I don't understand the people here that defend him. Besides him passing it to dwight the dude has been terrible.
its a team option contract and I believe he was paid a large portion to help him get out of his contract in Europe plus to be a valuable trade asset during the deadline in Feb. I do not think it was just a situation where we need to pay him to trade him but a case where they would lose the MLE otherwise so they should have used it - lets use it on a team friend contract on a desirable prospect so that way they have flexibility to either keep him and play him or being able to trade him. Problem is with the Rockets team they have no "middle contracts" until now --before it was either large (harden, dwight, ariza) or small size (rookie scale, second round pick etc) Terry was the only guy who was in the 5 mil range. Now there is Brewer, Papa and Terry. Because it would make it hard to make a move because either you would be giving up a star talent or have to give up too much talent for the dollar just to make salaries match (ie: pat bev is by far outplaying his contract value) I doubt the Rockets are upset with him - he got off to a great start and then after his injury he fell out of the rotation and you could see how the team started to play poorly without him (well - the second unit that is). Now that he is starting to see minutes again the level of play for the second unit has also risen with the current mini-streak. He was a second round pick from europe - the other euro guys mentioned were drafted in the first round I believe for a reason. It will take some time to get acclimated to the league and the injury just prolonged that time. Remember Scola did not really see too much playing time and success until the second half of the season after he caught onto the NBA game.
He plays hard and in my opinion is a solid player at every aspect of the game outside of shooting. I think he can defend, rebound, pass and handle sufficiently for a SF. I could be wrong, but I think his poor shooting may be a combination of needing to adjust to the NBA game or perhaps not getting the kind of shots that he is most comfortable with. Whatever the case, I just think he will figure it out. He may quite possibly have to figure it out somewhere else considering he has a very trade friendly and potentially expiring 5 mil contract, but...
LOL, jim158's not a troll. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=9444535&postcount=624 http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=9305164&postcount=166 http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=9342753&postcount=675
I'm sorry but Kpap is no Dmo and Dmo was younger his first couple of years in the league. Kpap is an older rookie. And if I'm not mistaken, I don't recall people standing up for Dmo earlier on like they are standing up for Kpap. Kpap may develop into a decent rotational player on a good team, but I don't think he is there yet. I think Kpap has some skills, I just don't think he is as good as a lot of people think he is right now though.
The point is he's a rookie living in a new country playing a different style of game. He needs time to develop. And when he's on the court his positives out weight the negatives. Also he's contributing more now then Dmo did his first year. That doesn't mean i think he'll be a more important piece than Dmo. But trust me he will get another NBA contract.
Really? Dmo is one of the very few 3rd year players that his team sent him to the summer league and play. This alone says how much his coach and GM think about his value. Look, he has a very nice 2 months and developed nicely, but he was what he was before that, not only the fans think the same but the Rox were thinking about the same on him, which was most likely a failure.
LOL I think the quality of CFnet has been going down lately, you have posters making posts when they don't know how to analyze players properly. Trade the MVP frontrunner for Beal or Wall, the fans should riot despite being 4 games out of first place, trade Dwight for De Andre freakin' Jordan etc etc etc. Now you have people talking about how K-Pap doesn't belong in the NBA Dude's an amazing sub for the team, he brings high energy similar to Brewer and doesn't avoid contact. He's a great game-changer for the team, Brewer's playing great but he won't be on all the time, when he isn't you can put K-Pap in and get similar results. In fact, in the playoffs you can run both of them together with Terry manning the point to provide spacing and 2 guys who will scrap, defend and out hustle opponents. People here always malign our bench and 2nd unit for being limited role players, but these guys bring infectious energy which can inspire their teammates to go all out as well. When only 1 guy is laying it all on the line he can look like a punk ass crazy (see KG). But when multiple guys do it you can have a team culture change, which is basically what happened to Houston after the divas all left and DM got more scrappy guys on board.
Back to Kpap, overall at this point of the season, I would say he is a calculated but failed gamble by Morey. You don't gain anything from him this year, that's pretty much a sure thing, but on the other hand, we did not lose so much - even though we are all in now and his cap number could help us in some area. His trade value as of now is no more than a cap number / expiring contract. Who knows, if he will ever have the same opportunities like D-Mo, he may actually grow into a NBA player. But given Rocket's situation and direction now, if this team will be given Dmo in his form of the last 2 seasons, he will get close to ZERO playing time also.
Yes he was a scrub and in a matter of two months become a legit starter with future all star potential bro....your basketball evaluations aren't very good. DMo didn't just suddenly become what he is...that's not how skill / talent works. If you think that just lol at you.
I'm impressed with Pap since technically he's a rookie 1st year in the NBA. The speed is much different in the NBA which he's adjusting too. Plays solid D and can shoot 3's and he's crafty
What does that have to do with DMo's ceiling? Dmo got very little court time his first two years so the thought was to continue getting reps against NBA caliber talent. I don't understand how that is a problem? Before Morey came along it was an insult to send a first round pick to the D-League. Also, look no further than Bev. An All-NBA defensive player in 2013-2014 played in the summer league before the season started. Can you name another instance of that? See how it has no relevance to this discussion?
Dmo got very little court time his first two years? Give me a break. TJ was the one who was getting very little court time in his first year and Dmo was given every single opportunity in this team. While after having a disappointed rookie season, the Rox turned to TJ and started to give him a more equal chance to play and he shrined - comparing to what Dmo was doing at that time. TJ played poorly in the playoff last year, no doubt about it. But the fact remains : even he played poorly, at least the Rox still give him chance to play given the options we have, while Dmo, you beloved future star, played 5 minutes in the whole series. Look, no one is doubting Dmo's performance in the last 2 months, but going back to claim he was developing well and nicely is just a complete joke.
That's not a sure thing at all. The guy played decently well prior to getting hurt while playing consistent minutes. Then when he comes back from injury, he doesn't get consistent minutes and struggles in spot minutes. Then the Rockets trade for 2 veterans who play the 2 positions where he gets minutes. You can't make any clear judgement of how he will perform the rest of the season.
Let's see. DMo playing away from the basket exclusively the limited mins he played his first two years = failure DMo playing around the basket this year = success Hmmm I wonder why Dmo is doing well all of a sudden....hmmmm I don't know what it could be......
I've always thought about KPap that he will get better as he gets used to the speed of the NBA. That probably won't be this season unfortunatley and he will be regulated to spot minutes. I actually wouldn't mind him being sent to the D-League so he can get a ton of burn and work with Canaan and Capella.