1. Even if Patterson was "dime a dozen" in the league, his skill set was not present on the team. 2. The point wasn't that HOU had 0% chance at making the playoffs due to the trade-- they were in position for it at the deadline already. The point was that the trade somewhat lowered their chances (like from 95% to 85%). I am glad the worst case scenario didn't come to pass. Moreover just making the playoffs isn't the end. There are playoff games to be played and having an experienced shooting 4 who had a .600+ TS% in his last 30 games as a Rocket would be helpful for getting a possible upset. 3. The issue is not trading away Patterson, it is that what they got in return not worth even Patterson. In fact, getting a high 2nd round pick instead of Robinson would likely have been a better asset especially given salary implications and the effort to pursue Dwight Howard in free agency. 4. Morey made his risk assessment, as did I. I respect that he does his homework. This, however, doesn't mean I agree with his assessment of the risks and, particularly, the potential reward or that we should just "understand that Morey looked into it and thought the gamble was reasonable." Fact is, every NBA front office does plenty of homework before each deal. It doesn't mean that Memphis or Toronto fans don't get to talk about the Rudy Gay trade when it was made or thereafter.
I don't know man. At the start of the season everyone was saying Morris didn't belong in the NBA. Look how that turned out. And I think TRob definitely has a higher ceiling than Morris. Its a high risk high return kind of thing and I would wait and see how he turns out next season before I judge the trade.
He was recovering from ankle surgery in year 2. Efficiency took a dip as a result. Much better in year 3.
It's fair to say that with a very limited sample size, playing very limited minutes, under two different coaching staffs and organizations, in his first year as an NBA player, that there are significant questions about how good TRob will end up being. The numbers are troubling. I was actually not a big fan of TRob coming out of college, and what concerned me most was how poorly he seemed to do against the best competition in college. Add to that a terrible summerleague, and i certainly had some doubts. But i also thought that his talent is undeniable and i thought that because he's so athletic, he might find a way to overcome his biggest challenge, being an undersized 4; just like Fareed did. If nothing else, i thought he'd be a top rebounder. I strongly believe that you don't know what a player really is until mid-way through their 2nd or 3rd seasons; no matter what rookie numbers tell you. Take Larry Sanders his rookie year for example: 14.5 mpg 43% fg 3 rebounds 4.3 pts Now look at TRob playing the same minutes: 15 mpg 43% fg 4.5 rebounds 4.8 pts My point is that you can't take this rookie year and draw a concrete conclusion that this guy is a bust, just like you couldn't do it with Larry Sanders. If he still has these numbers by the end of next year, then you might be right, but keep in mind, Larry Sanders had even worse numbers his 2nd year, before finally coming into his own in his 3rd season. There's also the "hard work" and drive/passion factor. TRob has had challenges his whole life and seems to be a guy that works hard to overcome them. He supposedly has an incredible work ethic, and i think his drive and passion to succeed is very evident. If you think he has the talent to get better, he certainly has the worker mentality and drive to do that. Who's to say he won't improve? I wouldn't bet against a guy like TRob; at least not prematurely. We fundamentally disagree that you can call this guy a bust after this one year. That's where we disagree. I think we also disagree on how much the team missed Pat.
I can't stress it enough that everybody knows Ppat is a better player than Trob now, yet most media/fans/gms still thought Morey hands down wins in this trade. So far nothing has been unexpected, Ppat maybe better now and it's still a good trade for us. At least Trob is still a more attractive trade asset than Ppat, who's been playing on a bad team as a role player and the perceived value isn't getting better either. Besides, his decision to play through the foot injury instead of choosing midseason surgery really scared me(I know he probably has no choice since his team option may not be picked up if he had the surgery and be done for the rest of the season).
you're chalking up his entire 2nd season's lack of productivity to coming back from off-season ankle surgery? that's very convenient and generous of you
He is a role player that has more than likely reached his sealing. If that is what we needed from that position then the trade would not have happened. But we need more from that position and cleared some space to see what the other players have. It boggles my mind that someone can be so obsessed with losing a ROLE PLAYER, when its clear as day that we needed more from that position. Weather we get that increased production from this current crop of guys is yet to be seen, but we know we werent getting there with Patterson. Its just some posters refuse to let it go.
