I feel it's a little too premature to make judgement on TJ. He has just as much room for growth as Dmo. Once he is able to play, it will probably take him a month to get back into the groove of things or show us his improvements (if any). No reason to to think that a 22 yr old will no longer improve.
In order for that to happen Smith needs to stop shooting threes. DMo might be a work in progress as a long-range shooter where he is allowed to take 1 or 2 a game (28%), but Smith isn't even anywhere near that. As long as he's shooting them at a 22% clip he shouldn't be allowed to take any.
Jones' career trajectory after he leaves the Rockets will probably be more along the lines of Carl Landry than anything else. D-Mo has the chance to become a well above average starter. He already wins his match-up most nights as is. It's possible, but not likely. Jones' actual fundamentals are nowhere near close to how good D-Mo's are. D-Mo has much more potential due to his bball IQ, passing, and size alone.
Most likely only mini MLE (taxpayer) if Morey makes a trade for a dragic type and goes over the apron.
I'm not making a judgement, I'm going by what I saw, not assuming improvement. Jones made no improvements in his defensive awareness from year one to year 2. Now it is certainly possible that he has this year, but i can't assume it until I see it. Until then he should be subjected to the same treatment D-mo had. 15 minutes or so every night, maybe less.
I don't get this. Carl's game is predicated on pure energy and hustle which is one of the criticisms of TJ's game. Carl had a deadly mid range jumper since his rookie year. Dmo and TJ offer different skill sets. Dmo is used for post ups while TJ has the skills to rebound the ball and run the fast break. Dmo is a great post up and pick roll defender while the other is a help defender. If anything, TJ's game is more like Smith's. Apple to oranges but both provide value to our team in their own way.
I don't necessarily mean that he has the same skillset as Landry. Rather I just can't see Jones ever having a strong impact down the line.
Jones defensive rotations and box outs are abysmal. There is no flashy stat to back up this fact but it's the truth. Landry had that exact same problem. They grab boards, but also allow other teams to grab boards because they are ball watching. D-mo, and Josh Smith for that matter, are spectacular team and individual defenders. Smith isn't quite used to our defensive concepts but he will be. They also box out much better, while basically grabbing just as many rebounds as Jones does.
It probably depends on what you want him to do. If you are focusing on a 21 yr olds performance against a seasoned superstar during the playoffs, that would be unfair. He clearly was instrumental to us getting 54 wins last year and should get some credit for that. On terms of books, we just read chapter one on TJ's basketball career. We don't know how this storybook will end.
22 yrs old who played point guard most of his young life. He has a lot to learn and to think that what you see is a finished product is somewhat short sighted.
Correct, we don't know, that's why we shouldn't assume that he'll end up being a lot more than we've seen so far. At best he's an easily replaceable athletic 6'9 PF, at worst he's the worst PF on the roster.
I agree it's a 50/50 proposition that costs us pennies in terms of investment. Low risk, possible high rewards - only a fool will not take that.
Exactly. He doesn't have the "it factor" that would seem to translate to an elite game whereas D-Mo always has. He could become a good starting level player (everyone's stats were inflated last year due to our pace) eventually, but I just can't get that excited about his game. There's too many guys in the league who have the exact same skill-set as him.
If he manages to get back healthy and looks competent, we'd be fools to not flip him before he hits FA. I think if he had any trade value at all, we'd flip him before the deadline this season because we're not going to pay him. Since he has no value right now, we probably have to wait till the offseason or potentially even till the deadline next season.
Did DeAndre, Germaine, Milsap, Asik, Kawhi, etc., had the "it factor" when they were 21 yrs old? It would be stupid of me to predict that he will be elite just as it would be to say that he will just be another average player when he is 25 yrs of age.
REAL QUESTION: Where is DMo defensely right now? I need his Defense to be GOOD not GREAT BUT GOOD before reaching untouchable. Where is he Rebounding wise? In Your Opinion Rocket River
