False. They're great guys, personally. And MM is available. He's not the only one who wants out of this hellish desert.
A dream. Seriously. That team has 0 holes. Only thing you could possibly ask for is another defensive option at the 2 instead of Thornton.
Not enough salary. Can't trade McDaniels until Dec. 15th. Too much value to give up (McDaniels) for Markieff. It's not going to happen this summer. We don't have the pieces to make a deal for him. And we're for sure not giving up assets for him. Only way Markieff becomes a Rocket: 1. Trade after Dec. 15th and it involves more than Markieff because we'll have to get back some sort of asset to justify sending out any of ours. (Markieff is not an asset at this time.) 2. Markieff modifies deal to make last 3 seasons non-guaranteed so we can drop him in favor of cap space if we need to after this coming season. 3. The court case is settled positively with Markieff not going to prison/jail. None of those things are imminent. Might as well quit talking about it until Dec. 15th and then it will most likely still be an impossibility. We ain't trading for Markieff and owe him 4/32.
Seriously? First, to repeat a common phrase, "hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20". Second - Come on man, use your noggin. Kawhi has turned into a really high level player under the tutelage of the best coaching staff in the league. That doesn't mean the same would have happened in Houston...and besides - that was the draft Morey took Chandler Parsons at the SF spot - a legit starting NBA level SF who Houston nabbed well into the 2nd round. I mean in hindsight, Houston was one of the teams who drafted better than anyone in 2011.
Wait - I'm just realizing some of you think Morris is a better player than Dmo. Just to set the record straight - he isn't. Dmo would be the starter here. Would you rather have: Dmo @ 3mil + Markieff Morris @ $8mil a year = $11mil a year or DMo @ $3mil a year + TJones @ 3 mil a year = $6mil a year Is Morris really worth an extra $5mil a year because I don't see that significant an increase in production. Jones did fine against 2nd units - he got eaten up against starters. Dmo should/would be the starting PF if Morris/TJones are the options. The other thing is this - Morris isn't Morey's type of contract. He has 4 years left @ $8mil a year. Morey doesn't normally do long contracts in that salary range without getting a lot of value. For instance, Ariza produces very well for his salary so he is an easy sell to throw in a trade if you have the opportunity for an upgrade. Morris' contract doesn't represent a screaming deal so he wouldn't necessarily be as valuable an asset to move. Trade value is the intersection of talent, yearly salary, and years remaining on the deal.
...but why pay for $11 million of production to Morris and Dmo if you can get 90-95% of the production with Dmo and Jones at $6mil? I will say this, I don't think Morris is that good. He's definitely worth $8mil but he's not a screaming deal at $8mil - more like a middle of the road NBA starter on a fair contract. Regarding Brewer, that's an insurance policy if they need to move Ariza in a deal to upgrade another position. Not having Brewer meant Houston was thin at the SF making Ariza less expendable. Having Brewer means Houston can still remain competitive with their SF even if they have to lose Ariza in a trade. We don't want to plug one medium size hole in our roster and open up another of the same size...
Booker, he was the 13th overall pick, he's a lights out shooter that many compare to Klay Thompson. I would almost do Dekker + McDaniels and a future first (very late 1st) for Booker alone, add in Jones who is a expiring for Morris and It would be a steal for us. On a separate note, Markieff's contract only counts for 7.4 mill next off season, Jones cap hold will be 6.2 million, If we where to trade Jones + McDaniels for Markieff we'd actually be saving a million or so.
Bro, are you seriously pretending that Jones and Motie aren't both expiring this off season and will both demand a minimum of 12+ million each? 8 mill is a steal for a middle of the road starter, 8 mill is money for a middle of the road backup player now days. We would be saving money with Morris, who is locked on a 8 mill deal for the next 4 years, as compared to keeping Dmo and Jones, who will cost at minimum a combined 25 mill together next off season.
LOL I thought the assumption was that Morris would be a backup player...if so, why not just not do that deal and have Dekker and Harrell fill the backup role when Jones leaves? Why waste the money on Morris?
Because teams that are trying to win a championship don't rely on d-league bound rookies to step up. Markieff has proven he can be a quality player on a winning team, he has proved that he can be a respectable starter in the western conference on a decent team. It's not wasting money, it's saving money over retaining either Jones or Dmo if we where to loose one next summer, he is on a bargin contract.
Ya but who are we going to trade to get an $8mil player? TJones likely would be moved(he doesn't seem to be in our future plans) but who else to make salaries match? Likely Beverly or Terry. Is Morris' future reasonable deal worth losing very similar production from Jones+ the production of either terry or Beverly? Of course not... ...fact is Houston isn't going to give both an extension - they want to upgrade at the position and use one of those guys to be the 3rd big off the bench - a role Dmo is perfectly suited for since he can play at the 4 and the 5. DMo is better than Morris so I'm okay paying him $12 mil as an upgrade over starting Markief and eventually replacing Dmo with someone else.
I guess he'd be a decent backup if his legal troubles blow over and he doesn't create any more trouble for himself and in the new market 8 mil isn't bad, but you'd have to move Jones plus what else to get him to begin with? Do we really want to start losing depth to make a move that only makes us marginally better at a backup role?
I'm not sure if we're working with the 150% trade rule or 125% trade rule now that we are over the lux I think a realistic deal using the 125% rule would be something like Jones, KJ and Harrell for Morris and Goodwin(Shved Trade Exception). You then a have a solid PF locked on a good contract, and a decent asset on a cheap contract. KJ and Harrell aren't even going going to crack the rotation with Thornton and Hayes in front of them so we wouldn't be giving up depth. Which gives us the flexibility to loose either one or both Dmo and Jones next off season, depending on if we get someone like Durant or Horford.
I think it's fair to say that you think a LOT more highly of Morris than I do. I'd rather just not do that deal and see what Harrell can become as a backup PF.
