If there are no other takers for IT now... Then when Harden & Dwight become frustrated at IT for his iso play in the 4Q. What is it going to cost the Rockets when Morey has to trade IT away?
People who post IT's stats over and over seem to be missing the fact that NBA teams don't want him. I'm all for stats and efficiency and skills, all of which IT has in spades. Yet no one wants him that much. Why? He was uber-efficient in Sacramento, but never got off the bench despite playing behind Vazquez, who was and isn't good. He was let go in RFA by the Kings for nothing. Not even a feeble attempt to retain him. He signed for just slightly more than PGs such as perennial backup Collison and nearly out of the league Livingston. Basically he got Jodie Meeks money. Phoenix signed him simply because they thought he was good value. Not because he'd help them win or make them better, but because he's good value. Phoenix has not shown overall team record improvement. Actually got worse given that Bledsoe's fully healthy this year. He's now being traded not because his value is high, but because another player is pissed off. Finally, teams aren't lining up to ask for his services despite having a relatively small contract. I think at some point, people need to look past his stats. I don't know why he's being thought so little of. His efficiency's great. He can score in volume. His defense isn't "that bad." Yet teams aren't really interested in him. Clearly there's more behind the scenes.
From what I've seen, he's pretty polarizing with his teammates, and he definitely pounds the ball into the ground when he has the rock. I'm a little nervous if he was added to our starting lineup, but if he's willing to play a little off the ball he would do damage with the all attention needed for Harden.
All of you nailed it. The only way we trade for IT is to flip him and there's probably nobody to flip him to. He's not a trade target.
The more I think about it, the more I think Thomas is the one Morey's after. It seems like a total Morey move. He's an under-valued, under-paid (though also under-sized), guy who is signed to a front-loaded contract for what is most-likely his prime. I'd love to have him for 6.5M per.
I doubt this. In general while Morey zigs when the rest of the league zags, in this case I don't see IT's value to Morey. He takes a lot of long 2s and gets most of his points in the one on one game. Harden is going to have the ball in his hands most of the time so IT needs to be able to score in different ways than just take your man of the dribble at the top of the arc. Plus we need someone to alleviate the playmaking burden of Harden and while IT gets buckets, I don't think he necessarily makes anyone else on the court better and if you haven't noticed - the specialists on our roster need someone to set them up(Ariza's corner 3, Dwight on the Lob dunk, etc). I think we would see Morey overpay for Goran over getting IT in a deal.
Three reasons IT keeps being moved: size, size, and size. Small guards are not liked (long term) no matter what they give you. Look at how much Aaron Brooks and Nate Robinson have moved and they are quality PGs.
