Good player. Great person. Tradable contract. I think he could really shine as the 8th/9th man with Udoka and a real pecking order that takes away his shot attempts.
They resigned him because he's an uber flexible player that can play D and get buckets. Simple as that. We've only ever seen Tate play on a really bad team where he forced up shots, like everyone else did on the team. I think they want to see how he plays in a structured system. Can he be a reliable rotation player off the bench within a system? He's shown enough maturity that he's worth another look.
This reminds me of an NBA game I watched years back. Can't remember which announcer, talking "positively" about some team's player being the perfect "3rd center on a team," and the other announcer reacting as I would: "'Third' center? You're putting a positive spin on that?"
I think what Ime is saying is all you really have to do to play Center on this team is be willing to block out. That's literally it. He probably sat through training camp and was like - well, I guess beggars can't be choosers....
Rockets could have exercised his option and then traded him if he had this kind of value. I'm skeptical whether he actually does. The guy is the poor man's Bruce Brown and actually older, he'll be 28 in 2 weeks. He appeared in 31 games last year. That is a pretty terrible ROI for year 1 of his extension.
I’m a Tate guy; if he could stay healthy and if he could stick the 3-ball then everyone else would be, too.
Again... Tate is a nice swiss army knife role player for a contender who is cash strapped, and cannot afford real role players in free agency. He's a good value player for a Yao/T-Mac/Artest type of team..... NOT A REBUILDING TEAM. There's just no value in what he brings long term. Can he help win a game or two this year.... maybe.... I guess. However this is a team that still has a few more years of development, and needs more good young players. Especially centers. We need to be taking swings to find the next Looney, or Capela, or whatnot. I don't get it with Tate, but for whatever reason Rockets coaches and ESPECIALLY Stone just love the guy. Maybe he brings in high quality Honey Buns to the team or something... I don't know. But he obviously does something I do not see.
The opportunity cost for Tate is basically TyTy or Garuba. Tate has more trade value than them, and is a better player than them. If a contender wants him, they can trade something of value. Maybe a trade never forms, but I see no reason to cut him so another team can sign him while the Rockets add a vet minimum that is likely a worse player.
Entry passing is so god awful in today's game that if you can front this can be a 24 sec violating, desperation heave, lock down defense.
Somewhere Imanimal is creating 3 more alt accounts so him and his other 3 alt accounte can post new threads about us needing tall players
Whoa, hold up there, partner. That was tanking injuries. The first 31 games he missed were “right ankle soreness.” lulz. Then we took him out for the important final 11 game stretch to Wemby, for “left knee soreness”.
I disagree with the premise of the replying announcer. I know it is hard to remember contending, but at one time we had Yao+Deke+Chuck. There was a time when having a legit 3rd C off the bench was a must when you were rolling up against Pau/Bynum/Odom, etc. And again, for a team that is truly contending, every roster spot is incredibly important tactically. The game has changed some, but nowadays it feels like having a good 3rd C that can get you into some switchable small ball is a must. Tate might look like he is easy to post-up, but the amount of turnovers we have watched over the years of bigs trying to post up EG/Harden/Tucker/Chuck, etc... Not as easy as it looks and a nice option to have. Additionally, Tate is a highly competent backup forward who will not make many mistakes. You put Tate on a number of contenders and he steals 15 playoff mpg, guaranteed.
"...if he had this kind of value" Value and talent are not the same thing. He's never been able to showcase his talent because he's only played on a terrible team. Nobody else in the league has seen him in practice, hence no value. He's a low cost guy that the staff clearly wants to see what they've got once paired with a decent coach and system. btw, the same statement applies to Jalen, Seguin, Jabari, etc.
It would really surprise me if he were to average that. Maybe 15 to 20, but on the lower end of that over the course of the season, in my opinion. Time will tell. Assuming he stays healthy, of course.
