Zach Lowe: Terrence Jones could be asking for $15M per year

Not really. Part of why he got benched in the playoffs was because he wasn't a capable enough 3 point shooter to stretch the defense....he was then replaced with Josh Smith who was a drastic upgrade when it came to shooting the 3.

He's hit less than 30% of his 3 point attempts in his NBA career and has never had even one season where he shot 31% if you count the playoffs as well as the season.

IMO you have to shoot 33% to even be a capable 3 point shooter.

 

That's fair.

Once again...not saying he's anything to write home about, but he can knock down the occasional 3. We'll see if improvement is made this season.

 

That'll be one of two areas that are absolutely key for him going forward. If he can manage to be a 33+% 3 point shooter and if he can improve his defensive awareness and basically figure out how to do more on defense than just providing the occasional blocked shot, then he could work his way into being a starting caliber PF in the league.

It's a contract year for him, so if he was ever going to do it, now would absolutely be the time.

 

I'm no big jones guy ... But he could absolutely get that kind of offer next year . I don't think 15 , but 12 is possible if he plays to his potential . He could improve on defense , he could improve his shooting . Jones has a knack for putting up very good looking numbers without necessarily demanding the ball . If he gets minutes and plays engaged he could average something like 13/8 with a few assists or blocks . If he plays in the second unit and runs on the break he is in an ideal situation . Also brewer and bev are gambling type wing defenders as is Lawson for the matter . He could be put into a spot that utilizes his help - blocking skills .

I don't think he does this as of now , I'm just saying that the potential for him to play this kind of role and excell in it is there . If he does perform like this 12 mil a year will be on the table due to further growth potential .

For the record I hope DMO is healthy and absolutely wins the starters job .... But health is a legit question .

 

You are worth what someone is willing to pay you. If someone offers him as much or more then the market said that he was worth it. Has nothing to do about delusions of grandeur or anything.
If noone offers him as much then he won't get paid that.

But as for MLE money now that's a delusion.

 

He's not worth 15mill to us.

Let some crap Eastern team pay him that.

To the Rockets, he is worth the MLE on exposed form.

 

that's another matter. We can let him go for nothing.
We can do the same with DMO if another team offers him the max.
But it has nothing to do with delusions on the players part. Esp since this is only speculation and there has be no discussion with the team on an extension as far we know.
But the fact that TT turned down a 80 million extension is definitely troubling for any team with rfa next summer.

And the new value of mle is a roleplayer vet 8-9 in the depth chart because with the new cap rise, the mle has lost a lot of value. Certainly not a young player like Jones or DMO.

I am waiting for basketball insiders to make their full projections for next years teams capspace to see how many max contracts will be thrown around next summer.

 

The difference is that Jones is easily replaceable, DMo isn't. That's why the Rockets probably pay DMo next season no matter what and there's virtually no way the Rockets pay Jones if he were to command 15 mil.

 

3 for 22 for his career from 3 in the playoffs.

31 for 98 for his career from 3 feet to 23 feet in the playoffs.



He's a bad shooter in the regular season.

And he's a terrible shooter under pressure in the playoffs.

 

well we can't pay BOTH that's for sure. Not with the new market prices.
I also would NOT like paying DMO 18-20 per unless I'm absolutely certain that his back injury is completely healed. And even then I would have big concerns.


But also letting someone go without getting anything back is not wise.

Anyway the topic is the market value of our rfas. And to determine it, besides some speculations by so called analysts, we have indications and logic. Indications are this summers contracts and extensions and logic is the rule of demand and offer. Thats why the capspace available for teams next summer is vital to determine how many teams will be bidding for either of them.
It has nothing to do with the players and their agents "delusions". In the end rfa always have had the option to take the QO. If someone is trully deluded and miscalculates their market value even if they don't receive any satisfying offer sheet they can take the QO and test the market again next summer.
BTW since you are the DMO expert, does he and Val have the same agent?

