Now introducing your Coach/GM folks. This is exactly why there has to be separation in Church & State with NBA teams. The overall core foundational pieces of this team are out of whack and the solution from the Coach is to just spend money on shooting.... and alot of money. What Detroit needed was a trade that created roster balance. Not to go out and spend more money on contracts you won't be able to move if your broken roster doesn't all the sudden figure it out & you are further up the creek.
Meeks is a very hard worker, as in the guy is ambitious and wants to prove his worth. Thats a guy worth paying, not a guy whose got talent but no drive. He's a great athlete, solid defender, good shooter. Its a good price for a starting shooting guard, no reason Meeks can't be at the minimum Wes Matthews clone, which is definitely worth $6.3m/year
What a terrible move. SVG can't fathom the idea of taking time to build this team right, so he signs Meeks for $19m. If they had just waited it out I'm sure the price would have gone down, and even if another suitor came in they weren't going to offer more than THIS. Seriously bad move IMO. If they don't trade Josh Smith they're so screwed.
I wouldn't be surprised if he breaks out this year though. If they are paying him that much, they must be planning to give him a big role.
You can go back and look at the offers he received before signing for dirt cheap with the Lakers. And I disagree with your entire post because it is overly-biased and does not recognize anything positive about Meeks. I love my Rockets, but I am not challenged in recognizing talent. Kthanks http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/13/sports/la-sp-ln-la-lakers-jodie-meeks-game-20120813 "I felt like this was the best situation," Meeks said Monday in a phone interview with The Times. "To have a chance to play for a team like this will make me better. I’m playing with so many good people." Meeks hardly just wants to hop on the bandwagon with the many pundits who say the Lakers are destined to win an NBA championship. That prospect "sealed the deal," as his agent, David Bauman, put it for Meeks, who was also fielding offers from the Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies. But Meeks sensed a strong opportunity in filling the Lakers' needs in having a consistent backup shooting guard behind Bryant. "I'm looking forward to playing together with someone who will be in the Hall of Fame one day and go down as one of the best who ever played," said Meeks, who has a team option on his second year. "I'll take pride in hoping to help him out with his minutes. Last year, he played a lot of minutes. So if I can go in there and take some minutes off of him, it will help the team out."
You are right about the pay cut he took, I was wrong. However, I stand by everything else I said. And I DO recognize the positives of Jodie Meeks, which are (1), he attended my alma mater, so you know he's one of the good guys; and (2), he is an great shooter with high efficiency, if not textbook shooting form. He is at or below par in everything else that's tangible.
