As for that blurb, I'd also love for Nick to suddenly morph into a playmaker with a reliable jumpshot. Won't be holding my breath, however.
I don't think he's logged enough NBA minutes in order to make any kind of informed conclusion. He has come up big in his limited role a few times so I'd give him a little benefit for improving.
Yeah, his sources...if they're outside of the inner circle, they'll likely be fed that kind of stuff too... "we believe in Nick, we're hoping he steps up this year, etc" I don't think it's a coincidence that the story came out on the same day. He's got the talent...could surprise us...i think the Rockets are just hoping he shows something very early, so they can build on that, and either ride it out as their 3rd stringer or trade him. His stock hasn't risen like they hoped for, time to change that. They're going to praise him and talk him up, build confidence and hope it clicks for him.
I have no doubt he can improve as a player. If we weren't looking at potentially a 1-2 year window for Harden/Dwight, I'd be a lot happier to wait for it. Was Nick a very good playmaker in college?
If you don't even know that Marcus Thornton is a SG then you don't know enough to suggest Grandpa Terry would be an upgrade.
His point was that if Marcus Thornton is a PG, we should play Terry at PG instead. My point is that if you are dumb enough to suggest such stupidity....you probably should just keep it moving. Lol.
Even though it won't happen for a while this could become a reality. The guy is from LA and loves it there. LA would also attract stars with Harden and having Kobe out of the picture. After Morey wiffs on KD because he stays in OKC he better go out and use that cap space and bring the beard some legit help.
Point is that if you're pinning your hopes on Thornton not as a shooting guard, but as the playmaking guard Harden requested, you may as well run Jet at point. And frankly, I don't disagree. Thornton is an upgrade over Jet at the backup 2, yes. But neither of them fit the bill of what Harden specifically requested. In any event -- I've been trying to exercise patience, but I'm sort of mind-boggled by the idea that Morey might outright disregard Harden's express request. I guess they were hyper confident about Llull, but this seems like dangerous territory.
It sounds like last summer all over again. Morey whiffed on Melo. He whiffed on Bosh. And then he got outplayed on Parsons by Cuban(and Fegan). This summer, he whiffed on Llull. Turned down a chance to draft a PG. Whiffed in free agency(assuming he even went after anyone). And now he got outplayed on Josh Smith by the Clippers. The problem is it looks like he put all his eggs in the Llull basket. At least last summer when Bosh turned us down, we still had Jones and D-Mo to play the 4. When we lost Parsons, we immediately signed Ariza. This time around, we literally have no other playmaker on the roster other than Harden. We have no other PG currently signed other than Bev, and it's being generous to call him that. And there aren't many options available right now. We may go into training camp with Bev and Terry(assuming he resigns) as our only PGs.
The only scenario in which Jason Terry is getting ANY minutes is if Beverley goes down again. A healthy Beverley will knock Terry out of the rotation whereas Thornton will STILL be in the rotation backing up Harden and even playing alongside him.
Spoiler Spoiler Seriously though...is there a quote where Harden states he specifically wants a play making point guard? I think he was asking for general help in the back court, at either guard position. A play making pg takes some wear off of him, but so does a better back up SG. And MC is really a combo guard...you could play him next to Harden in some match ups. Overall, you can already pencil Harden in for less minutes/work next year. Morey is going in the right direction with it. He's not going to put this as a priority over a ring, so he's got to be patient. Harden may have to settle for MC now, and wait for more help in Feb, Dec, or maybe sooner.
LOL...he got outplayed by CP and Cuban by refusing to pay CP, knowing he had TA as a back up plan? CF is going off the rails today.
