Could Motiejunas and Jones both move out of the rotation?

Seems the same way to me too.

 

Yeah but what's really stupid is those who bash DMo, generally support Casspi at PF, someone who would be embarrassed by guarding Dirk, ZBo, Gasol, Duncan, Griffin, the better PF's of the West far more than DMo would be.

DMo isn't all that good defensively right now, but he does have size and length that bothers shooters. Casspi is someone who isn't a good defender AND he's too small to guard the position.

That's why I don't understand the people salivating over Casspi, literally the only thing he brings to the PF position is 3 point shooting and he's hot and cold at that.

 

We could keep him and continue to develop him into the next Al Jefferson....at RGV....for another season. But you haven't increased his trade value. In fact his trade value will have diminished further because we've burnt through another year of his rookie deal. So now he's only got 2 years left on his rookie deal and even more uncertainty from other teams over what he could become. Wait another year after that and he's riding the pine on this team. No minutes. Trade value further diminished.

Here's the problem Dobro....DMo is not going to get significant minutes even if we trade Asik because he can't defend well enough to be the backup 5 we need when Dwight is off the court and he can't shoot well enough to be the 4 we need when Dwight is on the court. We are NOT going to trade Asik and run DMo out there backing up Dwight. That is welcome to last year. This team has moved past last year. We already know that for us to be a championship team we have to have that paint defense for 48 minutes because of our style of play. When we go with one big and spread the floor and run up and down...that one big has to be a guy that can defend the paint and board his butt off. Al Jefferson nor DMo gives you that. They're not a fit here in this system.

Look at it this way...would you add Al Jefferson to this team as currently constructed with Dwight and Asik???? Think about it. Where is Al going to play? You going to play him at the 4 alongside Dwight???? No? So, you gonna play Jefferson off the bench backing up Dwight??? No?? Oh, you gonna play him alongside Asik??? No?? Al doesn't have the ability to space the floor for Dwight. Al could play alongside Asik for a few minutes. But why would you do that when you can play Dwight alongside Asik for a few minutes??

The only way that guys on rookie contracts increase their trade value is by playing minutes on an NBA team. And if they don't play minutes on an NBA team in NBA games, then their trade value starts to diminish as their salary increases and their contracts get shorter and shorter. Rookie contracts are decaying trade assets if the young players don't make the rotation. .

Once again...this is not Charlotte or Phoenix or Philly where we can afford to run DMo and TJones out there starting at the 5 and 4 and let them develop chemistry and improve their skills while playing NBA minutes. The hope was that one of those guys would make a significant leap this summer and be able to come in here in training camp and grab the 4 spot by the throat and claim it. Reality is that didn't happen. Now, if we were Philly or Phoenix it wouldn't matter. We would be slopping through the season anyways, determined to lose 60 so we could keep these guys and let their trade values ferment by playing lots of minutes and putting up empty stats. But that's not going to happen here. These guys are going to get scrap minutes at best. Their trade values aren't going to recover. Their trade values aren't going to improve over the next month, 2 months, or 4 months, or by the end of the season. Their trade values are simply going to further decay while they are here.

 

I honestly think Casspisanity did great in preseason, I really was suspect if he was going to be the 13th, 14th guy who was close to being cut but he played big time.

However, I agree with you. Preseason is preseason. He will face some problems in the regular season when his shot is not falling and he is going through a slump.

 

Casspi will face the same challenges every rotation player in the NBA faces throughout the season as they play rotation minutes.

 

Yeah, he'll struggle when teams realize that the Rockets are playing a SF, who isn't even good at defending SF's, at PF. When he's hot from 3, there will be some value to having him on the court, but when he's not hot from 3, it'll be a dumpster fire with him out there.

The only way I see him continually run out there at the 4 this year is if Morey wants to get his trade value up like he did with Morris and Patterson. It would be awesome if we could flip either Garcia or Casspi for a 2nd rounder because honestly, they are redundant, you only need one of them out there because they are essentially the same player. The only difference is that Garcia can defend and Casspi can't, but he's young, he might learn how to defend 3's one day.

 

Basketballholic-

-Would I add Al Jefferson at 23 years old on his rookie scale contract to this team.... F yeah I would.

-Who cares about their trade value??? The Rockets dont need the low level picks they would probably get in trade as I stated earlier. They have all of their own, and a boatload of 2nd rounders to offer. If they need to move D-Mo, Jones, Smith or whomever to get a good deal done later on then great, but there is no indication now that this is needed.

