That's what they pay him, but not what the hit on the cap is and the majority of teams really care more about the cap hit. Lin alone can also will bring in money to offset his salary, most guys on teams can't say that. And if the Rockets wanted to get rid of him that much, they can also add cash and picks to the trade. Lin had average stats last year, but I don't think he is a average player, if he was we probably wouldn't have made the playoffs last year. Teams may be happy with who they got now, but they won't know for sure until the season starts. Anyways this conversation is derailing this thread.
I just don't see much of a point in trying to trade Lin in the foreseeable future even thoough Morey reportedly did shop him around late June/early July and not looking for a whole lot of talent in return. The circumstances and incentives are just different. Back in late June, the Rockets were looking to clear cap room to chase Dwight Howard and possibly another free agent (Chris Paul? Josh Smith?). So, it made sense for them to shop Lin's $8.4M cap figure, both in addition to and as an alternative for ridding themselves of White and Robinson, while exploring their salary options. The potential opportunity cost of keeping Lin vs. trading him even for a small draft asset and no salary could have been huge under certain scenarios (i.e. if teams were not willing to take White and Robinson, if Paul really wanted to team with Howard in Houston, if Josh Smith was willing to come to Houston on a $ figure the Rockets deemed beneficial to the team, etc.). Things are different now. The Rockets have a salary of around $62-$64.7M, several million dollars over the $58.7M salary cap (depending on which of their 19 guys they end up keeping, some have non-guaranteed money), even getting rid of Lin's salary altogether is unlikely to create much cap room and there is not much you can do with that limited cap room anyways after most free agents have signed. The team already explored the trades enough to know that you probably won't get much in return for Lin-- the league is just full of B-level point guards. So, the incentives now favor just keeping Lin, make use of him and hope that he gets better (well, you hope every player gets better, from Dwight Howard to Ronnie Brewer).
With Harden, Howard and Parsons all capable of carrying the scoring burden the issue becomes what exactly is needed from the point guard position? Do we need Linsanity to win it all? I don't think so. Lin needs to be able to keep the pace of the game high, minimize turnovers, hit the open 3 and play B grade defense. His current role has diminished considerably with Howard being added and Parsons improving. I think Lin is more than capable of filling this role. The only reason I would trade him at this point is if it got us a bonafide 4.
Lin for Hayes / Patterson We get a stretch four and a great situational defender at the four, without sacrificing Asik or any 2015 cap space. Beverley can fill in for Jeremy Lin with little drop off. Sacramento gets someone that will draw in fans and create some excitement for a franchise in the gutter.
Mirza Teletovic anyone? He destroyed Kleiza against Lithuania and put some really great perfomances for Bosnia at Eurobasket. He is great shooter, and solid defender, and i really think he would good adition for Dwight. Has anyone watched him? I think we should try really, give up D-Mo and some other player for him
Focusing on Lin's popularity and marketing potential completely ignores the fact that he's legitimately good.
I didn't ignore his basketball ability. His potential upside was considered but ultimately not chosen as a selling point because he is a below average starting point guard.
I think "good" is an overstatement for Jeremy. Deron Williams is good. Rajon is good. Chris Paul is great. Lin isn't anywhere near any of their skillsets. He's a nice guy and probably a decent leader, but he's an average guard thus far. I hope he improves, but I think Patrick gives us more flexibility at the point spot.
If D-Mo needs to go, he should be packaged along with another player to get a proven NBA talent. I admit that won't be easy,unless D-Mo plays well at the NBA level. Mirza Teletovic played well, but we don't need to give that much up for him IMO.
I like Teletovic, but I'm not sold on his ability to play NBA-level defense, and I'm not sure why the Nets would trade him. They seem to be trying to buy a championship straight up and I doubt they are interested in developing talent. So I don't really see them trading him for some of our prospects, and obviously we wouldn't want to give up Parsons or someone for him.
He play better defense than D-Mo or T-Jones, even if T-Jones is really great potencial, Teletovic is on higher level curently. And i'm not sure Nets are counting on him at all as they have KG, Evans, Lopez and Blatche on positions 4 and 5. We could get him for D-Mo maybe, maybe they want to reduce costs at least a little bit and he is perfect for that .
