al ot of people got shit fkd up this week... yall got Morey fkd up..and OKC owner got Harden fkd up..

Holla at me Bin

Because they're undefeated too!...lol

In all seriousness, the team would've been terrible. Getting Harden was a great move for him AND helping Lin

I think OKC will be fine, good deal for both sides. I don't think Harden is the best guard in the league as some have said though...that's just silly talk

hes ok...but naw

SWAAAAAAANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope this is his real twitter

https://twitter.com/Lateral14Shaun


http://card.mygamercard.net/lastgame/rjcc.png

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

We should resign him and cut somebody even I it isn't douglas

I ain't mad

in that AMA, morey explained the philosophy pretty clearly: collect assets, find underused talent and maintain enough cap space to swing a deal for a star. they did that while remaining competitive, despite the loss of yao ming.

everyone criticized the lowry deal, then he turned around and used that lottery pick in a trade, just as he said he could. he's the only guy that saw the potential of poison-pill contracts, and his used it to pry two guys he wanted away from two hugely wealthy teams.

morey's not a genius, he just was one of the first guys to embrace the same metrics that every team now pays attention to. why that arouses anger is very similar to the tea party's hatred of nate silver and academia.

you idiots were lolzing the asik signing, the lin signing and the harden trade/signing. all you had to do was look at their numbers from last year to understand why morey made those deals. but you didn't even do that, you just ran your mouths.

>you idiots were lolzing the asik signing, the lin signing and
>the harden trade/signing. all you had to do was look at their
>numbers from last year to understand why morey made those
>deals. but you didn't even do that, you just ran your mouths.

Who was "lolzing" the Harden trade/signing? Everbody knew that was a huge come up for them.

I still don't think they're a playoff team but we'll see.

blueeclipse: "harden is hella overrated. I think this came down to OKC not wanting to MAX him out and I don't blame them." "thunder won the fuck out of this trade."

shawn: Harden is good but hes not that superstar I was hoping for. Folks laugh at Kevin Martin but hes a more efficient scorer than Harden.

SPM: Smart decision by the thunder and another dumb decision by Morey the Metrics Boy

melanism: "I'm glad Morey finally got to trade for somebody. He was just walking around with all these assets and nothing to show for it. Now he has Chicago's backup center, the Knicks' superstar PG for 25 games and OKC's 6th Man"

dula: i was scared they were gonna fall for the banana in the tailpipe and max that overrated dude. very nice return package.

PROMO: sam presti is a genius

ink_spot: wow, OKC got better

the_truth: i think OKC won

concrete chuck: Harden is the best player in the deal no doubt but he is no more a building block than Eric Gordon

lol binlahab lol: harden isnt a leader, he was the 3rd best option on a deep squad, who crashed & burned on the big stage. 60M & all that for him? not feeling it. morey has let his press go to his head & overbought. i dont believe this makes the team more competitive in the West.

I WONDER WHO SAID THIS PROPHECY BELOW???????

harden's the best offensive SG in the NBA after manu -- but far younger. houston got a potential superstar without giving up any part of their core.

the rockets will make the playoffs. they have the ability to become a tough team quickly.

But Kevin Martin IS a good fit in okc too. He may not be harden but he fits into their offense and fill that 3rd scorer role pretty well.

the issue is that there are only so many *great* players in the NBA. you don't ever trade one of them unless you get another one back. harden has that potential and martin doesn't.

at least what i said about eric gordon could be half substantiated statistically at that point (as a rookie he had a .600-ish TS%, similar minutes, etc).

ah well, we both took Ls on that one but there were even bigger ones.

And if you go back to the Harden max deal post from last year it gets even worse.

Its amazing how little some of these guys know about basic hoops stuff. How people were missing his talent is unreal to me.

IT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. The stats backed it up. The eye backed it up. The experts backed it up.

L-city.

listen if Harden returns the team to the promsied land, i'll be the 1st one tossing u them hosannas. if im wrong im wrong. but gatdamn son. you jinxing the shit out yourself right now...cool down the pace


do or die

im a fan.

my team which has a proud histroy has simply shit the bed for YEARS. we havent been honestly competitive for years.

& this is due to morey & his decisions. period.

he fired adelman. why?

lowry IS a dishing PG. why trade him?

ok, Lin is a marketing marvel. great. if that results in Ws im all for it.

i dont believe harden is gonna rack up 30+ ppg for a whole season. he's not WORTH 80M. thats Lebron money IMO. period.

who is our starting center? asik? ok. whose are PF? a rack of dudes who know they can be traded @ any minute

i mean...is he a moron. no. is he a savior? no. he's done a good job in some regards. he's fucked up in others.

only time'll tell & honestly im kinda confused about your dog in the fight. you a htown fan now?


do or die

> you a htown fan now?

Morey posted this on quora yesterday. Where he says Toronto I think he meant Detroit.
He was answering an old question asked last spring. Lmao at this dude Morey though. He's on such a high he trollin old posts in message boards.

During game 1 in Detroit he was beating his chest after a 4th qtr block by asik and wa heard yelling from his box seat "that's why we fuckin signed him"

------
Why is Jeremy Lin so turnover-prone and how can he fix this?

I would add a few points to the many good ones already made here:

-- many of Jeremy's turnovers are charges. These are the best turnovers to have as not only do charges mean that you are being aggressive as a player (when good things often happen) but also turnover charges are not "live ball" turnovers where teams get a higher expected value possession the other way. For example, in our opening Toronto game, Jeremy had no "bad pass" turnovers. They were all charges or off the dribble. Compare his lack of any bad pass turnovers to his 12 "high quality" passes in the game (passes he made that set up high percentage offense for others)
-- this leads into my next point that Jeremy's passes were the best in the league last year in the percentage that led to high quality offense. This is a fancy way of saying that when he makes a risky pass it is usually for a high reward so his bad pass turnovers, when he has them, are not as bad as for other guards as his avg possession efficiency remains higher
-- finally, most young guards who are going to be very good start as high turnover players in college and in their early seasons in the pros and get better throughout their career

we're here fruitlessly trying to teach truth and SPM what TS% means, and morey's posting about league-leading high-value pass percentages. ugh.

the really interesting metrics will all be about spacial and situational specifics. they'll body the whole "u dont watch the games tho" bullshit forever, since they're literally gleaned from recording every play of every game and tracking every single variable.

Statistical scouting and old school scouting?

I feel like in basketball even with the level of detailed statistics available...some things can't be captured.

but the point of non box-score metrics--like that high quality pass percentage he mentioned--is to quantity the kind of thing that a scout could see, without the problems that arise from anecdotal observation. they offer a set of numbers that can be used to validate or counter what people are seeing.

you couldn't learn what lin's "high value pass" percentage was unless you tracked every second of every game, so it's not like they're just plugging box scores into a texas instruments calculator.

if someone watches a game and believes dwyane wade is fantastic at closing out on shooters, spacial analytics could see if it was true by tracking his speed and seeing how opponents' FG% on jumpers changed when wade was in the vicinity. once you know those results, you could set up your defense with the knowledge that wade can take one more step into the paint and still have time to disrupt a specific players' shot -- but maybe not against a different opponent.

since they're literally
>gleaned from recording every play of every game and tracking
>every single variable.

jumpin jesus on a cross i cant imagine a less entertaining way to watch ANY sport much less hoop

im glad you a new convert to roc nation but sheesh

shawn you found somebody to geek out with dude...dont introduce this fool to clutchfans he might never make it back to OKP


do or die

I can’t remember another NBA moment where a team added three players whose contracts were so openly questioned. Jeremy Lin? A flash in the pan that reflected brighter under those New York lights. Omer Asik? You’re entrusting $25 million to a guy who can’t catch a basketball? Are you an idiot or just stupid? And James Harden, man, I don’t know about him. He just doesn’t strike ya as ya know, a number one guy. An Alpha Dog. The MAN. If he’s your No. 1, you’re never winning anything. You’re seriously going to max out a reserve?