They are on very small rookie contracts with team options for the next three years. If Morey doesn't want their contracts on the books.... DONT PICK UP THEIR OPTIONS. Why do they have to have trade value??? Why can't they just be allowed to develop like normal NBA players at this stage because....

Like you said... we aren't Charlotte of Phoenix. We are a team looking to compete. You need players to compete. At the end of your bench you can either have a trash veteran like Ronny Turiaf who can't play or you can develop players like the Spurs have done for years.

Do think Ginobili came into the league like gangbusters, or maybe.. just maybe he was developed for a few years. Look at Splitter as a great example as well. Did he come in his first year and "grab" the starting job right away???.....Maybe, just maybe the Spurs didn't rely on him right away and allowed him to develop for a few years (and thats with YEARS of international experience before coming to the NBA). I'm sure Spurs fans were disappointed with Splitter his first year in the league, and started threads in the Spurs fan-site about dumping him for a 1st rounder. However, I'm sure those fans are now eating crow.

Again... we are talking about the 8th - 10th spot in the rotation. Does it suck that they didn't grab the starting spot this preseason??... sort of but IMO it doesn't have any indication on where they are as 2nd year players. The fact is McHale is playing Asik & Dwight together as a big lineup, and then going small with shooters when they aren't on the floor together. He's not playing these lineups because D-Mo & Jones are trash... He's playing them because these lineups are incredible.

If you or anyone else thought that D-Mo or Jones as 2nd year players could provide more in lineups than either an effective twin towers lineup or Dwight/Asik with shooters, then YOU WANT TO BE DISAPPOINTED, or make a case against these two guys. There is no other explanation. D-Mo & Jones didn't do anything wrong to get out of the rotation, its just that other lineups did things right.

I'm not going to convince you of anything because you are on some sort of mission here that I dont understand nor do I want to... However I'd like new Rockets fans who come on here to not be misinformed and misled by garbage campaigns like this.

 

As time goes on I am becoming more convinced that D-Mo's future with the Rockets is at backup center. He is not the skinny seven footer of last season. After adding 40 pounds in the off season D-Mo now is about the size of Asik. It does not look like anyone short of Hibbert is going to back him down this season. And D-Mo already has one of the top 10 or 15 post games in the NBA. All he is missing is the proper defensive rotations and experience. He may never be the defender Asik is, but he has not had the benefit of playing for Coach Thib.

I do not expect D-Mo to be traded anytime soon. The Rockets would not get equal value back. The possibility of having a top flight backup center for $1.7 million a year has to have Morey salivating. While athletically D-Mo is no Howard he certainly is quicker and possesses a higher vertical than the majority of men his size in the NBA. Asik may be traded as soon as the coaching staff and Morey have enough confidence in D-Mo. We shall see.

 

dobro

The Spurs kept Splitter and developed him because of his defensive potential, not because of his offensive potential.

As of right now, DMo is not a fit here as a 4 or as a backup center. Perhaps we keep him around and he develops his defense. I've been wrong before about guys. I could be wrong about DMo. But....I think the odds of DMo becoming a satisfactory defensive big backing up Dwight are very, very low. I don't see it. Don't see it in his mentality, in his approach, in his work ethic, in his words. Don't see it. He has done nothing nor even said anything that indicates to me any desire to become a good defensive player. You have way more faith and hope for him than I do. I think he is another big fella that likes to score the ball. I think he'll have a successful career scoring the ball in the NBA. I think he'll continue to make millions of dollars playing for some team in the NBA. And I think a team that is depending on DMo to be a building block for franchise success is going to be disappointed that he will not become that. Because he will not be a defensive anchor in the paint. Franchise centers have to be defensive anchors for their team. I am predicting he never becomes that.

And if all we are projecting for him is to become a backup 5 to Dwight....might as well trade him while his trade value is highest. I don't think his trade value is going to improve over the next couple years.

 

I dunno, I'm high on DMo, but I don't want Asik going anywhere at least not this season. I want one of Asik or Howard on the court at all times to anchor the defense. Also I don't really see DMo as a center right now, he's a pretty perfect 4 to have in the game if you are running a twin towers look because he has the ability to hit 3's and has a really good post game. Having a 4 that can score from everywhere along with being a good passer can only make things harder for defenses that have to worry about Dwight Howard as well. The other side of that is Howard's game would be helped as well. There were passes last night from Howard to Asik, that Asik couldn't handle due to his stone hands, they'd have been points and an assist to Howard if it were DMo playing alongside Howard rather than Asik.

