"$20 million", "$20 million", "$20 million". Mike Conley - $30 mil, Evan Fournier - $17 mil, Joakim Noah's corpse - $18 mil, Evan Turner - $17.5 mil, Kent Bazemore - $17.5 mil, and on, and on, and on. It's like some of you hibernated through the new CBA. Veteran role players with an elite skill make $20 million now. Anderson's contract is better value than ALL of those listed above. If Harden wins MVP a large part of it is going to be Anderson giving him 2+ assists per game and Anderson's man being 25 feet away from James when he gets to the rim.
Nope check again he is now 39% from the 3, or 1% better than Ariza while providing no rebs, defense and steals that Ariza would've provided at the 4 spot. If Anderson shot 40% from the 3 every night and grabbed at least 6 rebs I wouldnt have a problem with him, the issue is he is really streaky, he'll have 1 night that he hits everything then 3 games where he sucks. The night he is on fire he shoots like 10 times, the nights he sucks he shoots 3-4 times a night add all that up you get a nice 40% 3 pt that his backers swear up and down by. But in reality if you look at it in a game by game basis he has been crap more times than he has been great for the Rockets. I have no issues on him playing bad when we win, but when Harden is off he needs to step up and so far he hasnt done that at all.
Lol Anderson is just as bad or worse than any of those guys you mentioned, none of them are playing in the Rockets system that pads stats and with James Harden who generates the most open looks in the league. And unlike guys like Bazemore who actually bring defense on the table Andersons bad at D and rebounding.
Stop defending that bum because you think he's attractive. He sucks and simply isn't worth this money he's being paid.
You are severely underestimating the difference between a SF shooting that percentage from deep and a big man. Anderson pulls the PF out from the paint, because the PF HAS TO RESPECT his shot. This means that Harden has all the space in the world to play with considering only the C is left. If the PF tries to come back in to help, well that leaves a 39% shooting big outside waiting to for his freebie. Here is the other part you don't seem to understand... even if his shot ISN'T falling, opposing PF's still have to stay on him, because with a shooting big like Anderson, the last thing any opposing team wants is for him to get hot. Harden all by himself is already near impossible to deal with.
If you play Ariza at the Pf spot the opposing Pf will still have to stay with him outside the 3 pt line, Ariza is just as capable of getting "hot" since Anderson isnt exactly a burgeoning scorer he only scores an average of 12 pts a night. If we paid Kent Bazemore the 20M instead of Anderson and just have Ariza at PF this team will be so much better right now even if Bazemore is widely seen as overpaid around the league he will still contribute more than Anderson has so far.
1. OK, so you move Ariza (our best defender) off the other team's best guard or SF and then what? Who guards their best wing? Harden? EGo? If you say Bev, well who do we expect to keep up with their PG? 2. PF's can simple back Ariza down due to sheer difference in mass and eat him alive in the post. As lousy a defender as Anderson is, it's a lot harder to back him down due to, well physics. 3. In case you forgot, we tried to get Bazemore and he didn't want to sign with us. This isn't a video game dude. We can't just say "Oh, we will give this money to this guy and if he declines, force him to sign!" 4. We can argue about overpaid/underpaid all day, but reality (where we actually live in) dictates that we sign whoever is willing to sign with us. That is Anderson. Is he overpaid? Yes, but considering cap increase, not significantly so. Upside, he fits our team playing style and there were a lot worse signings out there.
Congratulations. You listed two of the worst contracts in the league. Turner and Noah. Anderson's is up there with them in top 10 worst contracts. We should be proud it's not the worst! Right?
EG said that he signed with the Rockets because Ryan Anderson did so. So EG and Ryno is like a Pelican combo, buy one get one 50% off. Besides, you can easily how much space Harden has to operate on because of the presence of Ryan Anderson, which is where is value lies in. Ryno hasn't find his rhythm yet, but I believe he will.
Well in a hypothetical scenario you'd have someone else on the team replacing Ryan Anderson, so for example if we had gone for Eric Gordon and Batum right from the start instead of waiting on Horford then the Rox would be much better off. There were lots of possible 20M candidates in last year's FA including Barnes, Batum and Bazemore we might've struck out in Bazemore but that didn't mean we had to blow our load on a suboptimal player like Anderson just because we had enough capspace, next year's gonna be another FA bonanza so if we kept our cap we would have another chance to sign someone good again this year. I mean, honestly if I knew things would turn out like this I would prefer it if we just signed DMo to his 11M per year deal and offered Anderson a take it or leave it deal at 10M per year, maybe Morey's thought process at the time was hey Anderson is a career 12 pt 6 reb scorer, let's play him with Harden in an MDA offense and he will ratchet his numbers up in terms of numbers and effciency since he will be so wide open. That hasn't happened, his numbers have stayed the same which reminds me of Ibaka when people expected him to step up when KD/WB went down and he still stayed at the same output. In fact, since Anderson's numbers have remained the same playing with Harden and the MDA offense it means his play has actually gone down this season, as we all know players have higher outputs in MDA offenses and Harden generates the best looks for everyone else. I know there's really no point to all this, but when people get mad at Brewer or Ennis, I get angry when these same people give Anderson a pass. Don't be mad at players making small amounts of money because it's not their job to carry the team, it's actually Anderson's job as the 2nd highest paid Rocket to carry the squad when Harden is playing bad.
