Patterson deserved to be paid and Morey wasn't going to pay for complementary pieces until he had his stars. /thread
Yea. He said some nice things about him in a video, possibly when he traded Patterson, about how PPat was a great player but someone who was going to fall short of a top player or all-star. I don't remember the word he used.
At the time, it seemed to me like Morey wanted to create room for one of Morris, Jones, and DMo to step up there game.
Well I agree that he would never be an all-star... but why trade him when they did? What was the point? Why not trade him at a time when you can upgrade for something better?
it is necessary to trade all of Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris, Royce White. We could either trade them for space, or trade for a asset which has more trade value. a newly 5# Thomas Robinson is easier to trade for space and picks than 4th year PPT
Yes, it was. He made over $3.1M last season. Big difference-maker in opening up cap room for Dwight. Meanwhile, Morey was able to flip the guy for whom they traded him (T-Rob) in exchange for FOUR second rounders. (Go look at other NBA trades over the past year and see how many good NBA players netted a team more than two second rounders.). No way they get that haul for PPatt. I loved Patterson. He was a favorite of mine (and LilBimaThug's). But he had to go.
IIRC, PPat's contract was up. Which meant that we had to pay him a decent contract to keep him when the season ended, unlikely to happen at the time because we didn't have Howard yet, or trade him for assets/picks and clear the roster spot so our other PFs could get some burn. Assets don't increase in value sitting on the bench. Took care of 3 problems.
