Odd man out? Both DMo and TJones are the odd man out being, AT BEST, #9 and #10 in the rotation. But you're not DaDa. He believes we should keep all 3 guys.
Reg: To trade or not to trade D-Mo -Daywalker earlier pretty much stated that its Morey in charge here, and he's been the most active GM in the league the past 5 years. So a trade involving any player shouldn't be completely dismissed which I agree with. Look.... Being ABLE to trade any given player on your roster, and TRYING to trade every player on your roster are two totally different things. The front office has now shift into win now mode, and I agree that D-Mo & Jones aren't the answer for this team RIGHT NOW at the starting PF position. However, its not for reasons that one would think... but that's an argument for another day. So coming back to the trade talk.... if you did trade them, what are you getting back at that salary range??? If you trade D-Mo in a standalone package the most salary you can take back is 2.13 million dollars. Now you tell me.... what kind of player can you get at that range???.. Paul Millsap/LaMarcus Aldridge/Danny Granger????.... come on... please tell me??? The point is, if a low level draft pick is the best you can get in a D-Mo trade, then let me keep D-Mo as my 8-10th best player, and develop him further. Look at the Spurs with Splitter.... I'm sure there were lots of people in that fanbase that didn't see him as a fit next to Duncan, and wanted him gone. I actually had a very smart, hardcore Spurs fan I worked with telling me he would trade him to the Rockets for Jordan Hill because Hill had more offensive upside in order to play next to Duncan moving forward. Looking back... boy I wish the Spurs GM was as knee jerk as their fans were.... and that's a smart & knowledgeable fan. So again... being ABLE to make trades and making them for the sake of making them are completely different. In this situation right now this second.. in my opinion (disagree with me all you want), if you trade D-Mo or Jones, you are trading just to trade, and really aren't moving the needle in any direction.. if not backwards when D-Mo and Jones become contributors here possibly this season.
Completely agree, He needs to develop better balance and strength on the offensive end. Also he should learn to use his length to his advantage on the boards because there is no reason that at his size he shouldnt be an above average rebounder. Confidence iis the key though.
There was a lot of talk around here about trading Yao as he entered his second year in the league, for many of the same reasons that some people are currently down on Motiejunas. But by the end Yao's third year, those people became strangely silent and hard to locate all of the sudden. Basically, these young big men do not come fully assembled and ready for Hall-of-Fame induction straight out of the draft. They need several years to develop. Very often, the number of years is three, if they get a decent amount of playing time in those early years. The key is identifying those players who have the talent and the drive to be special and then giving them the support and opportunity they need to succeed. These sorts of players do not grow on trees and in fact are pretty rare. Fortunately, the Rockets have such a player on their roster right now. His name is Donatus Motiejunas.
Just so i'm on record. Trading D-Mo is a shorted sided decision that could turn into a huge mistake. I'm in favor of retaining him and continue to develop him. You always need young players that your grooming to take over for your older players down the line. Keep Asik this season in Houston and maybe D-Mo develops and makes Asik more expendable in the offseason. I like T-Jones also, but if i have to move either him or D-Mo....then I'm moving T-Jones.
Perhaps for now, but when they realize that Casspi isn't a PF I think they start giving those minutes to DMo and put Casspi back at SF where he belongs.
Absolutely. But the Rockets have so much talent they can afford to take their time and develop him without impacting the number of wins. It is a good position to be in. The Rockets at various times can play Casspi, Harden (ala Ibaka), Asik and Parsons at the power forward position. And then work D-Mo and Jones in during garbage time.
So you are saying the Rockets are going to send DMo back to RGV......? It does not make sense that DMo is going to "develop" by playing garbage time minutes against other team's garbage time players.
Just my impression but power forwards playing next to great rebounding centers like Howard and Asik seem to pull down a below average number of rebounds. In one recent preseason game Howard knocked Asik clean off the floor poaching his rebound.
We drafted a lot of PFs and signed a few.... And noticeable ones in last 5 to 10 years that came to my mind are two names Scola and Landry. One Spurs Draftee and the other a 2nd rounder Very sad though.
Keep DMo! He is a keeper! Talent, size, work ethic, intelligence/ability to improve, and no drugs/alcohol/crazy partying (as far as I know). That's 5 for 5 for a young player, and an obvious win in my book.
Spurs draft picks since 2005-18 picks - -Ian Mahinmi - NBA rotation player -Damir Markota - Out -Giorgos Printezis- Out -Marcus Williams- Out -Tiago Splitter - NBA rotation player -James Gist - Out -Goran Dragic - (Not taken for SA) -George Hill - Hit (turned into Leonard) -Nando De Colo - yet to be seen -Jack McClinton - Out -DeJuan Blair - NBA rotation player -Ryan Richards - Out -James Anderson - Soon to be Out -Adam Hanga - Out -Cory Joseph - Yet to be seen -Marcus Denmon - Out -Deshaun Thomas- yet to be seen -Livio Jean-Charles- yet to be seen Rockets draft picks since 2005-15 picks - -Luther Head - Out but was NBA rotation player -Steve Novak - NBA rotation player -Rudy Gay - (not taken for Houston) - turned into Battier -Brad Newley - Out -Aaron Brooks- NBA rotation player - Minor Hit -Maarty leunen - Out -Nicolas Batum - (not taken for Houston)- Turned into Greene then to Ron Artest -Patrick Patterson -NBA rotation player -Chandler Parsons - Hit -Mirotic to Motiejunas - yet to be seen -Morris - yet to be seen -T. Jones -yet to be seen -R. White -Out -Lamb - yet to be seen -Canaan - yet to be seen So in the past 8 years the Spurs have had one major hit (Hill for Leonard draft pick), fostered 3 NBA rotation players, have 4 "TBD", and have 8 picks out of the NBA The Rockets have also had one major hit (Parsons), have fostered 4 NBA rotation players, have 5 TBD's, and have had only 3 duds out of the NBA. While Morey has never been able to fully capitalize on a position of need (that really has only been a position of NEED since the beginning of last season), He's done about as well if not better than possibly the best or the 2nd best drafting team in the league in the Spurs. Also, I'm not even counting the trades that have brought in very productive players in Battier/Artest that probably should be taken into consideration.
Jones and Smith don't have unique skillsets. Jones has more skills but they are not unique. Both of them are athletic bigs, which the NBA has plenty. Smith can't shoot and has no post moves. He can defend a little but can't do it without fouling. His rebounding is average. Jones can shoot, but extremely inconsistent. He can block shots but does not understand real defense yet. His rebounding is also average. The only skill Jones has that can be called unique is that he has very good handle for a big man. If Jones can shoot the mid range and 3pt shot reliably, he'll have a rotation spot.
Two points I'd like to make: 1) I think he was somewhat cheated that he didn't end up on a real crappy team who put him on the court for 35minutes a game and let him develop. He needed to be thrown to the wolves. 2) His best skill is scoring from the post. That just doesn't mesh at all with this roster. He's not going to get post touches with Howard on the court. I think he could really thrive as an offensive player in the right situation. When he was drafted/acquired we all thought (or were led to believe) he was a stretch 4 - Its become obvious at least to me at this point he's not a stretch 4 but a more conventional post player. Our expectations were of a guy in the mold of Dirk .... what we got was a guy who reminds me of a young Pau Gasol. Im thinking he gets somewhere around 10-15 minutes a game between both C & PF and that most wont be satisfied with the results because he's not going to be utilized to his fullest potential on this team.
