We didn't have his bird rights because he was waived before we got him. Maybe we traded for him but didn't getfull bird rights in the trade. We didn't pick up his option and because we didn't have bird rights couldn't offer him as much money and I'm not sure we could even offer 4.7. Anyway it was a mistake and the first step to losing him. He was great in the playoffs (the Houston series iirc) and then gotten almost no playing time the following year. I'm still hoping we'd give him another chance somehow. He was a fan favorite and a personal favorite of mine. An enforcer, played strong, played inside the paint, a great rebounder and a very good defender. He's been to many teams and never panned out, that's true, but the one season he got real playing time with us, he was a beast
Great OP with regards to the intent. I'm not so sure about Thon being the answer and I don't know who is, but A true PF is now our biggest weakness. Question. Do you think DMC really re-signs with NO? Could we somehow make the moves necessary to make him an offer in FA after next year? Gives us a year to clear cap space and make the moves, but Dame/CJ/Turner/DMC/Nurk would be a pretty damned good core. We would need to get rid of Crabbe/Leonard/Davis/Vonleh, etc.
First of all, no, I don't think Portland can clear enough room to offer Cousins a max deal. Second, neither Cousins nor the Nurk can play power forward, especially when power forwards are downsizing and playing faster and further from the hoop.
You dont think DMC can play PF? I disagree with that. His 3pt shot has exploded and he could be a perfect stretch four for Nurk. However the cap space is an issue isnt it?
I don't think he can reliably defend power forwards, when that means chasing them around the perimeter. Offensively, he'd be fine.
Its a lost convo anyhow because who are we fooling? Him signing as a FA to Portland? That is the actual joke of the day, right? lol.
You're just flat our remembering this wrong. He was never waived before we got him. He was drafted by SAC, traded to HOU and then traded to us. These transactions are all a matter of public record and easy to look up if you care. At the time we acquired him, we had his full Bird rights. We sacrificed those Bird rights when we declined to pick up his 4th year $4.7 million team option. That made him a UFA the following summer. As I stated, his team option was $4.7 million for that 4th season. He clearly wasn't worth it. As a UFA the next summer, he signed a 1-year deal worth $900K and became a UFA again last summer when the Lakers picked him up for $1 million (when they were giving Timofey Mozgov $64 million). We didn't lose him, we got rid of him. If we wanted him back, we could have easily outbid BRK the following summer or LAL last summer. He wasn't great in the HOU series, not even close. And, he wasn't a fan favorite. There were three or four posters on this forum who loved him and mourned "losing" him, but you can say that about pretty much every scrub that has ever passed through this town. And, he absolutely is not a good defender. He's a HORRIBLE defender. He constantly loses his man on defense. Go look up his advanced and floor time stats on 82games.com sometime. Throughout his career he always gets outscored by the player he is guarding and his team always gets outscored - by a LOT, when he's on the floor. This year, the Lakers get outscored by 6.9 pointer per game. When TRob is on the floor they get outscored by 14.0 points per 48. He plays for the worst team in the Western Conference and he makes them worse when he's on the floor. Same thing in BRK last season. They were outscored by 8.9 points per game, but outscored by 14.2 points per 48 when he was on the court. He made a 21-win team worse! He's been given plenty of chances since we traded him. Due to injuries, he was given a starting role in both PHI and BRK. In both places he played himself out of a job. After seeing what he was capable of, neither team wanted him back. If he can't crack the rotation in PHI, BRK or LAL, what makes you think he'd succeed here (or anywhere else)? The last two summers he's languished on the free agency market before finally being picked up for the minimum salary by one of the worst teams in the league. If he is even halfway decent, why hasn't a good team given him a chance, especially when he can be had for the minimum salary when teams are throwing ridiculous contract at mediocre players? Do you think every GM in the league is missing something? Well, seven GMs have given up on him. Do you think all seven of them are stupid? What about the other 23 who have passed on him when he was available for the league minimum salary? Are they stupid, too? Is every GM in the league oblivious to Thomas Robinson's greatness? Or maybe, just maybe, do they recognize the truth, that he's just not, has never been, and will never be, a very good NBA basketball player. BNM
Meyers still has a couple of fans around here. Cant let him get away either. That would be NO's second biggest mistake right?
Well, apparently "losing" Thomas Robinson was his biggest mistake and re-signing Meyers was his second biggest. I wonder if fans in SAC, HOU, DEN, PHI, BRK and soon to be LAL also regret "losing" TRob. BNM
You're actualy right that he wasn't waived before we got him. I always thought that's why we didn't have bird-rights, but I think you're wrong about him not being an amazing player because he is. He's giving the Lakers 4+points and 4+ rebounds in very limited playing time. I hope he one day gets a real chance and proves all the critics wrong
This forum is nuts when it comes to having a boner for crap players. Klaver, Khryapa, Sergio, Barton, TRob all continue to have their die hard supporters. I predicted Sergio would be out of the league after his rookie deal was up. He was. He's back six years later and still sucks. He lost his job on one of the worst teas in the league to T.J. Fucking McConnell. To this day, there are still forum members that insist Nate ruined Sergio's career. Of course, those same members also insisted that Paul Westphal was going to be Sergio's Frank Layden and turn him into the next John Stockton (but apparently without the shooting and defense). It seems so arbitrary some times. Where's the love for Michael Ruffin, Shavlik Randolph and Sergei Monia? BNM
A real chance? OK, 8th time lucky, I guess. How many "amazing" players are there that can't crack the rotation in PHI, BRK or LAL? And yet, in spite of all his amazingness, they still, somehow, get outscored by 14 points per 48 minutes whenever he sets foot on the court. BNM
Amazing players don't bounce around like that. You are seriously sitting here stating you think your opinion is better than that of seven other GM's and coaching staffs? And that somehow they all missed some intricate, amazing part of his play that only you seem to see? Come on man.....
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/players/playerpage/2103840/johnathan-motley Trade up for this guy... He has been on a tear recently. He isn't a freshman so age works better with current roster and should provide a faster learning curve.
He also averages, per 36 minutes, 12.9 points and 14.5 rebounds on 52.5% shooting playing almost exclusively inside the paint. TRob is for real, he'd breakout some day
Bring in another player like Nurkic. Of course, Paul Allen will need to invest in the international scouting department. I'd be down with 2 players having Nurkic's skill set at the 4 and 5 with 3 shooters at the 1, 2, and 3 spots.
And yet, he makes his team worse. He's always been a net negative player. He gets outscored by the guy he's guarding and his team gets outscored, by a lot, whenever he's on the floor. Statistically, this is his "best" year as a pro, yet he still hurts his team. As I mentioned, the Lakers get outscored by 14.0 points per 48 minutes when he's on the court. They get outscored by 5.1 points per 48 minutes when he's not on the court. That's a difference of almost -9 points a game. He makes the worst team in the Western Conference worse. And it's been that way his entire career. Honestly, why do you think so many teams have given up on him? Hint: that's why. He's had 5 years and 7 teams to "breakout". We're still waiting. BNM
