To be honest, I did not know they had basketball leagues in Japan. I would have been more impressed with the kids resume had they said he was playing rec ball at Fonde!!
Trading for Biedrins sounds like a despair move to make the playoff for Les next year. Les could make more money by making the playoff, but for a long term, a chance for getting a NBA title is clearly not good without any superstar from a draft. Trading for a superstar looks like a dream too for Houston.
I have to give Morey cred. Biedrins is probably not worth any more than Hill and Thabeet. So at least Morey has a good grasp on the cost/benifit analysis regarding a Biedrins addition. At least our GM stays away from bad contracts (Brad Miller not withstanding).
Check Biedrins stats about a year and a half to two years ago. He was a double double guy. Recent injuries and lost of confidence has made him look not so good lately. Maybe Morey was thinking a new team and new environment could help him get back to being productive. He was a active 7 fter in the paint. Not a beast but a presence we could use. Oh well we will see if talks pick up again.
every year? he started trying to build role players around yao and tracy, they broke down, and for a cpl years he's been trying to upgrade assets trying to land a replacement for them.
Those that feel that Biedrins has a terrible contract at 9M per year for 3 more years, I would like to know what YOU believe is "NBA market value" for a 7'0" center that blocks shots and can be a double/double type guy.
Unfortunately, without knowing the precise impact of the new CBA on future salaries--including whether salaries under pre-existing contracts will be rolled back--it is fairly difficult to know what the "NBA market value" is for ANY player. Still, your point is well-taken that a legit 7-footer who can rebound and block shots will always draw a premium, regardless of the salary cap system. I just can't answer the question: "A premium on WHAT base value?"
I think when healthy, biendres is a good player and worth 9m whatever the cba looks like. My problem is the short term vs long term. Morey still thinks having tradeable players is the easiest way to get players, but I think having money and players is the best way. Biendres would help the rockets get into the playoffs when healthy. Personally, I would rather go and try to get kaman vs biendres si can keep my nose in the howard sweepstakes. I would offer that same package, plus chase for kaman. Then I would try to move scola to make way for patterson. If they can't do that, I would rather keep hill and thabeet and sign a guy like fasenko.
Random thought: I think some people here would have been happier had Rockets traded the 14th + the 23rd picks to Detroit for the 8th pick and selected Marcus Morris with the 8th pick, instead of what actually happened (getting Morris with the 13th pick and using the 23rd to trade for Motiejunas). Had the Rockets done that, these fans would have cheered the fact that Morey "closed the deal" on a move into the top 10 of the draft. Big win!
You might be right, probably because we hear every year how the Rox are in the mix to trade up and due to circumstances or better offers we are just shut out of it. DD
While I understand your point, people need to be VERY careful when tossing around a phrase like "whatever the CBA looks like" in connection with whether a highly-paid (but not superstar) player is making a salary commensurate with the then-current market and/or what otherwise fits within a particular team's cap structure. Obviously, leebigez knows that the new CBA will likely not lower the max salary to below $9M (making Biedrins a more expensive option than even Dwight Howard), but it's at least possible, since the new CBA does not yet exist. Again, I get the point about Biedrins being a player who might be worthy of a "premium" salary due to his unique skill set. Just try not to throw around that phrase so casually. It's a pretty big deal that may just negate or change anyone's opinion on any player's salary.
\ Mark Cuban never worries about that, he knows that in order to acquire players with big salaries you got to have some other big salaries to trade. DD
All I'm saying is, 9m takes the rockets out of the 2 big name sweeps and that's my biggest reason for not doing the deal, not the upcoming cba. If the rockets already had someone like paul or williams, then that's one thing. The rockets are biendres away from the playoffs, but superstars away from contending. When healthy, he can do what chandler can do and maybe that's what the rockets, or les is banking on. I wouldn't do anything that would take me out of howard and williams sweepstakes. Now if howard is traded to lakers, then I would move on, but until then, I would accumulate cap room to get 2 without killing my team.
You see, THAT's the problem. It's quite possible (legitimately so) that the new salary cap structure might preclude a Rockets team paying Kevin Martin, Luis Scola AND Andris Biedrins from adding even ONE superstar with a max free agent contract. WE JUST DON'T KNOW. As someone used to having (or at least being able to find) the answers to many cap questions, the next few months are going to be immensely frustrating for me. To NIKEstrad and aelliott as well, I suppose.