In paying all three, Daryl Morey trusted something quite simple; He trusted what they did. Because, James Harden, Jeremy Lin, and Omer Asik were tangibly good when they played. These guys were doing decent work out in public. It was just a matter of someone trusting that public track record. We’re only three games in, but it would appear, at the very least, that Daryl Morey wasn’t a complete fool for going this route.

It would be ironic if stats-conscious Morey found value in ignoring small sample size concerns. Jeremy Lin’s critics fairly cite his too-brief track record, though some of them will ironically harp on Lin’s one Miami game as more meaningful than the body of work. It is difficult to know just how good Jeremy Lin will be, but we would do well to remember that his late winter success was the result of basketball skill, and not some fairy godmother’s wand wave. Just because “Linsanity!” felt magical, doesn’t mean it was magic. This was just a productive collegian, running a mean pick and roll at the next level.

Players like Lin are always battling against another statistical term–confirmation bias. If a guy goes undrafted, we keep looking for signs that validate the initial assessment. In the other direction, look at how underperforming high draft picks keep finding buyers. Jeff Green has been consistently disappointing in his career so far. The Boston Celtics saw fit to give the 26 year-old a $36 million dollar contract, and he was subsequently hyped by fans and media in the run up to this season. Ask yourself: Does the undrafted version of Jeff Green get this contract or these expectations? Does DeMar DeRozan eventually get $42 million if he fights his way to the NBA through the D-League?

Jeremy Lin also battled a different kind of perception problem. While Lin’s ethnicity brought about a whole lot of positive attention upon his success, it also caused others to jump to some negative conclusions. As I see it, Jeremy’s flaws are, “shaky high dribble, balky jumper.” And yet, I keep hearing and reading about his lack of athleticism. Interesting assumption, that.

In any organization, in any endeavor, people can get locked into a placement. For Lin, that placement was, “Not drafted.” For James Harden, that placement was, “Sixth man.” Ask yourself this: Why was James Harden, and not Russell Westbrook, the sixth man? Westbrook is far more the prototypical bench scorer than Harden. Was there any special reason why the more productive player came off the bench, apart from incumbency?

Make no mistake: James Harden was the more productive player in relatively fewer possessions. This is a different conversation from “better” or “projects to be better eventually.” We’re talking raw efficiency. In his time with the ball, Harden maximized his contribution with three pointers and free throws. Westbrook produced free throws, but he also dominated the rock en route to many turnovers and missed shots.

But James Harden wasn’t specifically battling Russell Westbrook for playing time. He was backing up Thabo Sefolosha, somewhat ludicrously. I wonder what it would have taken for James to ever supplant Thabo in that lineup, considering that Harden, unlike Manu Ginobili, was young and healthy enough to play full games. Granted, Harden got more minutes than Sefolosha, but 31 MPG wasn’t exactly worthy of the production James garnered. The Beard tallied an absurd 66% true shooting mark and a Durant-equivalent .230 win shares per 48 minutes. By all indications, the Thunder planned on keeping up this arrangement in perpetuity.

Then, after Harden was traded to Oklahoma City, various pundits remarked on why he didn’t strike them as “a franchise guy.” They could still be right, but I would like such statements to be backed by tangible assessments, something better than, “he just doesn’t seem like the type.” Explain why James Harden can’t be who he was with Thunder–but with more minutes and more touches. Related, there seems to be this fallacy that an efficiency drop off for promoted players equals an efficiency cliff (credit Aaron McGuire for this observation). Just because a guy might get worse with more responsibility doesn’t mean he’ll get awful. If James Harden plays 39 minutes per night and gives you a .200 win share mark instead of a .230, you still spent that max contract money wisely.

Finally, Omer Asik dealt with the NBA’s strangest perceptual issue: He suffered from anti-defense bias. I swear, it sometimes seems like this league is in a price fixing conspiracy against its defenders. There are these odes to “defense winning championships,” but then Taj Gibson gets a lesser contract than the aforementioned DeMar DeRozan. David Lee gets over $15 million in 2016 and Ronnie Brewer struggles to stay on any one team. Unless you’re a big man with soft hands, good luck getting paid for defensive brilliance.

Asik was a big man, but his hands were made from WD-40-soaked apple jugs. Asik struggles to catch the softest of passes and gets thwarted at the basket more than Yogi Bear. The cherry on top is that .480 on free throws.

He also happens to play the kind of defense that can cripple an entire offense. Mobile, long, and smart, Omer protects the rim while hounding ball-handlers on pick and roll. Since frontcourt D matters disproportionately, this is no small value. When people scoffed at his $25 million contract, I wondered, “Why isn’t defense worth that much money?”

Asik also contributes offensively, but in subtler ways. He’s a nasty (illegal) screener who can set anyone up from anywhere. This doesn’t get talked about often, but mobility helps a screener. For all the touting of Kendrick Perkins’ screen ability, he’s too slow to get certain places. Omer creates space for Harden in a flash. After setting the pick, Asik juts his butt backwards, like Chris Paul, warding off a defender. This walls off Harden’s man as James sprints towards the hoop. Omer Asik can’t catch a ball, but he can play some offense.

To watch Houston flourish would feel like a revolution. Houston’s Big Three is also the NBA’s Freed Three, because basketball orthodoxy imposed glass ceilings on Harden, Lin, and Asik. Then, Daryl Morey broke the glass apart.
http://hoopspeak.com/2012/11/daryl-m...g-freed-three/

Not Oklahoma City obviously.

and advanced stats to microtarget voters.

most turnover prone backcourts in the league
Genius!

the rox are one of the youngest teams in the league, have all new players and have been competitive in every game. three of their four close losses were to playoff teams, including tonight's last-second loss to the defending champions.

asik is a lock for most-improved
harden is top three in scoring
lin is whatever
the rox lost to the champs in a fantastic game

yes, take a victory lap!

your thing, but the rockets are 3-4 with close losses to Portland, Denver, Memphis and Miami.

i'm actually impressed that they are playing as well as they are despite the struggles of Lin/Harden, the absence of their head coach and 3 new starters in the lineup.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=229960

http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/hang_up_and_listen/2012/11/jack_taylor_138_points_hang_up_and_listen_on_the_resurgence_of_notre_dame.html

if you didnt already.
-----

Love ballard's stuff. This is slink about the article which is in print. They said it might not be available in full online.

http://insidesportsillustrated.com/2...8/moneyballsy/

quote:

Chris Ballard on How The Rockets Are Bringing Moneyball To The NBA

Rockets G.M. Daryl Morey is the NBA’s equivalent of baseball’s Billy Beane. He sees basketball differently from most NBA executives, and using analytical methods that many other general managers reject – or even mock – Morey revamped his roster in the off-season, working the margins of the sport’s economy, then unloading players when their value peaked. Morey knows many other executives are rooting for him to fail, but Chris Ballard explores why Morey will risk everything to back up his methods (page 55).

.

that's not even the play where carmelo was jabbering at the official and let ppat come straight down the middle for an uncontested dunk. then carmelo got a tech, which was very lolz

they were writing this same "moneyball morey" stuff in 2008. what's new in this story? the rox are hardly the only team into metrics.

>they were writing this same "moneyball morey" stuff in 2008.
>what's new in this story? the rox are hardly the only team
>into metrics.

It's not new per se, especially for a Morey head like you. It does really break down how Morey came to build this current team. But more than anything it's a biographical profile piece of Morey, and how he's different.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1206495/index.htm

Theres some cool graphics from the article that didnt make it, but still a decent read nonetheless imo.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/chris_ballard/11/30/houston-rockets-jeremy-lin-james-harden-daryl-morey/index.html?eref=twitter_feed

I mean wtf...you cant script that better from a HS yearbook photo.


http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/2012/writers/chris_ballard/11/30/houston-rockets-jeremy-lin-james-harden-daryl-morey/morey-wide.jpg

http://rockets.clutchfans.net/3407/houston-rockets-salary-cap-james-harden/

Houston Rockets Salary Cap Update: The Impact of Harden’s Deal
DECEMBER 11, 2012 11:26 AM
1
By David Weiner
Now that we’re nearly a quarter of the way through the 2012-13 NBA season, let’s take a look at the team’s current salary cap situation.

