A lot of people wanted to keep him after we saw what he can do at PG with his size and vision. I understand why we kept Machado but keeping Douglas over Livingston seems to simply be a money move. Why we kept Cook is understandable with no other wing available, however Livingston could've easily played PG / SG with Lin / Harden next to him. I want to know your guys opinion if you think keeping any of the three: Machado, Douglas or Cook over Livingston was: A) the right move B) if you think it was just a money saving move or is there another reason? Personally I can't think of any other reason so to me it's money move and it was a mistake. Sure, Douglas will have good games but Livingston provided veteran leadership and a guy we could've used since we are clearly not rebuilding / tanking and playoffs is the goal. P.S. Maybe BimaThug or anybody else can chime in about how much we saved or it would've cost had we for example kept Livingston and cut Douglas. Also didn't Livingston have value, contract wise?
yes. saved cap space and Morey has proved that PGs are pretty expendable. No need to keep him around.
It's the right move to cut him IF TD doesn't run the point (Via Harden, Parsons or White). If Toney controls the ball with backups, wrong move. But this all falls on McHale, not Morey.
Right move. Livingston would help us win today, but would handicap our ability to win in the future. We need a 2nd star BEFORE we round out the team with supplementary players.
Hmm, $, eh? Then why keep Aldrich over JJJ? Couldn't the Rox have kept SL and JJJ instead and been in the same financial waters with more tradeable assets? Oh, and better, to boot? At least I think so.
Yes. You dont keep Livingston because he is better than Douglas. Almost any random PG could be better than Douglas.
A PG is easy to find -- there are a lot of capable PGs in the D league that can be had for cheap. The way Douglas is playing, we may need one very soon.
It definitely was a money move and I have little doubt that it was the right move. Like it or not, but it's still about the big picture. A couple of more wins this season mean nothing, really. Cutting Livingston meant saving $2.5M cap space that might come in handy down the road.
Who are these cheap capable pgs? Why don't the Rockets have one instead of Douglas? I like Toney, but any Knicks fan can tell you he will lose you close games.
This is pretty much spot on how i feel. I liked winning last night. I was rooting for us all the way. It's clear we have a problem at PG behind Lin. And yes, Livingston would have been better for x's and o's this year. But, we are not winning any championships this year, and that $2.5 mil in cap space may become the difference between jumping on an amazing opportunity to add the next piece we all agree we need, and not. I do think the staff will find a way to solve our pg depth problem because in addition to Harden, we do have two other excellent ball handlers on our team in White and Machado.
Douglas just doesn't look like he can hold the fort. Can we apologize to Livingston and get him back? Where is Garrett Temple? 6'6", defensive-minded PGs don't grow on trees...
There is almost no downside to trying to carry as many young players as possible on a roster, juggling them between the IR, and D-league. It maximizes your chances at finding a hidden gem. So yeah, it was a $$ thing.
Lin-Harden-LIVINGSTON would have been a great 3-guard rotation all three are great playmakers and ball handlers, all capable of getting everybody involved and capable of scoring in their own right Livingston is not a bad defender as well, plus he does have length the only concern would be his health, but if he stays healthy there would have been no drop off on playmaking whenever he subs for the other 2. is he still going to be available when he clears waivers, and could we change our mind and get him and drop toney instead?
Livingston probably will be out there free for a while given most teams have made up their roster of 15 and his health issues. Give Doug a few more chances. Then see whether we can sign Livingston back cheaply. Why did we keep Cook? Doug can just play SG.
Did we need cap space right now? I could see if it was like Aldrich's option and effect us next year, but this year? I don't see it. IIRC, his contract was still only partially guaranteed, even if we cut him later in the season.
We don't necessarily need it, but it very well might come in handy if/when teams will look to dump contracts. Bima talked about this in yesterday's podcast. Also see the second paragraph of my post: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=7279558&postcount=10 and http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=7285493&postcount=99.
