<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Hello RT <a href="https://twitter.com/Thirty2zero">@Thirty2zero</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/dmorey">@dmorey</a> hi</p>— Daryl Morey (@dmorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/dmorey/statuses/358256887248076800">July 19, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Yes Yeah we say this last year when Beverley came in. They care nothing about the team at all. This a good move. Brooks can play with Harden and Beverley and he is great insurance.
Williams "ranked ninth in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage (.423, 102-241 FG) during the 2010-11 campaign." in 2010, Brooks was "first in the NBA in 3-pointers made (.398, 209-525 3FG) and setting the franchise single-season record for treys." Basically, with Garcia, Cassipi, Brooks, and Williams we have a stable of ~40% 3-pt shooters to roll out as needed around Howard or off the bench. Staying power goes to the ones with other tools but we should certainly be able to create some space around our core players.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Not the plan. AB did not play last year when had both. RT <a href="https://twitter.com/thesuitedmonk88">@thesuitedmonk88</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/e_guevara">@e_guevara</a> Does this mean Lin's more likely to be traded now?</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/statuses/358247442078113793">July 19, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
No Look Lin was injured other times. He played and was ineffective for stretches. I understand that he wanted to play and prove himself but he hurt more than he helped.
Whoa whoa whoa whoa horsey. Whoa. Good horsey. (gives basketballholic a carrot; he munches contentedly while other posters reach up and scratch his ears; he calms considerably) Brooks might be idealized by some on the board here but they'd be the misguided few. Others simply recognize what he can bring to the team, which sparks the haters and semi-haters to chime in like the friend giving advice to her friend who's thinking of taking back an ex-boyfriend: "Come on, now, he's s*** and you know it." Sure, Brooks has his weaknesses. He's on the short side ("I wish I were taller, I wish I were a baller, I wish I had a girl I would call her") and plays defense about as well as I would (¡Olé, toro! ¡Olé!) But other players with more grotesque weaknesses have made no more profound an impact for their teams and make far more money than Brooks (even if those GMs might take back those contracts if they could). I think Brooks fell into the sinkhole caused by Morey's penchant for flipping players just when they start to show what they can do. "Oh, wait; he's gonna want money." Brooks loses out to Kyle Lowry for a starting job. Cops an attitude. For which I don't entirely blame him, but he got reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally pissy. Brooks gets traded. Brooks decides to play in China during the lockout. Brooks comes back to find no real market for him. Plays for Sacra-f******-mento. Brooks gets waived and, hat in hands, accepts a contract with the team that drafted---but flushed---him in the first place. If Brooks' world were a little more perfect, he should be making $4,000,000 a year and playing 24 mpg. Maybe he'll get back to that point. Do I think we should trade Lin because we have Brooks? Not necessarily. I want Lin to succeed on this team; but four point guards, even if one gets sent down to the RGV (a bit of a farce; having the system forces the Rockets to use it, even when it's just an excuse to keep rookies from getting bursitis in their a$$) seems a bit excessive.
To me one outstanding question on this is whether Brooks' Bird Rights remain (or does he even have due to China?) [or for that matter Early Bird?].
How many pages did Beverley's signing generate? No recall, but would bet it was a bunch and PB had no jelly when he was signed.
I'll add to that. AB has a history of stepping up during the playoffs, which is a nice thing to have on the bench. He showed me something in that OKC series. Games 4 and 5, he came in and made a positive impact. I still have game 5 on my DVR, and watched it again just a couple of days ago. Brooks looked like he was on his way back to where he was when Manu clobbered him. He was money back during the Lakers series. How could anyone possibly not like this signing? For peanuts.
I hope the coach let's him play so that AB gets his groove back, he could be a great fit in the backcourt with Harden's style of play.
Brooks is a great role player, who gives us some instant offense off the bench. Morey is building a championship team and a signing like this strengthens our team. In typical Morey fashion, this move could portend future action, but only if we win the deal. While I think it's exciting to talk about LMA and a big three, I'm not in the camp that it's the right thing for our team. We've got a great starting five (Yes, I'm counting TJones at PF) and a very solid bench. The NBA season is long and a deep run in the play-offs requires a solid team with bench support. Miami has been successful because they have the greatest player on the planet right now and their big 3 has been relatively healthy. However, we saw what happened with OKC when Westbrook went down. I don't believe you need a dream team to win a championship (although we had our "Dream" team do it). Harden and Howard are an incredible duo as our base. Chandler is a budding star and someone I believe is a great #3 option. Lin is still growing and will get better. On this team, I think he would be the perfect 6th man and give us a spark when Harden needs a break. Bev can start and give us that perimeter defense firefly that adds to the Red Line defensive wall that D12, TJones and CP can deliver. I really like this "team" and believe the chemistry could be great. Terrance Jones is no LMA, but he's a young, physical PF with good defensive instincts, some handles and developing offensive skills. He wouldn't require a lot of touches, but plays his part on defense and hitting the boards on offense. He and Bev would be perfect role players with Harden, Howard and Parsons. By bringing Lin in with Garcia and Asik to round out our 8-man rotation we maintain a solid defense and bring decent offensive firepower. We can then sprinkle in DMo, Omri, Williams, Smith and Brooks during the season given the match-ups. I may get flamed, but I like where we're at now and would hate to give up a ton of depth for a third star. However, if Morey can pull off another Hardeness-trade for LMA or Love then I'm certainly not going to complain.
Is 28 too old these days? Howard will turn 28 in December. Isaiah Thomas is the Kings starting PG. Why would Brooks want to compete for backup minutes on the 6th worst team in the league? Maybe he just wants to win.
You think Beverly could score a lot of points with Wade and Chalmers double teaming him? Beverly can't score a lot of points with one defender against him, yet. I love Beverly too and he has a lot of strengths that Lin doesn't have, but Lin has a lot of strengths Beverly doesn't have - he can score more, can pass better, can pressure defenses better, and is a better field general. He'll be much better at pick n roll than Beverly (and far far better than Brooks at PNR). Beverly is better defensively and as an energizer bunny. He gets paid a lot less, so I understand if Lin is traded in order to improve the team. However, it is important to not ignore the fact that Lin is CLEARLY an qualified NBA starting point guard and has proven it over the past year. He is also humble and hard working and works very hard to improve, and has been improving. I see no reason to doubt that he will still improve. So I am interested in seeing how he plays on this team, if he's still around (which I hope is the case, unless LaMarcus Aldridge is walking through that door). I like Beverly but I'm not convinced that he can maintain that energy for 38 minutes without dropoff, and I've seen too many times when he has tried to penetrate only to stop when Lin would have taken it to the hole. In any case, it may be that Lin is not a good fit for this team at his price - but that's only bc Morey is so good at finding good players at lower prices. Lin is worth almost his price, and his marketing and other benefits make him worth his price.
