Of course they are - I see things way before most mortal fans like yourself. Which is why sometimes people have a hard time understanding what I see, because it is so much more detailed than their puny minds - like yours - can handle. DD PS. Having fun, because Jones has been an outright PRAT to me lately - so he deserves whatever crap he gets.
Agreed as long as they are trying to win games and give themselves a shot in the playoffs. Fans here (or anti-fans as I call them) might have already given up but that doesn't mean Morey, Les, and the team itself has. If all of them want to give themselves a shot at it, its their right to do so. People are stuck back in 2012 asset collection mode and thinking that's the only way Morey works. But they completely leave out the part last year where he gave up FOUR draft picks for two players on expiring contracts.... hell one of them they made give up his player option to make him expiring and still have up two picks for him. If the Rockets had a need at PF (lets say Harrell is stinking it up, and D-Mo & Capela are hurt for this exercise), and a player of Jones' caliber... or lets just say PF X who averages 10PPG, 6 RPG, semi starter quality PF... warts and all was available as a rental for lets say a couple second rounders, I guarantee you everyone here would say that's a great deal. The fact that its Jones that everyone knows and thinks we are going to lose for nothing just makes everyone lose their mind.
That's the crux of the issue. Not all production is the same. DMo can create opportunities for himself while Jones relies on others creating opportunities for him. That's why DMo is the far superior player.
A,B all ok. But just to add that same as you say Suns should be paying us to take on Morris we should be paying teams to take on Brew. And don't listen to Bobby and bballholic Jones doesn't have the value of a second rounder. He has of a late 1st rounder for some specific teams. (the price needed to get paid to get rid of Brew). If Toronto gave us their first top 20 protected would you do the deal? (The protections remain the same for two years and then to 2 seconds).
Morey won't trade T Jones just for the sake of making a trade. Jones actually does have decent asset value, despite what many on this board think. If Morey can find a deal where Jones goes out in return for a player of similar caliber but a better fit, I think he definitely makes that move.
The problem is that with both Jones and DMo having their contracts up, he has to choose which one to pay, and outside of Brewer (Still a headscratcher) Morey has chosen not to pay for mediocrity. Parsons, Patterson are two examples etc... So, will he choose TJones the more athletic guy who can handle the rock, pass it well off the dribble and block a few shots. or. Dmo - a go to scorer, who plays great team defense, passes well, and is over 7' tall. To me, players like Jones are easier to find, 7' left handed, quick as a cat, skilled offensive bigs, that are also a plus team defender are harder to find - which is why I believe he will pay DMO and trade Jones. DD
I agree with that completely, but Jones has improved his 3 point shot and he does look awesome in transition. DMo is still the "far superior player" as you said, but if Jones could play like he did last night on a consistent basis and in the playoffs, the "far superior" label wouldn't be accurate anymore.
So when Jones misses a defensive assignment and allows an uncontested layup off an inbounds pass, "basketball is not a 1 possession sport." But when Jones blocked the dunk attempt near the end of the game, it was "Terrence Jone's defense that won the game"? Jus' saying.
Jones has shot very well from the 3pt line so far this season, but let's see how long he can sustain it. His shooting motion has some major flaws (slow release & way too much arm movement) so I wouldn't be surprised if his 3pt % drops into the low/mid 30's. Have you noticed how often he's open at the 3pt line, and the ball-handler will ignore him? Jones had a solid game last night, but let's not forget that he was primarily guarded by rookie Frank Kaminsky and we were facing the Hornets without Al Jefferson.
Defences completely straight out ignored DMO last year too, but yet he's named a good 3point shooter around this parts. And since their frontcourt was too weak a) why they were the no.2 seeds and had great wins against the Bulls and other teams with great frontcourts b) why didn't any of our other bigs dominated them as well but it was only Jones?
