Wow. Dragic has started 4 games and people are already calling for Lowry to be bumped down to back-up? Claiming Dragic is better than Lowry? Dragic has played well, but it's only 4 games. He's had quite a few duds coming off the bench and sometimes can get a bit out of control. He's not as good of a defender as Lowry, nor is he as pesky as Lowry can be. Calling him "the best the Rockets have had at the point in years" is a gigantic stretch, and to me, seems like a knee-jerk conclusion after a small sample of games started.
Different situations. Lee and Lowry are/were restricted free agents because they are/were on rookie scale contracts. It's rare for players in this situation to get extensions unless they are max contract candidates. Luis was not eligible for an extension. Scola originally signed a 3 year deal. A player needs to sign for 4 years at the least to qualify for a contract extension. Dragic signed a 4 year deal with the Suns.
who has the worst backcourt in the league? if we packaged lowry and martin this summer, we could get a nice draft pick and a young legit center
6 games as a starter so far this year and here are his stats: http://espn.go.com/nba/player/splits/_/id/3423/goran-dragic 35.3 mpg .537 FG% .464 3pt .824 FT% 8.7 APG 3.5 RPG 16.5 PPG Those are better stats than any Rockets PG in a long time, he is truly a triple threat. Now clearly he is hot, and that does not mean he will keep it up, but the same could have been said about Lowry, that he was hot and took Brooks spot when he got hurt. I am only extrapolating out that the same thing might happen, if Goran continues to play at such a high level then no way would you put Lowry back in ahead of him. At the end of the day Goran is a much better athlete than Lowry and is able to keep on with quicker guards on defense and is able to penetrate and create off the dribble more easily than Kyle. Goran is able to beat his man off the dribble whereas Kyle usually can not. Kyle has become a much better deep threat and that has allowed him to perform at a very high level, but he still has flaws in being slow laterally on defense and he lacks a consistent midrange. Honestly, I like the way Goran plays the point a lot better than Kyle, and if he keeps it up, then I see no reason to rock the boat and put Kyle back in as starter. Goran is playing great. DD
I wasn't implying he hated Houston. Just he wanted to start. I suspect Dragic wants to start too. My guess is Morey has no intention of letting Dragic go for free. In his short stint he has never lost something for nothing. Not Lowry, not scola nat anyone of value. The only mistakes his made or taking chances on low risk high reward type deals. He is not about to let Dragic walk away for free. Which means he has only one option. Trade Lowry. Just a hunch but the Gasol for Lowry deal is not over. The problems with Gasol were never about his talent and always about the new CBA. This year the lakers are over the Luxury tax by 12 mil and that will cost them an extra 12 mil in penalties. Next year they will be at least 12 million and that is only if they release everyone they can and only minimum wage players in their last 5 roster spots. That will cost them over 30 million in penalties. If they win a championship and Gasol is an integral part then I think they might be willing to bite that bullet one more year. If not Gasol has to go. Jim Buss was fighting Kupchak all season with it. I think he gave in because Kupcake showed him an exit strategy. Gasol will be on the Market this summer mark my words. ANd unless Morey has another plan Lowry will be offered up. Anyway that is my opinion. And I am sure that is not the only scenario but Aelliots cap space theory could work out for us.
Ultimately its Goran's choice. He's a UFA. I think the Rockets really showed how much they really love him yesterday by not moving him for chunk change while they know he will probably be walking in the summer. Same can be said about Courtney Lee although they have a better shot at keeping Courtney beyond this year. I think the Rockets make Goran an offer of some sort, something they can live with, and something that makes him movable if needbe. Its up to Goran if he finds somwhere he wants to go and be the man no hard feelings, just stay out of the West. We love you in Houston.
Dragic's cap hold to retain his bird rights is only 4.01M, which is less than the league average salary. I think he has proven that on the open market he is worth more than that figure, so i'm sure the Rockets will just keep his cap hold on the books, instead of renouncing his rights, since its less than his true value. With bird rights, the Rockets could theoretically outbid anyone for Dragic and resign him to a contract. Even if they pay more than they would like due to competition, Dragic would still be a valuable asset that could be flipped later on. People say he might leave for a starting gig or more playing time, but maybe that opportunity will present itself in Houston after the NBA Draft.
Lowry, Dragic, Martin, and Lee, one of them has to go. There are only enough minutes for three of them or you are going to overpay a guy who sits a lot. If they don't trade Lowry or Martin, then they'll have to choose between Lee and Dragic. Most likely they'll keep Lee because he is restricted. I really hope Martin will be back to his high scoring form and we can trade him for something good, and keep the other three guys.