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pwv2gmo Rockets in: Greg Monroe, Charlie Villanueva (large expiring) Trailblazers in: Asik, one of DMo/T Jones, picks or Euro stashes from Rockets Pistons in: LaMarcus Aldridge Plus Rockets send to the Trailblazers draft picks or the Euro stashes acquired as part of the TRob trade back to the Trailblazers. Don't flame me for proposing a trade involving Aldrige but actually facilitating a third team to get him. To me, Aldrige will be 30 and seeking a max or near max contract in 2 seasons, with a back injury history, not a safe pick. Rather get Monroe who's young, can play both the 4/5, and has a developing mid-range jump shot (http://vorped.com/bball/index.php/p...-Monroe/season/2012-2013-REG?metric=zone_shot) not unlike Aldrige when he first came into the league. Lin / Beverley / Canaan Harden / Garcia / R Williams Parsons / Cassipi / Brewer Monroe / one of Jones or DMo / Covington / Villanueva Howard / Camby That's 15 players, with Greg Smith traded either to Portland or for future draft picks, and Rockets keeping Villanueva over Aaron Brooks as a stretch 4 and large expiring, or if Morey can find a taker for Villanueva, we can keep Brooks. With this trade, Rockets can let Villanueva expire (but in the mean time use him as a stretch 4 while either or Jones/DMo and Covington develop), extend Parsons next year, and still go over the cap to sign Monroe using his bird rights the year after. Monroe will be better worth the $14M/yr or max contract or so that he'll command, vs LaMarcus Aldridge around the max or Asik ~$12M/yr as he is younger and can play both 4/5, sliding in for Howard when he sits. Plus Monroe is a good rebounder, great passer, smart player and has a developing mid-range shot. Pistons would be willing to give him up, I think, as Drummond, Aldrige and Josh Smith fit better (than with Monroe), and Pistons are in win-now after signing Smith. And it's difficult to play two young, inexperienced players in Drummond and Monroe as the starting frontcourt. Pistons are ok with cap room. For the Trailblazers, LaMarcus Aldrige is going to leave, and with 2 years (or 1.5 years) left in his contract they can probably get better value than with 1 year left. Asik, Robin Lopez, Leonard, TRob, Jones or DMo give them a good young frontcourt nucleus to build, along with Lillard, Matthews, Batum, McCollum and Mo Williams. Plus they get the Euro stashes they sent to the Rockets and/or Rockets future 2nd round picks back. Would be a reasonable haul. Perhaps Greg Smith can be thrown in as well. Not sure if this will be enough, but I doubt too many teams are licking at the prospect of signing Aldridge to a 4 or 5 year contract at the max when he's 30.
Under the assumption that Rockets want to keep Howard, Harden, Asik, Lin, Parsons, and Beverley, that leaves the following guys as the biggest trade assets currently on the team: Motiejunas Jones These guys total about 3.0 Million The Rockets also have the following under contract that should be relatively movable assets to include for trade matching purposes if the Rockets kept them on the team until they are tradeable: Brewer Garcia Williams Casspi G Smith These total about $5.2 million The Rockets have the following assets that don't count as salary: Papanikolaou Llull Rockets 1st rounders in 2014, 2016, and 2018 Knicks 2nd rounders in 2014 and 2015 Assuming Rockets could get enough teams involved that they could dump movable assets onto, who is the best player that the Rockets could acquire (e.g. Paul George isn't being traded for that) by trading Motiejunas, Jones, and all the assets listed that don't count as salary? Under trade rules, the Rockets would be limited to players making under 12.4 million. Thaddeus Young? Gallinari? MKG? Anderson? Thomas Robinson? Someone else?
Celtics in need of a good 5, and Asik is still young and promising. He probably would be happy to join team where he gets starting spot. Not sure if Celtics trade Green, he may be most improved player of the year with C's, or could be in championship potential team this coming season. He fits just fine, I guess http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=m7m5mll
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=mdn2dfx Thoughts this one might be interesting enough to discuss. The groundwork for this one is Morey taking advantage of two teams stuck in their respective positions looking for a way out. For the Bobcats, adding Asik & Greg Smith would do wonders. With a front-line of Asik/Jefferson & Biyombo/Zeller/Smith backing them up, they become a team with a big man identity. In the super-small Eastern Conference, I think this team is much improved. For Milwaukee they get some high upside talent in the former #2 pick. He had a semi-rough rookie season, and might not be the best fit for a young Bobcats team. In Milwaukee, they want to get younger without taking a step back. Moving Ilyasova sort of makes sense if they want the financial flexibility to make Morey-like moves the next few years. For Houston, They fill the need of getting a perfect fit at the PF position long-term, and they re-load the backup center position with Haywood. Haywood isn't what he used to be, but he can give you a few minutes a night, and you still have Camby there to play a large backup role on selective nights. Rockets- PG: Lin, Bev, Canaan, Brooks SG: Harden, Williams, Brewer SF: Parsons, Garcia, Casspi or Covington PF: Ilyasova, D-Mo C: Howard, Haywood, Camby Bucks- PG: Knight, Ridinour SG: Mayo, Neal, Delfino SF: Kidd-Gilchrist, Butler PF: Jones, Henson, Udoh C: Sanders, Pachulia Bobcats- PG: Walker, Sessions SG: Henderson, Gordon SF: Taylor PF: Jefferson, Zeller, Smith, McRoberts C: Asik, Biyombo IMO, all three teams win here. The Rockets are much more well-rounded, the Bucks get a better piece for building for the future, and the Bobcats aren't the worst team in basketball next year.
Before entertaining the idea of trading Asik, the Rockets need to see exactly what D12 has in the tank.
I like it, except not for us. I think we could get more than Asik than Illyasova and Haywood. I'd love a guy like Pachula over him (I think Camby is done).
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=oxss8bl First rounder goes to Charlotte from Houston.. We load up for a run this year.. Howard/Haywood/Camby Deng/Jones/Casspi Parsons/Garcia Harden/Williams Beverly/Walker
What if all these conditions unfold? 1. Howard considerably under performs contract 2. Donatas and / or Jones develop into great player(s) 3. Asik improves his play from last season 4. Parsons' game makes another big leap so he is team's best player or close 5. Lin becomes top 10-15 point guard I don't think that any of these happening is terribly far-fetched, except #5. If they do happen, I think the team will be forced to seriously consider trading Dwight Howard in February because Parsons would get a big contract & they will want to free up some money, although they would have to make it a high priority to keep his trade value at least fairly decent. This is just a hypothetical question based on 4 or 5 of the above happening so don't get bent out of shape. I am thinking 3 possibilites would be: to Dallas for Dirk (even if Cuban said he would not trade him) to NJ for KG, Kirilenko, Teletovic to Miami for Bosh (most realistic imo)