In regards to T-Rob, I have no idea how this guy scored so much in college the guy looks like he has absolutely no touch around the rim. I think T-Rob will be lucky to be a backup PF who provides defensive energy off the bench. Patterson could be starting PF on a bad team or a decent PF on a good team. I think it's pretty clear though that Patterson is the more skilled player although T-Rob has the potential to be a defensive specialist. Rockets clearly lost the trade, but it's not going to set the franchise back or anything.
Trades are not judged in a couple months, especially when you are talking about rookies. It takes a couple years to look back and see the outcome of the trade. But i dont expect kneejerk posters to understand this. They think if a rookie isnt a finished product in his rookie year then he is a bust.
What stats are you looking at? He has played a total of just 17 games for the Rockets and his season average in most places I've seen is 5 to 6 points. He has been on a tear recently, since coming back from injury and the Vipers, but that hardly makes him better then a rotation player that we used for 2 (or just about 2.5) seasons and a one time starter, who before being traded this season was averaging 11 to 12 points and had similar numbers to Jones in his first and second seasons coming off the bench that Jones is doing now. And I reiterate, I am a guy that was never much of Patterson fan due to the way he played (very good perimeter defender, decent shooter but weak in the post compared to other bigs and never developed solid ways to score there) and thought that he didn't have much of a upside. That being said, calling Jones better then Patterson at this point is ridiculous, could he be one day, absolutely but a few good performances in one quarter of a season doesn't equal whole seasons of work or production.
I honestly don't see how people say that he has NO skills when he obviously is natural defensive instincts, can handle the ball pretty well, and shows good vision when passing the ball and has made some good passes too. That's not exactly a player that's 'unskilled' and he's coming into the league with more skills than Patterson did. Patterson was just a hustle guy and didn't always have that shot...that was after 2 years that he developed that shot and that shot becomes something the team rely on. He didn't just burst into the league with that...and really that and average post defense is all he has. So it's not like he's this super skilled player. What it is though is that he's a vet now and he knows what he does well and sticks to it. Robinson is a guy that gets on the court and is all over the place...same can be said for D-mo too. These guys need to find a niche and grow from there.
Come on. 1) Who cares? Clearly it wasn't that important because we are in the running for the 6-8 seed. Diversified portfolio of skills is probably the last thing on our priority list. 2) You're right. He took a significant risk for an unlikely reward. Consciously. Again, so what? The make up of this team is such that just making or just missing the playoffs makes only 4-6 games of difference in playoff experience. Big whoops. This season would be a success even if we broke .500. The future is more important. 3) We can dump Robinson easily since it's early enough in his career. We got a great deal. As has been mentioned ad nauseum, everyone is well aware that Patterson is worth more than Robinson today. Neither of us know if that will be the case later on. The whole point is to make a trade that is imbalanced today, because it may balance in our favor in the future. Why on earth would the Kings give us Robinson if he was producing in his rookie season what Patterson is producing in his 3rd? 4) We both know he looked into it. I'm not sure it will pan out. You don't think it will pan out. Morey thinks it will pan out. All based on the same facts. No one is saying not to talk about it. Just saying it's a reasonable deal. The way you've been carrying on this discussion, you make it seem like we dealt Lebron James for Josh Smith. We have seen Patterson for 3 years. We made a guess as to his ceiling. The world has seen Robinson for half a season. We took a chance that it was a fluke. If we're wrong, we lost Patterson. WHATEVER. It's worth it. That's the bottom line - the worst case scenario of the trade is absolutely irrevocably worth it particularly now that we have clinched playoffs. That's even if Patterson hits 12ppg and 5 rebounds per game for the first time in his career, and we end up having to cut Robinson. It would still have been a good bet for the GM of a team where stars do not want to sign.
It was a good deal. It seems to have worked out relatively well. It's almost a no-brainer IMHO. Which GM would not have made that deal? I'd like us to convert it to a top 10 pick and pickup that sg from Indiana or that center from Maryland.
