Rockets acquire Thomas Robinson; Morris traded to Phoenix; Patterson, Douglas, Aldrich to Kings

T-Rob looks like a 2 guard out there.

I think it's the way he's built, not as beefy up top as PPat.

 

And John Henson looked like the alien from close encounters of the third kind.

 

Well, Pat had 7 rebounds in 26 minutes as the Kings blew out Orlando.

 

Andre Miller had 50 once, what a star scorer he is.

 

I love Morey but this was a very costly move (from a young team progress side) . Trading Morris for nothing to give TMo more time is ok but Patterson for TRob hurts.

 

Yes, Patterson for TRob does hurt and will probably hurt the rest of this season. Patterson has been here for 3 seasons now. He knew the system. He knew his role. And he had EXPERIENCE. TRob is raw, raw, raw.

If we were contending for a championship, Morey probably doesn't make this deal. But we aren't. We're trying to become contenders. And as such you gotta keep moving, keep your trade assets fresh, keep young guys on rookie contracts fresh on the roster and cycle out guys that are fixing to see their trade value go down.

That is what happened to PPat. He was fixing to go into his contract year and his trade value would have started to decrease. He wasn't going to become a superstar player for us. He was a good player and will continue to be a good player. Undoubtedly, he will continue to be underrated, at least until he signs his next contract. Then, depending on how much he makes, he may be overrated.

We cannot afford to let assets decay in value on this team. We have to find the next superstar. And in the meantime, we've got to keep our salary cap clean.

TRob is a rookie #5 draft pick. As such there is still a lot of intrigue around the league about his potential. He may never become a better player that Patrick is right now. And..he may become a much better player. And there is the small chance he could blossom into a superstar. But the thing is he's in his first season. All that is unknown and there is a lot if suspense and intrigue about his future. That means his trade value is higher than PPat and Morris combined. We saw enough of PPat and Morris to know they weren't the answer for us. We pulled a rookie #5 lottery pick out of 2 #14 picks. That's the way you have to view the trade in light of the fact we are not contending for a championship this season.

In the longer term I have serious doubts about TRob's ability to become a top flight PF. As bad as Sacramento is, a guy who's game is built on hustle and drive would have been able to get minutes playing for Keith if he had any kind of game. TRob didn't want to go there. He had a bad attitude about it on draft night. I suspect he's got some attitude issues and some prima donna issues. And I suspect he doesn't have the bball iq to make himself a lot better. Now, those are my suspicions. But I don't know for sure.

I do know this. If he can't play in the rotation and look good, then he needs to go to Dleague and kick the crap out of everybody down there so his trade value stays high. And we need to keep making the excuse that we've got too many guys ahead of him right now and we need to let them play. Then give TJones what minutes he would have gotten and watch DMo and TJones blossom out. And hopefully TRob is throwing up some huge games in RGV.

TRob has a shortened asset value span because he was a #5 pick. He's either got to get it going fast for us or we will ship him this offseason while the intrigue is still high and we can flip him for another lottery pick or superstar player. Frankly, that is what I suspect is going to happen. I suspect we will find out real quick that he isn't going to be a superstar, that we will dress him up in RGV and then move him asap to get a fresh lottery pick or flip for a superstar.

The trade was not about this season.

 

From the game thread on a response but fits here as well...

If TRob was going to be a superstar I would agree but I see no sign of that...and I'm not talking about just last nights game. Stars may not be consistant when they are rookies but they will show signs and TRob has shown no signs. (added: I think his value will be next to nothing or even negative if he doesn't turn this around before year end.)

And I normally don't care if do or don't make the playoffs as long as we are striving for rings. I don't see this move moving us closer in that direction. In fact, I see it as a step backward. If we would have left the team alone (ok maybe trade Morris to get DMo more time but that's it), I have no doubt we could have made the playoffs.

A young team like that making the playoffs and making a good series in the 1st round would do nothing but create more swagger in these young guns walk, give them even more confidence, create even more chemistry (chemistry off the charts IMO) and raise each person's value.

That can't be taught, bought or traded for.

 

You hit the nail right on the head. T-Rob needs to see a few weeks of D-League. But that is my opinion, and Morey's is the only one that matters. But Morey is a master at maximizing asset value, so I assume he has a plan.

