Both Jones and Motiejunas sucked overall in their limited minutes. Jones was at -2.6 and Motiejunas was -3.6. They may have some interesting skills but their impact was basically on the "replacement level." Anyhow, the sample size for each of them is fairly small, so maybe they are better than they showed, but I rather doubt it. The hope for each of them is that sometimes players make a big improvement in their 2nd (or 3rd year), but the chances for this is kind of small.
Sorry, misread that sentence. I still like RAPM even though it needs a lot of data to be accurate. More than any rookie can have much less ones on playoff team.
Hey, man, settle down. I obviously don't have inside information from the Rockets front office. I've made an argument for how trading superfluous players like Motiejunas and Smith unclutter the roster without impacting the team's chances of winning a championship this season, and how draft picks will be more valuable down the road. I think these are reasonable inferences but sure, it's all ultimately speculation on my part. Ultimately, having a surplus of valuable assets is a good problem to have!
