I clarified what I meant by a 40% 3-point shooter. Open looks given the time, which is what this offense generates for our power forwards. 40% from the corners and on 3-balls that are wide open with time to set their feet and square up...that's not asking the sky here.
I know you'll write this off but DMo was shooting 10 percent in january and is now shooting 28%. Since he has been a regular in the lineup he has averaged 38% from behind the arc. DMo is doing just fine and anything at 35% and above is great by Morey. Tjones is shooting similar numbers in that same stretch. They clearly are improving from behind the arc and expect both to be 35% or above 3 pt shooters next year. I know you don't but that's okay they can't hear you.
Yup it certainly looks so, I do have a gripe with consistency, but to ask that of 2nd year players would make me impractical.
Alright that's fair enough. D-Mo misses more jumpers and free throws than Jones, they're both left handed but somehow I feel more confident in D-Mo's shooting form than Jones's. D-Mo's stroke is a little off-kilter at times but stills seems more fluid mechanically sound than Jones's. D-Mo does seem to get some very open uncontested looks. He can be able to get consistently better percentage the more comfort he feels from the outside. Definitely better than the sub 20% he was doing. Really Jones needs the 3 ball more to complement his offensive game more than D-Mo. Jones from the college 3 distance or against lesser competition he can present a threat from outside, but the NBA 3 against better defenses Jones will have to just pick his spots very carefully, enough to open up his dribble drive.
No way he's a Rocket next season. I'm guessing they release him before the playoffs and sign Camby going in.
The backup center spot is spoken for by D-Mo. And there is real potential for something special there. Smith seems like a fifth wheel to me also.
I have found D-Mo's low post game to be intriguing since his Prokom days. Few if any players enter the NBA with that skill set. IMHO D-Mo could make a very good living in the NBA just on the low post. But somehow D-Mo has become a plus defender in his sophomore season. He may be rapidly heading towards a top 5 NBA center ranking. A quick history of D-Mo. The Rockets actually drafted Mirotic, who projected out as a better PF than D-Mo (or Jones for that matter). However the Rockets immediately traded Mirotic to Chicago for D-Mo. Mirotic was under contract to Real Madrid with a ~$3M buyout. D-Mo was stashed in Europe and played for Prokom (a second tier Euro League team) his first season. He was asked to work on his rebounding and was second in Euro League in rebounding. He was than brought over in the summer of 2012 to play with the Rockets. Before this season began, after a grueling summer in the Euro League, D-Mo tweeted that he weighed in at 264 pounds. OK. D-Mo entered his rookie season at 222 pounds. 42 pounds in a year. If I had not watched the Euor League last year I would have expected D-Mo to show up fat and slow. But actually he had grown into a size that cannot be pushed around in the paint. While retaining quickness and deft footwork. Except by Hibbert and a few others, but who isn't? At the beginning of the year D-Mo looked like a deer caught in the headlights on defense. Yeah, sorta like Jones does now. But sometime after the new year a light went on in D-Mo's head. Somehow D-Mo morphed into a plus defender. Admittedly he still has problems gauging the correct distance when defending on the perimeter. It is probably an artifact of the shorter 3 point line in Euro League. I have not doubt at this point that D-Mo will correct it. Mirotic? Still with that ~$3M buyout. And from what I heard contract negotiations with the Bulls at $8M per year. $32M for a player who has never played in a NBA game?
Me personally I think there is potential there for the Rockets to potentially just keep Smith for the remainder of the season because I think they want to keep him in their back pocket for next year potentially if they feel he is needed. If Asik is traded I would think they would want to make sure there is another backup center on the roster that comes to them at a decent bargain. You look at whats out there for the vet min, and its not too glorious. Also, maybe D-Mo has to be traded to facilitate a bigger deal, and again they want insurance for a 3rd string center. Who knows. But if you release him now just to bring in Camby who probably wont play anyways, he's going to have to sign a new contract with the Rockets to be brought back. If you keep him, you can give him his qualifying offer which I think is 1.2 million, and he'll probably accept that instead of signing another contract like the one he had previously. Of course another team can offer him more than his qualifying offer which is a possibility, but if thats the case I think you just let him walk than and look for a 3rd stringer elsewhere. Kaman, Okafor, Brand, Kenyon Martin will be options I guess.... Which is why I wouldn't rule out the Rockets keeping Smith in their plans.
I personally would not even entertain bringing in Camby. With Howard, Asik and D-Mo the Rockets have by far and away the best and deepest coverage at the center position in the NBA. Just my opinion.