The Rockets’ Latest Moves
Since my last update, the Rockets have made the following roster moves:

The Rockets traded Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, two first round picks (those owed from Toronto in the Kyle Lowry trade and from Dallas in the Jordan Hill trade) and a second rounder (owed from Charlotte in the Courtney Lee sign-and-trade) to Oklahoma City in exchange for James Harden, Daequan Cook, Cole Aldrich and Lazar Hayward.
The team trimmed the regular season roster down to the maximum of 15 by waiving Shaun Livingston, Gary Forbes, Hayward, JaJuan Johnson, Jon Brockman, Demetri McCamey and Kyle Fogg.
The fourth-year option on the contract of Patrick Patterson was exercised.
The third-year option on the contract of Marcus Morris was exercised.
The Rockets signed Harden to a five-year, maximum salary extension. More on that below.
The Harden Contract


Harden's contract includes incentives that could impact the team's salary cap situation
While most reports of Harden’s extension pegged it at $80 million (actually, $78.6 million), the figure is merely an estimate based on the salary cap for the 2012-13 season. However, since the starting salary of the extension is based on salary cap figures for the 2013-14 season, the actual amount of Harden’s salary will not be known until around July 10, 2013, when such figures will be determined. The starting salary of Harden’s extension will be approximately 25% of the 2013-14 maximum team salary cap (although that figure could increase to 30% in the unlikely event that Harden wins the NBA MVP award this season).

The fifth year of Harden’s extension is actually only 50% guaranteed, but it becomes fully guaranteed if Harden meets any one of several incentives that should be fairly easily attainable for him. Such incentives include making at least one All-Star team starting next season (so this season doesn’t count), playing a key role in the Rockets advancing to the second round of the playoffs, or meeting certain statistical marks (which are geared to avoid a ball-hogging situation in order to meet them).

By being signed to a five-year extension (as opposed to only four years), Harden has become the Rockets’ “Designated Player,” meaning that the Rockets may not sign any other player to a five-year contract extension for the length of Harden’s extension (through 2018). The Rockets may, however, acquire another team’s Designated Player via trade during that time. For instance, if the Rockets somehow traded for someone like DeMarcus Cousins in the next few months, they would be unable to offer Cousins the same type of extension they gave Harden; however, if Cousin were made Sacramento’s Designated Player and then traded to Houston later down the road (say, 2-3 seasons later), it would be permitted for the Rockets to have both Harden’s and Cousins’s contracts on the books at the same time.

Salary Commitments and Available Cap Room
(All salaries courtesy of ShamSports.com)

Barring any further roster moves, the Houston Rockets now have approximately $50.2 million in team salary for the 2012-13 season: Jeremy Lin ($8.37 million), Omer Asik ($8.37 million), Harden ($5.82 million), Cook ($3.09 million), Carlos Delfino ($3 million), Aldrich ($2.45 million), Patterson ($2.10 million), Toney Douglas ($2.07 million), Morris ($1.91 million), Royce White ($1.65 million), Forbes* ($1.5 million), Terrence Jones ($1.49 million), Donatas Motiejunas ($1.36 million), Hayward* ($1.17 million), Johnson* ($1.09 million), Livingston* ($1 million), Brockman* ($1 million), Chandler Parsons ($888,250), Greg Smith ($762,195, of which 50% is guaranteed), Machado ($473,604, of which 50% is guaranteed), and the cap hit from the Derek Fisher* buyout ($644,005; more on that here).



Based on this season’s maximum salary cap of $58.044 million, the Rockets have approximately $7.84 million in salary cap room entering the season (or about $7.46 million if they do, in fact, take a cap hit on Moore). For the record, the Harden trade actually increased the Rockets’ available cap room this season.

It will be very interesting to see what GM Daryl Morey does with that cap room, which allows him to take on that much more incoming salary in trades without regard for salary-matching rules. With only Cleveland, Houston and Phoenix possessing cap room of any significance, the Rockets may be a popular team this coming trade deadline as a landing spot for other teams’ bloated (but likely expiring) contracts, with Houston receiving some form of compensation (draft picks, cash, etc.) for its troubles. That will probably be only a backup plan for Morey, who more likely will attempt to use that cap room to acquire a star-level player via trade. With the Rockets slated to have even more significant cap room next summer (see below), don’t expect the Rockets to take on salary beyond this season unless it involves the Rockets acquiring a star-level talent in the process.

Interesting (Well, Not That Interesting) Fact
With the contracts of Lin and Asik structured so that they are only actually paid $5 million each this season despite their cap figures, the Rockets’ highest-salaried player this season is Harden at a relatively paltry $5.82 million. That appears to be the league’s lowest “team-high salary.”

The player being paid the second most money this season by the Rockets?

That’s Luis Scola, who currently plays for the Phoenix Suns but is still being paid approximately $5.26 million this season by the Rockets.

Summer of 2013
Based on the salary cap remaining at $58.044 million, barring any trades happening this season (yeah, fat chance) and assuming that Harden does not win the league MVP this season, the Houston Rockets will have approximately $45.8 million in team salary for the 2013-14 season: Harden ($13.67 million), Lin ($8.37 million), Asik ($8.37 million), Delfino ($3 million, non-guaranteed if waived by June 30, 2013), Patterson ($3.11 million), Morris ($1.99 million), White ($1.72 million), Jones ($1.55 million), Motiejunas ($1.42 million), Parsons ($926,500), Smith ($884,293, non-guaranteed) and Machado ($788,872, non-guaranteed). That amount could increase if the Rockets miss the playoffs and, thus, retain their first round pick.

If the Rockets make the playoffs this season, and if they simply waive Delfino, Smith and Machado, they could open up as much as $15.44 million in cap room without having to make any trades (although the team could still have as much as $14.75 million in cap room and still keep Smith and Machado). That would be nearly enough to offer most players a maximum salary contract. While not quite enough to offer the “super-max” to guys like Dwight Howard (eligible for a starting salary of $20.51 million) or Chris Paul (eligible for a starting salary of $18.69 million), other moves could be made to create the additional cap room if absolutely necessary.

Conclusion
The Houston Rockets finally have themselves a franchise player in Harden around whom to rebuild, but most true title contenders have more than one star player so there is still much work to be done by Morey and the Rockets’ front office. That said, with a roster filled with young talent (the youngest in the league) and plenty of cap flexibility, the Rockets are still well-positioned to make a move if/when another star becomes available, either prior to this February’s trade deadline, next summer or beyond.

as morey said before the harden deal went down, the whole strategy was acquiring a superstar, gathering assets (picks/young talent) and maintaining financial flexibility. they've done that. it's now just a question of what second star they can lure to houston.

KEVIN LOVE VALUE-PACK

http://cache3.asset-cache.net/gc/149593252-forward-kevin-love-and-us-gard-james-harden-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=GkZZ8bf5zL1ZiijUmxa7QSUXaMl2NhydgQqvmSxKPOQDXRhxVry46Yu%2FqsDEBM%2FuC8wBnfHJSHmbeMeDhCdMmg%3D%3D



Harden did say in an interview last week he's actively recruiting.

Imagine if you could keep

Lin-Harden-Chandler-Love-Harden

then fill in that bench....


>as morey said before the harden deal went down, the whole
>strategy was acquiring a superstar, gathering assets
>(picks/young talent) and maintaining financial flexibility.
>they've done that. it's now just a question of what second
>star they can lure to houston.
>
>KEVIN LOVE VALUE-PACK
>

>Harden did say in an interview last week he's actively
>recruiting.
>
>Imagine if you could keep
>
>Lin-Harden-Chandler-Love-Harden
>
>then fill in that bench....

is Asik supposed to be one of those Hardens or somebody else?

