Don't really recall it, but seems like Malone played 4 of 5 games in the finals that year. But that's not really what I was talking about; injuries happen all the time. No one calls Jordan lucky for Magic and almost all the Lakers getting hurt in the '91 Finals. I was referring to Dumars never being gifted a legendary player, which is usually required for winning a championship.
He tried and played injured in those 4 games but his knee was done. He was instrumental to their team offense (ball movement and hitting the outside shot to spread the floor) as well as post defense. IMO, The Pistons would not have won that championship had Malone not been injured. But hey, I am not complaining! Couldnt have happened to a nicer ex-Jazz.
I'm really curious what Morey's offer was. If it was $12.5M/year and a good gesture that his talent is badly needed here, he might have signed with us. He must have been low-balled in the ~$10M range, or just hate the role of a glorified garbage player.
They should've gone with Burke instead of KCP. Him and Knight would be a better combo to pair with that frontline.
I always thought Smith was in it for the payday and not winning. Don't get this from the Pistons POV, unless they plan on playing Smith at the 3.
I kind of wanted him too, but not at $14 million per year. Paying him that much (with Harden and Howard) would prevent us from bringing in other pieces.
payed too much for him. glad we passed. for the right price he would've been great. also, if he wasn't willing to take a little less to play for a contender, we don't want him.
I say we sit tight. Ok, Omer's unhappy (according to ESPN anyway), but let's take Howard, Dmot, Jones, Asik, and Greg Smith into training camp and see if McHale can patch together a rotation that works. We can always trade Asik and company at the deadline, if he decides he wants to leave. I personally don't think sitting behind Dwight Howard will reduce his value much - there's no shame in getting beat out of your spot by the best player at that position in the league. $56 million over 4 years for Smith ? That's bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
I think i'd rather have 2 stars and a boatload of depth behind them than 3 stars and a bench full of scrubs. The Heat just won their 2nd title, granted, but we all saw how badly they struggled when Wade was injured. With Howard's proclivity for injury, Harden's insane MPG, and Houston's terrible luck in general i'd really prefer to find a way to massage Asik's ego into giving this lineup a shot.
The reports that Asik wanted out and wouldn't play with Howard were false fortunately. They reported that before it was even official that we were getting Dwight. Asik's going to give it his all no matter what, that's what I love about him. I don't think we need to be worrying about his ego.
The problem with Morey being unable to dump Lin's salary to sign Smith or for future picks/rookie contracts is that he will rightly continue to go after a third star player. Parsons has now become the Rockets no.1 tradeable asset. Not including Parsons will be a nonstarter for all the teams with unhappy star players on the block. If Aldridge or Love want out they have to be dealt during the 2014-15 season at the latest or their teams lose them in free agency for nothing. Asik could also be an useful extend & trade asset to package that year.
Exactly. Can't believe people thought that was true and were ready to send Asik packing - not classy. It's worth seeing how they play together for half a year and if DMo and TJ can step up to man the four. If they can, man this team is gonna be stacked and will just need some more help on the perimeter, want to avoid running Harden into the ground. If the youngsters don't work out that well, evaluate true upgrades at the PF at deadline, which Smith at @14mil is not. The best part is that we are keeping the chemistry of the core group in tact and I'm freaking excited to see both the individual improvements and what they can do as a team.
