I doubt anyone thinks he's getting a max contract, but don't kid yourself...he's going to get paid. Look at the salaries for 7 footers who can create their own shot. First of all, that list is useless b/c it includes guys like DeAndre Jordan who don't create their own shots. And secondly, since he's shooting 50% from the field, why is his inability to draw fouls a concern? How many players consistently draw fouls from the post? They weren't fine without him last year, and they aren't fine w/o him this year. Because we don't have a reliable 2nd offensive option, we've been relying too much on Harden's iso-ball, and it's been ugly. Also, it's pretty ignorant to say that DMo brings little else. A lot of DMo's contributions aren't reflected in his stats, and he was our defensive anchor last year when Dwight was injured. Disagree. We're in a win-now mode, and we sorely need a 2nd offensive option. It doesn't make sense to trade DMo for a good prospect.
Some of those can't shoot 3 feet away from basket. Add 100+ 3PA to the mix- KD, Kwai, DMo, Horford, Leonard, Caspi. basket-reference
Bigs with back issues seems to be a theme in Houston. Even Dekker is basically worthless right now. Rockets rookies since parsons have been MIA
100% - Morey has said that DMo is one of the few guys whose game scales when usage rate goes up. Most guys decline in their effectiveness but not Dmo he actually goes up. And he does not seem to mind being a TEAM oriented guy instead of "THE MAN".... He is this team's Shane Battier type of player. He is VERY important to this team's success - even if some people don't have that vision necessary to see it. DD
DD I respect your opinion and love some of your posts but DMO is no Shane Battier for this team IMO. The closest thing to a Shane Battier for the Rockets is Trevor Ariza if you ask me.
A healthy D-Mo is valuable sure, but he's not all that good since we don't know how to use him and he cannot rebound for ****. He's soft, but he's going to blow up for another team, just watch.
Maybe not max, but well into the mid to upper teens. It doesn't matter. Scoring points is scoring points, whether it is put backs, post ups, rolling cuts or spot up shooting. This team has had Dmo for four years and he has never been a go to option in the post, as his post arsenal is rarely used. What matters is how efficiently bigs wrack up those points. And Dmo, while he has a decent post game, is nothing more than an average offensive player because he doesn't draw fouls, doesn't rebound well, doesn't get a good amount of putbacks, and so on and so forth. This is why a much lesser skilled post player in Howard, is such a better offensive player than Dmo. We would be just as well off with a better athlete who can rebound well and finish, who is much cheaper. We got the WCF and had a 72% win percentage without him last year. He was not essential at all. The team never missed a beat when he was gone. It makes no sense to pay a premium for a non essential player. Whether you like it or not, this team is going to continue with Harden ISO Ball, no matter how ugly it is, because it is far and away the most effective means we have to score points. That is just the reality. Donatas Motiejunas is in no way shape or form a defensive anchor, nor is he some intangibles guy. Far to slow footed, too poor a rebounder, and not athletic enough. This is another example of an astetically pleasing player becoming vastly overrated. A second offensive option is extremely low on our list of needs.
Of course it matters. You want your offense to be reliable so it's important to consider the source of the offense. There's a reason Harden got paid $14.7mm last year while Kevin Martin got $6.8mm. It's pretty clear you didn't watch the Rockets last year. Can you explain why you think drawing fouls is so important for a post player who shoots 50% from the field? And last year, DMo averaged 2 offensive rebounds per game. Dwight averages 3.5. The gap isn't nearly as wide as you think. And that wouldn't address our need for a 2nd offensive option. And when Dwight was injured, we still won 66% of our games. Does that mean Dwight is non-essential? Also, you're forgetting that in the last 11 games DMo missed last year, we had a fully acclimated Josh Smith. If you don't think DMo was essential for us last year, then you obviously didn't watch the Rockets. Absolutely wrong. This year, Harden ISO ball hasn't been working. The organization isn't stupid enough to stick to a game plan that isn't working. I doubt you watched the game last night, but if you did, you would've seen Dwight get more post touches. That wasn't happening earlier in the year. And that unathletic, slow footed guy was still #5 in charges drawn. In your opinion, who protected the rim last year when Dwight was injured? LOL. We've already established you didn't watch the Rockets last year. Now it's looking like you haven't been watching them this year.
Trevor is also in that vane, but not nearly as contained to play within himself as Shane and DMo are, you rarely see them doing something they are not good at doing. While Trevor routinely drives and turns it over - or tries to do too much on offense. DD
Yes and no. I agree that many people overrate DMo because he has post moves; he still hasn't beaten out TJones in TS% prior to this season. BUT..If DMo can shoot +40% behind the arc and can continue to be someone who can make plays and passes out of high PNR/high screens then that's a pretty good skillset to go along with pretty post moves. Lastly, if DMo can stay healthy then he's a pretty versatile PF/C combo. Putting him at C along with some above average rebounders at the wing and at the 4 then that opens up some interesting lineups.
If you think he is willing to commit being that no stat allstar long term and without complaints that is fine with me It is just you need to pair him up with 2 superstars. We have one 1 dimensional superstar and an aging ex-star whose production is depending on his injuries....We do not have that kind of stability, yep our talent level is still good even for the WC but those pieces just do not mesh together well and we have the worst nagging injuries.I am not sure how that is going to go, but I just think getting the right superstars for a team is a lot harder than acquiring that "no stat special role player" of yours TBH. And I hope we get the coaching combo along with some fresh ideas how to play D and more efficient O
Dmo will be fine but he is not the next great thing after Valanciunas.Both have not lived up to their potential and draft reviews. Valanciunas is not a superstar and Dmo is not an allstar.I think the best Dmo can become right now is a good starting NBA player. That we can agree on but I also think the Rockets cannot or won't use him the right way, he cannot rebound well and he is not as tough down low as some of us think.
I have not seen anyone that says he is an all star. I think he compliments the other all star players perfectly making him a unique fit for this team. DD
Both Lithuanians had high reviews. Dmo was once projected to be Top 3 or Top 5 of the draft until someone found out about his rebounding and relatively low motor and motivation. He fell to No. 20 or somethingValanciunas was sure to be projected as a star for the Raptors.
thanks for the kind words, now kiss a donkey's arse http://basketball.realgm.com/articl...t-Prospects-Valanciunas-Motiejunas-And-Vesely Great Center - Valan Sure Top 10 pick and barely miss Top 5 The low motor thing was from another report I read http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Donatas-Motiejunas-1300/
Low motor - boy was that wrong - he is not a great rebounder, but he is not a bad one, more of an average one. But his motor is awesome, one of the best on the team, and his work ethic is as well. DD