That said I have no doubt that Morey, for the long term good of the team, would completely torpedo a run for the playoffs this season. But Morey has developed the cred to do that. I won't like it but he is the architect of this fine young team.

 

I was surprised to see him out there so soon. He needs to learn the system and get acclimated with the team.

 

People sure are quick to judge a player who has only had two practices, and 8 minutes of live basketball under his belt with this team.

Im not sure why he leapfrogged Jones in the rotation already, but I would assume it was because the coaches thought he could help out right away on the boards. Maybe the front office is thinking about this Summer already and want to have him showcased for the rest of the season... who knows.

All I know is that I find it pretty difficult to judge him in just 8 minutes of play in a herky jerky style of game with poor execution FROM EVERYONE on the team.... mostly on defense. The Rockets losing the game Vs. the Bucks is hardly Thomas Robinsons fault, and I dont think Patterson's "Elite Rebounding" would have been much of a factor in the game as well.

Look this is the type of player that team tank multiple seasons to draft believe it or not. There is something there that the Rockets and many other teams liked in the draft. I'm going to give it a few more weeks to make any assumptions about the trade, and how it will hurt or help this team longterm.

 

Most 4s are shorter than Parsons is. Parsons is a tall man.

Parsons only has an 8'8.5" standing reach though contrasted to T-Rob's 8'10", which isn't exceptional, but it's not bad, either. Very few bigs are the 9'4" monster Asik is (except, of course, the 9'8" freak of nature Yao). D-Mo, despite being a 7-footer, only has a standing reach of 8'11".

 

And beat OKC and Brooklyn.

 

Hopefully, Thomas ends up being really useful.

 

Maybe it's because he also played quite a few minutes for the Kings...and looked like that. I know the Kings stink but even the bad players have good games every now and then for them.

Maybe it's because we've see high pick prospects come through recently that turned out to be total duds. Thabeet, TWill, Flynn, etc

Maybe it's because we've seen teams tank and use a high pick to pick up a player that puts them right back into the lotto next year. High pick busts happen all the time. The Kings are stupid but just might have been smart enough this time to realize someone's is not measuring up and dump him while he's still a "mystery" and has value. The Kings keep players like Evans, Cousins, etc even though they have huge faults yet they pulled the shoot on TRob.

I was hoping they could flip him before the on the trade deadline clock was up (as hard as that might have been) because IMO, his value was the highest for us right then.

 

Sacramento needs a PF and there's a reason why they gave up on Thomas Robinson.

T-Rob played three seasons of college ball, but had only one good season after doing nothing his first two.

He was a big minus on the court last night and the Rockets can only hope he develops. Some players don't. Doug Smith, Kwame Brown, Sheldon Williams, Marcus Fizer.

 

Yep, teams tank multiple seasons to get Wade or Love with a 5th pick. Unfortunately, your'e more likely to get Devin Harris, Ramond Felton, or Shelden Williams.

 

Patterson in 25 minutes last night: 5-8 from the field. 13 points. 7 rebounds. 1 block.

Patterson was somewhat capable of helping the team now. Robinson isn't. Robinson is lost after showing nothing in Sacramento. Morey also traded Douglas a dependable third guard.

Beverley in 19 minutes last night: 1-3 from the field. 3 points.

Douglas in 12 minutes last night: 3-4 from the field. 8 points. 2 rebounds. 4 assists. 2 steals.

Still waiting to see how Morey expects to squeeze Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt into a rotation that already had four wings. Neither guy can play PG and the Rockets now have six wing players (Harden, Parsons, Delfino, Anderson, Honeycutt, Garcia) three of whom are scrubs.

Garcia and Honeycutt are just wasting a roster spot when the team could have kept Douglas as insurance in case Lin or Beverley gets injured or Beverley starts sucking (which may already be upon us).

Morey drafted Patterson, Morris and Royce in the first round, while passing on Larry Sanders and Kenneth Faried! Morey includes Douglas in the trade for no damn reason getting Garcia and Honeycutt in return. Rockets have no use for two more scrub wings, much less room for them in the rotation. Damn it, Morey! No playoffs again courtesy of Morey.

 

People are just quick to judge and so short sighted. They aren't thinking a lick beyond this season, just right right now. They aren't even thinking to the first two games without Patterson where they beat the Thunder and Nets. They are just thinking about right now. Nothing else.