Beats the hell out of me, but I don't think this move tells us a heck of a lot. We have Martin and Lamb, with talk of acquiring Gordon. While the move surprised me, it shouldn't have, and it really shouldn't shock anyone. The modus operandi of Mr. Morey at the present time, apparently, is to shake up this team and move us in a different direction. Not incremental moves, but major changes. This, obviously, is one of the major ones. More will follow.
I don't get why everyone is freaking out over Courtney Lee leaving. Not that I don't value Courtney Lee: He is a nice all-around role player. However, isn't he exactly the Shane Battier kind of guy that people have been complaining about the last few years? A specialist who isn't going to become a star keeping the Rockets in "float" mode and beating out some high ceiling youngster's "development" minutes? Sure, Courtney is a few years younger, but he is basically what he is by this point in his career. What does Courtney Lee leaving mean? First, it means clearing cap space to make a run at Asik, a guy whose talent is harder to find than Lee's (you might have noticed that the team has been pretty good at finding useful perimeter players and PFs on the cheap, not so much young rim-protecting 7-foot centers). Second, it means that the Rockets either succeed at getting Eric Gordon, or else Jeremy Lamb gets a shot at the minutes vacated by Courtney Lee. Isn't this what people have been clamoring for?
How about this guys. Morey already knows D12 is coming here. Courtney is told this and he is just fielding offers just in case, but wants to join D12 here. Thus, allowing us to offer Asik and to come back to join D12.
Chris Broussard @Chris_Broussard Eric Gordon and the Phoenix Suns agree to a Maximum Offer sheet worth $58 million over 4 years, sources said.
But why does his moves seem to consist of casting off young talent without compensation? Dragic walks. Lee renounced. A Lowry trade for peanuts is probably next at this rate.
wait, wtf is morey doing??!! isnt this the very essence of an "asset" that we worked so tirelessly for the last 3 years to accumulate???!!! now you are all letting it go like it was nothing??!??!?! MAN, TREADMILL. ONE BIG WHOLE TREADMILL with no productive result in sight. you get a new asset and then you chuck away a old asset for free. not gain = 0. morey just wanted to do show the world just exactly how creative he is when he tries to trade Lee for Asik. and no, there is no gordon. morey is going to come out and say oh we got lamb!!! he is a good replacement!!!!!!
People mainly complained about Shane Battier not because of his value in a vacuum alone, but relative to what we gave up for him and his expected contributions to the team based on the needs of the team he was on at the time. If we got Battier the same way we acquired Lee, you will notice far few people saying anything negative about Battier.
If we get Eric Gordon, the complaints about Lee leaving will cease. But this looks like a move to clear up space for Asik. Giving Asik 8 million/year is already risky, but to let Lee walk on top of that is even more questionable. Does letting Lee walk mean we're tanking and developing the youngsters? Or does bringing on Asik mean we're pushing for the playoffs? The two moves suggest conflicting visions for the future.
and to people that are saying now lamb will get minutes. thats fine if we are tanking. but we are not and we never will be. gist of the problem is how all the work we have done in the last few years are the accumulation of "assets". and we are supposed to be able to make other moves, perhaps bigger moves, using those "assets" we accumulated, e.g. a trade for a star. but now those very pieces we are hoping to utilise to trade in those bigger trades for stars are being given away for free.... i mean, doesnt that defeat the whole purpose of what we are trying to do in the last 3 years??!?!?! i really dont get this move... we work so hard to get a random first rounder and yet we throw away the equivalent of a first rounder for free the next day........
and oh, we could have just traded lowry for the 8th pick, and we'd already have the capspace anyways. with the 8th pick we could have got andre drummond. terrence ross isnt much better than courtney lee and this point. morey screwed up big time. everytime he and his PR army concocts up major rumors here and there and then when the time comes to the crunch .. he'll have a "front office source", being quoted , "oh, just speechless at what happend, just speechless", and here we go "good effort morey your masterplan was awesome but the unexpected happend". man i am furious at this move...... WTFFFF
You could have gotten something for him at the trade deadline........to let him walk now is just stupid. Same thing goes for Goran.
We haven't lost Dragic... yet. The Bulls haven't matched our offer for Asik... yet. Gordon is off the table, so the Lee move looks more curious, but Morey must have figured there was a good chance of that happening. Chase was moved for a pick. Lowry seems to be on the outs, but regardless of how he may feel about McHale, for the moment, we still have him, and have him cheap. Honestly, JV, I was hoping someone like you could explain all this to me. All I have to go on is a gut feeling that Morey is still changing up the roster, big time. You know how much gut feelings are worth. Not much. The idea of Lin possibly returning for a good sized contract seems ludicrous to me, like something out of a poorly written soap opera. Speaking of soap operas, we could supply the entire cast of one with our current collection of 6'9" "biggy smalls." That has to change. If appearances mean anything, it appears that the Rockets train is off the rails.
Wow - so the best 2 way SG we had who was restricted is now renounced. Morey is going all in, on something. DD