That team would get bodied defensively, lol

they're ranked 25th. love would at least be an upgrade over ppat on the defensive side (and a huge one on offense)

James Harden and SG and James Harden at C

>>Harden did say in an interview last week he's actively
>>recruiting.
>>
>>Imagine if you could keep
>>
>>Lin-Harden-Chandler-Love-Harden
>>
>>then fill in that bench....
>
>is Asik supposed to be one of those Hardens or somebody else?
>
>
>That team would get bodied defensively, lol

couldnt be any worse than this current lakers defense.

trading for dwight this season is a no go and they can't sign him outright the way things look now
hell they probably can't even get at bynum realistically
so what's left?
how much will josh smith command on the open market?
because that's a more realistic outcome for them
and good luck with all that

they seem to be in a situation where they'd have to gut the roster of role players (delfino, patterson) thru trades just to get in position to get the mega star they need (with no guarantees even if they do that)
iono just doesn't seem that likely to me
it's revisionism since he was signed before harden....but that lin contract is coming back to fuck them in the ass already
imagine if they had went after felton at that $4 mil cap hit instead
more flexibility and more money to attract the type of star they need
instead they are a mediocre team with 1 star and some , but not enough, cap room
looks like a recipe to reach and sign above avg. role players for too much money

that Lin contract, Dolan is laughing at their asses

it's been 20 games. as i've said a million times, i'm not a huge believer in lin, but he's been an average NBA pg, even while shooting poorly.

he currently has a better TS% than felton, has the same assist/turnover ratio, and has more rebounds, steals and blocks. i'm only bringing up the comparison to illustrate that lin has been average, not bad. over the last five games, lin has shot 45% and 50% from 3. if he's put those shooting struggles behind him, he's going to be a good PG.

the idea that we're dealing with any immutable facts when discussing a 24-year old PG who's only 20 games into a contract is stupid beyond description.

>it's been 20 games. as i've said a million times, i'm not a
>huge believer in lin, but he's been an average NBA pg,

with an above average contract

i don't think it's even worth arguing with shawn/guinness/cenario about whether or not lin is good
you already know what that's bout
my point is in retrospect, now that they have harden, they could have used that money better to position themselves to get the type of players that will impact their ability to be a contender

the other side of that is lin thus losses value as an expiring contract
15 mil expiring contract looks a lot more attractive than 8 mil
but yea should be interesting to see how houston handles Lin's extension

>the other side of that is lin thus losses value as an
>expiring contract
>15 mil expiring contract looks a lot more attractive than 8
>mil
>but yea should be interesting to see how houston handles Lin's
>extension

extension?

so their best options might be signing josh smith out right (assuming the lakers don't grab him with a more attractive sign and trade for gasol lol)
or trying to holla at the sixers about a Osik/Role players/cash sign and trade for bynum if he proves he's healthy
either move will eat up cap space going forward while likely leaving them in that 6-8th seed range
so yea iono....

i could see a poison-pill deal being offered to that troll (if they think he can play PF, which i'm not sure about). millsap could be another option. josh smith is so insanely inefficient that morey probably hates him, unless he figures they can get him to stop taking those idiotic jumpers.

>
>they seem to be in a situation where they'd have to gut the
>roster of role players (delfino, patterson) thru trades just
>to get in position to get the mega star they need (with no
>guarantees even if they do that)

Jeremy Lin was cut to make room for Dalembert and is a knick cause of the Chauncey Amnesty.
Novak became a Knick cause SA cut him and they needed a body on the end of the bench.

both those dudes turned roster turnover into financial security.

there are a lot more examples, the point being"gutting" your roster of role players to make cap room or bring in stars is the nature of the beast. there are role players all over the place you can get to replace the ones you lost. Whether they're productive depends on your scouting, personnel, and scheme.

I dunno if it's your intention, but you make it seem like a bad thing, and it's not.

>iono just doesn't seem that likely to me
>it's revisionism since he was signed before harden....but that
>lin contract is coming back to fuck them in the ass already
>imagine if they had went after felton at that $4 mil cap hit
>instead
>more flexibility and more money to attract the type of star
>they need
>instead they are a mediocre team with 1 star and some , but
>not enough, cap room
>looks like a recipe to reach and sign above avg. role players
>for too much money
>
felton was signed and traded for, not signed outright. no way they woulda looked at felton based on what they're looking to do. And for all the problems it seems Jeremy Lin presents, no one talks about the 4 years and 32 mil george hill's getting thru 2017.




btw they're not going with a max level 5. they have a double double big man at 26 for 5 million this year and next.

why fuck that up? specially with montejunas as a capable young backup.

their main issue is they have no one they can give the rock 15 feet from the basket above 6'8" who can get their own.

j.smith, millsap, possibly ilyasova. gotta see wsup at the deadline and who's looking to get rid of a deal.

needs to get their head examined


do or die

if he walked at the end of the season, he's more Robin than Batman, but because of the lack of talent at the position he plays he commands a premium. I know somebody will try to run in here and say something about Kobe but Dwight's numbers with the Lakers are pretty much the same as what he did in Orlando. He did get them to the Finals that one year but Shard and Hedo were playing out of their minds at that time too.

i can't stand the motherfucker, but he's a fantastic player. my feeling is that he's not all the way healed -- then again, who knows if his back will ever be the same. those orlando teams didn't have a lot of talent around him and were always successful.

of confidence in his free-throw shooting keeps him from being as agressive as he should be. And for all his defensive prowess he has a knack for picking up ticky-tack fouls which them limits his effectiveness there.

He's still the best all-around center in the game today, but his prime career average of 18ppg just doesn't really impress me. When his physical ability does start to fall off will he still have enough skill to be effective?

even with the FT issues, his career TS% is .600. that's exceptional. and he's been the best defensive player in the league pretty much every year. if healthy, there's no debating that he's a top five player.

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/rocketscast-live-ask-gm

"shawn with a dollar sign at the end"

with the rox...

my mind is off of her face, but I still know it's ugly

I'm still on FK Darryl Morey status. This dude ain't trying to win, just trying to keep butts in the seats.

That said, I'm off to watch my ROX bust up the Pistons tonight.

This dude ain't trying to
>win, just trying to keep butts in the seats.
>
>That said, I'm off to watch my ROX bust up the Pistons
>tonight.

They play Philly tonight.

I mean honestly, I get what youre saying, but according to him (listen to the hangout I posted) now that he has James he says he's pretty happy standing pat for the most part and letting the talent develop.

Lets be realistic about this season. A lot of people had the Rockets pegged as a 30 or so win team. The O/U in Vegas was 30.5. They are already 1/3 of the way there. Most people thought we'd have no shot at being in playoff contention, its still early but we're in the race.

And of course we're the youngest team in the league. Theres some stat geek stat somewhere that talks about how at this stage of the season, we have the best record for a team this young in a long time.

I like Kevin McHale, but c'mon.

*edit* I meant PHI

We are the most lukewarm team in the league just about.
Good enough to beat ANYBODY, but not enough talent to get us (nor sustain us) in the playoffs.

you're out of your fucking mind

the idea that morey--who amnestied scola, let dragic walk and traded lowry--is concerned with "putting butts in the seats" ahead of winning is berserk. plus, he's more open than probably any other GM about his strategies, and many are referenced within this post.

- don't sign deals with a player option and maintain financial flexibility
- amass assets by acquiring undervalued players via trade/draft and dealing them
- obtain a superstar/superstars via financial flexibility and assets

the rox are .500, the youngest team in the NBA, have a 23-year old scoring machine, an underpaid rebounding beast at center, a young PG with potential, a cadre of solid young players and enough room to add another max player next offseason. what exactly are you pissed about?

CRY ME A FRIGGING RIVER DUDE

feel free to skip the final.

critique for a guy who put a tiny team on the floor and consistently sacrificed the moment for the future while staying kinda competitive.

