Nets traded Lin to make caproom, such that salary-matching wasn't required. As for Anderson, Nets received $21m in expiring contracts that will clear capspace *next year*. So, while a Ryan trade technically works (once Nets cleared that capspace), why would they do it versus Denver's offer to give them expiring contracts.
Ryan should be easier to deal next offseason to a team like the Nets or Phoenix looking for 1 year deals to fill up capspace (after missing out on free agency). Perhaps he could be part of a trade for a star going into the last year of his contract, if we throw in real assets. But I doubt if Ryan can ever be considered an "asset" again.
We need to move him for another player who's considered a bad contract but that has upside in terms of boosting his value playing here.
When Ryno is hitting 42% of his 3s in January and has a +/- thru the roof his value will be so great...he'll be a keeper!
At this point why even dump the Anderson contract? He's already cost us Ariza and Luc, the damage has been done. Not like we can sign anyone else major that will be a difference maker once we dump him. Maybe next summer he will be cheaper to unload since he'll be an expiring.
Worth noting that the Rockets have not missed out on any free agents they were targeting that they could have realistically gotten with the Tax Payer MLE. Any potential targets have taken MORE than the TaxPayer MLE. (e.g. Evans, Ellington etc). And they did not offer the MLE to Moute. Let's see what happens with the soon to be free agent that they ARE targeting with their tax payer MLE, Carmelo Anthony.
Daryl Morey on Cowturd: What if a player is not a great analytic player but you have a need, they're available, how do you reconcile that? With every move, we try to look at how does this help us towards our goal of winning a championship? We look at how they've performed in the past. ... We look at multiple factors. I saw you liked our offseason so far. I think it's pretty simple to understand what we're doing. We're still chasing Golden State. Most of our moves are designed to take risks, smart calculated risks that if they pan out, they can close the gap to them. We feel very good about what we've done so far. Won't mention any specific player or reports. Do you believe...can you take a player who is not great analytically and make him more analytically friendly? Do players evolve? Yeah, I'd say 100% absolutely. You don't have to look far. Take Gerald Green. He's not someone who has looked good in the past. Someone we drafted in Boston and brought him to Houston in the past but we got him at the absolute perfect time in his career. He had the best run of his career with us under D'Antoni's system. His shot selection improved greatly. Defensively, he worked better within our switching style. Take Gerald who has never stood out data/information wise and look at his passion & look at how under D'Antoni he had the best run of his career. We don't look at how the player necessarily worked in other places. We take that information but we say how will they work in our structure? Do you love the player mobility? Absolutely. It's great. We're an entertainment business. The NBA offseason has become very entertaining. It's stressful for those of us who have to work in it but for fans creates an interest level that lasts 365 days a year which is fantastic for the league. People have suggested that an idea that every team should have one player who does not count against the cap. James Harden for example. You just pay him...there's a bidding war, he doesn't count against the cap. You wouldn't get players stacking on one team. If I can $42M in Memphis or $21M in Houston, I'm gonna go live in Memphis. What about the idea that sometimes smart GMs can feel trapped? I love Chris Paul. I don't want to give him a 5-year max. You structured it the right way but because of that, Ariza moves on. If you could run the league, would you toy with that idea? I have to answer carefully. The structure we're under works pretty well. I'm pro what the league office has put together with the union. Some have suggested the league is top heavy. Do you worry about the top heavy excellence swaying too much now? That's how the NBA has always been frankly. There's always been dynasty type teams at various points. The game is indexed to the top players. That's why teams are chasing stars and why we've always done it. You don't need a lot of data or information to say if you want to win the title, you'll need at least one, if not two and hopefully three top 10-20 players in the league. That's been the history. Only 10-13 teams have won the title at any point in history. We're one of the lucky teams with multiple titles. The NBA is doing great. Having dominant teams, I agree with Adam Silver, it's not that bad for the league. It creates great underdog stories. We had them 3-2. We were a Chris Paul injury away from probably knocking them off. Cleveland beat them a couple years ago in a dramatic game seven. Dominant teams do create the really good underdog story. I don't buy the fact they're unbeatable. You look through NBA history and other sports, much bigger upsets have happened. We almost pulled it off last year. Because of the salary cap, you have a player like Trevor Ariza. He's part of your winning culture. Then there's a losing organization that offers him a lot of money. What's the pep talk? Those are painful losses. Is there a sales pitch? Like you're going from a winning culture to a losing culture. Was that painful? He's been a big part of what we've done. He's had multiple stints in Houston, a beloved player & was fantastic for us. My job is to fit & create a championship contender within the box the CBA gives us. It's a straightforward conversation. I spoke to Trevor 2 days ago. He has no ill feelings towards Houston. We wish him luck in Phoenix but my job is to fit a great team within a box the CBA gives me. Sometimes a guy gets a huge offer & you have to move on. My job is to find new players that will come in and hopefully give us as much if not more than Trevor gave us. James Ennis coming in is someone that can add a lot. We like the upside of Michael Carter-Williams. We're trying to take smart risks to close this gap with Golden State & feel Ennis/Michael Carter-Williams do that and a heavily rumored move coming up that we feel good about if it works out. Cousins to the Warriors for an end table & 5 bucks. Did you think about making a move? We have great centers at the Rockets in Clint Capela & really believe in what Nene gives us as well and some good young players. Even if we were interested at the same level as Golden State, he wasn't going to pick us. We do look at every possible move. Fantastic player & everyone is up in arms about him going to Golden State but he's also often a little bit difficult to see how he might fit with certain teams in the league. He's a talented player, it will make the challenge that much harder but we feel like we still match up well for Golden State and we'll give them a run for their money for sure. I like analytics but do think there are manalytics. These are alpha male men, you can't bog these guys down. Is there an analytic in basketball which you're still on the fence with that you think is a little overplayed? In general, defense isn't measured all that well. Other one is people looking at how a player has worked in another team's system on offense & assume that's how he'll work in every other system when you can look at them playing a particular position, whether that's the 3 or the 4, you can look at when their shot selection gets influenced by the coaching staff, that that can really clean things up. ... ... We have alpha males in Chris Paul, James Harden, PJ Tucker, all these guys played better under D'Antoni & in our system. One guy out there in the market D'Antoni had a dust up with. How do you repair jagged relationships? The NBA is a tight circle. Relationships are generally positive. I can say for a fact relationships can be repaired & have been repaired. Lakers ahead of you for title odds. That's actually crazy. Not sure who's betting that one. Our championship odds we feel are 2nd in the league & will have to prove that. Loved Kevin Knox at Kentucky. Can you comment about him? He's a Knicks player so probably not. This draft has some good players. We're excited about De'Anthony Melton. He's come in & been one of the best players in Summer League. We're 4-0 for a reason. He's a big part of it. Vince Edwards, Isaiah Hartenstein, ... we're hoping to hang another Summer League banner this year.
Interesting quote: " ... We're trying to take smart risks to close this gap with Golden State & feel Ennis/Michael Carter-Williams do that and a heavily rumored move coming up that we feel good about if it works out. ..."
Am i the only one looking forward /anticipating hoping to hear news or rumors of Ryan being traded for 'something'?
Between Thaddeus & Daryl, Rockets are expecting BIG things from Nene. Nene's washed, good for one game a week. Prepare for Isaiah, Zhou & busty Chinanu, hope for the best. 5 centers on the roster, that's crazy.
I guess it's a given. Would be glorious if that's actually trolling, make iot seem like he's talking about Melo and trades for let's say Butler.
