Because he makes $15 mil next season, maybe? And Patrick Beverly is just as productive, and makes $1 mil next season? Would Utah trade one of their first rounders from Golden State with Andris Biedrins' expiring contract for Lin? I doubt it, but they might. That pick has more value than Jeremy Lin at two years, $20 mil over the next two seasons. I'm sorry, I know Lin isn't a bad player, but he is a big overpay at $10 mil/year (on average) over the next two seasons. And if/when Milwaukee sucks this season, do they trade Ersan Ilyasova for this exact pick plus Biedrins' contract? Who would you rather have, Lin or Ilyasova? Again, this is my take on Morey's approach to players and roster building, but based on the evidence, I'm pretty sure I'm right. Smart way to run a business, smart way to build a basketball team. Lin at $15 mil in 2014-15 = one of the league's most overpaid players. Regardless of what his cap number might be. There is a 0% chance that Morey is unaware of this.
Morey's approach to collecting assets to trade for a star is self admittingly different than his approach to surrounding talent around 2 superstars. Morey is always going to operate with the notion that he only wants contracts & players that can be moved at any point in time if needed and have positive value, but that doesn't mean he's not willing to pay a player 8.4 mil a year if he thinks that player could be moved if needed, and is a key piece in contending and making his stars better. Case in point- Shane Battier. Morey was more than happy to pay Battier a similar salary range when he was playing alongside Yao and McGrady. Morey could have started Wafer and moved McGrady to the 3 because Wafer gave that 2008 team alot for a very small salary, but he didn't. Battier was an important part of that team as Lin will be an important part of this years team. Would Morey trade Lin.... hell yes he would if he thought it would significantly upgrade the team. Would Morey trade Lin because Beverley makes the league minimum?.... No... there is literally no point right now in moving him for nothing back that doesn't help upgrade the team. The team needs him to help them win games now and most likely in the future. I love Beverley, but lets not get carried away here.
anyways.... not sure how this got turned into a Lin/Bev trade conversation, but lets please try and reserve that conversation for another thread. Lin and Bev BOTH will be on this teams 15 man roster come October 31st. Lets move on to the other players in question for the final 5 roster spots.
Folks, lets remember this fact about the cuts: The team has 17 guys, needs to get down to 15. The likely candidate for the 2 cuts are: Reggie Williams, Robert Covington, Aaron Brooks, Ronnie Brewer and Marcus Camby (who may or may not have a injury that will take him out for significant time). All of them were minimum wage free agent signings. So, if you are considering trading Smith, Jones, Motiejunas, Canaan, Lin, Beverley, etc. for draft picks to clear roster space, you have to ask whether keeping another one among the above-listed guys (likely at a discount) is really worth it. Particularly, if we are talking about guys who are actually projected to be in the rotation, or is likely to be needed in case of injuries, does a win-now mode team really want to give up one of those for a future pick?
The answer is: it depends, but yes. In the case of Brooks vs Canaan, absolutely. Brooks is ahead of Canaan in the rotation and has a no-trade. Precisely because of the win now mode, insurance against injuries, you want to keep the guy who gives you more now. Plus, trading the other guy can get you an assets, as opposed to waiving a player for nothing. A trade of Canaan over a waiver of Brooks is a no-brainer.
Jesus, every preseason the preseason cuts thread is littered with r****ds. Canaan? Why the F@*# would we cut Canaan? That makes absolutely no sense. I remember in last year's thread some people were saying we were going to cut White (this was like a month after we drafted him - before any of his BS started). Anyway, there is ZERO chance we're cutting Canaan, Brooks, or Casspi. Yes, Brooks and Casspi aren't that good but there's no way in hell they're going before Brewer, Williams, or Covington. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out (liking the pun?). Also, now that Camby is hurt, we really only have one more player to cut cause we know Camby is gone (or am I mistaken? Is there a chance that he could recover quickly?). Anyway, There's a 99.99% chance that the 2 players (or 1 player if Camby's really injured beyond recovery) we will cut will be chosen from Brewer, Williams, and Covington.
