Lin played great yesterday. What's the problem folks? He's done a good job the past week I think. And tonight he shot the ball well. Does he live up to that contract? No. He doesn't. But you know what, as a reserve point guard he does a good job and the only reason we analyze his play so much is because of that contract and LOF's.
Lin did great yesterday. Harden, Parsons, and not having Dwight and Beverley were the biggest causes for the lose. Too many ugly lineups.
delusional cranky hate filled loh still going stong i see...the contract is a total non issue, for a pg with his allstar potential, as we saw yesterday, the 8.3 mil average is totally fair...if the rockets want consistent all star production, they need to give him consistent opportunities, period.
I don't keep a list of LOH except for the very obvious ones, but when people keep bringing up his contract which is a reasonable salary, it's frustrating, how about the fact that we pay dwight howard 22 million when we could start Asik and redistrubute that 14 million dollar difference for 2-3 quality players or another very good allstar calibre player?
When actual all star caliber players can be had for 9 million dollars, ala Milsap, Dragic, Lowry, and what Lin brings to the table can be replaced by minimum guys, it is kind of a big deal. At this level of play, every dollar counts. He is massively overpaid for what he brings to the Rockets. Or how about we don't make stupid decisions like that. Dwight, unlike Lin, is worth every penny of his salary.
Hmm, very few would agree with you that Howard is a worse contract than Lin. But whatever live in your own dreamworld. Lin's contract is not his fault, none of us would refuse a contract. The contract is on Morey and the lack of production is on Lin.
I've heard Dwight's contract is very much market value for what he brings to the table. Lin's contract is looking like mistake in hindsight, but it was a good risk at the time.
Dragic and Lowry both vastly outplayed their current contract. By no means would you be able to sign either one of them to what they're currently getting. I haven't seen much of Millsap, so I'll withhold judgment. If Lowry and Dragic both were on the Rockets in Lin's role, their production would plummet and people would be griping that they are not worth the 9 million either. The fact of the matter is that any ball dominant point guard is going to be "overpaid" on the Rockets, as there really isn't a PG (save maybe two or three super elite players) who would get the ball over Harden. Lin is overpaid for what he brings to the Rockets in his current role, but that is NOT an indictment of Lin as a player. When Lin is given freedom to play his game (usually only when Harden is injured/resting/bricking every shot), Lin has shown he plays very much up to his contract - simply see the last Denver game. Maybe not as much as Lowry or Dragic, but the guy is worth every penny. If the question is whether Lin is able to get a similar contract in the free agency, then it totally depends. The Rockets aren't going to sign him to antoher 8 Mil contract because he (along with 95% of ball dominant PGs) is replaceable in their system. Other teams that don't have elite wing players might value him much higher. Who knows.
In no way am I saying Lin is all star caliber, but for people to just immediately say he's massively overpaid is beyond me. When Morey signed Lin, he had no idea he was going to end up with Harden and then Howard the next year. There's no way Morey gives this contract to Lin if he knows that. Yes, he may be overpaid on this team for what he brings for this team. But if Harden was never traded for (which is what Morey was assuming when he signed Lin) and Lin averaged 17 and 7, would you guys still think he's overpaid? It's all about context. His skills are not a good fit with this starting line up and is thus the fourth offensive option off the bench who gets sporadic minutes. You can't just be like, oh, look at Lin's stats vs. Lowry and Dragic and you'll see how overpaid he is! Sure, on this team he's a little overpaid for his role, but that doesn't mean he would be an overpaid player everywhere else. And even on this team, I thought he's played decent, even though he's inconsistent And I don't think people realize how good of a contract players like Lowry and Dragic are on. Based on their production for this year, they deserve to be making 12-14 million. Obviously you wouldn't give a long term contract with that kind of money because you don't know if they can keep it up, but if they could they would deserve it. Lowry and Dragic are on underpaid salaries moreso that Lin is on an overpaid one.
