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“Russell Westbrook will undergo surgery for a meniscus tear in his right knee. No timetable announced.”

Word is that this is the result of the Patrick Beverly play in the second quarter. Whatever impact this has on the playoff series, this is a sad day for fans of the game of basketball.

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There are few things more exciting than the first career start of an expected star, in any sport.  Fans call for it for months in advance.  Then, the coaches finally reward with the call.  Will the prodigy seize the opportunity and take hold of the position or squander the chance?

I had said back prior to the start of the season that by mid-year, Patrick Patterson would lose his starting spot to D-Mo.  I gave it until January.  We’re now in March.  It took trading Patterson to make it happen.

Now Motiejunas gets his full-time chance.  In his last two outings, he shone.  Now, he’ll be the starter.

It’s an exciting time because Donatas has the tools and the skillset to hold down the position for this team for the next decade.  Tomorrow, we could be watching the very start.

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I’m told a Gordon trade this season is highly unlikely, with one source with knowledge of the situation telling ESPN.com this week that, as things stand, there’s “less than a 10 percent chance” New Orleans would move Gordon before the deadline. Still, the fact that the Hornets made calls around the league implies that they are at least warming up to the idea of moving him at some point.

Word is Dallas, Houston and Golden State are among the teams that have inquired about him. Houston envisions playing him alongside James Harden and Jeremy Lin in its fast-paced system, with Harden at small forward.

Of course, both Houston and Dallas view Gordon as Plan B. Both clubs are saving their max cap room this summer to make a run at the disgruntled one, Dwight Howard. If that falls through, the loser(s) will turn their eyes to Gordon, among others.

Gordon is only one of the many options Houston would consider if it can’t land Howard. Several executives have said the Rockets have interest in Philadelphia’s Andrew Bynum, assuming Bynum returns from his knee injury for a significant chunk of the season’s second half and plays up to his typical All-Star form. That might be a big assumption, though, with Bynum’s recent comments about still suffering pain in his knee.

Whatever the case, the Rockets aren’t expected to be as active next week as they typically are around the deadline because of their desire to save their cap space for the summer. I’m told they’re not in play for Zach Randolph, Danny Granger or Pau Gasol, as has been often rumored.

Gordon and Harden at the wings has the potential to be the best 1-2 in the league once Dwyane Wade progresses in his decline.  The only problem is that Gordon just can’t stay healthy.

Honestly, even taking that into consideration, I’d pull the trigger.  In Harden, Gordon, and Lin, you’d have three speedy guards that attack the hoop relentlessly and can force the pace.  With Asik, of course, you can erase mistakes.  I wouldn’t be concerned about size because Gordon is very good defensively.  That Harden is below of average is immaterial – he’d be below average anywhere in the lineup, and the ’2′ and ’3′ spots are interchangeable.  (As I type this, I wonder if the rationale here would be similar to moving McGrady to the ’3′ and bringing in David Wesley, jettisoning Jimmy Jackson.  It might be less defensively demanding for a lazy defender to guard bigger wings than to chase speedy 2′s….)

You’d need some sort of rebounding upgrade at the ’4′, but that’s a constant.  If no Dwight, I’d be all about Gordon.  You might even be able to convince me that Gordon is preferable.

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The demotion doesn’t come as a total shock as much of Smith’s playing time had been stolen away by one Cole David Aldrich.

But while not a shock, the move is disappointing, not so much for its implications concerning Smith, but rather what it signifies about ‘expectation’ in general.

In the last almost-2o years of following this team, I’ve seen countless players, from Oscar Torres to Vincent Hamilton, to Roderick Rhodes, fizzle out after tantalizing for three week stretches.  Each and every time, almost without fail, the commentary follows the same progression: “Wow, they might really have something.” –> “X might be their long term fit at x position.” –> “What is X’s potential?” –> “Can X be an All-Star?”

Now by no means does this signify the end of Smith’s career.  He very well could return to the lineup and again be a force.  But the demotion lends itself as a telling tale towards caution.  Keep expectations saddled for even a complete demolition of Dwight Howard is not enough to indicate lasting power.

And on lasting power, is anything more greatly taken for granted?  How many rookie pitchers have blown through major league lineups only to be figured out their next time around the league.  In the majors, they are planning for you; teams figure you out.  In the NBA, you are one of just a few-hundred men employed for service.  Can you stay effective after coaches have had time to watch tape?

I was listening to a Bill Simmons podcast with Jalen Rose some weeks ago, and the latter was mentioning some player, I forget whom.  Rose was remarking that the player had played ten seasons in the NBA and really underscoring the significance of that achievement.  ”He was able to stay in the NBA for 10 years.  That’s not an easy thing to do.”  And that statement, or similar such, never really hits you until really taking it in.  We belittle and mock so-called “scrubs”, but some of these men have managed to endure a decade in an industry with only few-hundred employment opportunities.  This is professional sports – it’s a really big deal.

