Keep shaking your damn head, but it should be shaking up and down. He is a little above average 3 point shooter but people act like he is a great 3 point shooter that demands all this respect. He had one good year, last year he shot 34% from 3 point range, Parsons shot 33%. Is Parsons feared and spreading the floor? I hope he has a great year shooting the 3 and he does spread the floor but there is a big difference between winning the 3 point shootout and shooting in an NBA game.
See the above post, there is a big difference between NBA games and the 3 point shootout. He is above average as a career 36% 3 point shooter but people on here are comparing him to Novak a 46% career 3 point shooter. Just because we got him in the trade doesn't make him good.
Personally, I thought the cuts were good, and we can probably infer a few things from it: 1) Morey is probably not looking at a mid-season trade to bring in a max/near-max players. If so, he'd keep Shaun Livingston for salary matching purposes with his $3.5M contract (~$1-1.5M guaranteed). 2) Morey has learnt from his Lin-cut mistake by keeping a potential upside rookie (Machado) over a better contract for trade purposes in Livingston. 3) Despite all the talks of no height and no balance on the Rockets roster and 9 PFs @ 6'8, Morey somehow has balanced his roster with 2 legit 7-ft centers (ok, Aldrich is 6'11, but good enough), a 7-ft PF in DMo, a 7'2 wingspan PF in T Jones, and two pretty tall SF in Parsons and Morris (who finally looks ready to play the 3). Add 6'3 Jeremy Lin at PG and a 6'11 wingspan Harden at SG, it's a pretty tall line-up finally. 4) I would guess that Lazar Haywood was a dump by OKC that Morey had to take, but Aldrich was someone Morey wanted (no way Grizzlies werere going with Thabeet as the only back-up C on the roster, after letting Orton go), and Cook was probably a joint decision (for the Rockets, depth behind Delfino while OKC has Thabo, Martin and Lamb after the trade). 5) Choosing between Livingston, Douglas and Machado for the last cut, Harden being an alternative playmaker probably sealed Livingston's fate, as Douglas is probably the best shooter (if he regains form) and defender at PG, and Machado the best at playing uptempo and a good true-PG prospect. Livingston, on the other hand, can't space the floor, score much, or defend the speedier PGs, and really only brought playmaking skills, but with upside limited. 6) Remember when many worried that Lin did not have a Novak to space the floor for him? Now no one is as good as Novak in spacing the floor, but Harden @ 40%, Delfino/Cook at 36-38%, Parsons probably 36%+ this year with an improved shot (36% post all-star break last year), and even Douglas averaged 38-39% in 2009-11. Plus we have PFs able to stretch the floor to the 3pt line in Jones, DMo and Patterson (although we don't want them to shoot too much there). 7) Machado & White looks like locks for D-League, and I would guess DMo & Smith may alternate some time down as well, to maintain their development and stamina. Machado will need to learn how to play defense and run a team (not just make assists; check his +/- in pre-season), and White will need to improve his shooting/post-up and defense (especially transition defense which was woeful).
Congrats to Machado for making the team! I still remember how devastated he was on draft night when his name wasn't called. He called it right by choosing HOU to play on summer league and preseason. Work on your jumper and defense, SCott.
He's also 27 and had many years in the league. Machado, on the other hand, may never pan out, but it was worth taking.
Don't understand the fuzz about cutting Livingston. Rockets is not a championship caliber team with the addition of Harden only. It is a couple players and a few years away from being a contender again. At this stage, young players with upside and cap space are way more important than a solid veteran backup if your eyes are on a bigger goal.
Torocan on point again. Livingston released by Wash. http://www.bulletsforever.com/2012/...gston-earl-barron-released-washington-wizards
Last I checked, both Shaun and JuJuan are available for the league minimum, and having maximized cap room and kept Cook's expiring contract on the books gives the Rockets the most flexibility in both trades and free agency. Also, even if the Rockets brought back Livingston for the league minimum, they'd be getting him cheaper overall than had they just kept him in the first place.
Douglas is working out - - to my surprise after seeing him in the preseason and early season. I am quite surprised Livingston (apparently) fell off the cliff in Wizardville - - after seeing him in the preseason. Maybe, just maybe, we don't see quite the same complete picture the coaches and FO see? Imagine that...
Agreed on Douglas. While I never doubted for a second that he'd make the team, I was never a big Toney Douglas fan. I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised by his return to the form he showed in his first two years with the Knicks. As Morey said on the Rocketscast Live, that Marcus Camby trade worked out unbelievably well. The Rockets traded a second round pick and expiring filler (Thabeet, Flynn) for Camby, got very good minutes from Camby down the stretch last season, then signed-and-traded him for TWO second rounders, Douglas and cash. No stars involved there, but it probably ranks among his better trades made as a GM. As for Livingston, yeah, I'm surprised a young team like Washington didn't want to keep Livingston (a "young vet" at 27) on the roster even if just for his professional attitude and work ethic. Coming back from that knee injury was one of the grittiest things I've ever seen a pro athlete do. I'm hoping that some other team picks him up.