 

LOL, I don't know what DMo did to this guy to make him troll him so much, but it must have been bad. DMo is one of the hardest workers on the team.....it's pretty well known. Either you know nothing at all about the team, or you are just trolling, either way, it's getting old.

 

You are attempting to project the future of a player that got only about 520 minutes of court time in his rookie season. That level of knowledge and understanding is only possessed by individuals who have years of experience working for the NBA teams. Like McHale and his coaching staff. Heck even Morey could not do it accurately at times. Look at Lin. You are amazingly bad at evaluating NBA talent IMHO.

 

It's kind of like how after 950 minutes of Dirk Nowitzki we all knew that he was a terrible 3 point shooter (20.6% yuck!)

 

Do not count D-Mo out of the rotation just yet. I don't think he played well enough in the preseason to be in the rotation right away because he wasn't good at 3-point shooting & also defense. However, I think we have to keep in mind that:

1. D-Mo hates sitting on the bench.
2. He won't be lifting weights during the season, so that should make him lose weight & become quicker which I think will be beneficial as far as giving the team what it needs from him.
3. Dwight Howard has not even come close to showing he is so good in the low post that it is out of the question to give the ball to somebody else there.
4. His rebounding averages were actually pretty decent in the preseason.
5. Playing experience is the only way to improve on defense & I think he has at least earned garbage PT which will give him a chance to improve & show improvement on defense. (That is how he will be put into the rotation). Yes, I know it will be going against other end-of-the-bench players, but they will be trying to earn more time too.

 

Young player evaluation cannot be done accurately by even the talent evaluators in the NBA who have access to all of the practices and tape and SportVu data available to NBA teams. There is just not enough hard game data available. We fans have no chance at all. It is one thing to state an opinion. Everyone has one. But to hold it out as gospel truth is truly in bad taste.

 

LOL.... I think we are done here. You are purposefully missing the mark so you can keep arguing with yourself, and trying to convince other people to believe your twisted logic and your predictions that you think everyone values so deeply. What happened to your predictions and guarantees that Brooks is definitely getting cut and Covington is the next greatest thing?? Keep trying dude.

 

I said neither because I think we will keep Asik because his defense is too valuable. I also think Casspi and Parsons will get time at the 4. One of the two (DMo or TJ) may see very limited rotation minutes(maybe five a game).

 

Oh my god. So much s h * t is coming out of basketballholic's mouth right now. Are you really that delusional? D-Mo has one of the best work ethics out of all the Rockets. And it's obvious to anyone who even remotely followed D-Mo in last couple years that he has that winning mentality ant strives to get better. He may not be a an all-star material as of now, but it sure isn't because of his work ethic.

I can agree that D-Mo isn't a starting calibre PF/C on a playoff team in this league yet. I think as time will go, either him or T-Jones will get more and more playing time. Casspi is on a hotstreak right now against half-assed preseason competition, but he's no answer at a SF/PF backup spot on a contending team. 3rd stringer at best when defenses do some scouting on him and his shot isn't falling (I'm predicting 30%-32% for the season from the 3pt line).

basketballholic, I think you have successfully discredited yourself with these posts of yours ant I'm not sure if I or anyone else (who have any basketball knowledge) will take you seriously ever again. Maybe that's your mission - to troll the **** out of everyone. Either that or... you strike me so much as a bandwagoner fan it's not even funny.

 

I didn't say either of those things. What I said is Brooks does not have a future here. If he makes it out of training camp his odds of making it a full season here are very remote. He'll either be traded or waived by the trade deadline. And don't be surprised if he is the last cut of training camp. I am sticking to that. He may make it out of training camp. But he isn't long for this team barring a trade or injury of one of our other 3 point guards.

Also, I never said Covington is the next greatest thing. What I said about Covington was he's going to make the team. He's got great potential. I said he would have to screw it up so badly that the Rockets would be left with no choice but to cut ties to him. I said you don't give second year guaranteed money to a guy that you are going to cut.

And I'm still gonna say DMo and TJones up to this point are not fitting in here. They are, AT BEST, the 9th and 10th men in an 8 1/2 man rotation. They are going to get scrap minutes on this team going forward. And I have advocated that it is time to trade them. And I have said that at least one of DMo/TJones/GSmith is likely to be traded before the season starts and 2 and possibly all 3 of them are likely gone off this team by the trade deadline.

And I have reminded you and others to be realistic about where DMo and TJones are right now in their careers and on this team.

Nothing personal meant towards you or any of those guys. Just basketball assessment.

 

Dmo is awesome has upside and will take another year to develop. The rest of you guys can keep trolling but he'll prove you wrong. Such a whiny debate on here.