No way he gets the full MLE. He's little more than a rookie, 13-19th picks are capped at 1.8M-1.3M for the duration of their rookie contracts so paying him MLE money would be way out of whack for a 2nd year player. We should give him 19th pick money and no more.
The Rockets don't have to match. And the other team is effectively taken out of the market waiting to see what the Rockets will do. If someone offers him a $30m contract, I'd guess we'll be parting ways with Landry.
Shooting the 3? Why would you work on that when he still hasn't mastered his mid-range game or post ups or creating his own shots? Its seems like all these guys want to do dunk and shoot the 3. Ask Calvin Murphy, the game is won in the mid-range. Other teams probably are looking at Landry, i don't think his agent is lying. I think they want to get him for cheap just like we do too so it probably won't matter much.
Landry's contract is basically done. He's a restricted free agent. He can go after the money now and it's up to the Rockets to match.
Not true. The game is LOST in the midrange. If a player can shoot 40% from 3, that's the same thing as shooting 60% from midrange. You have to be good enough midrange to NOT HURT your team when the better defenses take away the rim and scramble well on the perimeter to force you to take rough 3 pointers. In my opinion, with the allowance for all the different defenses that can be played in the NBA today, having a 40% 3 point shot is more of a base for an offensive player than a good midrange game. In Calvin Murphy's day, teams couldn't zone and they couldn't bump. Murphy had a field day because of his quickness. You put a guy like Allen Iveson back in Murphy's NBA and Iverson averages 40 a night on 55% shooting. A good midrange game in combination with effective 3 point shooting can turn a player into a superstar. Landry needs to hit star status first. He's got the finish at the rim down so-so. Now he needs to develop his distance shooting. Then after that, he can work on perfecting his 15-18 footer. Incidentally, he's already got a decent midrange jumper. He just needs to be able to relax and smooth it out a little bit. But it's already there.
I agree. Too many guys think that there are two shots in the game. The 3 pointer and the layup/dunk. They forget that the easiest place to get a clean shot is to pull up midrange. Ask Tony Parker what happened to his game when he added a midrange jumper. All he did was become one of the best PG in the league and a nightmare for opposing defenses. Carlos Boozer absolutely killed the Rockets last year in the playoffs with his mid range jumper. It's much easier to take one or maybe two dribbles and get to the rim when someone chases you off a 16 foot jumper as opposed to a 23 feet 3 point shot. It's also easier to get rebounds when you are closer to the rim and isn't that what your PF should do? I'm not saying he shouldn't add the 3 to his game but I think he could spend his off season working on much more important PF skills. I don't understand why strong, athletic PFs want to become a poor man's Dirk. Landry needs to stay closer to the rim if he is going to continue to be an effective rebounder and energy guy.
^^^The only post in this thread anybody needs to read with regards to how we should sign him. The 3-pt talk is nice to hear. His transformation into a 3/4 has been the worst kept secret on this team since his big breakout. I wanted to see him get minutes at the three against Utah. Hopefully, he's a gym rat that will keep working on his range and offensive arsenal. We already know he's a great rebounder and solid defender. A 100% healthy Landry is a scary, scary thought.
The guy guy that said landry is better off shooting the 3 as opposed to the mid range game further speaks about what wrong with young players today. When coaches decided 23-9 was a easier than 15ft, that's part of the problem. The best scorers through the history of the game were mid range scorers. Even today, kobe, melo, lbj,iverson, wade and others are really good mid range guys. Rule of thumb is you start in and work out. The philosophy of 40% equates to 60% is bs. What that stat doesn't account for is the fast break chances and game flow. If a guy goes 4-10 3pt fg, that means he missed 6 shots which most times bounce long and starts the break. When the other guy goes 6-10, that's 2 less misses and the ball generally stays in a area and guys are in good rebounding position. If Landry wants to become more of a force offensively, work on the short dribble drive, dribble pull up, and the 15 fter. Go watch Horace Grant and see how easy his points came when he knocked down 15 ft er after 15 ft er.
That's exactly what I was thinking. Maybe not even with the full MLE, but just pushing the Rockets passed 50% of the MLE will take away their ability to go after anyone else that would be of real value to the team. Carl's upcoming contracts could be one of those that we look back at in a few years and say "What were they thinking" because of the knee issues. Or "Boy we got a steal." This is going to be a tough decision as to where to cut it for both money and length of contract for Morey.
Speaking of Blatche, what Morey needs to do is set Carl up with a hooker sting operation. Then his salary will drop.
Landry's 3pt dreams are nothing knew. I have heard him state that he is working on it for a long time. Actually I believe he said he has a pretty decent 3. Someone earlier mentioned he is trying to become a SF. I don't think so, the guy can't put it on the floor or defend opposing SFs.
lee, the NBA is no longer a man to man defensive league. I'm not saying it is better, right, or wrong. What I am saying is fact. With the advent of all the gimmick defenses, the 3 point shot has become a prominent weapon. You have to recognize this aspect of the NBA or continue living in the 70's. And a fastbreak layup is NOT a midrange shot. It is a finishing shot. Landry is great at them. The worst shot right now in professional is the midrange 2 pointer. Because it is a much lower percentage shot than the layup/dunk and because if you move back a foot or so, you can get 50% more credit on the shot. You have to shoot 60% from 18 feet to match a 3 point shot at a 40% hit rate. That's facts. And puhlease don't talk to me about shots bouncing out long. Juwan Howard could not hit a 3 to save his life. HE CONSTANTLY SHOT THE MIDRANGE SHOT! And the sucker always bounced out long and ignited the fastbreak. Horace Grant!?!?! Here's how effective Horace Grant was offensively. For a career he shot a little over 50% from the field and made 1.21 POINTS PER SHOT. That was all inside the 3 point line and on in to the bucket as less than 1% of his shots were 3 pointers. Now compare his offensive efficiency to one of this board's bashing targets, Bostjan Nachbar. Bostjan Nachbar can shoot the distance jumper and he can finish, but he hasn't even been great from distance yet in his career. For his career he is shooting a little over 40% from the field and 37.5% from 3. Last year, Bosjan shot less than 32% from midrange and a very pedestrian 51.7% at the rim, combined with a very pedestrian 36% from 3. But guess what, Nachbar is averaging 1.22 POINTS PER SHOT for his career! Unfortunately, finishing and 3 point shooting are the primary components of today's NBA offense. Midrange shooting is what separates the superstars from the stars, but only if they have the finishing and 3 point shooting ability.
I would be hoping that he would be working on low post up moves and finishing around the basket.Outside shooting would be an additional thing to work on.
Landry has great potential. I like his defense, his rebounding, and his versatility. While its good to hear he is working on the 3pt shot, Id rather he perfect his mid range game and become like David West.
And I agree with both of you. I just don't think Morey will pay more than $2 million or possibly $3 million a year on a short deal, see how he does, and then figure a deal with his Bird rights.
