I agree, this is tough on Asik. Playing time means more to him than just being a part of a possible contender.
Maybe I'm not remembering the same as you but I don't recall Morey promising Lin a team centered round him, nor do I see why he would have needed to. The Rockets were the only team to offer him a contract. It was come to Houston or take New Yorks extremely low qualifying offer.
What does my comment have to do with Lin? First, we didn't sign an allstar PG to take Lin's starting spot. If so, say we signed Paul, then I'd say we owe it to Lin to ask him if he wants to be traded. What happened was we signed an allstar Center to take Asik's starting spot. So, I'm saying we owe it to Asik to ask if he wants to be traded. Secondly, Morey did not make Lin the face of the franchise and promised him a team centered around him. Really?...you think that?
You seriously think the system wasn't centered around Lin before the last minute Harden trade? The whole pre-season was PNRs for Lin with K-Mart spotting up outside.
This is a business. That's not how it works. If you think Morey, as smart as he is, will be willing to keep instead of trading Asik, then you're delusional, I'm sorry. Morey is not dumb enough to keep a backup that will only play around 15 minutes and has 20 mil left on his contract. Not happening. Asik's contract was given based on the fact that he would be a starter. There is few, if any other, player in the league that is making that much as a backup.
I'm not sure if you are disagreeing with me or not. Are you saying Asik must go, now? Maybe so, for fear of him being untradeable in his last year. Note...he won't cost $20m against our cap next year. His cap hit is an average of each of the three years. He only counts $20m to the cap hit of a team who we trade him to. So, that makes him untradeable in his 3rd year. But, his cap hit to us doesn't increase like that.
What I meant was, while what you were suggesting was a very nice gesture (and I mean it sincerely) sadly, I don't see Morey doing it. In a perfect world, that sounds like the right thing to do. But in reality, Morey tinkers with team personnel all the time and I think they just expect players to understand and adjust accordingly. As for Lin, I recall seeing Lin's face plastered all over billboards everywhere last summer (not Parsons, not Asik's, who came over on the exact same deal as Lin), don't you?
The promise was fulfilled last season. I don't believe Asik himself thinks he should start over Howard. Why would Asik be hell-bent on being traded? He is being paid the same and has a much better chance to win a championship now. He will still get plenty of minutes. Would he be better off going to a team like Milwaukee where he might get the same or even more minutes and the (meaningless) starting spot, but would lose 60 out of 82 games? So what if his stats go down a bit. I am sure he will rather win 55+ games and have a shot at a championship than averaging a couple more rebounds or points. Asik is about winning. He will stay (unless he would be a piece in a trade for someone like LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, etc.).
^ yeah, you're right. He got his start and made the most of it. His value is now known. I'd still ask him if he wants to stay and promise him no minutes (or very limited minutes) when Howard is on the floor I'd just tell him the truth. He's not going to be a PF with Howard at C....Likely back to 14 minutes, tops.
I say 25-30 minutes. Howard 34, which means 14 for Asik, 10-15 at the PF spot (or even Howard at PF, Asik at C).
Twin towers, baby. If only the NBA would get rid of the stupid 3 second rules and stop calling touch fouls on big men, this strategy could work again. I miss the old NBA. Glad that Stern is leaving, I hope the new guy does everything the opposite way, tbh.
I think it would be best to have a 3 men rotation so they get about 32 each. I agreed that it is a waste of talent just play asik 15 to 20 minutes a game.
I think Morey is telling the truth that he doesn't plan to trade Asik and Lin and OP hit it right on the head. Morey would do in a heartbeat it if improves the team but right now there aren't any good deals out there. Asik is our best trade chip and is better than any of the PFs that are available. It's better to hang on to him on the off chance that LMA or Love shake loose. As for Lin, you have the following better than him. cp3 westbrook deron parker irving curry wall rondo lillard monta ellis jennings nash rubio lawson jrue holdiay lowry dragic conley The only PG in the first group that may be available is Rondo. I think Lin can still improve and be on par with the 2nd group by the end of this year
throwing out names that YOU think are better than Lin doesn't mean crap. you can argue forever with every player on that 2nd list vs Lin and still not get anywhere. for instance, ellis is tiny sg, a ball hog, black hole, no defense, and a cancer. jennings is ellis with a bit better court vision. nash is old, slow, can't defend, no first step. rubio can't shoot worth a damn. need i go on? oh and wall is crap his whole career and then plays well for 2 months in his contract year and suddenly a 1st tear pg? gimme a break.
Try the Asik and Dwight combo first. It doesn't work, then ship him out. Worst thing to do is to not even try and there's not even good value in return right now.
I think the years of "acquiring assets" have desensitized the Rockets fanbase lol. We put more emphasis on "perceived value" now than on the court value. To have a center like Asik coming off the bench would be an amazing value on the court. Think about the games last year where Smith had to play significant minutes at the 5. Sure it made the pick and roll more interesting because he could catch, but the defense suffered greatly. We were two different teams with Asik on/off the floor. This would ALSO allow us to give Howard plenty of rest and not tempt fate with his back. It's not like he's got some outrageous contract. I think you keep him.
lol troll, first off how do you define being better? Is it based off ranking? Because if it is, Jeremy Lin last year was 57th in the NBA. http://www.cbssports.com/nba/playerrankings/regularseason/OVERALL?&start_row=51 But then according to these statistics, CP3 is only 9th and Steph Curry is #1 and Lillard is #3 so how do you even judge a person's ranking and Jeremy Lin is 17th above Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry, Jarret Jack and you guessed it, Jose Calderon. So your dumb way of your own biased ranking actually proves Jeremy Lin on an injured season is on the top 20 pgs in the NBA. How can he be a bench player if he's on par with the average PGs of today on an injured season. Where are you going to get a PG better than Lin for much cheaper? The only thing I can think of is getting a Rookie sensation like Lillard so unless Canaan becomes the next Derrick Rose, I think Lin will be staying in his spot for the next season.
No. Actually, everyone on that list is better than Lin based on the play last year. Dragic is the only player you could remotely argue about. Now, I do think Lin will take another step and improve, but Lin certainly wasn't in the top half of starting point guards last year. I'll even add two more names to the list: Jarrett Jack and Calderone.