 

There's very little reason to worry about DMo's injury, he had a less severe herniation than Dwight Howard did according to Dwight Howard, he had surgery earlier in the year than Dwight Howard did, and he's less reliant on athleticism than Dwight Howard is.

Dwight Howard had his surgery 11 days later than DMo did and he was ready do go by October 21st and he was playing 38 minutes in the regular season by October 30th and averaged almost 36 minutes a game that season. The issues with his back really have been overstated.

As to his agent, I have no clue who that is.

 

The only comment we have about the severity of his condition comes from Dwight Howard. Not exactly WOJ or even an official team statement. Dwight probably didn't know what he was talking about.

As to your point about Dwight being ready ... Dwight was a shell of himself that year. Athletically he definitely lost a few steps for a while and I'm not sure he can ever return to his pre-surgery form. DMO relies less on athleticism , but if the surgery similarly causes him to lose a step or two for a while , will he be able to hang? He probably wont be able to add muscle this off season and will lack both bulk and athleticism compared to the form he was in during his peak.

I think more people are actually not concerned at all with the back and are assuming he is good to go when the season starts. If i had to bet I'd say he'd be at 80 % at best in terms of health . Whether or not he can play through that is something i don't know.

 

As to Dwight being a "shell of himself that year", I'm not sure that's true. He was on an awful Lakers team that was poorly constructed and had probably the worst possible head coach for Dwight Howard to play for. It's really hard to say which was more of a factor but if his back was really bothering him, he probably wouldn't have averaged 36 minutes per game for the season.

 

Haven't seen Tjones shooting form that closely until now and I have to say it is pretty bad.

He doesn't even hold the ball on the left side of his body for being a lefty. He is pretty much doing a right to left motion and there is no way the rotation is going to be good like that. His follow through is pretty awkward too, doesn't flow and seems forced.

 

He's been on our team for 3 seasons. And you're just now noticing how bad his shooting form is?

This is why you have to watch the games and study the players versus just looking at boxscores and even advanced metrics. Numbers (boxscores, advanced metrics, etc.) do not tell the whole story on a player.

For the life of me I can't understand how any Rockets fan who likes the team well enough to hang out here and post hasn't picked up on how bad Terrence's shooting from is until now.

 

Here's the problem with this ridiculous and repetitive theoretical argument.

If he's so replaceable, why hasn't he been replaced?

You can probably list like 40 PF's out there that YOU think are better value players on 2 mil or less a year, but obviously Morey cannot.

Whose wrong here, you & BBHollic or Morey? Cause if this is such a no-brainer move to ship him out when there are so many adequate replacements and upgrades, why hasn't it been done yet? Is Morey just that stupid to you? Is that really the side of the argument you want to sit on?

 

So I'm supposed to study every player that has ever been a Rocket? I already knew his shooting form was bad but not as bad as I saw in those vids.

So excuse me for not being Rocket scholar like you.

 

He's not replaceable. Not many guys are elite finishers at the rim with such low turnover rate.

It's why his career ORtg is 117.

They have to repeat it a lot because it's wrong and nobody is buying it.

 

What are the big examples they've kept on using over the years-

-Jason Smith
-Derrick Williams
-Reggie Evans
-Brandon Bass
-Carlos Boozer
-Doug McDermont
-Robert Covington
etc. etc.

They can keep on reciting reasons why these guys are better fits, but the fact of the matter is still that for various reasons with each player, Morey has not seem them as replacements or upgrades that are worth paying for.

So Hollic & Bobby can disagree with me and you all they want, but the person they really disagree with at the end of the day is Morey. You have a million examples of players that are apparently available in their eyes, and Morey has not acquired them and dumped Jones.

The point is there is no disagreement here worth arguing about. There is a long history, and alot of evidence that proves that their THESIS is not in line with Morey's. So take it up with him.

 

There wasn't a need to replace him until now.....and we just drafted Montrezl Harrell.