Why does this have to be repeated every time Anderson has a poor shooting night....his presence on the court has enough positive impact whether or not he's hitting shots. Harden, while amazing, is the primary beneficiary of the spacing Anderson creates. Harden is basically playing one on one now, and he might be the best in the game at it. Don't be fooled...Anderson is the best shooting 4 in the league. Right now teams are letting Harden carve them up in the paint. That may change at some point, and then Anderson will eat them alive.
I'm not a member of the Anderson fan club (apparently that exists??) but this thread is starting to piss me off. I don't understand the posters who are 'waiting' for the real Ryan Anderson to show up? What? Some of you need to spread your wings a little bit and watch other teams more. This is who Ryan Anderson is, Ryan Anderson is playing exactly like Ryan Anderson. There is no mystical utopian version of Anderson, who blows by close outs and rebounds well. He is who he is. People sitting here waiting for more have not done their background check on this guy's game. Yes, we paid the max for a streaky bomber who can't do much else. I know that hurts to admit, but it is the truth. Do I think we overpaid? Absolutely: but I wanted to get Marvin Williams instead and he's been woeful. I wanted Horford too but honestly I'm glad we missed out on him (would still take him over Anderson though ) You may roll your eyes at the 'he makes Harden's life easier and must be respected at all times' posts but it is 100% the truth. He's streaky, he's not a great rebounder and he can't stay in front of anyone but if there's one thing he can excel in it's shooting the three. And to address a previous argument that the scouting report will change and teams will start ignoring Anderson and leave him open: lol. It takes him two shots to snap out of a funk and suddenly he can hit everything. That's not going to happen, no team is that stupid. In regards to moving Ariza to the three. LOL. I must give credit where it's due, he has been really good this season thus far, but anyone who would switch Anderson out for Ariza at the 4 is undervaluing the one skill Anderson brings. Anderson has a super quick release, which means he needs little space to get a shot off (something people here seem to forget), in contrast Ariza generally has to be wide open and needs a lot more time to get his feet set. His release is not quick. Combine that with the fact that Trevor has nowhere near the range that Anderson does, it's obvious to see that Harden would not have the same space to operate in that he does now.
This really all depends on how bad his funk is, like in this game what if Favors was also playing? Having the twin towers of Utah playing would've made it hard for both Nene and Capela to score, and having George Hill would've made their offense better and lessen the turnovers Utah had against us. Assuming Capela had a hard time scoring who do you count on to lift the load for the Rockets? Ideally it should've been Anderson but if we were forced to rely on him this game he would've let the team down but the CF angry mob would blame their favorite whipping boy Brewer or Ennis who didn't even play for the loss instead of Anderson. This is a pick-your-poison scenario for the opponent, since you can't leave Harden in single coverage somebody must be left open. So if I'm the opponent coach I'm designing the tactics and I see everybody on the starters going off except Anderson then I leave Anderson with half coverage and hope his horrible shooting streak continues. This is what smart teams like Cleveland and San Antonio did against us and in both times Anderson failed to deliver, I'm just worried that most team will resort on that tactic because honestly Anderson is just mr. smoke and mirrors right now. He is relying 100% on his reputation, if teams call his bluff and let him beat them Anderson's 12 pts on bad shooting won't do jack squat for us.
if ryan was the best stretch 4 that would play for the rockets, then i'd rather spend that 20m per on another wing who can do w/e ariza does plsu score. him or ariza can be the 4. or a pg that can score and defend then get the best 3d wing they can find. im too lazy to check the ones that were available. his deep threes threes and quick release are nice but not worth 20m per. maybe some teams can work with that contract better.
So true what a misappropriation of cap space and for four years, too. The signing was bad at the time and will worsen with time. He is Matt Bullard 2.0 but Matt was never paid like a star. This signing may cost DM the GM his job in time. Their is not another team that will trade for Ryno on his current contract.
Some of you guys are being too hard on ryno. Blame Les and triple chin for giving him the $$$. He is a super role player IMO.
I think next CBA will suggest he's worth the amount. He's still finding his way in the offense. The main benefit is that Harden now becomes a sure fire superstar due to the space that he now has.
