To venture into the world of twitter, one needs to make sure that they don't take things too seriously. After all, it is like the world's biggest sports message board and, to any who frequent those kinds of things know, emotion and knee-jerk reactions are usually overflowing. We've all seen it and some of us are even guilty of it.
But when it was announced that the Rockets had come to terms with free agent center Samuel Dalembert, the lunacy of twitter hit a new high. In short, Daryl Morey has to go. I, of course, disagree with this sentiment and I will explain why as well as tackle some of the biggest gripes I saw on twitter yesterday afternoon/evening after the jump.
Five minutes before the announcement, most of the seemingly bipolar Rockets crowd on there were talking about how bad "Thabust" is and how Jordan Hill would never be able to lock down the center position. But right after Marc Stein sent out the tweet that Houston had agreed on a two year deal with The Haitian Sensation, this is an example of the most common tweet I saw:
"No! Not Dalembum! I wanted Thabeet to get a shot!"
or
"Aww, come on! There's nothing Dally can do that J Hill can't!"
My defense to this one is easy. I'd like to see Thabeet get some time, too. But he isn't ready for anything more than 10-15 minutes a game right now, and that's being optimistic. As for "nothing he can do that Hill can't" uh, yes there is. Only defend, block shots and protect the rim. Look, I've been a big Jordan Hill guy since the day the trade happened and I think that he has shown some terrific progress. But coach McHale even said that this is Hill's job to lose. He's still the starter and if he is better, he'll be in the middle on opening night.
"There goes our first round pick. Le sigh."
or
"Dammit! I was wanting a top 5 lottery pick."
First of all, who said that the signing of Dalembert automatically puts the Rockets into the playoffs? Sure, they have a chance at a low seed and if I was pressured into making a prediction at this moment, I'd say they will make the playoffs with this roster plus Dalembert. But to assume it's going to be a top 5 pick is a stretch. This team was never going to go into "tank mode" and finish with one of the worst records in the league. They're too young and athletic and they'll win games just off of their hustle alone. Remember, they almost made the postseason last year with a 6'6" center. At worst, this team was going to finish around the .500 mark and end up with a lottery pick in the early teens again. So we won't be able to add another undersized power forward to the asset stack if we make the playoffs this season? Big deal. If the Rockets really want another first rounder, they'll simply buy a pick. And don't forget, we still have a first coming from New York this year. Another guy in the mid-teens isn't enough for me to be okay with yet another mediocre season.
"This move makes us a worse team."
or
"Morey needs to go. No way should he have paid that much for this fool. It cripples our cap space."
To anyone who made that first statement, please deactivate your twitter account. As for the second one, I understand the letdown of going from a Pau/Nene combo to Samueal Dalembert. Like I tweeted right after the deal fell through, that's like going from making sweet, sweet love to Mila Kunis in the Caribbean to banging Roseanne Barr behind a dollar theater. But can we really blame that on Morey? I don't want to get into the vetoed trade too much because, to be honest, I'm tired of hearing and talking about it. But Morey did everything he could to try and get a legit center here and the Rockets and Dalembert ended up as the last two people at the dance and decided to just do it.
As for the cap space comment, where in the world do you assume that Morey overpaid for this guy? Worst case scenario, it is a one year deal for $8.5 million. Kwame freakin' Brown got one year $7 million and Dalembert is a much better add than him. So to say it hinders our possible cap space next year makes little sense. Morey got a hell of a bargain on a guy who is capable of a double-double every night with a couple of blocks and several shots changed. Sure, he'll lead the league in goaltends, but I don't think we even had anyone who had the ability to goaltend last season. For this price, the good far outweighs the bad.
In the end, this was the right move in my opinion. Daryl didn't overpay and his contract is still easily movable in any possible deadline deal this year. Plus, no longer witnessing a layup drill on the defensive side of the ball in the 4th quarter is good for my blood pressure.