Well. I wish him the best...it's kind of nice to have a German on the Rockets. To be honest, I haven't seen him play all that much, since I only used to follow the German basketball league (BBL) sporadically until Bayern started picking it up, since then I have been to a few games because I know some of the players personally. I have seen him a bit on the German national team. Seemed like a solid player to me, but it seems sort of clear that the upside, based on age, etc., might not be the same as that of some other people on the roster. I cannot remember having seen him take over a game or anything like that. But I will definitely cheer for him. I will ask some of my German basketball contacts what they think about him.
curious as to know why you think it's 'meh' signing. From draft report: The main weaknesses : too unselfish!, some senseless fouls. I'm extremely happy that Morey got us this guy. I love Asik, love D-Mo. I have a feeling I will love this guy Tim Ohlbrecht too. Go Europeans!
looks like he will be a great benefactor from Lin and Harden, as they both can set up big man. Tim SHOULD score more points per minute played than Asik, but fewer rebounds (as we know, Asik is a rebounding machine!!). With his outside shooting touch, he may even play PF position together with Asik. All the tinkering with Rockets team may set them back for short term though. But this is good for the future.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaUo8A2zNhA Crunchtime - der Audio-Podcast von Crossover-Online.de, mit einer Sonderausgabe bei YouTube. Der deutsche Nationalspieler Tim Ohlbrecht hat einen Vertrag bis zum Saisonende bei den Houston Rockets unterschrieben. Die ersten Gedanken über den zweiten gebürtigen Deutschen in der NBA gibt es in einem Crunchtime-Special zum Anhören!
If Smith is unable to go or gimped do you still foresee that? And besides, I thought he was already called up - - or was that just to ink the deal and get sent down?
By writing those German words, I guess you are German, too. We have three OOFs already on this thread alone. Niiiiice.
Does anyone know the details of his contract? How many years? Any Team option? How much do we pay this Ivory tower?
Same as Anderson, Beverly, and Greg Smiths. League minimum. Something around 800 to 900K in the first year... pro-rated of course. Only this year guaranteed. Year 2 & 3 with team options. As low risk of a contract as it gets.
What I'm surprised that nobody has pointed out is this: Greg Smith has a team option for 2013-14 (that will surely be exercised by the Rockets), but not for 2014-15. Tim Ohlbrecht has team options for both 2013-14 and 2014-15. Therefore, if Ohlbrecht is able to demonstrate to the organization that he is comparable to Smith, this means that a) he is more valuable to the organization than Smith and b) Smith thus becomes expendable during the offseason. If Ohlbrecht demonstrates that he can be a solid backup C for the Rockets, the Rockets will for sure exercise the team option for 2013-14. As I have pointed out repeatedly, if you can get a solid rotation guy for less than $1 mil, that is a major bargain. Those of us who have been following the NBA for a number of years understand that teams can and do blow a lot of money on backup Cs; teams blow a lot of money on backups, in general (which always amazes me), but especially on backup Cs. Take a look at how much money DeSagana Diop has made over the past several years, and recognize that he was paid to be a backup C (!). This means that Greg Smith has value as a trade commodity. If Ohlbrecht demonstrates that he is comparable to Smith (and can therefore take over the backup C minutes at some point between now and the beginning of the 2013-14 regular season), I'd look for Darryl Morey to try to flip Smith for a second round pick prior to the beginning of the 2013-14 regular season (probably during June/July 2013), so as to a) save a bit of money, b) accumulate yet another draft pick, and c) create an open roster spot. Ideally, Morey will make this trade with a poorly managed organization, since such organizations tend to finish with lousy W-L records, which means that the second round picks are relatively high second round picks. This is why Phoenix was an ideal trade partner in the Marcus Morris trade (the Suns have devolved into one of the league's most poorly managed franchises), which means that pick will likely be in the 31-40 range. A second round pick from, say, San Antonio or Miami or another 50+ win team isn't worth much. Another thing worth pointing out that I don't think I've seen pointed out is this: Morey isn't crazy about letting valuable assets rot at the end of the bench or in the developmental league indefinitely. The whole point of drafting and developing players is to ultimately either a) play them (duh!) or b) trade them somehow, either in a quantity-for-quality trade (i.e., two or more lesser players for one player who is the best player in the trade and who makes your team better) or for a draft pick. This is why I expect Morey to attempt to flip Smith for something of value this summer. This is also why I expect Morey to flip Terrence Jones for something of value this summer (as it doesn't appear that there's going to be a spot in the rotation opening up for Jones anytime soon). Ideally, Morey packages two or more of his expendable players for somebody good (i.e., better than any of the players he's traded); if that doesn't work, he trades these expendable players for draft picks, and starts the process over anew. When I used to play fantasy sports, I kept making the same play over and over and over again. I'd try to trade two if not three players (who I didn't really want all that much) for one guy who was good (who I did want). This would create one if not two open roster spots, which I would use to pick up undervalued free agents, and I would start the process all over again. I'd keep doing this until I had a juggernaut lineup. This is what Morey does, only in real life!
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Ohlbrecht impressed me in the D-League all star game. Granted it was just an ASG, but I came away thinking he would have a shot at sticking in the NBA.
But with much better contracts. Plus guys like this are just happy to be in the NBA. The problem with having a ton of young draft picks at the end of your bench that aren't playing is the locker room dynamic where the AAU stars/ high draft picks think they are entitled to a staring role in the NBA. Guys like Ohlbrecht and Beverly are going to come in and bust their tail and be happy to just be in the NBA. Not saying I wouldn't rather have a slew of 1st round picks, but its nice to have a few open roster spots on your roster, and a quality D-League system for guys like this to come in on great contracts, and great work ethic.