The full charts are viewable at the clutchfans thread below. Interesting data but lots of flaws-- with the major one being that we are only 20 games in. All other teams were judged by a full season and our toughest part of the schedule is yet to come.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=230840



MORE ACCURATE Title: Rockets Performance Compared to All Young Teams SINCE 1980.) Maybe mods can change it)

I remembered reading some article a FEW YEARS back about how there's a correlation between team age and W/L success. That young teams don't win much and have worse defense, and more experienced teams translates directly to more winning. (And searched the site and realized it was actually ME who posted it here long ago In a thread about the Blazers in '09)

Here's that article from Basketball Prospectus, from 2009. Its about how the Blazers that year overachieved. Though can definitely apply some things to this Rockets team

Age and Success in the NBA : Doing the Math http://www.basketballprospectus.com/...?articleid=571

Some excerpts. We're just gonna skip 3 seasons and compare directly to that year, keep things short:
Quote:
Last week, Ben Golliver from the Blazer's Edge blog asked if I could put together some numbers looking at the theory, popular in Portland, that the Blazers' defensive woes were due in large part to the team's youth. When I looked at the historical data for a post Monday, I was surprised by the strength of the relationship between age and defensive success at the team level. With that conclusion in mind, I decided to take a deeper look at age in the NBA.

Before going any further, I should note that when I talk about team age, I mean effective age--the team's average age weighted by minutes played. When the league calculates average age, it includes everyone on the roster, like Portland's 32-year-old Raef LaFrentz (better known as Raef LaFrentz's Expiring Contract), who has not been with the team this year. While other veterans like Dikembe Mutombo might offer leadership with their presence, it seems silly to count them the same in terms of quantifying a team's age as starters and players in the rotation.
2009 tally
Quote:

Youngest Age
Memphis 23.9
Portland 24.5
Chicago 25.3
Oklahoma City 25.5
Minnesota 25.7

I calculated effective ages for every team dating back to the 1979-80 season, a span of three full decades. In this context, the Blazers' youth is evident: They are the eighth-youngest team in modern NBA history, with the Grizzlies ranking an impressive third (the 2005-06 Atlanta Hawks and 2002-03 Cleveland Cavaliers being the lone more youthful squads).
Rockets average age going into THIS SEASON: 23.98 years
Meaning the Rockets are VERY young probably top 5-7 youngest at least since 1980.

There's this graph that has dots for every team since 1980, placed by age and winning percentage. The teams farthest left are the youngest teams.

Only concentrate on the left side at the few teams left of the "24" mark.
I sketched in some lines and dots, the RED dot is the current Rockets and the green line is age "25" and a random cutoff to just have around 15 teams left of the line. The green circles are teams of note.



I'm not a pro at this, just had a little time on my hands to look at stuff. Though remember we're leaving out 2010-thru-2012

It shows that only 2 out of 15 teams YOUNGER than the Rockets ever have finished with a NON-losing record, at .500 or better.
Only the 2009 Blazers had a WINNING record being the same team age as the Rockets.

That team had a healthy Brandon Roy, #2 pick Lamarcus Aldridge and #1 pick Greg Oden who squeezed out 61 games that year. Rockets are a decent comparison, they have James Harden, Chandler Parsons who's their "Nic Batum", Asik who's like their Pryzbilla/Greg Oden combo, and Lin who's like their Steve Blake/Sergio Rodriguez. Difference is Rockets don't have anything like Lamarcus Aldridge.

Do think this Rockets team STILL could have a couple other W's and can stand to be sharper in some areas. Their turnovers and bad defense is a sore spot. Can possibly be better coached.

The article talks about other things too like offensive and defensive efficiency, but thats the main part of it. Considering the amount of roster change and team distractions whether its the Jeremy Lin spotlight and pressure, "poison pill" contracts, tragedies in coaches personal lives, the best player joining the team merely days before the season began, and a draft pick opting to not even play days before the season began, and injuries to some players within that time,

would say maybe the Rockets are doing reasonably decent relative to other teams in the same position.
Last edited by Shroopy2; 12-17-2012 at 09:38 PM.

http://rockets.clutchfans.net/3455/chandler-parsons-contract-analysis/



Chandler Parsons quickly became a quality starter, making his contract one of the NBA's best bargains
When Chandler Parsons suits up for the Houston Rockets against the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans on January 2, he’ll be doing so as a richer man than he was the game before.

Why, you ask? Well, it’s one of several aspects of Parsons’s contract that are either misunderstood or simply unknown by most Rockets fans.

Hence, the following is an analysis of one of the more interesting player contracts in the NBA today.

Clearing Up Common Misconceptions

1. Parsons is not subject to rookie scale salary rules.
The NBA has specific rules governing first round draft picks and the contracts they can sign, commonly referred to as rookie scale contracts. Such contracts are four-year deals, fully guaranteed for the first two years, with team options for each of the third and fourth years (each of which must be exercised almost an entire season in advance) and a right of first refusal after that.

However, Parsons was not a first round pick. He was selected in the second round (the 38th overall selection) of the 2011 NBA Draft. Therefore, he is not subject to such rules. Second round picks can be signed to contracts much like any other player. Unlike first rounders, second rounders do not have any scale salary by which a team may exceed the salary cap to sign them. Most second rounders receive either a one- or a two-year deal at the league minimum salary. Such contracts are oftentimes non- or only partially guaranteed. The only ways in which a team may sign a second round pick to anything more are for that team to have either cap room or a salary cap exception (such as the Mid-Level Exception) at its disposal.

2. Parsons did not sign the same contract that Budinger got.
In 2009, the Rockets signed second round draft picks Jermaine Taylor and Chase Budinger to identical four-year contracts using a portion of their Mid-Level Exception. Those contracts were structured very similarly to rookie scale contracts, with the first two years being fully guaranteed and the team holding options for the third and fourth years. The players agreed to such a structure in exchange for an increased first year salary and two guaranteed years. (There are more technical details to those contracts, but I’ll spare you those for now.) While Parsons’s contract does somewhat resemble the deals given to Taylor and Budinger, it is actually structured quite differently.

The Contract Structure

In December 2011, the Rockets signed Parsons to a four-year, $3,629,500 contract (using a sliver of remaining salary cap room they had at the time). Like the Taylor and Budinger deals, Parsons agreed to bind himself to the team for four years in exchange for an increased salary in the first year ($850,000 instead of the league minimum of $473,604) and second year ($888,250 instead of the league minimum $762,195), both of which are fully guaranteed.

However, Parsons seems to have had a better agent than either Taylor or Budinger.

Whereas Taylor and Budinger agreed to give the Rockets team options for Years 3 and 4, Parsons and his agent negotiated for additional financial security. If the Rockets do not waive Parsons by January 1, 2013 (a highly unlikely event at this point), then Parsons’s salary for the 2013-14 season ($926,500) becomes partially guaranteed for $600,000; and if Parsons is not waived by June 30, 2013, his 2013-14 salary becomes fully guaranteed. Furthermore, if the Rockets do not waive Parsons by January 1, 2014, his salary for the 2014-15 season ($964,750) becomes partially guaranteed for $624,771 (don’t ask me how they got that figure); and if Parsons is not waived by June 30, 2014, his 2014-15 salary becomes fully guaranteed.

What does this all mean?

It means that there are no options on Parsons’s contract to be exercised. It’s a straight-up four-year, partially guaranteed deal. The substantial partial guarantees also mean that it would hardly ever make financial sense for the Rockets to waive Parsons at any point during his four-year deal. When his contract expires in 2015, Parsons will be an unrestricted free agent.

What Happens Next?

1. Parsons is “stuck” on this contract until 2015.
The Parsons Contract was negotiated at a time when it was not certain whether he would become a legit NBA player. At that time, this deal was quite a coup for both Parsons and his representatives. Now, however, with Parsons playing at a very high level, the contract may seem like a long-term (financial) prison sentence.

First off, there is little incentive for the Rockets to let Parsons out of his dirt-cheap deal. They have him locked up on a very favorable deal for this year and two more after that. For a team trying to manage its cap situation in order to add a second (or even third) star player, giving Parsons a raise before his contract is up in 2015 would certainly jeopardize those plans.

