Bill Simmons underestimating Morey and disrespecting Capela at the 2014 NBA Draft

People are wrong about draft predictions all the time. Nothing to be ashamed of.

 

Losing picks hurt no doubt but that first round pick was really the only way to get rid of Brewer, basically it was a first round pick for Lou. And Lou would not have been a rental if Paul was not available. That deal will always get made.


I am not sure the negotiating position was as strong as people make it out to be. If Paul opted out the Rockets would have to give away the players to create the cap space needed to sign Paul. Making a deal with the clippers in a trade was just as beneficial to Houston as it was for the Clippers. A first was essential to making that trade IMO. No way the Clippers would have made that deal without something to help them build for the future. Bev is a capable starter and a great defender but injury concerns (as it happened this year) and Lou had one year left (they extended) Dekker hasnt done much at all and Harrell has been really good for them. Paul is a first ballot HOF PG who still has a lot of good seasons left in him, you cant let a late first round pick stop you from getting that as the results of this season have shown.

FRP are essential for building that team but once you have the stars you need to maximize their prime. If Harden was 23 I am sure Morey would probably wait to have the Warriors dynasty diminish while Harden is entering his prime to build a team, but Harden is in his prime now and the team needs to not waste these seasons.

Also scouting matters - Morey's team have generally scouted well but also has had some duds for picks as well, its really hit or miss sometimes and of course the situation.

 

Well, if Dwight was willing to play that role, he would be 5 times better than Capela even now.

 

Still makes me mad.. I blame Shaq and Chuck for making Dwight think what Clint is doing now is beneath him.

Shaq still doesn't acknowledge what Clint is doing now.

 

But would we have had CP3? Prior to last season, no star wanted to be here. The Anderson/Gordon/Lou acquisitions helped us have a great season and become an attractive destination.

Our position to acquire him was strong, but not to acquire him and still have $$ left to fill out our roster. That's why we traded for him. And without him other players like Luc and Tucker aren't giving us huge discounts. I'd rather have those guys than a young kid when we are in win now mode.

 

He's outperformed my original analysis slightlyfor the time being. He has not proven anything beyond being a role player. And he's worked his butt off to do that. I do not want to pay him more than about 4/36. Would rather sign and trade him and let somebody else take the risk.

When a center is not an elite multi-tool offensive player who makes and creates offense for his team.....then he needs to be great on the defensive end. Capela, for all the hype (he's the most hyped player on this team), is not a great defender. I'm sorry. He's slow to react. Never going to change. And he bogs down when he goes against physicality. Those things have once again been consistent themes this season. Hopefully either he overcomes these key deficiencies by the playoffs (not likely) or we have enough in the tank to out-offense our soft defensive middle.

 

been around long enough to realize you'll continue to brush things off to the side with but this and but that. and then you continue to contradict yourself with certain scrubs that you think are better than what they are in reality. and try to take a complete opposite approach and apply it to your agenda. it really never ends. you would probably be a much better poster if you could admit so many of your misguided takes actually.

were now at the point where youre forced to use the playoffs gimmick approach. you never liked CC from day one and that will never change. thats your own personal problem. #markmywords #yulec #itsbeingdiscussed

 

Like Capela.

Don't like Capela's defense.

Carry on.

 

and thats your own issue. first priority is how well the actual team does and last i checked they're winning a ton. And thats with CC who is a very significant piece in what the rockets do. next is the continued improvement of Capela which is also happening. When he actually peaks and stops getting better, you may have some legit material to choose from to continue hating on him for.

 

Hating is too strong a word. Don't hate any player. Simply dislike their weaknesses. See my thread on our single championship question mark. If wet don't win a championship this year it will be because we suffered injury or because our interior defense collapsed. I hope neither happens. I want Capela to win a ring. I'm hoping that he's good enough or that if he isn't that the guys behind him and around him are good enough to win even if he does fold.

So dump the "hating" rhetoric on somebody else please.

 

theres no such thing as a predetermined reason the rockets dont win a championship. there can be a ton of factors that dont just include those two that may cause the rockets to fall short of a championship

hating is pretty much what you've done from day 1 so it definitely applies to you. then again you've been doing the wait and see take year after year. just waiting for capela to fold and hes done the exact opposite. when you're so anxious to be able to post i told you so for once, thats pretty sad. any thread you make is a dark shot at Capela no matter how much you try to hide it.

