It might have played out as Les wanted but it was very risky, because all indication was that the Knicks would match any offers for Lin. So I don't believe it had anything to do with the decision on Dragic. Dragic wanted too much and they passed because his contract would give them less flexibility in the future.
Yes was very risky because they could have ended up with 0 pgs and had to get some off the heap. But make no mistake, the Rockets had a choice and they chose to let Dragic walk and give more money to Lin.
yeah it was all to get Howard or go lottery... why is that so hard to understand? its not hard to see even Asik, and Lins contracts are expiring in 3 years... the only guy they signed long term is Harden... and we all know that wasnt planned out how he got here... Lin was a band aid on a bad situation...
Kindof like how OKC passed on Harden because they would have to pay luxuary taxes if they gave him a max contract. That's why I don't think Dragic was let go to get Lin, he was let go because he asked for too much. Nothing to do with Lin, they only went after Lin when there were no other options.
come on look at all the "new" contracts before Harden... what does it tell you... it says to me we tank or trade for a "REAL" star in 3 years time...
They had a choice, but their choice was based on having flexibility in the future, not a choice btw Lin and Dragic, which Dragic's contract would not give them. They wanted to bring back Dragic, but he wanted to much.
I just finished watching the entire PHX game right now, and I've always noticed this, but on the surface they have very similar games. Both are constantly penetrating remaining aggressive throughout the game. Both are crafty and have great agility bending and twisting their bodies in the lane. But there were clear differences, IMHO. Let me point out just two and to be fair I'll just pick out one advantage of each player that was interesting. 1. Goran is getting A LOT OF USAGE right now!! Every play is Goran trying to create and then passing it out to his big then getting it back right away and repeating the process. And he looked confident in it and fared well in penetration (so important) and scoring in this game and his shots look truer than Lin's does at this point in the season, if not thus far in their careers. Lin, in comparison, is getting significantly less usage than his Linsanity run here and has been deferring more than I would have expected. And in addition to him not closing the deal around the basket (though he gets there quite often), his shot has been off, and 5 for 12 yesterday is nothing to be proud about. 2. Where Lin separates himself from Goran, however, IMHO, is the fact that almost EVERY drive of Goran ended up with either him taking it or him kicking it out in midair for a jumpshot! I mean every one. Every. In contrast, Lin created multiple dunks and layups more consistently in his respective first game in the Rockets. And that was especially true last year where it was always a Chandler/Fields/ Melo dunk or a Novak 3. This difference passes the "gut check" for me, as I've always felt that Goran was a better shooter thus far, but created less value shots as a PG (meaning: at the rim), whereas Lin always "made" goals for his teammates and served it to them rather than just giving his teammates the "opportunity" to score. In other words, he seems to create higher percentage shots of mostly dunks and layups or 3s rather than just jump shots. Everyone should really check out the Dragic/Scola game as League pass is free for the next week or so (esp. the OP since he put the stats up, he should know the context).
In other words, PHX is using Goran like they did Nash, i.e., a total pg game at a high usage rate that helps build pg stats. That is not the game strategy for Houston. We've all seen how well Nash has been doing. In the new Princeton offense. That's why trying to compare player stats on different teams can be skewing.
Great observation. I believe that also and that's why I don't agree with the sentiment that Dragic is a better playmaker. Dragic is a better shooter than Lin right now, but what Lin does is create high percentage shots for his team mates and advance stats from last year shows this. I watch just a bit of the Suns-Warriors game and what I constantly just see Dragic doing is going to the basket and then throwing it back to a shooter for a mid range jumpshot, which is not a high percentage shot. I also thought he made a terrible decision at the end of the game passing to a team mate who was a few steps behind the 3 point line instead of going for the basket to score and get the tie, that would have been a higher percentage play than trying for a 3 point shot. Anyways Lin started playing off the ball more under Woodsen and was playing well, so I don't think that is a problem for him, which some seem to think is. That was one of the reasons why he said he was working on his spot up shooting in preparation to play under Woodsen.
<br> For some reason you keep arguing this same inane point repetitively. Dragic being let go had NOTHING to do with the whole Dwight Howard situation. Every single trade rumor that involved the Rockets getting Dwight had no mention of Dragic AT ALL. Dragic being let go had more to do with the Rockets' plan for the near future. Cap flexibility/tanking for lottery picks in the next 3 years time. That's why Asik and Lin were signed to 3 year deals. Also why Dragic's player option was the deal breaker. So, no, Dragic was not let go because "all we cared about was Howard." Like you said, the Lin signing was just a band aid on an off season gearing towards rebuilding. He provided marketability and a promising young point pg who showed quite a bit of potential in a three week span last year. Of course, all that changed when the Rockets acquired James Harden.
Sorry I don't agree with this. I think it should be a comparsion between all three of them, if people really want to continue to compare them. Both Lowry and Dragic were let go and Lin was brought in, although it wasn't like they chose Lin over the other two, things just worked out that Lowery and Dragic couldn't be kept for different reasons. Just because Lowry's trade led to getting Harden, doesn't mean that he wasn't let go to get a new PG.
The interesting thing is all 3 PGs play in sort of the similar system... PG usage heavy in a run-and-gun offense so we will see at the end of the year who's the best. My money's on Lowry.
They only went for Lin because it didn't work out btw the Rockets and Dragic and Lowry for different reasons. After that they had to find a PG and Lin was available, it could have been someone else altogether. I'm saying it wasn't like they were choosing which one out of all three of them, actually they probably chose Dragic over Lowry, however his contract was not something they wanted to go with.
Roster flexibility is king. That is why you give up Lowry for a more tradeable chip. That is why you let Dragic walk when he demands a player option. And that's how you're able to trade for a star when one becomes available :grin: The fact that we traded or let go of two great point guards isn't an indictment against Morey's ability to grade player performance. Quite the opposite. He's the one that traded for those players. Instead we should track the stats of: Lowry vs Rafer Dragic vs Brooks Lin vs whatever free agent PG that was obtainable that wouldn't hurt our roster flexibility going forward