And even if the Rockets wanted to give Parsons a raise before 2015, there really is no feasible way to do that (with one possible exception, discussed below).

Since there are no option years on Parsons’s deal, there is no way to make Parsons a free agent before 2015 without waiving him. Unfortunately for the Rockets, Parsons is such a good player that there is no way he would clear waivers — other teams would be climbing over each other to get a chance to claim him off waivers. So, unless the Rockets want to give Chandler away to another team without receiving anything in exchange, they need to simply hold onto him on his current deal.

2. An extension of Parsons’s contract is (likely) not a viable alternative.
Because Parsons is a veteran on a four-year deal (other than a first round draft pick on a rookie scale contract), he is technically eligible for an extension from the Rockets in 2014. Many fans have suggested that the Rockets give Parsons an extension in order to give him a substantial raise and keep him under contract beyond 2015. However, the rules governing contract extensions do not make this a financially feasible option for Parsons.

Under the CBA, a player may not receive an extension giving him a raise in excess of 107.5% of his salary in the last season of the contract being extended. For Parsons, an extension would cap his 2015-16 salary at $1,037,106. I’m guessing that Parsons (and his agent) feels that he can do better than that on the open market.

So, go ahead and cross the contract extension route off the list of possibilities, unless . . .

3. A contract renegotiation remains a possibility but is not in the team’s best interests.
While a contract extension is not economically feasible for Parsons, there remains the possibility of a contract renegotiation with a simultaneous extension. Only teams that are under the salary cap can renegotiate player contracts. For instance, the Oklahoma City Thunder implemented this “renegotiate-and-extend” approach with Nick Collison in 2010 (you can read more about that deal here). While the 2011 CBA changed the rules about these deals to limit the decrease in salary a player could accept in the first year of his extension to 40% (making Collison’s particular contract impossible to do now), the Rockets could still position themselves to keep Parsons locked up via a simultaneous renegotiation and extension.

However, this approach would seriously hamper the Rockets’ overall rebuilding strategy.

First of all, the Rockets would need to be under the cap during the 2014-15 season for this to even be possible. That would mean that the team likely failed in its attempts to acquire a second star player. It also means that the team did not even use its cap room during the summer of 2014 or at the February 2014 trade deadline to otherwise improve the team. Unless Parsons has developed into a bona fide perenniel All-Star caliber player by that time, there is little incentive to jeopardize the team’s cap situation — and its continued pursuit of that second star player — for the sake of locking up a good (but not great) player.

Also, even with a Collison-like contract in place, Parsons would have a relatively substantial cap figure locked in on the Rockets’ roster entering the summer of 2015, when the contracts of Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik are set to come off the books and the Rockets possibly positioned to add another significant piece to the puzzle.

4. Letting Parsons hit free agency in 2015 may help the Rockets’ cap situation.
Given the possibility of the Rockets (even with the addition of another significant piece in the next three years) having substantial salary cap room in 2015, there is potentially much to be gained by letting Parsons hit unrestricted free agency.

Because of Parsons’s miniscule 2014-15 salary, his cap hold on the Rockets’ books when he hits free agency until he is signed (either by the Rockets or another team) will be a paltry $1,833,025.

This means that the Rockets could use all of its available cap room in 2015 — except for that $1,833,025 cap hold amount — to pursue a major free agent (such as Kevin Love, who can opt out of his contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves that summer), then later exceed the salary cap to re-sign Parsons to any amount using his Bird rights.

Admittedly, this approach will involve asking Parsons and his representatives to trust in the organization to do right by Parsons once the dust settles on the team’s other summer plans. While I imagine that Parsons’s agent will certainly market his client around the league to gauge his “fair value” as a free agent, the relationship established between player and organization to date suggests that a level of trust should still be there in 2015.

Conclusion

Barring a trade, the Houston Rockets and Chandler Parsons are stuck with each other under his current contract. An apparent victory for the player at the time of its original execution, the contract is now one of the most team-friendly in the entire league. The Rockets have Parsons locked up until 2015 for a mere pittance. That low salary (and Parsons’s cap hold in the summer of 2015) will position the Rockets nicely to continue to add significant pieces over the next several years.

>> Comments

http://www.theticketmiami.com/listenlive.aspx

Morey back in gangsta mode..

Welcome Mr. Robinson

>Morey back in gangsta mode..
>
>Welcome Mr. Robinson

lol

James Harden - G/F - Rockets
The Rockets have agreed to extend GM Daryl Morey for four more years.
Morey has one year left on his current deal, so he'll now be committed to the Rockets for the next five years. Owner Leslie Alexander said that Morey has done "a terrific job" during his Rockets tenure, and Houston will enter the offseason with a ton of cap space to add to an already talented core.

and by that i mean he aint ever coming back to this post

a colossal L

and say were nt succesful if we dont win a championship this year

SPM on the trade for harden: "Smart decision by the thunder and another dumb decision by Morey the Metrics Boy"

LAUGHING OUT LOUD SPM LAUGHING OUT LOUD

Damn...lol

ha!

Im done with Royce.

Not that I wasnt already but I kinda understood his side of things. I still do. But it just doesnt seem genuine.

This dumbass is now on his 3rd baby of the season (previously having 2) and hes rollin around in a Dleague RV. Disgusting

Yes this is ANOTHER royce white baby moms story


http://bossip.com/756073/dirty-dog-d...-for-abortion/

everyone knew royce was a gamble, that's why he went so low. he's been a major headache, but the fact remains that he's 22 years old, a talented basketball player and cheaply under contract for a couple more years.

they had three first-round picks and rolled the dice for upside on one of them. and, again, this story isn't over.

Rox will take that 2nd and keep it moving.

I'm surprised anyone would dare trade for that dude....

Just let the rox waive first.

It's more than a few Ls in this post.

.

This couldn't happen to a classier fan base in sports. Y'all cool outside of the Kobestani member that made this post.

Y'all actually fans unlike the Heat stans word to the Heatvricks. Bin, is the Lac closed for bandwagoners? It should be, but it's y'all call since you actually rooted for the team when they didn't have two superstars.

Is it safe to say Slim Thug helped?

Bun B is the coolest artist out now.

What's the over/under on how much of a Tsunami D12 will make in gentleman's clubs this season?

Y'all got D12, James Harden, and about to land Josh Smith. That big three should hold up for at least five years. Congratulations, y'all making the finals. Which finals that is up to how long it takes your team to gel.

Something tells me that y'all won't leave early during an NBA finals game.

Does Daryl Morey still suck? He was fleeced in the Harden trade, right?

In any event, post 14 sums up this post perfectly.

Genius.

My bad Guinness. The fact that Morey pulled this all the way off is a win and then some. I still want to see what OKC does with their pieces but there's no doubt that Harden was better than almost anyone thought he could be AND they now have the guy they've been trying to get for 3 years.

They traded Royce White, they are in position to get Josh Smith if they want to and they will be able to add to this at the trade deadline or next year. The only thing that fucks it up is Cuban swooped in and stole Calderon on some bitter shit. lol.

Morey fuckin WON. I'm puttin some hot sauce on this crow and choking it down.

A

1st mason and Ireland

How are you?

Doing good. Surprised you guys are still having me on.

We love you. We hate your actions.

There was no stealing going on. Dwight chose to came to us.

How did you steal him?

He chose as a free agent. He picked the Rockets.

You did something the Lakers are facing now. You lost Yao and McGrady because of injuries but had a competitive team. Now you have one again - a competitive team but you didn't tank. You never went south. Did you get into the lottery over the past four years?

If you count 14th. We did pick 12th once. Mitch is the best in the business. He doesn't need advice from me or anyone else. The Lakers will be fine. They'll have cap room and probably still the number one destination team in the NBA. I think you guys will be fine. No one should cry for them.

Take us inside your dinner date with Dwight and all you guys on that first night of free agency.