On Smith, I think it’s telling that if you go through discussion on this very board, and most likely others regarding this team, a good proportion of fans probably would not have been willing to deal Smith in a package for DeMarcus Cousins, back when the former was at the height of his tear.  Lasting power is a curious thing.

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Atlanta, Dallas and Houston will be Howard’s chief suitors when he enters free agency July 1. But the Lakers can offer Howard a five-year contract worth roughly $118 million while every other team in the league can offer him only about $88 million over four years. The extra $30 million means a lot to Howard, sources said, and is definitely a major advantage for the Lakers. With the injuries he’s recently suffered to his back and shoulder, Howard might be less inclined to give up the extra year of security.

“I understand, you know, what the Lakers want,” Howard told Smith on Monday of his contract status. “And I also understand that right now, there’s no need for all the circus and all the stuff that happened last year [with Orlando] to start back up. I don’t want it, my team doesn’t need it, I don’t need it, and frankly, our fans don’t need it neither.”

Of the Lakers’ three free-agent competitors, Houston appears to be the most favorable for Howard. Dallas is aging, and Howard is not keen on playing in his hometown of Atlanta. Houston, on the other hand, has star guard James Harden and is only a frontcourt star away from becoming a legitimate factor in the Western Conference.

While Howard had no interest in going to Houston last season, sources say he is aware the Rockets have become a more attractive destination since acquiring Harden.

The article states that the Lakers have no intent of dealing Howard this season.

First, the Rockets must determine if they truly want Howard given his recent physical regression.  His skillset does not bode well for a graceful decline.

Secondly, if the Rockets still do find Howard alluring, they won’t be pulling the trigger this month on any of the trade targets recently discussed (ie: Josh Smith, Danny Granger).

Just this week, I described the Howard/Paul scenario as a ‘pipe dream.’

In order, I would rank the Rockets scenario preferences as:

A) An acquisition of Howard or Chris Paul this summer.

B) A two year stop gap rental until 2014.

C) A long term signing of a lower tier star (ie: Josh Smith)

D) Staying pat until 2014.

The post ESPN: Houston most favorable destination of Lakers’ competitors for Howard appeared first on Red94 | essays and musings on the nba and houston rockets.

Houston is one team reported to have a keen eye on Indiana forward Danny Granger. The Pacers aren’t totally against keeping the 29-year-old forward, who has missed all of the season with a knee injury. But following the emergence of All-Star Paul George, they are taking and making exploratory calls.

A deal for Granger would fit the same rationale as would one for Pau Gasol: he expires in the summer of 2014.  An acquisition of either forward would not be with the intent of landing ‘the final fit.’  It would be with the hope of upgrading the team in the interim and making it appear an attractive destination when bigger names become available.  Lebron James can become a free agent in 2014; Kevin Love in 2015.

As I’ve stated before, the Rockets have a few choices.  They can splurge now–or this summer–on the lines of Josh Smith or Paul Millsap .  Such an acquisition would upgrade the team but lock it in indefinitely with little flexibility for future change.  They can stay put and save their pennies, hoping to see what comes of their promising rookies while they wait until 2014.  Or, they can make a Gasol type rental as a placeholder until they find the player they really want.  (There is of course the Dwight Howard/Chris Paul route which is perhaps too unlikely to list as a viable option.)

Granger would seem to fit the Rockets offense beautifully.  A career 38% 3-point shooter, he’d benefit directly from the open looks created by guard James Harden.

The question becomes one of how much it would take to get the Pacers to bite.  We just saw Memphis struggle to unload a healthy, 26-year-old Rudy Gay, settling for the promise of Ed Davis.  Houston can offer Indiana savings and one of its rookie forwards.  If the Pacers asked for Chandler Parsons, Daryl Morey would likely walk away.

This seems a situation where, as always, Rockets management has gone bargain hunting, looking to cash in on other team’s financial problems.  Morey will get what he can, but he won’t overpay.  But the important thing to remember is that, if added, Granger wouldn’t be serving as “the final piece.”  He’d be a two year rental to upgrade the team until the guys they really want next to Harden become available.

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I played T-Mac. I cooked him. Roasted him. Wasn’t even close. Ask him, he’ll tell you. When I was about 20, we were in Germany doing some promotional stuff for that other sneaker company and we played basketball every day. We were in the gym all the time. We played three games of one-on-one to 11. I won all three games. One game I won 11-2. After the third game he said he had back spasms and couldn’t play anymore.

When told of the account, McGrady denied it, via Twitter, responding, “LOL Hell no!”

A few things.  I have no doubt that even if such a matchup went down during the players’ respective primes, Kobe would have won.  Even though McGrady was arguably the more talented of the two at that point, that’s just how Kobe is/was…he wanted to kill you.

But if this particular account from Bryant is true, it’s not really saying much and not worth much mention for bragging rights.  If Kobe was 20 at the time of the showdown, that would have meant McGrady was just 19 and still in his developmental stage.  If “about 20″ means 21, that still would have meant Toronto T-Mac.

