Rockets are trading Michael Carter-Williams today (UPDATE: Dealt to Chicago)

You, too, can get rid of Michael Carter-Willams!

Only 5 easy payments of 73 grand (and a final small payment in the vicinity of $700K).

Act now! Operators are standing by!

 

You know what? That's who we need to bring back! Bobby Brown!

 

Well, I'm assuming training camp helped determine that, as it should. I think this has been discussed many times, so it's likely that you are strongly of the opinion that Melo should have been named the starter and will not budge from that. I don't know if there are any contending level teams that would start Melo at SF (or PF), so even he isn't really a starter anymore either.

The general argument and what the coaching staff likely summarized is that Melo in the starting lineup is a catch and shoot guy waiting for Paul and Harden to do their thing. In the role, you also want some hustle and defense to balance your starting lineup offensively and defensively. A guy like Ennis can't score like Melo, but can and I'm assuming was doing catch and shoot just as well or better. Then also had the hustle and being better defensively even if he is flawed. So if the starter is going to be relagated to a catch and shoot, cut, run the floor role unless it was someone who you believe could be efficient enough in a bigger usage role to warrant taking the ball out of Harden and Paul's hands; and most people didn't seem to believe Melo was that guy at this age. If that's the case, then there's a lot of logic in the roster decision.

Now if you want to argue that Melo should have been used in a larger role, AND start, I guess the easy counter is why do that when you can just bring him off the bench where he'll naturally have more opportunities for more touches and ideally balances your lineups better.

I guess the end problem is that Melo starting probably doesn't change the final outcome of his time as a Rocket, and until House emerged, Ennis would still have been the starter without Melo.

 

and just like that my guess is ennis would take the role of being a scapegoat

 

Umm...Those guys you mentioned are not being propped up because of their size. They can Rebound, Block shots, Play Defense, and be a difference maker to teams. Even if they can't shoot, they have plenty of other skills to make up for it. So they get a pass. MCW on the other hand....

 

Consecutive games against the NBA’s first-place teams loomed. A months-long turnaround was in full swing. The Rockets, riding the league’s best record since Dec. 11, looked more together than they had at any previous point in the season.

Then Michael Carter-Williams received a phone call in the locker room while the team prepared for practice.

The Rockets informed him that he had been traded to the Bulls - an unabashed salary dump to reduce Houston’s projected luxury tax.

It is not uncommon for a player to get this kind of news in front of his teammates. That did not make it any less awkward for Carter-Williams and the group, which was sad though not surprised to see him basically get cut from the roster.

“It’s embarrassing,” Austin Rivers said. “He had to go around saying, ‘Bye,’ to everybody.”

“I always liked him as a player,” Brandon Knight said, “and even more as a person.”

Despite fading from a hopefully versatile backup point guard to a ghost on the bench, Carter-Williams had buried his complaints in favor of cracking up teammates with comic relief.


“He was the funniest teammate I've ever had in my life,” Rivers said. “He just had a daughter. He’s got a wife. He’s trying to do well for his family. It’s not fun to see someone go through that, let alone someone you like a lot as a friend.”

The sight also stung Rivers and Knight because the three point guards have traveled a similar rocky path in the NBA. They were born within 10 months of each other. They shared circles and peers in the AAU circuit. They were lottery pick selections in their drafts.

They occupied the up-and-coming class of point guards in 2013-2014. Rivers played understudy to Jrue Holiday with the Pelicans. Knight steered the Milwaukee Bucks. The 6-foot-6-inch Carter-Williams was named Rookie of the Year, the only bright spot on the 76ers.

That the talented troika could wind up on the same team seemed unimaginable at the time.


Rivers raised his eyebrows and said: “I would have been like, ‘We've got a lot of weapons.’”

Instead, they backfired over the next six seasons. Knight wasted his best efforts on a tanking Suns team that benched him for its final 23 games. Then Knight tore the ACL in his left knee and went almost two years before easing back on to the court. The Clippers tried raising Rivers, but playing for his father, coach Doc Rivers, caused more drama than comfort.

Carter-Williams developed the reputation of a rookie sensation turned roster dead weight. Teams envisioned reapplying or reinventing him until they grew tired of waiting for him to rejuvenate.

“Your career, or where you end up, a lot of times we don't dictate those things, right?” Knight said. “Things can change very quickly. We've all been on different teams, different situations, and we just happened to land here.”


The guards would get traded three times apiece — Carter-Williams and Knight were shuffled in the same three-time deal Feb. 19, 2015 — appear on 14 teams combined and briefly play on the Rockets together.

“A lot has changed,” Rivers said. “For better or for worse, I guess.”