It was quite a spectacle. I was trying not to screw anything up. I felt, if Dwight took a careful process and met with all the teams, and felt like at the end of it that we gave him the best chance to win, my hope was that would be his number one criteria, and turns out it was.

Why did the Rockets give him the best chance?

I thought it was overwhelming evidence. James Harden, if he's not the best two guard in the league, he will be in the next year or two. History says you need two all-stars and two top ten guys in the league. We feel like we have that now. You start there. Then a young core that would win 50 games without Dwight. Then even more overwhelming, we have all our draft picks going forward, the most free agency money, and most young talent to have to develop or trade to upgrade the team. I guess I'm biased but it was overwhelming. The Rockets were the best choice by far.

Did you set up a power point in the restaurant?

No power point. There were a few videos.

Does Dwight read excel?

Yeah, he was editing cells, correcting my formulas. It was fascinating to watch.

Did you worry about stuff like what he was eating? Like the food he liked? Did you cater?

Yeah, we did that kind of research. For the dinner, we weren't able to have conversations ahead so we called them at 9:00pm that night. I asked if we were going to be able to meet with him that night. That was our hope. They picked the venue. But his diet and long term stuff, that was something we focused on. We didn't have a ball of skittles there, which we know he loves. I love skittles too. That's what computer programmers live on.

Did you bring any Rockettes there?

It's the snake charmers. It's the power dancers. You shouldn't disrespect them. They're the best in the league.

Don't you think Rockettes is better?

That is not my department. I do want to get invited just this one time to the selection for the dance team, however. I would think I could throw my weight around, at least get an invite to the dance selection.

Do you have a spreadsheet for that?

There should be something. There should be something.

Can you believe it? That you got Dwight Howard.

Until his hand was moving on that document, I didn't believe it. What's the mood in Lakers Nation? Seems like good riddance.

People don't remember he was here honestly. It's divided. Half the people are surprised he decided to leave. The other half, if he doesn't want to be here, get rid of him.

(Mason) Houston is my least favorite major American city.

LA is not on my favorite list either. I like taking cabs everywhere and it's brutal in your town. It's expensive. Did you guys run shows like 'Crisis in Lakersville'?

There was a special episode 'Crisis in Lakersville'. It was one of our highest rated episodes.

In my head, that's what happened.

We were too busy taking down billboards. What did your billboards in Houston say?

They just had pictures. No dog themes like you guys had. We went with pictures and felt that was the classier way to go than any dog images.

You guys get together with your number buddies in Boston every year, right?

We do.

Have you figured out how many games everybody will win? How many games will the Rockets win?

I know what our goals are. We are hoping for home court in the playoffs and want to get to the conference finals. They're stretch goals and difficult goals. In Lakersville, maybe they sound funny, but for us, a young team building, once you get to the conference finals, you got a chance to win it all.

There is something vaguely offensive about Lakersville. You make us sound small. I think we should start calling you Rocketsburg.

There were may more insults from LA to Houston than the other way. I thought you guys were Lakersville. What's the official name?

We call it Lakers world! ... There is no name. He's making it up. ... Did you hear about the kid who went after Shaq?

I did hear about that.

Shaq said some stuff about Houston. We called you a small town.

We sorta embrace that. We're the biggest small town. We're a friendly place. Just about winning and friendliness. No nastiness.



When did you start hiring PR directors that young?

He's up there with the good job, good effort kid. I'm sure we got him on the payroll.

Congratulations. We expect nothing less from you but were surprised you pulled it off. If we had to lose him, I'd rather you be the thief than anyone else. That's the highest compliment we can give you.

Great to hear from you guys. Appreciate it.

Travel safe. By the way, if you find any big guys in Vegas, send them to Mitch because you don't need them anymore. We're looking at Hakeem for vet's minimum.

You guys got Robert Sacre.

Give us Omer Asik.

We're gonna have the best defensive centers in the league.

Travel safe. Thanks for coming on.

From what I remember:

1. Stan and Daryl joked about being fined. Daryl said that if you are gonna get fined, you might as well go full-howitzer like Stan did.

2. They discussed the Dwight Howard recruiting process. Daryl basically told the same story he told elsewhere: that they thought Houston was the best place for him winning-wise and thought that he would choose Houston if winning was their priority.

3. Daryl said that only 5 to 7 teams each year has even a somewhat realistic chance at winning (as reflected by Vegas odds), getting Dwight puts the Rockets in that group.

4. The host asked how many teams will be trying to win and how many will be tanking. Daryl says that maybe 5 or so teams tanking right off the bat, but more will likely to join them if things don't go well in the first part of the season and we'll end up with maybe 10-12 tanking teams.

5. One of the hosts said "OK, so lets role-play: I am Omer Asik's agent, and I call you and say 'Hey Daryl, our client would like to be traded.'" Daryl said "That call was not that polite." Everyone laughs. The host: "OK, 'Hey you mother****er, you got our client here to be a starter and now you bring in this new guy, so we want you to get him the **** out of there.'" Daryl said "That's more like it. But the reality is we are trying to win and Omer is a winner. We need him on the court because when we didn't have him last year we sucked. We don't want to suck when Dwight sits. Omer and Dwight are two of the top 5 centers. When Omer hits free agency, people knows he is a top starting center and no one is going to hold it against him that he played behind Dwight Howard."

Stan thought it was a good answer because it was helpful for them to have Gortat in Orlando which allows them to feel more comfortable resting Dwight.

- Says tanking is a great strategy and probably "the higher probability" strategy. Said they probably couldn't have tanked well enough to get in the top 5 multiple times.
- Gives PatBev signing as an example of something they wouldn't have done if they were tanking
- Says about 5 teams are going into the season tanking, more will join them during the season
- Morey says he considered saying "both teams played hard" as interview answers from now on after getting fined.
- Made fun of SVG's comments about David Stern.
- Feels bad for Kelvin Sampson getting kicked out of college for texting players.
- Talks about their offer to Dwight, thought they had the best offer, says they were gonna add probably about 5 wins without Dwight, their goal now is 50+ wins and homecourt.
- Host makes a joking trade request from Omer's agent. Morey praises Omer as the defensive anchor and says they were terrible without Omer last year. Makes "no sense" to move him. Says Omer will have no problem with free agency.
- Says they aren't worried about injury risk particularly with how many games they play.
- Random discussion about Jeff van Gundy dropping out of Yale.

He lost 3 key guys on his team

Sam Hinkie to Philly
Arturas karnisovas to Denver

and now Gordon Rosas to Dallas

Rosas to Dallas within the division hurts the most

candid Darryl


Notes/Summary:
We tried to trade for Dwight twice. Orlando told us they were going to trade Dwight to us if he wasn't going to resign.
The NBA has become a rim and 3pts league, and Dwight is the best at protecting the rim when healthy
Criticism on Dwight wasn't valid. Impressive to lead the league in rebounding on a bad year.
Did physical on Dwight, is totally healthy. Wasn't healthy on Lakers.
Dwight is a great player who can fit anywhere. Lakers aren't as good anymore, Dwight made the right choice to join Houston and give himself the best chance to win.
Never felt comfortable that things were done until Dwight's hand moved on the contract.
We encouraged Dwight to take a careful look at the process. Out of all the teams Dwight was thinking of joining we have the best superstar, the youngest team, most draft picks going forward, most free agency money going forward, most young talent we can either trade or develop into good team mates. We felt if winning was his #1 criteria then he would pick us.
Both Harden and Dwight will be the leaders of our franchise, Dwight has no issues with sharing the spotlight with Harden. Dwight saw a 23 year old superstar who hopefully will become as good as Kobe Bryant one day, not there yet but Dwight thinks it can happen one day.
Harden is more of a playmaker, Kobe is one of the best scorers of all time.
Getting Harden was a harder piece than getting Dwight because we didn't want to tank, it had to be a trade.
The way we rebuilt is a more true path than tanking.
Both Lin and Asik will be here to start the season. Lin was the 5th best PnR guy last year. Dwight's the best screener, screen and roller.
We gambled and lost with Royce White. Admit it was a mistake, but the concept of the gamble was right.
We're still behind a few teams, but we are in a position where we can win and now it's up to the coaches and players to improve the team.