Three of them are two way players, one is only good on offense and only REALLY effective in a system we no longer run. It is pretty obvious who should be gone, right? DD
It's not about outbidding. If someone throws a starting spot and a lot of bucks and that's are offer but only if you sign today, he might hard pressed not to accept it today. We have one advantage. We can offering him more years at a higher % of yearly increases. But unless we offer max dollars someone else can offer him more money. I can assure you he wants the opportunity to start. I think he likes it here in Houston alot. Also Morey strikes me as the kind of GM that has all his vases covered. I am sure Morey has spoken with Dragic and feels pretty confident Dragic will sign here for a decent amount and the opportunity to start. I suspect he will get a salary more in tune with Scola.
I like to think of it in terms of investment in a position vs production In 2012, we have the following committed obligations: PG: $6 million (Lowry) SG: $12.5 million (K-Mart) SF: $4 million (Parsons, Budinger, Morris.....wow) PF: $11.5 million (Scola, Patterson) Ct: $7 million (Dalembert) I assumed we pickup Dalembert and Budinger's options, but didn't pick up Smiths. Here is how I would rank production: PG: B+ SG: B SF: B- PF: B- Ct: C Analysis: PG: Lowry/Dragic makes for an 'A minus' quality tandem. Dragic also gives you the flexibility of playing the 2. It's not the same as having an allstar PG (Deron, Paul), but if you can get Dragic for $4 million while retaining Lowry, you do it. This means you're spending $10 million to get high quality production. Very worthwhile unless you can find something much cheaper. SG: We all know who KMart is as a player. Even when you factor in his defensive shortcomings, he's still an above average player for NBA. His shot making ability opens up the floor for drives by our PGs and SFs. Still, the time may have come to part ways. If I'm Morey, I'd use him with a pick to move up in the draft to nab an all star type player. Then resign Lee with a $5M contract, and bring Llull over for $3-4M. You're probably only about average here, but you're not tied down with bad contracts. SF: I used to complain about our talent here, but we get so much production for so little money, it's completely worth it. Parsons is emerging, but I don't expect him to have a high ceiling, similar to Budinger. He's a plus on the defensive side and a "good cog" on the offensive end. Morris gives you a guy with high upside...give him an offseason to develop and I bet we will see production. Unless you think a superstar is available in the draft or free agency, I'd pass on making changes. PF: Scola makes good money, but he is also your only post presence. Patterson is at least a reasonable backup, and is neither a plus or minus on either end of the court right now. I'd give him another season before writing him off. Then you've got Motiejunis. I think you bring him over now. If he develops, then one of Scola/Patterson becomes expendable. He will be cheap...something like $1.6 million since he is still tied to the rookie scale. Center: Very interesting possibiilities here. Almost all of Dalembert's contract is un-guaranteed for 2012-2013. Essentially, the Rockets have free reign to cut Dalembert if they like someone else, and I think they will. Asik will hit the market as an unrestricted FA, but he his max potential contract, by league rules, is $5 million. I think the Rockets will PROMISE Asik the starting position, cut Dalembert, and resign Camby to the vet minimum for 2 years, with the 2nd being non-guarenteed. So $7-8 millon tied up at center. So in my perfect world, this is what I would want (with ages): PG: Lowry (25)/ Dragic (25) SG: Lee (26) / Lull (24) SF: Parsons (23) / Budinger (23) / Morris (22) PF: Scola (31) / Patterson (23) / Motiejunis (21) Ct: Asik (25) / Camby (37) So a young team all signed to very reasonable contracts. Other than Scola and Camby, no one is over 26. This does not include what you would net from Martin and 2 potential picks this year (assuming we make the playoffs).
If we cant sign him for at most 5 mill, then i'd say let him walk and try hard to get Llull to come over.
Sad to say, we will see Dragic as a star PG on another team next year. He will become the latest Rocket to go "Lin" on us. Thanks, Morey.
We're losing Dragic for nothing unless he really wants to be here. I've already made my peace with it.
You can think about this way. Let's assume that Dragic does leave. We at least got a draft pick out of it. I mean we traded Brooks for Dragic and a pick. Brooks isn't even in the NBA.
I generally agree with what you said, but my point was that the NBA Draft occurs before the free agency period begins. The NBA Draft is one of the two times during a year when teams are actively making trades, thus there might be some moves made that would open more playing time up for Dragic. Even if there isn't an opportunity to start, their might be abundant playing time if Martin is dealt and Lee starts. Dragic could be a supersub off the bench getting over 30 minutes a game playing the combo-guard position. This is a point guard dominant league, and the truth is there just aren't that many teams that don't have a future-pg or established-pg already on their roster. By my count, only Sacramento, Portland, and Golden State really need point guards, and i'm sure all of those teams have their sights set on larger free agent targets than Dragic. Overall, a simple draft day trade to trade Martin in some sort of package could open ample playing time for Dragic, and if you couple that with the fact that they could retain his bird rights for so cheap, the Rockets have the built-in advantage to resign him even though he is unrestricted.
You can spin it any way you want, but we had an opportunity to cash out on Dragic (moar pickz), but the timing was bad and/or the market wasn't there. Oh well. S*** happens. I ain't mad.
