Watching Dragic that season and a half he was with us it was easy to tell he was a far superior player to Jeremy Lin and it would have been worth it to give him that player option as opposed to the unknown ceiling of the 2 week phenom Jeremy Lin. I know we did it to retain flexibility but damn what would that 1 year option have cost us? Who on this team would we not have now? We still could have signed Dwight, Harden would still be here.
With whatever move Houston makes it won't win them the ring this year! With a new PG added to the mix there will be growing pains and this team needs to build better chemistry imo before they can really make some serious noise in the playoffs.
Honestly after Harden Howard and now Dmo, Ariza is probably the next untradeable piece. Of course there is a big difference between Harden to Howard, Howard to Dmo and Dmo to Ariza, but Ariza is so important to our team. Ariza has been such a huge piece to this team's defense. Of course, he guards the other teams best perimeter scorer but now he is even guarding point guards for us since Bev has been struggling. He has been shooting better lately and when he is on, he one of the few players on this team capable of hitting threes at a consistent rate. Plus he is on a team friendly deal. No way we think about trading him unless we get a definite upgrade over him on both ends of the floor (BJ, KD, Butler, healthy George, Leonard, etc.) I don't think we are going to have to trade Dmo to get Dragic. The NOP pick, Jones and an expiring contract in Shved for Dragic is fair, in my opinion. And I don't know why you would want to keep the NOP pick. Do we really need another rookie on this team next season? Chances are that whoever we pick is going to be riding the bench next season, unless McHale immediately falls in love with him in training camp. So might as while cash in the pick now, and what better way than in a deal that could net us Dragic?
I disagree. Only because I feel you need someone to hold the stars accountable. McHale isn't gonna do it. Stars holding stars accountable can be volatile.
This is one of the biggest reasons why I respect Morey so much. He dealt with that issue, gave Lin more money than he felt he was worth, to please Les. Did all that without complaining or saying anything negative about it. And worked his way through it.
PHX may be sincere about wanting to retain Dragic, but... 1) Isn't it kind of weird that they are meeting RIGHT NOW to talk about his future? Haven't they had months, if not years, to have this conversation? 2) I am not sure what exactly committment PHX can get out of this meeting that they have not gotten from Dragic so far. Dragic isn't likely to to commit to a contract extension right there no matter what PHX does between now and the deadline (trading Thomas or what not) and no matter what PHX offers. The financial incentive under the CBA is for Dragic (and for every other upcoming free agent) to just get to the summer and look at all of their options and offers.
Very simply, the Pels pick is a more valuable trade asset than Ariza is. We can get more for it later.
So I guess we should pack it in, guys. What's the point of even trying?? We have no shot at winning in the playoffs. The Disciple has spoken!
To be fair, most of Dragic's time here was as a back up point guard. It wasn't until the mid-way point of the NBA shortened season was when he turned to our starting point guard. Around the same time Linsanity was happening, if I remember correctly. Honestly, the jury was still out on if Dragic could be a good starting point guard, just as it was for Lin. Dragic was a much safer bet than Lin but, at the time, there was a general consensus that Lin could be a star/better player than Dragic. Like you said, Lin had an "unknown ceiling". The Rockets needed players with the at least some capacity of turning into a star, hence why the went after players like Marcus Morris and Royce White. At the time, most everyone felt that Dragic was more or less who he was supposed to be. Of course, the unexpected happened and Dragic flourished while Lin crashed. And everything messed up when we got James Harden and turned into the player he is today, changing the future and expectations of the team. Morey wanted to keep Dragic but there is no point in locking a good player into a long contract with a player when the team doesn't have any direction, like the Rockets in the summer of 2012.
Les had nothing to do with money letting dragic go and signing Lin. That is a myth started by a fake insider here that has been thoroughly debunked.
I'm just sayin lol for me whether we get Dragic or not this isn't our year! Houston will probably end up with CJ Watson or something anyway lol he's a real game changer!!
There was no question in my mind then or now that Dragic was superior to not only Jeremy Lin but Kyle Lowry. And I really like both of those guys.
BBHolic, You have like 15 people listed in your signature. I'm curious to hear, from your own perspective (educated by your informed sources), what would you be willing to guess we're going to end up doing this week?