I agree with everything you said about DMo, but I am curious as to where you got your Mirotic info. I've consistently heard that he can replace Boozer as the starting PF, without many hiccups. Even with that praise, no way is he getting $8mill per year without playing in the NBA, especially from a stingy team like Chicago. Just as a comparison, Paul Millsap is only getting $9.5mill but is miles ahead of Mirotic. Another factor as to why Mirotic hasn't come over yet is that he is looking for guaranteed playing time (ala us and Llul or Kostas Pap). With the rights to Mirotic set to expire, this summer makes it likely for the bulls to finally amnesty Boozer and bring him over.
The economics of the Mirotic situation are fascinating. There is that $3M buyout until the summer of 2017. Under the CBA Chicago can offset that by about $530K - $590K depending on the year. He is currently making $4.6M playing for Real Madrid. With some tax advantages. I estimated that the break even point for Mirotic signing in the NBA at around $6M. However I was told by a well informed person that negotiations were around the $8M mark. I do not know if that was true, but I am comfortable with the >$6M figure.
Good info. I agree that ~$6mill sounds more reasonable. Also, I see that he has a ~$1mill cap hold! It will be really interesting to see how this all plays out, especially with the Melo rumors
Yes. For rich clubs a gamble on Mirotic at >$6M makes sense. He will be a major chip on the trade market. How good will Mirotic be in the NBA? I have no idea. But he is perhaps near the best in Euro League.
Dmo and Tjones will get better and better for the next 5 years, assuming players don't peak until somewhere around 27. (not you Greg Odin, your body was 27 in high school)
The numbers I'm looking at are pretty much the same more or less. Long story short is that any player coming over from Europe that is both a star player, and not subject to the rookie scale is going to cost big bucks to get to come over to the NBA. *Take this into consideration to a lesser extent with Sergio Llull as well (even though I wouldn't call him a "star" necessarily but still a very good player). Although even at the time (and he's gotten much better) Mirotic was probably the more promising comparable prospect, D-Mo had a contract situation that was much better suited as a prospect that could give the NBA a shot before committing to the Euroleague long term. The Rockets made the right call going with D-Mo instead of Mirotic most likely long term, and definitely short term. Mirotic in the NBA looks to be a traditional stretch 4 in the mold of a Ryan Anderson/Channing Frye type. The versatility of his game might never translate to the NBA due to the style of play, and the role needed for his team. With D-Mo they got two full years with him under their wings before Mirotic would have ever stepped foot on an NBA floor, and he comes two more years guaranteed at the rookie scale. To put the finances into perspective, 4 years of D-Mo comes at 6.5 mil while 1 year of Mirotic (in his NBA rookie season) might come at the extent of 7 to 8 million dollars. D-Mo might not ever be the stretch 4 that Mirotic "could be", but D-Mo can be much, much more than just a spot up shooter. And at the same time, he's showing promise in 2014 for massive improvement from long range. If anyone is still doubting the draft day trade for D-Mo, despite what Mirotic becomes once (if he ever does) comes to the NBA, Morey made the right call to go with D-Mo.
How would yall compare Dmo's and Dwight's post moves? I just watched Dmo's 20 point game and he has that quick hook shot that he does so smoothly
-Dwight has a ton of power, good positioning, excellent passer, good timing, excellent length to get the shot off, quickness, and actually good footwork. The only thing Dwight is lacking is that touch around the rim, and knack for losing the ball when he's over-doing his moves in the post. Its similar to his free throws where he just doesn't have that touch some games and some games he does. -D-Mo has all the counter moves down, and has excellent quick moves with his feet, but often overlooks the basics that Dwight uses to be effective such as positioning, methodical footwork, patience in the post, and passing out of the post. D-Mo lacks the strength that Dwight has to force his position on his defender, and back his man down with power. D-Mo has to rely on his quickness and counter moves to get the shot off. Dwight doesn't need counter moves as much as people think. His basic drop step and hook shot, while rudimentary, are extremely effective when AGAIN he has the touch from around the rim. -If its a tight game, and you absolutely have to go to a post up to win the game, right now, you should go to Dwight because you at least know he's going to be able to get a shot off. In 2 years, maybe D-Mo is able to get positioning when a defense is locked down, but right now no. However in late games, there is a reason why the Rockets do not go to post ups, and go pick and roll. Its a much higher percentage play, much less turnover prone, and they are able to get back on defense quicker from a Harden P&R.
