Heh, that's one theory. Starting Jones is one of the reasons the Rockets last post-season ended so quickly. He's a SF-PF tweener that is just terrible at defense, he has things he's good at though and honestly a platoon at PF would work best with Jones playing against the small, athletic PF's and DMo going against the legit PF's
I seem to recall DMo thrashing summer league competition in the past. It just didn't translate that well to the regular season. If he's still on the roster we'll see, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Definitely not saying Jones is anything special, and yes he's awful at defense while DMO has at least that going for him, but Jones has more value than DMO at the moment. I'm not sure that's debatable.
no No except DMo can't defend those bigs and when he actually gets playing time can't seem to get the ball actually into the basket. He looks good in Dleague and the SL but of course that is not the real NBA.
He would probably be an elite player in the softer euro leagues. He gets bullied in the NBA. We'll see if that changes.
lo I agree. I actually like Dmo and watch when he does get a chance but he has disappointed me too often. Hopefully this year he can get his head straight.
It's because his game is polarizing. Doesn't help that his offense gets better every year but his defense never does.
Not Morey's, but maybe the other team waiting to see if the player gets injured or starts sucking, etc. I mean yeah you can agree in principle, but we know how that worked out...
Jones was a 2nd year player getting his first real minutes in the NBA last year. Most inexperienced players struggle with having an overall positive impact even when they have skills and put up box-score numbers. Jones was not an overall helpful player last season, but he did show upside-- good handles for a PF, good athleticism, has some really nice games (and disappears in others). He's got way more tools than the typical NBA "big stiff." He needs to learn how to use his skills in an optimal way and develop new ones to fill in holes in his game. I would trade him for the right return, but would not give him away for some minor asset.
About DMo: The best part of his game right now is probably his post moves. He can hit some 3s but at 30% beyond the arc he isn't actually all that great a threat there (same goes for Jones). But with Dwight Howard on the team wanting all the post touches for himself, will DMo actually get to make use of that part of his game or will the team need him to learn to be a "spread 4" when that's not really his natural strength (at least as of last season)? I think DMo has had some decent defensive games and some bad ones last season. He is still learning but does have some tools to become a respectable defender-- size, quick feet, hustle and some awareness as to where to be.
