Just an aside, my guess is that the Rockets original plan was to fit both KJ McDaniels and Montrezl Harrell under the taxpayer MLE.....this was before the Lawson trade became serious. KJ was clearly holding out for the ultimate offer that he got from the Rockets. If the Rockets would've traded for Lawson BEFORE they came to an agreement with KJ, then every other team would've noticed how close we were to the apron and could've stolen him away with a full MLE offer. The Rockets wanted none of this, so they called KJ's agent and asked him what it would take to get him to agree right then and there. Before the Lawson trade, KJ had no leverage. We were possibly offering $2-2.5, which would give us just enough room to sign Montrezl to a deal starting between $900k and $1.4 million....an appropriate range for him. The Rockets decided to finalize things with McDaniels and figure out Montrezl's situation later. Regardless, I don't think its a coincidence that the McDaniel's signing was on the same day as the Lawson trade.
I know everyone is sick of the TJones vs DMo debate, but let me add my own thoughts to it. I am an unabashed DMo supporter, and while I think TJones could have Millsap like potential, we might still be 3 years away from that. Perhaps one of the primary reasons I prefer DMo is that there weren't many times last year when I thought "this other guy is on the floor....DMo absolutely can't match up with him". I trusted DMo to hold his own against Nowitzki, Randolph and others. DMo might not have a good shooting night, but you could stick him in the post and rely on his disciplined defense. There are times, for whatever reason, that TJones has shown to be unplayable. His highs can be very high, but his lows very low. I feel like there were signs of him breaking out at the beginning of last season, but then the injury happened and his season was thrown out of whack. I'm a proponent of keeping TJones at least through the beginning of December and seeing if he shows us some of what we saw at the beginning of last year and immediately coming back from the nerve issue.
It's possible, though keep in mind that the Lawson trade added approximately $10M in salary; the Rockets could have easily planned to use the non-taxpayer MLE to sign McDaniels and Harrell, as well as Josh Smith at $2.5M, and been far enough under the hard cap as to make it a non-issue. Definitely agree that the Lawson deal accelerated negotiations for K.J., but still can't imagine that he'd even think about signing for $2-2.5M.
If signing KJ is the reason we can't sign Montrez then I'll be angry. There is no need for KJ on this team, playing behind Brewer & Thornton. We need Montrez's energy when Jones looks lost or Dmo can't grab a rebound
To me some people just look like they can ball. Doesn't matter if it's a pick up game at the park, college, or the nba, some people can just naturally play. To me Harrell is that type of player. For example I don't see Dekker making it in the league, maybe a bench player but not a well known one. I know SL means nothing but from his college and SL highlights he just looks in tuned with the game and doesn't really have to think about every move. He seems to not be scared to throw his body around, and we need that energy and rebounding. He looks like a young guy who could thrive with Ty and harden drawing defenses and lob it to him, especially with Dwight next to him. I'd prefer to trade/dump/let walk Dmo or jones for FA next summer
Lock up Montrezl It is most likely Terrence Jones is traded mid-season for future picks, and the Rockets won't reach its hard cap. Perhaps Hayes will be back at that point also, which is probably why the Rockets wanted to keep him on the coaching staff until the roster slot and cap space becomes available.
What is the status on Montrezl's signing now? The training camp is starting in couple of weeks? This is way too quite
You'll be mad if signing one green player who allegedly has great potential but has never shown anything in a real NBA game prevents us from signing another green player who allegedly has great potential but has never shown anything in a real NBA game? Both of these guys are going to the Valley anyway!
I won't be mad at all. Harrell will contribute immediately as a high energy guy off the bench. Those types of players don't take long to develop. His main priority is to be in the right spots on the court, and Lawson will find him every time. Both our PF's are soft & not physical. Harrell will fit perfectly
Have you ever seen a chicken that's still alive? It's amazing. You don't even have to refrigerate them.
I would have thought after the Hayes thing that Harrell would sign quickly. Apparently not. Does this mean a trade is being negotiated? Or is someone on vacation?
What the hell is the holdup?! <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Very different situation. Nothing ready on that, yet. Wouldn't be surprised if takes until close to camp. <a href="https://t.co/R9SCQAcVVv">https://t.co/R9SCQAcVVv</a></p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/639471749243924480">September 3, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
