structure. I don't think Ariza would be difficult, and Morris may not be hard either. Beverley could be. But finding homes for all of them in a short period of time....not easy at all.
THIS!!! Add in the fact that he's a legit 7 feet tall and it's pretty easy to see why our defense has fallen off from last year. D-Mo's absence was also why we gave up at least 99 points in every single playoff game except the final one against the Mavs, when they'd already quit (and even then we gave up 94).
