[Spanish Radio] Sergio Llull close to deciding to join the Rockets?

Unless his name is Joey Dorsey.

 

Yes, that PG that Morey signed named Joey Dorsey broke the cycle.

 

That's one large PG

 

anchel, I take it you've seen Sergio Llull play more than most of us. Any further detail of your scouting report on him? I've given my (limited) report based on watching only a handful of his games and looking at his stats over the past few seasons. I'd be curious to get some more detail from you.

 

Those arguing that Llull is NOT the answer, consider this:

Aaron Brooks was too small
Kyle Lowry was an obscure unknown
Goran Dragic was also unknown
Patrick Beverley was in Russia

Morey knows point guards. The only time he messed up was when Les forced him to take Lin over Dragic, and that is not the case this time.

We are in good hands. If Llull is anywhere close to the names mentioned above, we will all be more than satisfied with this signing.

 

LaMarcus Aldridge is on the move, yahoo.com


Can we get this guy first? His home is on sale.

 

What a lot of people on this board don't realize is::: we have Harden to score , we need a pg to bring the ball up and crest shots for the other guys (including Harden-- who will still have the ball in his hands 75-85 % of the time)...

 

It wasn't the case that time either. This is a false narrative that needs to die. Morey negotiated with Dragic and made him an offer before he ever talked to Lin. Les didn't force anything. Dragic opted to sign with PHX because they gave him a player option that Morey wouldn't give.

Now, Morey did mess up, and he has admitted that, but it was not Les picking Lin over Dragic.

 

Didn't Llull say that one of the conditions for him to come over would be as a starter? I don't see him backup up Bev and I don't see Bev signing to play backup. If Llull comes over I think Bev gets s&t.

 

I have a hard time believing that, and it has little to do with the "narrative".

Signing Lin was the ultimate anti-Morey move. A way overhyped player with PROVEN deficiencies in his game (even then). Not only did we sign him, we paid $8 million a year for him.

I have a difficult time seeing the Dragic 4th year player option as being the reason we passed on him for Lin.

 

So am I missing something here? I'm pretty sure that if we want to trade or sign a FA with a max or anywhere near max contract, Ariza must be moved. I think the only guys you have a real shot at keeping are J-Smoove (assuming he's down for a discount) and Terry (assuming he takes the minimum). I think they will attempt to trade TJones, Papa, and the 18 plus non-Capela filler. But I think Beverley and Brew are goners. Honestly I hope they find a way to keep McDaniels b/c I think he could make a fine backup for Ariza but I doubt that happens too.

Llull/Backup PG we traded for
Harden/Terry
Ariza/McDaniels
DMO/Smith
DHO/Capela

or

PG we traded for/Llull
Harden/Llull
McDaniels/#32 (or a vet min signing)
DMO/Smith
Howard/Capela

 

So what would have happened to Les's master plan if Dragic agreed to the contract that Morey offered him?

Signing Lin wasn't anti-Morey at all. He gambled on upside, like he said he was going to do, because we didn't have a star in place. It's also crazy to say he had PROVEN deficiencies when he had barely played at all by that time. We paid him $8 million because that poison pill contract was the only way to steal him and gamble on the upside.

Morey and Dragic met for a considerable amount of time (might have been multiple meetings over two days) trying to work out a deal.

 

Repped for truth. Morey has seemed genuinely excited at the prospect of bringing over Llull since we acquired his rights. Lowry and Dragic were career back-ups, Brooks a low, small, late first rounder, and none of us knew Beverly would shape up into anything. I believe in Morey's ability to scout players, and Llull has the track record and reputation to warrant that belief.

 

Morey DID NOT want to give that player option. For Morey, it is always about preserving "flexibility" and giving out P.O.'s kills that. Only for a superstar like Howard would he do that.

Put me in the camp that it was a MOREY move and not a Les move.

At the time, the Rockets wanted to make sure they had the cap flexibility to be able to get guys like Howard, and Morey just wanted to be ready if the opportunity arose.

 

I think it was an aligning of several things. Morey didn't want to give the player option, but still preferred Dragic over Lin. It was close enough that Les made a business decision.

Maybe I'm wrong, but that was a gross miscalculation, and it may have cost us the championship this year.

 

Can't blame Morey for the Lin move. That signing could have looked a heck of a lot better if Harden never happened. You never know.

 

I think he'll start sooner or later, he's a perfect fit for this team and will be a key player in our system.

Said it before, it's annoying as hell when you're from Europe and see all these random posters here judging players they only know from a YouTube highlight mix. And then even having the nerves to say "he's a scrub, he will be the third guard, he's no NBA player" and ish like that. People should honestly shut up if they've never even seen the guy play in a live match.

 

You are wrong. It isn't like the Rockets signed Lin the next day. Morey spent a LOT of time trying to sign Dragic before he lost him and moved on.

This meddling Les stuff is nonsense. Les may have encouraged the Lin angle after Dragic moved on (I doubt it) but he had nothing to do with the Rockets missing out on Dragic.

 

We won't know either way.

I'd just say it was an epically bad decision. I justified it at the time for the same reasons you listed......flexibility. But that flexibility just cost us a chance at a title, and it's hard to see Morey making that big of a mistake. Not saying he hasn't made other mistakes, but that one was crushing.

 

How would the MLE work with a signing like this?

If the Rockets make some moves to get under the cap, does the MLE go away?

What if they sign Llull with the MLE, and then trade away KPap (whom I assume they exercise the team option partly in order to stay over the cap and get the MLE?), Brewer (if he exercises his option, otherwise he is already off the cap), Johnson, Jones, Dorsey... basically if they somehow shed talent without taking salary in return.

just a question on orders of operation so to speak... can they theoretically use the MLE, but then in the same offseason get back under the cap and use the cap room to sign other players?