Fuss with semantics all you want, but fact is that TJ had a huge clutch block at the end of the game that secured the win. I know it makes certain people squirm, but thems the facts. That is why a defensive rating is also important. Fact is that when TJ was out there last night, the Hornets scored less. You can mess up, but then do 10 correct things in a row within the unit that's on the court to earn a strong defensive rating. Hey I'm just a humble servant of everything that is good and right in the world. You can't diminish TJ's game last night on both sides, defense and offense. There was an attempt to take a back-handed compliment crack at his defense. And so I type into my golden keyboard "NO SIR!" and submit evidence to the selectively blind how easily people choose to overlook TJ's achievements. And I'm just assuming TJ missing a back cut last night actually happened and actually was his fault. I don't know. I don't remember seeing that and didn't watch every millisecond of the game, so I'm trusting the TJ accuser at his word. But we all know that it very easily could not be true, or the blame was incorrectly hung on TJ. TJ a scapegoat? Why never! Falsifications against TJ? Why never! (Hey did anyone get me that TJ 3pt% yet? I'm still too lazy if someone could help a dude find out TJ's 3 pt % so far this year.) Let's next address the misinformation campaign here at CF about TJ dunking. I hear people saying Terrence Jones doesn't dunk. Terrence Jones never dunks. Houston Rockets lead the league in dunks followed by the Warriors: Houston dunks 145 Warriors 143 Here are the Warrior's dunk leaders besides that Ezeli guy at #1 (53 dunks) Iggy & Barnes 20 dunks a piece Bogut 18 Draymond Green 8 Here is how Houston is dunking: #1 & #2 Howard and Capela 45 a piece. #3 TJ 20 dunks after last night (had at least 2 last night) For reference, Manimal has 26 dunks so far. Blake Griffin has 32 dunks so far. So again, is there hyperbole much? Is there tearing down of our players much? Agenda much? Terrence Jones dunks. He's 3rd on our team in dunking. He's #1 on our team in dunking if you look outside of the 2 players whose game pretty much solely relies on dunking (Howard and Capela)
Would I trade Jones to Toronto straight up for a top 20 protected pick??... hmm.. That far back in the draft its almost better to have a high second rounder. Its almost likely it never conveys and turns into 2 second rounders... which in that case you'd probably just prefer two second rounders to begin with. I'd do the deal at the deadline either way if- A. Harrell turns a major corner B. Howard, D-Mo, and Capela are healthy and eating up the minutes C. The Rockets are NOT on the upswing playing much better and looking to make a run post all-star break. If the Rockets really are still trying to win deep, its not really worth it to move him for minimal assets. Jones has value even as a tool you can use in small ball situations, or even injury insurance. A first rounder that really isn't a first rounder is pretty minimal IMO. You'd have to throw in a nice young player in too. I'd take a gander at Bruno for sure. Maybe even Noguiera. It would be funny if Toronto traded for Jones though. The 2012 Rockets 2.0.
The bold is where I disagree at least until the Summer. No he doesn't have to make a choice now. He can allow them both to play out the year, go into free agency with both, and let one or both leave if they don't fall in line with what he wants to pay them. More than likely that means letting one of them go, but its still an option. He can't get great assets for Jones and likely D-Mo right now so why is it not an option for Morey to play them out of their contracts & gamble on RFA for both? Maybe D-Mo gets a max deal, and Jones is able to come back at a bargain rate and Morey opts to let D-Mo walk??? What if its the other way around and D-Mo gets a bargain deal with Houston because teams are scared off by his back issues? Alot of things can change in 6 months. D-Mo could have a career threatening injury and we could be wishing for Jones back, or the other way around. Also not sure if S&T's are an option in this case but it might be? Point is, Morey has options other than choosing either or right now before the trade deadline, and one option NOBODY wants to talk about that might make sense is to just freaking enjoy the rest of the season with both, and gamble on free agency. Rockets fans were perfectly fine viewing Brewer and Prigioni last year as two players who could help now, but weren't considered players likely to be back next year. Not sure why its so hard to have the ability to view Jones on the same spectrum.
That's why I look at his body of work from last season as well. Dmo played inconsistently the same way Jones did in his 1st year starting. Dmo is only a roll player who like Jones will have his good and bad moments. That's why it's very important to keep both of them right now. They form a pretty solid one two punch at the PF position. People on here keep bringing up the playoffs. Well there's a lot of young players who didn't play well . Jones had to face some pretty elite competition. Dude is only a freaking roll player. Name me on roll player that was able to guard Dream in the playoffs? And then you have people on here clamoring about Dmo who couldn't earn any minutes against Portland and his body didn't hold up for him last season because he had to play Center sometimes.
So Jones's play last night happened because AL Jefferson didn't play. Wow lol when did AL become this elite defensive player, and he would have guarded Howard. Plus Jones got his points either by hustling, transition and slashing to the goal. Oh and toss in freethrows. Big AL is a statue on defense. Lol The GARM at its finest.