> Lin was the 5th best PnR guy last year. Dwight's the best screener, screen and roller.

n/m

>Dwight saw a 23 year old superstar who hopefully will become
>as good as Kobe Bryant one day, not there yet but Dwight
>thinks it can happen one day.

@clutchfans: Rockets sign back Marcus Camby... but they still have two 2nd round picks from Knicks (2014, 2015) from trading Camby to them last summer.

Dwight Howard was nearly dealt to the Rockets at the 2012 trade deadline, according to Rockets GM Daryl Morey.
Morey told CBS Radio's John Feinstein about discussions with the Magic prior to the 2012 deadline. "We to trade for him twice," Morey said. "In fact, once we were allowed to talk to Dwight when free agency started off, he told us how – and we didn't know this for sure – but how Orlando basically told him he was going to get traded to us if he didn't re-up with them a couple years back when he resigned. He was almost a Rocket a couple times." League sources confirmed Morey's account, saying the Rockets and Magic did tentatively agree to a deal in March 2012 that would've included some of the young pieces that helped lure Howard to Houston.

Which one of you haterz gonna troll him tomorrow?

GOAT transparent GM!

Daryl Morey ✔ @dmorey
Excited to do an AMA on reddit this Friday at 3PM ET/2PM CT. Will try not to get fined. http://bit.ly/1bvROw7

He also got hit up by her to play some "1-on-1" ping pong
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSDbGyBEOe86WVxo3I6ot73as1uIAUivEv2s9EVcryZA-lMTdnfLA

http://www.lasplash.com/uploads//b7c1/50176dd6b2305-soo-yeon-bio-and-interview-4.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ua_S_uRN4Qc#at=21

Daryl Morey ✔ @dmorey

We are on 4 a match! Seems if I lose I still win... MT @pingponggirl how's your game @dmorey? How about a 1on1 ping pong match 4tickets?

The future of the NBA lies in Texas. Not in Dallas, Houston or San Antonio, home to the state's three NBA teams who have won a combined 64.4 percent of their games over the last decade, but farther south to Hidalgo, Texas, located a long 3-pointer across the Rio Grande from Mexico. There, in the NBA's D-League, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers are playing the most extreme professional basketball in America.


spoilered the rest
You might have seen the Vipers' shot chart, which went viral on Twitter after being posted by the D-League.

EnlargeNBA Charts 2
NBA.com/DLeague/StatsRio Grande Valley is quite fond of the 3-point shot.

Nearly half of Rio Grande Valley's shot attempts have come from beyond the 3-point line, but that's not the only thing that sets the team apart statistically. The Vipers are averaging 107.2 possessions per 48 minutes, which not only blows away the fastest mark in the NBA this season (97.5) but is faster than any NBA team has played in the last 20 years.

Since Rio Grande Valley's offense is also hyper-efficient (their rate of 121.0 points per 100 possessions would lead the NBA this season and blow past the 2004-05 Phoenix Suns (117.5) for the best offensive rating since the NBA-ABA merger), the team is averaging a nearly unthinkable 129.4 points per game. Three players score at least 20 points per game, and all five starters are averaging at least 17.1 points.

None of this is happening by accident. Since the Houston Rockets took control of the Vipers' basketball operations under a single-affiliate partnership agreement in 2009, the Rockets front office under GM Daryl Morey has utilized the D-League squad as a laboratory of sorts, a testing ground for ideas they can import to the NBA.

Under Houston management, the Vipers have always relied heavily on the 3-pointer. They also quickly pushed the pace, and have continued to play faster each season (the D-League's average pace is generally trending upwards, but Rio Grande Valley has increased more). While the big club has always tended to play fast and shoot a lot of 3-pointers, it wasn't until last season that the Rockets really mirrored their affiliate's extreme tendencies. It took some time for Houston to get the right personnel in place (this year's team has inevitably slowed down relative to the rest of the league to accommodate Dwight Howard) and get total buy-in from the coaching staff.

VIPERS AHEAD OF THE CURVE
Season RGV Pace HOU Pace RGV 3A% HOU 3A%
2009-10 93.6 (6) 92.7 (6) .286 (1) .265 (4)
2010-11 96.2 (1) 93.0 (7) .334 (1) .264 (5)
2011-12 97.3 (1) 90.5 (11) .348 (1) .240 (13)
2012-13 99.7 (1) 94.7 (1) .315 (1) .349 (2)
2013-14 108.2 (1) 95.1 (5) .496 (1) .352 (1)

As a result, it's fascinating to consider whether this year's Vipers might be a preview of things to come for the Rockets. After hiring Nevada Smith from Division III Keystone College, Rio Grande Valley has taken the twin philosophies of playing fast and emphasizing high-value shots to their logical extremes. According to the new NBA.com/DLeague/Stats, the Vipers took just 36 2-point shots outside the paint during their first eight games. Some 88.1 percent of their shot attempts came either at the rim or behind the 3-point line. That blows away Houston, which leads the NBA by taking 69.5 percent of its shots from those two locations; no other NBA team is above 60 percent.

This leads to an inevitable question: How far can teams increase the number of 3-pointers they shoot? Last year's Knicks set a new league record by taking 35.4 percent of their shots beyond the arc. The Rockets attempted them at the third-highest rate ever, and are on track to shoot them slightly more frequently this season. League-wide, NBA teams are taking 3s on more than a quarter of their shot attempts (25.4 percent) for the first time ever.

Seeing how much further NBA teams can go may require nothing more than looking at the NCAA, where the shorter 3-point line has always been more inviting. In fact, college teams shot 3-pointers as frequently as NBA teams do now all the way back in 1992-93. Long-distance attempts peaked at 34.4 percent of all shots by 2007-08 before the NCAA moved the line back from 19 feet, nine inches to 20 feet, nine inches -- still three feet shorter than the NBA line at its longest. Since then, the NCAA 3-point rate has settled in around 33 percent of all shots taken.

EnlargeNBA Charts 1
ESPN Stats & Information

The superiority of the 3-point shot has long been held by statistical analysts, but the trend toward fast-paced play is a new one. With former Houston assistant GM Sam Hinkie taking over the Philadelphia 76ers this season, the Sixers have supplanted the Rockets as the league's fastest team.

While there are a variety of reasons Philadelphia might want to speed things up during a rebuilding season, as Per Diem partner Tom Haberstroh explored in the first installment of "The Big Number," that both the Rockets, 76ers and the Vipers are playing at fast paces seems to indicate Morey and Hinkie fundamentally believe in it. (The 76ers' D-League team, the Delaware 87s, also is playing at a fast pace and ranks second in the league in 3-point attempt percentage.)

That philosophy has been applied in the NBA before, most notably by Paul Westhead's Denver Nuggets. The difference is that the Rio Grande Valley system has proven more than just a gimmick. The Vipers won their second D-League championship in four years last spring and have started this season 9-0. Thursday's win over the Austin Toros was their 19th consecutive during the regular season (not counting a 6-0 playoff run), tying the D-League record.

The Rockets' style won't be nearly so extreme when they face the Golden State Warriors tonight (10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN). If Rio Grande Valley continues to be so successful, however, expect Houston to continue pushing the pace and hoisting more 3-pointers. And if that works for the Rockets and Sixers, more NBA teams will follow the Vipers' lead.

more 2nd round picks are needed imo

http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/dam/assets/150714164013-20150714-shaun-livingston--hometown-champ-00002005.1200x672.jpg


it's not even a beef thing, just seemed to close the loop.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

last place still??

I heard Brandon Ingram's better than Ben Simmons, though, so that's something.

they never said nothing bout the teams tho.

i can only use the other name on my old home computer. i tried to get a new password..and nobody responds..Lol

>i tried to get a new password..and nobody responds..Lol

this place really is in its last days. can't wait til we all dissolve into thanos dust particles.