yes basically he is our bench and one of our only low post threats. I haven't seen Juan play in the post, or at all for that matter, and besides Yao we have noone that has the ability to score in the low post. Man, if only Taylor grabbed more boards and "banged", he would be the answer. It doesn't hurt that his jumpshot is pretty reliable too. and for the last time he's not a blackhole; van gundy designed iso plays for him. he is pretty willing to give up the ball when we run sets for yao.
Even at this stage of his career, I really think Mo can improve his rebounding. By that I mean it's not too late for him. When you watch him play, you see that he has the ability; he can grab tough rebounds in traffic by throwing around his butt in the paint. He's just so bad at positioning that he doesn't box out properly and lets guys slip buy him and hit the offensive glass. Howard, by contract, is an excellent position/box-out rebounder who lacks the athleticism and bulk to really fight other guys in the paint for the ball. I'm really hoping Juwan will help Mo learn to position himself better and box out more consistently and effectively.
The point is moot anyway. No other team will take on Taylor's contract. A team could sign Marcus Fizer at half the price. Less.
Come on, do you even watch the games? Leaving Karl Malone open was part of our game plan. You can't lay that on MoT. If we weren't concentrating on Shaq, Malone wouldn't have gotten half the points that he did. Mo Taylor is a widebody with considerable talent on the offensive end. His only shortcomings are that he isn't a great rebounder and that he doesn't block shots.
That is exactly the problem. He seems to have the ability to rebound but he doesn't. No one here will argue that Mo Taylor isn't a good scorer, but if he isn't scoring, he's useless. That's the problem. And him being our best bench player isn't a good enough argument to defend his bloated contract, considering he's our highest paid bench player. He better at least be the best at that. Mo Taylor got that contract to be a starter and he couldn't even beat out Kelvin Cato. His contract is detriment and when they can move it off the books it will be a glorious day. If the Rockets get a somewhat dependable bench power foward who can grab a few rebounds and defend for 10 to 15 minutes a game they need to look to Mo as fast as they can. He's Juwan Howard lite, and that's nothing to uphold.
But see, there's a problem. Maurice is valuable to us because of his ability to score, but because of his contract, teams aren't willing to give up a lot for him. That was my original point; I think we're better off paying Mo and getting 12ppg out of him a night then shipping him off to a team for crap just to unload his contract. We'd effectively be cutting off the nose to spite the face; Maurice would probably help us more than the scrubs we would get back by trading him. Because we aren't really saving up for cap space, considering we probably won't have any in the near future, the only way Mo's big deal really hurts us is that is makes Les disinclined to spend big money on a FA. Looking at what happened with Moochie, Cato, and yes, Mo, that might be a good thing (to be honest though, it's hard for me to argue that after the Posey debacle).
i would trade mo only if it was for value, certainly not just a contract dump. it's not that bad of a deal considering this crazy offseason and he can be capable of carrying an offense when he's on. if he's in even better shape this year than i think it's fair to expect to see more consistency. if only he could rebound at all it would be amazing. he's got the size, he's got decent hops, he should be atleast a decent rebounder but he's just terrible.
Taylor and Howard at the 4 seems like a problem just waiting to happen. Considering that neither guy is a multi-position player, there’s just not enough minutes for the both of them. Howard is used to playing +35 minutes a game. Taylor is used to playing about 28 minutes a game. There’s only 48 minutes available.
Okay, I understand your point but if they can get a better fit at back-up, and trade MoTaylor for another wing player off the bench, I would be happy. You're right, we shouldn't take anything for him, but there are better fits we could probably get. I wouldn't trade him either till they filled his spot first. It would be like a Moochie Norris for Clarence Weatherspoon situation. Mark Jackson made Moochie expendable, and we got a player who filled a bigger hole even though he also had a bad contract.
I have one and only one issue with Mo T and it's not contract or rebounding related. Mo and Juwan have nearly identical skill sets. IMHO, Juwan is a better rebounder and much better interior passer. Otherwise, very similar. And I find it hard to believe that this fact has eluded the Rox personnel management.
Just for reference purposes, Mo Taylor was put on the expansion list. It's obvious that the Bobcats had no use for such a player. But it was possible for Taylor to be trade-bait to some other team. So it wasn't impossible for him to be taken in the draft. Therefore, the mere fact that the Rockets protected Mike Wilks instead of Taylor shows you just how much they needed him around. Taylor certain has his uses. But with the addition of Howard, he's very expandable on this Rockets team. Weatherspoon also has a good outside shot to complement Yao, as well as much more hustle and rebounding prowess. Taylor provided the 2nd post option last year, a position Howard will fill better next year. As a backup PF, I'm almost willing to believe that Weatherspoon is better, because we don't need another post player. And, of course, Taylor can't play center behind Yao. In my opinion, if Taylor magically disappears off this team, the Rockets won't be that affected by it.
I would argue that they left Taylor unprotected and protected Wilks because there was a chance that the Bobcats might take Wilks, and no chance they take Taylor and his salary.
MoT = approx 8.5 mil JJ = approx 2.5 mil JJ is a steal at 2.5 mil and a quality starter. He is the type of player we need to add this year. Everyone else on our team is cheaper than MoT except TMac. So, he is grossly overpaid to be an erratic offensive boost off the bench. There are a lot of players that could be an offensive boost off the bench at less than half his salary.
Doesn't that alone tell you how much Taylor's worth? The Rockets are more concerned with losing a 3rd-string PG than him.
No, I don't think they were concerned with losing Taylor at all because there was no chance they would - and with the Francis trade looming - Wilks was looking like our only backup at the PG position. Taylor is paid more than he's worth, and he has really one above average skill - scoring. But he's very good at scoring, and on a team with a big man who will command double teams - he's useful. We can't just give him away without destroying our already depleted bench, and we aren't going to get anything back that's even worthwhile in a trade because of his salary. So where is the benifit in getting rid of our only reliable scorer off the bench, and a guy who can start in case of injury to Howard - for nothing? I see no benifit to dumping Taylor. edit : However, I do see some benefit in learning how to spell. Argh.
I say we send Taylor East,where his value is highest.MoTay really seemed to be coming into his own before he injured his achilles against Philly.It's a shame.Now,I see him as a finesse player,at PF(redundant)where we need a banger or defensive minded player to compliment Howard.Our bench and defense will improve,not to mention,salary structure.Putting the right deal together could help the Rockets in many ways.
Yes he would be expe ndable on this team IF we get another scorer in return. If not, those 12-15 minutes when yao's on the bench and/or when T-Mac on the bench is going to be painful
Almost any player (or players) we could get would be just as good as MoT - there are a lot of one dimensional players in the NBA - either defensively/scoring/rebounding/etc. However, there are not many players without ANY skills -- so giving up MoT for another player does not hurt us. I would rather have a defensive presence inside anyway. So, just giving him away will net us something as good or better (I realize there are a few exceptions to this rule - but not many).
