On now, will try to recap... Recap (only caught a few questions): Spoiler Q: How do you balance roster? A: Yao and Tracy was the #1 factor before with fitting players. Now we are trying to find out our main way of getting back to being a contender. Just putting together good players now and having coaches work it out. Adding a degree of difficulty for coaches, Adelman and McHale. Q: Barring injury to PG, would Lin have gotten off the bench? A: Who's that, that dart(?) out of harvard? I think he has potential (sarcastically). I think if he gets a chance he might pan out. .... He wouldn't have played, might have taken an injury. We bring in a lot of good players that end up getting waived. Don't want to fill the bench with "no-hopers". Right now we need to fill bench with high potential guys. We had 3 PGs, 2 very good ones, 1 with potential and guaranteed money. Still liked Lin enough to bring him in. Amazing story. More fun to watch if our draft pick wasn't getting hurt. Q: Flynn, Thabeet, not playing or likely to play, bring up Greg Smith and he immediately goes into lineup? What's the big deal about letting them go if they aren't playing. A: Those players (salaries), they become important around trade deadline. I get the question, if we saw the height that Jeremy would play at that would be the right choice, but doing that (cutting Thabeet/Flynn salary) can hurt you later. Q: 6th best record, playoff chance. Talked with Les about renting a player? A: Sure, yeah. Everything is on the table. Big move is job one, but those are few and far between. Will look at situations to help team down the stretch. Best move might be to set ourselves up later for big move. All options on the table. We'll continue to choose optimal path based on opportunity that presents itself. It is often based on other teams goals in trades, not just ours.
Thanks DHR. Decent interview, but i really wish these guys would stop wasting airtime with Morey talking about Lin. Its done its over. Move on. Quick notes- -Morey did mention that guys like Thabeet, and Flynn are going to be very important at the trade deadline.... at least he's being honest about moving them. -Said that they understand that they are going to let good players walk, and there will be more coming in the future because they dont want the guy at the end of their bench to just be a "yes sir, no sir" type of guy. They want high potential.
Point of Emphasis: "....Big move is job one, but those are few and far between. Will look at situations to help team down the stretch. Best move might be to set ourselves up later for big move. "
As well he should. We don't have a single untouchable, star-level player on this roster, not even Lowry, though there is a small chance Lowry could make himself untouchable if he keeps improving his play a bit more. The Rockets need to be committed to improving in any way possible until we have player(s) we can build around.
If he is keeping the deadwood, then he better be able to move that wood at the deadline and not just let it burn up on the bench. DD
I think there are certain players who are assets, but not trade assets unless/until they make it clear they will not sign an extension just before hitting free agency. You just don't trade a player like LeBron or Dwight unless they refuse to play for your team anymore. It just isn't done. But as a general philosophy, I agree: Players are paid for what they bring to the team, not for their warm and fuzzy personalities.
If a dude is writing me a check for millions of dollars, I think I'd consider him an asset, even if he did tell me what to do.
We'd all be pissed if we were sitting here and Morey was saying, I think the team is good as assembled, there will be no changes. When we have a consistently good team the players can have job security.
The ONLY reasons you don't trade guys like Lebron and Dwight unless you have to is because you can't trade for a better player/players or because they have a no-trade clause.
There are no better small forwards than LeBron and there are no better centers than Dwight. That's why players who get to that level essentially stop being trade assets unless they demand to be traded/refuse to sign an extension.
Ah well, I rather him admit we're trying to get better at the trade deadline over floating around in mediocrity. If somehow he can convince the Lakers (broken down) front office that Scola and Dragic plus a pick consideration maybe some cash would be worth it for Pau then it would be a great deadline. Thabeet or Hill may need to be thrown in to make salaries match. Should be fun to watch.
If our worst case senario is letting Hill, T-Will, Thubust, and Flynn's contracts expire at the end of the season, netting us additional salary cap space, I don't think that's a bad thing. Batum, Dragic, and IIyasova are all worth locking up long-term with an aggressive offer.
Thank goodness for that. He is staying focused and on point. Remember, this league has less than 10 true superstars in it. So, it may take time for us to get ours, but he's still going for it. I like that ....... a lot.
