And Morey has also said he will go after a star player on the free agent market or trade and he won't be picky about the position BUT he always finish that off with "or they hope to develop one". Parsons put on an all star caliber performance during the playoffs. He looks like he's going to be a 20 ppg player. Parsons could be that star. And you can't depend on Howard in tight games on the offensive end. I wouldn't give him a max contract just for that because that's what we need... May as well keep Asik...
I'm having difficulty understanding what the points of argument are here. I'll categorize them and people who have issue with signing Howard can tell me which is their issue: 1) Is Asik as good or a better player than Howard? - I think this isn't even really debatable but it sounds like some in this thread actually think Asik is currently as good as Howard. It's beyond me how some of you might actually think you can even compare the two. 2) Will Asik be as good of a player or better than Howard? - I guess the real question is will Asik be as good or better during the prime Harden years. Obviously this is a projection of what Asik can be based on his current performance, work ethic, and physical attributes. Physically Asik obviously isn't the kind of specimen that D12 is, but I think you can make a strong argument for his work ethic being his best asset in projecting future performance. This is highly debatable though as there's no certainty of what Asik ceiling is. 3) Who is better value for their contract? - I think this is where most of the debate centers on. Asik's contract is 8.4/mil for two more years. A potential signing of D12 would be 20mil with incremental increases for 4 years. If you want to make a better apples to apples comparison, what is Asik's contract value for 2 years after his current contract is up. He's at a good value now, but I don't think that'll be the case after his current contract is up. Morey's already said the best values in the NBA are the rookie scale contracts and max contracts because they're both artificially capped, meaning the market can't determine their real value. Morey got Asik and Lin on those contracts because he was able to manipulate the market somewhat with the CBA restrictions. So while Asik's contract might be valuable right now, it won't be for much longer. Conversely true max player have better value because the max cap limit will always apply which is why if a team has an opportunity to sign or keep a max player you ALWAYS do it because you can never get equal or as good of value elsewhere. Even rookie scale players eventually realize their true market value. I know many of you are arguing Asik is the better value and I can see the merits of that argument. I just think D12 is better value as it's always harder to get a true max player who's the best at his position. If you have an opportunity to sign such a player, it's worth paying the extra salary. 4) What is a better way to utilize max player cap space? I'm not a fan of tying up cap space for non-max players. I think if you're going to use the cap space, use it on contracts that won't tie your hands in signing FA's in future off seasons. That said if you can't sign D12 or CP3 this summer, look to save that cap space for another max player (Love or LMA) in later seasons. But if you have an opportunity to sign a max player like D12 it makes too much sense to sign him given that max players don't just fall in your lap all the time and you don't have to trade any players to acquire him. If you have max cap space and an opportunity to sign a max player, you sign that player and work the rest out. Getting good players like Asik is hard, but getting the best players in the league is exponentially harder.
ALLELUJA! Yes, this is the most poignant part of your summary! I'm glad you pointed this out. This is what Morey has said in numerous interviews. This is why I don't think Morey will sign mid-level payers with potential like Millsap or Ryan Anderson. Lin and Asik were the exceptions in phase one of rebuilding in which he blew up the roster and signed players with potential, hoping they would out perform their contracts or blossom into stars. Now, we are in Phase two. We acquired one max contract star and are on the hunt for one or possibly two more. Morey will maintain max cap flexibility until we get those other max stars. The model here is 2 or 3 superstars surrounded by min. contract role players.
I would rather have Asik. Much better for the Rockets just from a personality standpoint. Obviously, talent wise, Asik is no Dwight Howard. However Asik is pretty solid and I'd take a solid season from him with his personality before I would take Howard's salary, personality, and great season. We can always get help from another position. Asik's earned his starting job with the Rockets in my book.
I never said they weren't. I was referring that the chances of him bolting and winning somewhere else was higher than what I highlighted.
Haha I feel like Asik is always doing his own thing... He will be a beast no matter what team he will be on next year.
http://www.foxsportsohio.com/story/NBA-notes-Hawks-expected-to-make-serious?blockID=899965&feedID=3725 Sam Amico story on Hawks making serious run at Dwight Howard in free agency
In it he says that the only real possibilities for Dwight are LA or ATL and that Houston is not viewed as a serious threat by any NBA GM. I have an extremely hard time buying that.
You should pay more attention to Morey's interviews because he always says either he will try to sign a star player or TRY TO DEVELOP one... Morey is in no rush to sign Howard or CP3... Some of you pipe dreamers are going to be disappointed.
If you don't, then you're a dumbass, the guy is the most influential player on the defensive end in the nba. But you don't want him because teams might intentionally foul him?
You're the one misunderstanding what he's saying, he's saying if he can't sign CP3 or Dwight, he's not going to sign anyone, none of this Millsap and co **** people spew, instead he'd be looking at a short term rental until the next FA (e.g. Pau Gasol).
Wait did you even watch the series? Or are you just listing a bunch of reasons? The guy was getting handled by Aron Baynes. Hence why he was getting frustrated and got ejected in game 4. Howard prior to that was getting destroyed by Tim Duncan. Dwight Howard after 8 years the league still hasn't significantly improved whereas Asik has already made monumental leaps in his game in only his first season starting.
So are you arguing that Asik is as good or better than Howard then? Or that for the money Asik is better value?
