I'm not going to rehash old arguments. I'll just say that Lin is a very different type of player compared to those guys. This wasn't a case of the Rockets undervaluing raw physical skills or elite athleticism. The Rockets thought enough about him to claim him off waivers, despite being a poor shooter, turnover-prone, not a great athlete, and also despite having 3 PGs on the roster. Clearly they saw some positive qualities in him. They are a lot of factors that go into roster cuts -- its not just about who you like the most.
Yeah, no kidding. 40 million? He's hot right now. A lot of guys in this league are capable of hot streaks. Remember Flip Murray? ...or our very own Mike James? You've got to do it for more than a few games to be worth 40 million. I don't begrudge Morey for cutting him. It was the choice he had to make in those circumstances. At least he had the wherewith-all to pick him up off of waivers in the first place. We need to dump some of our so-called assets, so we can capitalize on Morey's ability to find these type of guys in the future. It's too bad the Gasol trade didn't go through. K-Low and Lin commanding the point with Pau and Nene (possibly DD ) in the post would look pretty damn good. Oh well...
So you're on the Lin train now too? Now you're flogging morey for passing on pale overachievers from brainy schools - something doesn't fit here with the normal Kwame soapbox...derby I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe I'll call up Rudy Gay and give him a shot at figuring it out, though he'll probably take about 25 shots instead.
Morey's own words, "didn't know he was that good." I'm sorry but that IS you job. Hopefully this can serve as a wake up call in the future. Just looking at stats might work in allot of cases but if a player with potential is not getting PT his stats are nill. He was noticed after his D-league outbreak, and that's too late. He was suited up in practice as a Rocket and overlooked, just amazing.
Of course it was mistake. Obviously, the team should have kept him. Morey has made a lot of good moves, but like everyone, he's not perfect. And I'm sure there are others who did think Lin would be very good and wouldn't have cut him, so they're not misleading anyone. It looks like the Knicks were one of the teams who saw more in Lin than Morey did. (Although they also had different needs and a different roster and could afford to take Lin.) Credit where credit is due. Morey got bested on this one, and it's especially painful that it was the Knicks who benefit. No way around it. It sucks.
Oh, I'm already NOT a Stern fan. I happen to know for a FACT that Stern has been furious with the Rockets since they swept Orlando.
Uh ... why do you say he "didn't know he was that good" because he was "just looking at stats"? Did Golden State not keep him because they were only looking at stats? Was NYK about to cut him last week because they were only looking at stats? Really I want to know, what do you think Lin showed in camp/preseason that indicated he was this good? And if he didn't show it back then, what are we supposed to do? Read it in the tea leaves?
This is what happened. Stern nixed the deal that would have sent Scola and Martin (and also Dragic if I remember correctly) to NOH and we would receive Gasol in return. We would have freed up space to not only sign Nene, but also resign Chuck Hayes. This also gives us the opportunity to keep Lin. However, since the deal went to hell, we were lacking a legitimate big man. Not just a big man, but also a defensive one. Patterson is injured, Scola cannot defend, Jordan Hill was as good as Thabeet and Thabeet is trash in general on both ends. We had absolutely no defense (and we especially needed one to go against Dwight who we were playing soon). Morey signed Adrien, which is a questionable move, but if you consider the fact that Scola, and injured Pat, Thabeet and Hill are the only big men you have, it would make sense to acquire a defensive minded big man. Morey tried to keep Lin, as shown by the incredibly delayed signing of Dalembert. He was most likely working up a deal to trade Flynn, but unfortunately that didn' work. In the end, he had to choose between Dalembert and Lin, and he picked Dalembert. This is a combination bad luck and bad luck. Had Patterson not be injured we probably wouldn't have signed Adrien. Yet had Stern not veto'ed the trade none of this would even have happened.
Knicks were about to cut him also. I'm still not seeing who these other teams were. What was Lin's value at GS or here? Not very much it seems. Unless teams couldn't trade him because of a rule, then what would stop these other teams from offering a pick for him? If they were sure he'd be good, then even a mid first rounder could have been offered. I don't think GS or Houston would pass that offer up.
What makes you say that, given your second remark that they have different needs and a different roster, and the fact that they were about to cut him last week despite very poor PG play the entire season?
I agree in part, but these are HIGH paid executives and players we are talking about, and particularly what you say about needs over talent evaluation is exactly my point. Our needs at all times is the best player available at each position, he was ours and he walks...the very definition of "linsanity". Should never be blinded by NEED.
Lowry and Dragic are better than he is. Wes Matthews is better than he is and has accomplished more in the same situation (undrafted) but did it in smaller markets without the fanfare.
Last four games Lin's points are: 25 28 23 32 I hate to say it but this definitely looks like a trend.
The thing is, the more popular criticism against Morey has been him looking for "best player available" and stockpiling players with talent while ignoring need, team fit, and whether they'd actually play.
4 Games is not a trend. It's a player getting hot. Lets see him do this for an entire year at least. Remember Jennings first few games in the NBA, then that huge 55 point game to make everyone that passed on him looked bad? Suddenly he looked like he was going to be a stud and now after a while he has come back down to earth.
