Will KJ McDaniels ever crack the rotation here in Houston?

The free Terrence Williams threads didn't end until he flamed out of the NBA at the ripe old age of 25. It was always a coaches fault for not giving him a chance. Five of them, in fact, across four teams. KJ's situation is exactly the same. It's apparently D'antoni's fault that KJ is playing terribly in garbage time because a player can never be blamed for not developing.

 

Every player on the the team is capable of more consistency with more minutes. I do not hate Brewer, but he is the weakest contributor in the current rotation and thus will draw scrutiny as a result.

 

I WAS WAITING FOR IT!! Thank you!! Man, does everyone have short term memory? KJ was ballin at the beginning of the year. Why happened? He was benched unfairly. We don't need this dude to score. He is an above average athlete who plays great disruptive defence, is a nightmare on the break and cuts hard. What more do u want, scoring? How does Brewer fill that need? It has been something I cannot figure out because KJ can play basketball when he's given the opportunity and not yanked for every mistake. He feeds off confidence (like most of us) and he plays like a chicken with his head cut off during garbage time, trying to do too much. It must be a behind the scenes issue.
This dude is a highlight reel and can instantly change the dynamic of a game with a crazy dunk or insane block. He's rotting on the bench and has a hell of a lot more patience than me. Play him or trade him. Hopefully the former.

 

Fair point, but I think Brewer plays a decent amount of his minutes with Harden, too (especially recently with the Gordon and Capela injuries). I'm not sure I've seen much evidence that he plays those minutes much better than KJ would.

 

The Rockets, according to league sources, were among the teams that looked into acquiring Mike Dunleavy last week when Atlanta was initially searching for a third team to get involved in the Kyle Korver trade with Cleveland.

Sources say Houston is not currently itching to make a move -- why would you want to change much at 31-10? -- but these are still the uber-aggressive Rockets. So count on them to stay on the lookout for an extra shooter or one more big man as the Feb. 23 trade deadline draws near.

Sources say, furthermore, that swingman K.J. McDaniels has emerged as the most likely Rocket to move this trade season ... more likely now than Corey Brewer. Our own Zach Lowe reported recently that the Rockets were gauging Brewer's trade value, but Brewer has since moved back ahead of McDaniels in Mike D'Antoni's rotation.​

http://www.espn.com/blog/marc-stein/post/_/id/4886/marc-steins-picks-for-nba-all-star-starters

 

I remember D'antoni saying KJ needed to be an energy guy to crack the rotation during preseason. When Trez comes into the game you can see his energy impacting the game right away. The guy was getting some burn even before Capela went down. D'antoni was putting him in whenever he felt the team needed a jolt of energy. In other words D'antoni wants to see the guys that are not on the same level of talent to play harder to compesate for their lesser talent and hopefully inspire their more talented teammates to get it together and perform. Trez clearly filled the role of energy guy that MDA was looking for. I think MDA has a good handle on who likes to play with whom and it's obvious guys like playing with Trez and his hustle rubs on players. KJ simply doesn't have that same effect on the team. Not that he is a bad player but he clearly is not the energy guy MDA wanted him to be.

Guys simply don't respond to him the way they respond to true energy guys like Bev,Trez, or Brewer. Let's face it, even when Brewer is not playing well the other guys playing with him perform really well when he is on the floor. D'antoni looks at a unit as a whole and that 2nd unit has been playing great so there's no logical reason to take out Brewer for KJ. Finally, I remember MDA talking about Bev and how he has energy even when they are watching film (asking good questions for example) unlike other players who are simply just there and not 100% focused. That was clearly a shot at someone and he was most likely refering to KJ considering his demeanor during games. You can often see Bobby Brown, Kyle, and Ennis having fun and cheering and he is just there clapping on his own lol I think that **** doesn't go unnoticed by coaching staff.

 

Do you honestly think you actually know more than MDA? Do you really think you have an insight into him as a player when you don't see what goes on in practice? If MDA doesn't play him, he has very good reasons. It's just not just MDA either; none of our other coaches played him over Brewer either.

 

Absolutely. Hold my beer...

 

If tony Allen can start then I don't see why McDaniels can't get any playing time.

 

He will be traded.

 

He looked better than Brewer in garbage time tonight

 

Yes he needs to put together about 10 of these to get back in the conversation of whether he should get rotation minutes. He didn't play great or anything, but he was hustling, working hard, getting in a defensive stance, and not looking to shoot every time he got it.

Also I don't know if anyone mentioned that Stein tweeted he's available for trade.

 

It's just such a shame. Guy has KLeonard potential, but has struggled to get regular minutes. At one of our few positions where we should really be seeking young talent to take on that role soon.

 

Like many others here, I'm starting to fear that it is an attitude/effort problem behind the scenes. Brewer has been basically useless on offense. KJ is a better finisher, defender, and even seems to have improved his spot up 3-point shooting to the point where teams can't sag off him like they do Brewer. Brewer might edge him in speed but KJ makes up for that in general athleticism. I mean hell, I thought KJ looked great, all things considered, in the beginning of the season. Then he was mysteriously benched. What gives?

 

Not serious right? Takes more than athleticism to become Kawhi, KJ needs to put more effort into perfecting his craft and improving his BBIQ. Ball handling, keep head up on dribbles, look to pass, consistecy in D and a damn jumper would be good starts.

 

If he can shoot each minutes for one point like Micheal Beasley, otherwise he will not appear in the rotation

 

Really pissed brewer gets time over this guy.

 

Did you just seriously compare KJ to arguable one of the best defenders in the league at SG...?

 

Aside from his poor shooting, KJ seems lost on defense a lot of times, despite his flashes of excellence.

 

Tony Allen is an elite defender, 1st team all-defense in the NBA. KJ McDaniels has been surpassed by last years rookies on the depth chart. KJ arguably has the lowest basketball-IQ and worst handles on the team. Can you see why now?