He was high risk-high reward. The dude had ridiculous talent and skill. Also, the Sixers lost on Parker/Wiggins, and they wanted to tank that year anyway. Worked out for them good, since this year they got his replacement in Okafor. But yeah, it's a waste of money.
That's an interesting pairing. Wonder if Doc Rivers can get him to buy into his strengths. I know I bag on James Harden, but he's the biggest reason Smith improved his 3-point shooting while in Houston. Not sure if the Clippers will have that same type of dynamic. I still think he should abandon the 3-point line and just concentrate on boards, defense, and easy put-ins. Kind of a mini-me version of DeAndre. Another shit FT guy though.
The Kings offered him a near-max contract and he refused. He thrived in the Rockets' system and was playing with his buddy Dwight Howard, yet he also refused to re-sign. Doc may have promised him a starting spot and huge minutes or something because he signed for the vet min. I understand he's still getting paid by Detroit but that's a huge risk. The Clippers upgraded massively their SF rotation. From Barnes/Bullock to Smith/Pierce.
Clippers are clearly banking on a rule change concerning fouls off the ball Smith ain't starting. And he's playing the 4 not the 3
Ty Lawson to the Rockets. Morey keeps changing his team so much, they will never get a chance to gel.
The team is essentially the same as last year + Thornton & Lawson - trash. Morey resigned Brewer, Beverly, and K.J. McDaniels and are in talks to bring back Terry. The only rotational player lost was Smith, and he was offered more from the Rockets than the Clips. Apparently, Smith was told Jones wasn't going to be traded to the Nuggets for Lawson (DUI = Jones off the table) so he didn't want to be fighting for playing time and Clips told him he'd play the 3 and 4 spot, just basically promised him more minutes. Morey told him the truth (minutes could be limited), Doc blew some smoke up his ass, they had better make it work, Smith can turn on a team if he feels he's been wronged. Morey committed absolute theft in getting Lawson, if he gets his shit together.
Lawson is a big upgrade for Houston. Now they got a guy who can create to take pressure off harden. Smith was a good get for the clips bench aND if he starts fucking up they can just cut him loose
Yeah, Lawson is a great pickup for the Rockets, especially if he can recapture some of his shooting touch from a couple years ago. I'd also expect Harden's turnovers to go down, along with Houston's turnovers in general with Lawson handling the ball.
It'll Be Interesting to See if Harden is WILLING to Play w/Out the Ball as Much...More than Anything, Harden's a DRIVER, a Shake-N-Bake Guy...He's NOT a Catch & Shoot Guy, Necessarily... Neither is Lawson, for that Matter... REED:mj:
Harden seems to get worn down every other game, and that's when he puts up those ridiculous turnover numbers. Hopefully he'll see this is a blessing in disguise for him. Doesn't mean he has to give up creating, just back off and let Lawson handle the rock whenever he gets the slightest bit gassed.
For the Rockets to succeed, Harden needs to take less shots in the playoffs. He got tons of shooters and enough inside threats to get the whole team going with his great passing skills and court vision. He tries too hard to be the hero.
' Right on the money with the turnovers, Rockets were 25th I believe and Lawson's TO rate is very very good.
Harden asked the Rockets GM for help at PG, for another creator. He did it publicly, a tweet or something to that effect. Harden did play off the ball quite a bit in OKC, he did fine. I think they will share ball handling duties. The big thing problem along with what Noble said about the TO, is that in the WCF, the Rockets were -36 in all minutes that Harden was on the bench. That, more than anything else, lost them the series. Harden sat, offense turned to doodoo. Lawson should help quite a bit.
Unfortunately that's what I hear. Harden parties ALL the time. Strip clubs are his favorite. It could turn out very bad, Harden and Lawson out together, Ariza chills with Harden quite a bit too, Rockets need to hire a full time drivers for all of them. Lawson had a guaranteed contract for the next 2 years, before the trade got completed, Rockets got Lawson to agree to make the last year a team option, which is huge.
Teams options are there to keep them in check. Rockets could've used a high character guy instead. Who's their mature locker room veteran? Most of them are clowns.
The Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers for the N.B.A., which stands for "National Basketball Association", championship.
Well for those that know me I was a pretty big follower of Perry Jones who got traded from the Thunder to the Celtics. I was hoping he might impress enough to make the roster which meant I would have started following and rooting for the Celtics as possibly my third team. Alas it wasn't meant to be. Apparently Jones has already missed two practices because of right knee soreness. The same knee he was sidelined for last season and the same knee he just recovered from having surgery on. So now the Celtics have 3 reasons to cut him. 1A. He's the only none guaranteed salary trying for a roster spot. 2. He's supposed to be impressing at a really high level to justify throwing away money to keep him as opposed to cutting him for free. 3. He now appears to be injury prone or at least have severe knee issues that are likely gonna be a recurring issue. Each one of those reasons are huge knocks against him and the Celts would be fools to keep him. I can't see anyone else taking a chance on damaged goods either and it's probably the reason the Thunder gave up on him and why he fell so far in the draft to begin with. Too bad, I don't know why but I really liked something about this guy.
