If Morey wanted Rondo, he would have landed Rondo.

They wanted Rondo, but they didn't want to give up DMo, or the NO pick.

 

Morey is a tire-kicker, a value shopper. He probably would have pulled the trigger at the right price, but Rondo wasn't a must-have.

 

So, if Morey wanted Lebron, he would have landed Lebron?

 

I'll let you get away this time, Danny Ainge. This time...

 

Feign, who I trust to be a much more credible source than Stein or any other ESPN crony said otherwise.

But I guess you could be making the distinction that Morey wanted him but didn't feel like giving better than the Mavs package for him was worth it. Then that goes back to the op stating that if Morey wanted him, he would have gotten him.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Morey came through locker room, spoke w/ Harden, Howard for awhile in whispered tones. I really wish I could have overheard some of that.</p>&mdash; ClutchFans (@clutchfans) <a href="https://twitter.com/clutchfans/status/545800141941137408">December 19, 2014</a></blockquote>
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"Do you want Rondo."

"No."

"LATERS HOMIEZ XOXO MAUBOY69"

 

Morey: We will get the next commodity (Durant, whoever that is)

 

Seriously?

 

Apples to oranges. He can't out offer cleveland

 

* insert sarcasm here *

 

He was probably talking to the Celtics to hear what Dallas was offering to help drive the price up. In a way helping the Celtics get the most out of the Rondo trade.

 

We easily could've offered a better package. And I am kinda shocked that Dallas got him for so little. Not even two first rounders?

But I guess Morey wasn't crazy about him. I am sure he would've taken him for, let's say Black, Canaan and one of our own first and second rounders. But giving up DMo and/or the Pelicans pick might've been too much. Like so many have said, there was a huge question mark about Rondos fit here. He needs the ball in his hands to be effective - so does Harden (although I would like to see him saving some energy on some plays by just being a catch and shoot player).

For Dallas this is really a no brainer. They don't want Parsons to create, and they don't want Monte to be the primary shot creator. Rondo makes everybody around him better - and he adds championship experience, grit, defense and rebounding. If they can stay healthy, they are the favorites to win the west, at least in my book.

Think about it, Parsons can now be legitimately the 5th best player for them - scary...

 

With rondo there would have been atleast one floor general on the court at all times and our chances of coming out of the west would have been significantly better. When harden gets double teamed I wonder whos gonna create plays for others......oh , wait a minute I guess it could be corey brewer. Im really tired of how houston front office managed to waste the prime years of yao and t-mac with below standard players surrounding them and it seems like deja vu all over again. Maybe morey should go after chuck hayes , check on juwan howard, rafer alston , luther head or start chasing mike james again.

 

I suspect that, like all good horse traders, Morey looked at Rondo and put a price on him and did not go over it. That or he was just poking Cuban with a stick.

 

Rondo would not have been a good fit for this team as it's currently constructed. Yes, he's a great playmaker and we need that, but we also rely heavily on 3-pointers and free throws and Rondo sucks at both.

 

If Rondo is on the floor with Harden then guess who's man would be double teaming Harden?

The idea is that if Harden is double teamed then the player who is uncovered has to be able to knock down a shot. Rondo doesn't help in that department. Instead it provides the perfect person to leave unguarded.

Think about how teams defend Harden and Howard. You want to collapse on Dwight so you double him down low. You want to stop Harden's penetration so you pack the lane (which also helps you double on Dwight more easily). Now how do you play Rondo? You back off of him and have his man fall back to the free throw line and dare Rondo to shoot. The problem is that also puts that defender in perfect position to help on Harden drives or to collapse on Howard.

The last two years we've seen the same defensive strategy used against Houston. Have Harden's man play up on Harden to contest the 3 ball and have 2 players in the paint to try and cut off Harden's drives. The only real way to prevent that is to surround Harden and Howard with players that you can't leave unguarded. Unless the supporting cast can make teams pay for playing that defense we'll continue to see it every year at playoff time.

 

Morey have it all if he wanted to.

 

The goal with the potential Rondo trade was simple from the get go.

Either you:

A. Steal him for next to nothing, and if he ends up being a bad fit, you can always trade him to the Knicks or Lakers at the deadline for expirings or...
B. You make Cuban pay to get him.

Either way it's a win for the Rockets to get involved in trade discussions even if just to drive the price up. It wouldn't be very competitive in spirit to not pay attention to trades your competition could be making, and make sure they don't get another steal like Tyson Chandler for nothing.

But yes... If Morey really wanted Rondo he could have had him at a certain price. However if Morey's price for a former all-star player at a position they could stand to upgrade is that low, what should that tell all of us about how good Morey thinks he is now, or will be moving forward? Should we really be that upset taking that into consideration?

However I'm glad, and you should be too that Morey got involved. Driving up the the price that the Mavs or any other team in the West pay for a player in a trade is a good thing to do.

 

People act like Wright is the centerpiece of this deal.

In actuality it was:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Sources: Protections on the 2015 first-round pick Dallas sent Boston: Protected 1-3 and 15-30 in 2015; 2016-2020 protected to No. 7.</p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/545761598338772992">December 19, 2014</a></blockquote>
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If they can flip Wright for a late 1st, that's a pretty good haul for an expiring that almost definitely wasn't going to re-sign

Mavs are taking a gamble on their future but did the absolute best move for them (much like Toronto in trading the reverse protection pick for Lowry) and Ainge took the best haul for the Celtics.

I'd say it's a win-win, but the Mavs certainly came out further ahead because they are instant title contenders (especially if they replace Wright with Jermaine O'Neal)

 

I generally agree with you but the fact that Morey wasn't willing to part with the NOP pick isn't just about how he feels about Rondo's abilities at this point. It's also about his fit with our current roster and what it would cost us to resign him next summer.

I'd guess that Morey didn't think that Rondo would put us over the top this year and he didn't want to give him max money next summer so it wasn't worth surrendering the NOP pick for him.