Carter-Williams signed with Houston, his fourth team in as many seasons, for the veteran’s minimum in July. In December, he totaled 19 minutes and 12 DNPs.

The Rockets plucked Rivers off waivers on Christmas Eve.


“A big thing about this league is the situation you’re in,” Carter-Williams said on Dec. 27. “Sometimes it is an opportunity that you need to get. Some guys get that opportunity. Some guys don’t.”

He and Rivers had played on the same AAU team. He rekindled their friendship quickly, even when he realized that his chances were over when Rivers arrived.

“He told me when I came here,” Rivers said after the trade, hanging his head.

After getting bounced from the Wizards to the Suns to the waiver wire, Rivers became a crunch-time hybrid guard for Houston in less than two weeks. He averaged 41 minutes, 14 points and 41 percent on 3-point shooting in his last five games.


He attempted 7.4 3-pointers per game in that span. Carter-Williams never tried more than six in any game the last four seasons.

“Michael wasn't really a shooting guard, and now the league wants shooting guards,” Rivers added. “Fortunately, I fit into the evolution of the game. Everything I do well is what we're doing, but that's just by chance.”

Knight went 666 days between NBA games. He still is mending his knee. He has been hesitant in 11 games.

Knight had starred for Kentucky in the Final Four at Reliant Stadium in 2011. He averaged 18 points on 42 percent shooting for his last three full seasons in the NBA.


But he does not like to relive his past or fantasize about making the playoffs for the first time in his career.

“For me, not playing in two years, it’s about, ‘All right, how can I get back to full strength?’” Knight said. “You miss being the guy. (But) like I said, you have to adapt to your situation. Right now, I live in the moment.”

Knight will make $14.6 million this season, making him ideal for balancing out salaries in trades that general manager Daryl Morey might make. The usually loquacious executive did not want to elaborate on how it is that three lottery point guards wound up as ancillary additions, with one of them being worth more to cut than to keep.

The Rockets included cash in the deal with the Bulls, meaning they paid for a team to take Carter-Williams. Chicago immediately waived the six-year guard.


Prior to the trade, he had insisted that he refined his shot enough to stay in the NBA. He had made 25 percent of his 3s before arriving in Houston and raised that to a career-high 37 percent. He shot sparingly, but he made them count: he swished the Rockets’ record-setting 26th 3-pointer in a game on Dec. 20.

“You don't go from being Rookie of the Year to not being a good player,” Knight said.

The award has buoyed and burdened Carter-Williams. His rookie averages — 16.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.9 steals — set a standard that he has not met since.

“That's the hardest thing for him,” Rivers said, “because everybody's like, ‘Weren't you the Rookie of the Year?’”

Unlike Knight, Carter-Williams lets memories trickle in about the 76ers team that wanted the ball in his hands in ways that the Rockets did not.

“Of course,” Carter-Williams said. “I loved the freedom that I had. I got to play 30-plus minutes every night.

“But I'm at the point where it’s not like I miss it. I want to be the best player I can be. I'm better than what I was when I was a rookie. I'm happy with that. I've grown. I've matured. My all around game is better.”

He could not prove that in Houston. Staring across the room at a vacated locker, third-string center Marquese Chriss recalled Carter-Williams saying his goodbyes.

“It all happened real fast,” Chriss said. “It did impact me hard. I felt like I lost a friend. He became like a brother to me.”

Chriss was a 2016 lottery pick. He came with Knight in a trade from Phoenix to Houston. He is 21, in his third season, and has gotten into just 10 games.

He learned from Carter-Williams.

“It’s a reality check that it can be taken away any day,” Chriss said. “Just be gracious and grateful.”

Some guys get the opportunity they need. Some don’t. Carter-Williams, a free agent, is waiting for a phone call.

 

Did you guys know that Rivers and MCW played on the same AAU team?

 

Morey didn't get into midseason shape until mid season.

 

Was that the same AAU team as Howard and Smith?

 

CP3 & Capela are failures?

 

sold his knee to the devil yes he did

 

I suppose they are re-signings, if we want to get technical.

 

Oh really? Being 7’ doesn’t make you a better nba player? Got it.

 

My brain hurts at the thought of Stonehands Asik trying to catch the lobs that Clint handles so easily.

 

@Williamson, you holding up OK?

 

Thanks for checking in on me. It's hard. Not going to lie; I may have went on a slight heroin binge. But I'm making it. Getting by. One day at a time.

 

Nice, a two-for one with Thabeet and Asik.

 

Yeah 3 elite basketballs talents in one picture is hard to get like that, they must’ve had cameras or something.