Brooks is definitely possible, I would almost say probable if it was just going by his three preseason games. He hasn't played well. Dunno where that 18ppg Brooks went, but it's looking more like the anomaly than the norm for him. He apparently has lost his shot--couldn't hit a brick wall even dating back to his China days. Dunno if the team has room for a 4th PG who is 5'10, plays no defense, and now forgot how to shoot.
I doubt its Brooks or Camby. They are trying to compete, which means highest seed possible, which means they need to be able to withstand injury. I predict 3 vets at as many positions as possible: Lin / Beverley / Brooks / Cannan Harden / Garcia / Brewer Parsons / Casspi Jones / Dmo / Smith Howard / Asik / Camby Therefore I predict Covington and Williams are gone.
I think you need to slow down there. First of all... I dont think Canaan will be cut. I think Williams goes first and then its one of Covington/Brewer/Brooks after him that end up going if there isn't a minor trade made beforehand. That being said.... it wouldn't be the first time the Rockets or another NBA team cut a 2nd round pick during preseason of their rookie year as unlikely as it seems. (look up Terrell Bell) If a 2nd round pick looks that bad in preseason they have to consider the option of cutting their losses, and keeping a player that will actually contribute this year instead. However, the NBA is different now, and I would think that even if Canaan stunk it up through the rest of the preseason, some GM out there would take him off of the Rockets hands to try and develop him for say a Euro-prospect that isn't coming over to NBA ever so Les doesn't have to eat the salary and Morey doesn't have to eat salary cap space for future years. Point being- NOBODY knows what is going to happen over the next 5 preseason games and in the next 10 to 15 practices the Rockets are going to have before final cuts are made. However, you can give an insightful take on where things are right now, but NOBODY knows what will happen over the next 2 1/2 weeks. Reggie Williams and Brewer might look like the cuts now, but then go all Williamsanity & Brewersanity over the next 5 games... who knows. -Also- Camby's injury should not be considered beyond recovery. Its Plantar Faciitis which is very common with athletes, and very common to occur during training camp when players train too hard too fast to get in shape overnight. Given the fact that he's not going to be needed AT ALL till February at the earliest, I'd say that he SHOULD BE healthy for the second half of the season when its possible that he could be a very big part of this team coming off the bench. Camby is worth it. He shouldn't be cut unless he's retiring.
1）Nope. But we have Morey here. Brooks is depth in case of injury as well, assuming Canaan isn't ready. 2) iPhone auto-correct. I can't even remember was I was writing. But probably to do with him either not tradable till closer to trade deadline, or actually having player veto rights for this season (if I recall Bima's post correctly). I have to stop posting from iPhone.
To elaborate on this. Clutch confirmed in the most recent podcast that he has good information that CP3 contacted the Rockets this Summer and let them know he was interested in joining Dwight in free agency, and the Rockets quickly hit the phones to shop both Lin & Asik to create the necessary cap space required to sign both players. So the only reason why rumors were out there was because the Rockets thought they might be getting Chris Paul. After the Clippers traded for Doc Rivers, and CP3 had a change of heart, they obviously pulled their offers and are keeping Lin now for the foreseeable future. He's here to stay unless another CP3 like PG comes available at any point... which is very unlikely.
Well, a trade would mean that you might only need to cut one guy, not two. There are ways to wind up with your fifteen man roster besides cutting two of the 17 dudes currently with the team. Lin's trade value declines as time goes by, as does Asik's. If you acquire either player in February, for instance, you are getting significantly less value, particularly when you factor in how much each player is owed in 2014-15 (nearly $15 mil!). When did Houston trade for James Harden last season? In July? February? No, this trade occurred on October 27, right before final 15 man rosters were due. There is very recent precedent. We're, what, two weeks away from the day when final roster cuts must be made? So we'll find out soon enough.
^^ dobro, werent Camby last season constantly injured when he was with knicks?Correct me if I'm wrong.
I would suggest looking at preseason Bucks boxcores, maybe looking at Bucks message boards. If a) John Henson and Larry Sanders appear to constitute a good enough starting frontcourt, and b) Brandon Knight is looking shaky, then Milwaukee surely considers a Lin-for-Ilyasova swap, especially if Houston is willing to sweeten the pot.
Henson has been very productive so far this preseason, whereas Brandon Knight has gone 1-for-8 from the field in his two starts. The writing is kind of on the wall here, is it not?