You should make your own judgments on what you think makes sense. I like Dwight and I think he is an allstar calibre player. What I am saying is, in terms of the big picture, think about the marginal benefit of redistributing Dwight's contract instead of Lin's. Lin only makes 8 million bucks. Even if you cleared his contract, there's not a lot of maneuverability there. Dwight makes 22 million, you could do alot with that cap number. This is further illustrated by the fact that Asik can give you a double double at a fraction of the cost, which I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately all the LOH got their panties in a wad over my perceived slight.
I don't really get this sentiment. Players routinely refuse contracts. They have unions that do everything they can to push their salaries as high as possible. They have agents to get them every possible dollar. They require guaranteed contracts, so if they underperform, the owners have no recourse. Naturally, the owners do the exact opposite, such as in the case of Parsons. It's kind of like if you hired a contractor to work on your house, and he overcharged you and did a crappy job, it's all your fault for hiring the wrong guy.
The thing is, we KNOW what Lowry and Dragic bring to the table. Lowry is a hard nosed brawler, great defender, good rebounder, MUCH better/safer passer, and better shooter. Dragic is pretty good defensively (I want to say better than Lin, but Lin is a pretty underrated defender), much better shooter and scorer IMO, and about the same as a passer. Both of these players fit much better with our team than Lin ever will from a team perspective. From an individual perspective, I find Lowry superior to Lin in every way as a PG. Dragic I think is a better player, but not too much better than Lin.
Current yes, but Milsap could have been had the prior offseason for that money and you could probably get Lowry this offseason for a salary starting at that much with raises. The opportunity cost of Lin is us missing out on SIGNIFICANTLY better players. You people really just don't understand that great players transcend what number option they are. Harden was a MORE efficient player in OKC as a 3rd option. He was not marginalized or misused in OKC. Lowry and Dragic are not exploding because of their roles, they are exploding because they are great players. We are talking a 2-3 less shots per game and 2-3% less usage. There are still plenty of opportunites for Lin to succeed, but frankly he is blowing it. http://bkref.com/tiny/DENTA Really, because it seems like when Lin occassionally has a good game it is because he was "finally allowed to play his game", but the 75% of the time when he is useless, it is because of some cop out excuses. How about he finds a way to be a good role player on a good team rather than the best player on a terrible one?
All i meant when i said players wont refuse contracts is that he wont refuse a higher paying contract. As in its not his fault that he is overpaid. Morey offered the contract and of course he was going to accept it. As far as him under performing its all on Lin. Not on lack of opportunity or injury or racism or coaches or any of that nonsense. I like Lin but most of his groupies are delusional.
You guys always bring up lowry and dragic or whatever, but the fact is, you had both of them in Houston and guess what? They both drastically underperformed and were underutilized. There's a reason lowry hated playing for Mchale. Neither player became exponentially better in the past year. They've been good players for years but in Houston they were underachieving. It's a similar case for Lin.
I dont really have anything to say about the opportunity cost issue you mentioned. Are you angry that there are better players out there and we weren't able to sign all of them? Or that, without perfect foresight, we weren't able to optimally sign the best players for a team that hadn't even been formed? Great players transcend their role and option. Kobe would be great no matter where he plays. Who every said that Lin was a "Great" player? He might be at some time in the future, but I'm not holding my breath. The point is that he is a very GOOD player and could very well be the 2nd/3rd option on a championship team. For example, does Tony Parker necessarily transcend his role? Imagine if he was told to stand in a corner, not handle the ball, and jack up jumpers when he was 25. Any takers on how quickly you would've tried to drive him out of town? Lowry and Dragic are absolutely exploding because of their roles. They were always good, but the fact that they are the central decision makers as opposed to off ball 3rd options make all the difference. The two of them along with Lin in New York are three great examples of what happens when you take a good player and put him in a position to succeed. Correct me if I'm wrong, but usage rates account for possessions, but not your role in the offense. There are baseless "excuses," and there are explanations. For example, Lin's injury was hidden from us and people absolutely freak out thinking Lin was trash. Lin has played well enough often enough that he should be given the benefit of the doubt that there might be an overriding circumstance.