 

There are indicators that tell us a lot. Last year I told you we didn't have enough playmaking or interior defense. That's what sunk us against the Spurs. You can say what you want. But that's what happened. Those were our weaknesses throughout the season and those weaknesses doomed us in the second round when you and a lot of others were predicting we'd beat the Spurs. I didn't predict we'd lose. I was hoping to be wrong and witted have much preferred being wrong to the way it ended.

I'm hoping I'm wrong now in even questioning our interior defense. I gladly admit......LMM has been great as our small ball 5.......defensively. In my mind......he's the key. And the key position is the center positron. We've got to hold our own there or even succeed. I'm confident we can with every team except one.......And the Warriors and Draymond....I simply don't know.

Basically I feel this way. It will be extremely disappointing if we don't make the Conference Finals. Because we are good enough to get there. If we don't it's because there was a significant underperformance by the team and most likely that significant underperformance will be on the defensive interior.

If we get to the Finals I would not be surprised by anything. Writing attitude me if the Warriors methodically took us apart....starting by cracking us open inside, forcing us to help inside...And then being us apart with their shooters. Or worse yet, we realize we can't help off down low and they dismember our interior defenders one painful game at a time.

I would be quite surprised but happy I'd we blew them away. I would be mildly surprised if we beat them. I won't be surprised at all if it's a seven game series determined by just a handful of plays. And if that happens.....even if we lose......I'll deem our interior defense was good enough, we just didn't get the bounces.

 

Who did GSW get via free agency this season?

 

There was one other team that Chris was considering, before deciding to come to Houston. I don't know who it was, though I suspect it might have been the Spurs. Lou helped us in the playoffs. Brewer wasn't cutting it at all. The first rounder had to be attached, in order to move him.

 

Big reach.

 

Interior defense can be managed by using Capela, Anderson ( to alter shots) and by Nene. Wright can block shots quite nicely, but I doubt if he can contribute at all with his injuries.
Capela will have to rebound against bigger guys, P/R's and lobs won't come easy. The Celtics, and OKC gave him trouble. His offense is what concerns me more than his defense.
If he has a good series against GS, provided if both teams meet in the WC finals, we should win. Tucker can slow Draymond down. Capela can do a pretty good job rotating on the perimeter.

 

lol.....bruh

 

Who doesn’t wish we had those 1st round picks.

But let’s be honest. The 1st last year for Lou will was a a must in order to get rid of brew.

Lou will then became at the time the 2nd best asset in the trade for cp3 after bev. Fast forward to now and he was clearly the best asset they got, seeing as they already extended him for 3 more years.

Point is without Lou will we might now have cp3. Having Kuzma, OG or Hart would be cool but not over cp3.

Now you can make the argument that maybe Morey didn’t have to give up the 1st for this season in that cp3 trade but at the same time. I don’t think more was going to even risk the chance of getting cp3 over a pick that as of now is going to be the last pick in the 1st round.

We basically traded 2 late first round picks brewer bev trez And dekker for cp3 Luc tucker and black.

Any GM would make especially one with harden and Clint Capela already on the roster.

Had we kept those picks and we signed cp3 instead of trade we would have prob had to trade half the team to get him.

We’d be looking at a team with harden cp3 clint Trevor and that’s about it.

I like having luc tucker Anderson Gordon nene and even black

Over cp3 harden clint Trevor and Kuzma with the ability to draft someone with the last pick of the first round this summer.

Every action has a reaction.

Can’t have it all.

Buying the bulls pick would have been
Nice and drafting bell.

But who cares many ppl are mad we didn’t do it only cause golden state did. If it was the bulls who drafted bell would anyone care?

 

Agree on the cost control, but Morey knows that he's so darn good that he can draft guys like Parsons 2nd round, find a Beverly from Russia and when he does a have a late first, pick up a guy like Clint. Also, sign guys too good contracts like Ariza (8 mil descending contract, which is only a few mill more than a rookie contract).

 

Except on defensive switches, and Capela has always been the better perimeter defender.