Don't be a f'n tard. The goal this year was to make the playoffs set by the team and FO, we didn't succeed but Gortat would help our awful interior D that was among the worst in the league. Gortat for Lowry straight up.
They let Dragic become an UFA instead of doing their usual of matching as a RFA, which implies they were comfortable letting him go. Which further implies the did not know how good he was, which you correctly pointed out is their job. Letting control of Dragic go back to Goran was a clear mistake. DD
What USUAL? They have NEVER done what you are talking about. Please stop trying to fit a square peg (your argument) into a round hole (facts and the truth). Thanks.
What? They usually force them to become a RFA, and then have control on matching, this is the first time they just let a guy become an UFA. Which was a bad move, not sure what you are getting at here. Do you think the Rockets letting Goran become an UFA is a good thing? Do you think that the org should have known that he had breakout talent? Because, as you said, that is their job, for some it is their SOLE job. If you can't recognize talent when it is on your own practice floor, wtf good are you? DD
BTW - for the folks thinking it is usual, we are arguing different things, Bima is saying they have not done this before...and he is right.... I am saying, they should not have done this for the first time, and I am right. DD
The bottom line here - and the ONLY one that matters, was whether it was SMART to let Goran become an UFA. None of the other crap matters, because it is all about keeping your better players on the team and not opening up your own players/assets and allow them to leave with no compensation. If they did not match last summer, he would have been a RFA and sure he could have signed a 1 year tender, or he could have worked out a multiyear contract for a lot less than what he will get now. The Rockets, IMO, clearly did not think he was as good as he was, and to me, that is all that matters, whether the team I love can recognize talent on their own roster, because if they can't it calls into question a lot more of their moves etc - like letting Lin walk, or whether Morris can play..... Can this organization RECOGNIZE difference making talent on it's own roster? DD
I really don't want to get into yet another argument with you on this issue. I will say--again--that there was no realistically conceivable scenario in which Dragic would have re-signed here as a restricted free agent to a reasonable, long-term deal to be Lowry's backup. He wanted to be a starter and would have signed the QO--which would have been about the same amount as the team option amount--and just become a disgruntled UFA this summer. I also think the front office may very well have approached Dragic attempting to accomplish exactly what you are advocating and may have been roundly rejected by Dragic and his agent. We just don't know. The bottom line is that second guessing the Rockets' decision on Dragic is the HEIGHT of using 20/20 hindsight to unfairly ridicule the Rockets' front office. I think 30 out of 30 of the NBA front offices--even OKC and San Antonio--would have done exactly the same thing as the Rockets. So feel free to have whatever opinion you like. Just know that you are holding the Rockets to an unreasonably high standard on this particular issue. Aside from that, let's just agree to disagree. The end.
A reasonable question, actually. It seems to me there have been many more hits than misses. BTW - the team on which Linsanity exploded was thisclose, by all accounts, to being cut.
The Rockets traded for Dragic didn't they? Morey must have seen the talent.... Aaron Brooks for Dragic and a 1st round pick. I wonder who won in that trade? Now the Suns want Dragic back... Jesus Christ, can you imagine how Suns fans feel? I highly doubt Dragic would have signed as a RFA with Kyle Lowry on the roster. The guy clearly had bigger things in mind.
Ok. Thank you. Nevertheless that was not my opinion. I questioned what the front office did indirectly, what plan they had hatched because IMHO both Lowry and Dragic can be replaced once the search for a star player bears fruits. But obviously letting Lin go was a mistake. Not wanting to lock up Dragic is understandable though at that specific moment. Now it seems it was not a wise thing to do because of Lowry's problem with Coach and his potential exit. I agree I had not see that coming. All that is relative though because we could go into hard rebuilding any time.
Calling out the FO might seem both weak and ludicrous but there is a possibility we end up with no superstar and a unhappy player. and yes failing to make the playoffs three years in a row makes it more valid to question the Front Office whether you like it or not. At the end of the day, I appreciate that you are breaking down all their moves and justifying what they do. People are making mistakes, that's what they do. There is no shame in doing that. It's the next step that counts.
word on the street is that goran said on Slovene TV that he's going to stay in Houston next year. take that with a grain of salt, of course.
Exactly. Those who fault Morey for not "recognizing talent" forget that he was the guy who brought this "unrecognized talent" on board in the first place. If only Mchale ran a D'antoni system and Lowry had contracted Aids sooner....
Not to butt in on any argument here or anything, but I seem to remember a Rockets "power hour" with Bullard on 610 where he said that the Rockets could have had the option to extend Dragic, but he would not have accepted it. Those aren't his precise words, but it something along the lines of that. When I get some time tomorrow I might try to dig that one up, but It seems to me that it was well known that Dragic would have opted out of his contract extension.
To be fair though, after the last 5 or 6 games of the season last year when Goran was averaging nearly a triple douple, that would have been a great time for the Rockets front office to evaluate how good he could be with extended minutes in a starters role. My guess is that they made the decision going into this season that Dragic as a small expiring contract would really be a nice trade chip going into the 2011/2012 season if they had a few mega deals in mind that could happen. You can agree or disagree with their thinking but really its just a matter of what you would have found more valuable for the franchise- Nice Trade piece for a mega deal vs. locking up your backup PG longterm.
I have not given enough gravity to that scenario, of him just accepting the 1 year QO. Therefore, I concede the point my good man, you are correct, I am incorrect. DD
No agreeing or disagreeing here until the results are better than this. It flat out looks worse than it might be.
