[ClutchFans] What we learned from the Asik trade that wasn't

True, but if other teams do not have the same value as we do for him and all we can get are scraps - it sort of makes it a sore situation with player and team unhappy.

DD

 

Defense-only players are overhyped by fans. They generally don't have much actual monetary value.

Having said that, Asik is going to have to learn to contribute to this Rockets team ASAP, for the sake of his own career. And he will.

 

Signed,


Ben Wallace
Dennis Rodman
Deke Mutombo

 

3 guys, WOW!

And Deke sure was killing it with those vet-mins eh?

 

Wallace - $87 million
Deke - $143+ million
Rodman - $26+ million

Yeah, I guess you're right about Rodman. Not much monetary value there.

 

Plus those guys were all a tier above Asik.
- Rodman is maybe the best rebounder of all time, and one of the best one-on-one post defenders of all time.
- Deke was a better shot blocker and a better offensive player early in his career (ie at Asik's age)
- Wallace was a better rebounder and shotblocker, and overall defender, just without the offense.

That said, Asik's season last year shouldn't be undervalued. Per36 numebrs of 12 pts, 14 rbs, an assist, steal and block a game doesn't happen by very many players today... not to mention his overall team defense really really is great.

If he had done it for 2 or 3 years, wasn't injured, wasn't pouting, and didn't have the poison pill contract (which I think is overplayed, but does have an impact), there'd be a hotter market for him.

To this point, it just appears that DM has bungled the process a bit. Asik should have been trade this past offseason for a ton of reasons.

 

DM hasn't bungled anything. Wait and see.

 

What was bungled was Morey's assumption that Asik would act like a professional. Accept his role whether starter or bunch player.

Asik bungled his trade value by his own actions.

In hindsight, I agree with your conclusion that Asik should have been traded over the summer. But I cant blame Morey for not foreseeing how things played out having not done that.

 

Trade options in Dec were always going to be limited as they had to be pieces that could be flipped.

The teams with the real prizes were never going to deal so early in the season.

 

Yeah,Teams get more desperate near the end of deadline,which will be around february,still think we Need to ADd more pieces

 

I'm not at all convinced about Casspi and Garcia based on their performances thus far. Brooks is okay but not consistent.

Our bench is definitely a weakness.

 

Asik, being a center, has the bargaining power to pout. I don't think it affects his value. After all, this is not the last year of his contract.

Asik will make 8mil for the next 2 years, but I fully expect him play well in his last year of contract barring injury, you can count on it.

 

If appropriate trade value would have been there in the summer, Morey would have pulled the trigger. But it wasn't. There is nothing bungled when a bad trade is not made. Remember that.

We would be better off right now to trade Asik for an expiring contract and a second round draft pick then for the deals that have been doable. Remember that too. We could open up max cap space to spend THIS SUMMER of 2014 by trading both Asik and Lin for expiring deals and nothing more than second rounders. And those type deals will be available at the deadline if we want them OR we can simply hold on to the 2 players, keep them integrated into the team, and win rings with them. Asik and Lin playing at a high level make this team a championship contender. We may need to add a tweak here or there...find us a sweet 3&D perimeter guy for a little bit of nothing....somebody like Brandon Rush that we could get for a second rounder and a couple expiring contracts.....and then find us one other guy that can shoot the 3-ball at the PF spot and go to war like that.

There was no pressure for Morey to get a deal done on Dec. 20th. Not even self-applied pressure. It was simply an OPPORTUNITY to increase valuable assets to this team. We couldn't get it done. The next best thing is to do nothing and wait for the next opportunity rather than to think we have to move Lin and Asik and wind up in a position where we can't turn a deal to make this team considerably better later.

 

1) which NBA starting centers not on their rookie contracts would you take over Asik?

- Howard (max)
- hibbert ($15 mil)
- horford ($12 mil)
- Noah ($14 mil)
- pekovic ($12 mil)
- Jefferson ($13.5 mil)

Those are the only ones I'd place over Asik (even then i might think Asik is on par with some) and they're all getting paid a good chunk more than him.

So if we're talking straight up value of a center like Asik I'd say he's top 10 for sure. The only thing you'd need to realize as close to real value as possible is market movement and changing situations for buyers. Like in any economy those are things you have to have to generate true value in trade. Asik is like a really nice cash flow property that isn't pretty but gives you a lot of value for your investment. Even then, it's hard to sell when the economy is stagnant.

Feb 20 will help to create movement among teams and everyone's situations become more clear at that point for teams to make decisions.

 

I suppose we can only speculate whether any offers were made for Asik over the summer or Morey put out any feelers on the matter.

By stating we "should have" wasn't meant at any cost. So I am not advocating doing a bad trade at any point, under any condition, under any timing, under any situation.

I cant help but agree that Asik's perceived trade value was higher in the summer than it is now. That may or may not have translated to a "good" trade. But it does make it a bit more likely to have.

 

That is a good question.

Personally for me, I would NOT take Jefferson or Pekovic over Asik. Never in a million years for the contracts they are on and because they are the polar opposites of Asik...all offensive centers with NO defensive ability whatsoever. Asik is a much, much rarer player than Jefferson and Pek. He's an ELITE defensive center. Yes, a defensive center on par with a guy like Mutombo and Ben Wallace. That's the kind of difference maker he is.

 

We should probably introduce the term "perceived rip-off ability" to this discussion. What happened in regards to Dec. 20 is that the "perceived rip-off ability" of Morey was as high as it's ever been. IOW, teams thought they could get Asik cheap because they perceived Morey felt he HAD to move him. But they were the suckers. Not Morey. Morey played them to the hilt to get inside their heads and find out what they were thinking in regards to their teams. And he didn't get ripped off.

 

I agree on those two being the polar opposite. And those were the ones I'd think you could argue Asik is on par with in value and their getting paid a ton more than him.

Some team out their will pay that value for Asik. Just need some time and leverage.

 

I am pretty sure Hinkie knew exactly what Morey was up to. He knew he was testing the waters. Seeing what teams would offer under his self imposed superficial deadline designed to make himself look desperate.

One may ask why? Why denigrate your own leverage by such a deadline? Well, I would have to be Morey to answer that in full detail, but I am pretty sure he knew he couldn't unload Asik for what he wanted from the outset. But he needed give the appearance of appeasing Asik and his agent to have any hope of Asik accepting the situation and not blaming Morey for it AND recovering some of his lost "perceived" trade value.

In a sense, this reminds me of Ali's "rope-a-dope. Come on in, come on in. Give me your best shot. And now that you have, and I have withstood it, YOUR MINE.

 

Look at what Hinkie is doing in Philly. Do you really think he wants Asik? Why would he want Asik? Asik would make the Sixers a borderline playoff team in the EC. Hinkie would have to tell Brown to sit him down. Not only that then they go into next season with Asik as an expiring contract being paid $15 million. They're not going to get value out of that. And they're gonna want to tank again next year before they make a huge run in 2015-16 with free agency and a ton of young talent.

Hinkie is after young talent/draft picks for Hawes/Turner/Young. And a better lottery position.