Recall that McGrady didn’t explode into the all-world assault weapon which he’s remembered as until he reached Orlando in 2000 where he really honed his skills.  In fact, Mike Miller told me, as part of this interview, that McGrady’s infamous crossover-pullup-jumper sequence was developed that very summer before…against Miller himself, in practice.  (particular quote not in cited video.)

Like I said, if the two played in 2003, I still think Kobe would have won.  But beating a 19 year old McGrady, as Kobe tells it, isn’t really proof of anything.

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Link to podcast.

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Slowly, and ahead of schedule, the Houston Rockets are working well together. Since Jeremy Lin’s breakout performance in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs last week, the team has won four of five games and dropped in a Western conference playoff bracket few thought they’d have a place in. Even after the team traded for All-Star James Harden, pairing him with Jeremy Lin in one of the league’s more intriguing backcourts, the Rockets were still thought to be a young rebuilding team that would need at least a year’s worth of chemistry-building before it could be counted on to play past the regular season. Instead, just seven weeks into this experiment, the alchemy is in place.

A must read from Kelly Dwyer.

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“Like I said, all along I’m trying to create an environment here,” Smart told reporters after Saturday practice.  ”And we all gotta move forward to making sure that we do everything we can to keep that environment in the right direction.  And when any player goes beyond that, then there’s going to be consequences to that.  And I thought last night, it moved in that direction.”

Via the full report, Cousins and head coach Keith Smart got into a heated verbal exchange at halftime of Friday’s affair against L.A.  Judging from Smart’s comments, however, this seems to be more a disciplinary response to something incidental rather than anything approaching a built-up ‘final straw’, as I had originally assumed.  Cousins has had his ongoing issues, but I’m not sure this makes it any more likely that the Kings deal him.

But what if I’m wrong?  What if the Kings decide they’ve had enough?  Would the Rockets pursue?  The most important question might lie in determining what other teams would have interest.  That would help arrive at a market value for the mercurial forward.

Furthermore, have the Terrence Williams and Royce White sagas taught management anything?  Or were those unique circumstances with lesser upside?

Had the Harden trade not happened, I think you’d see Houston take that risk for the same reason they took the risk on the aforementioned wings.  They had a different assessment of ‘risk’ when needing to catch lighting in a bottle.  Now, with Harden and friends, they can be more conservative.  They can sit back and do things the ideal way because they already have their foundation.  (I think you’ll see the team draft differently as well.  They won’t try to go out-of-the-box with the Marcus Morris/Royce White types anymore, but rather, will approach things with more convention.)  They no longer need to scramble for every possible bargain.

Who might have interest?  I don’t know.  [A thought came to me though: if you're Danny Ainge, you make this happen.  You trade Jeff Green and Avery Bradley for other parts and send those to Sacramento.  Kevin Garnett is the one guy in this league who I think can get through to Cousins and if that's a possibility, they have to try to make it happen, for their future.]

How much do you offer if you’re Houston?  I think I’d limit it to one of Morris/Patterson, with one of Motiejunas/Jones, along with Royce White and perhaps a future draft pick.  Not ‘selling the farm’, but probably not the best offer to be had.

More as it comes.

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Pending the opinion of a third doctor to examine Patterson, the Rockets are expected to wait two weeks to evaluate Patterson in hopes he can avoid surgery, Patterson’s agent, Odell McCants, said.

This was surprising.  What seemed like just another run-of-the-mill injury might require surgery.  I had assumed, when the news broke, that he’d just be out a few days.  Too bad for Pat – he had been really rounding into form.

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Also via Feigen, Marcus Morris becomes the likely starter while rookie Terrence Jones will be recalled from the D-League.

A few thoughts:

1. Regardless of your opinion on Patterson–and he’s a fairly polarizing figure given his rebounding inadequacies–any time you lose a starter, it’s a pretty big loss.  That effect is compounded by the fact that he’s a ‘big’ and that this is the youngest roster in all of basketball.  ’Bigs’ have more responsibility (defensively) than other players and young teams inherently struggle with defensive cohesion.
2. I’m no doctor, but these recurring injuries to Patterson are becoming slightly concerning.
3. The silver lining is that Terrence Jones will get his shot.  I predict he’ll explode and never look back.  I’m basing this on the fact that the Rockets have had a breakout rookie in (seemingly) every year of Daryl Morey’s tenure with the team.
4. I do not think this injury holds any consequence in potential trades.  Teams know what Patterson is: a relatively dependable ‘big’ with limited upside.  He probably had little trade value to begin with; this development does nothing to diminish that.

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McHale of course was Garnett’s mentor upon the latter’s entrance into the league.  Friday night, the two legendary forwards shared an emotional embrace in what is still the fresh aftermath of the tragic death of McHale’s daughter, on a day marred by tragedy for all.

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Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has recalled forward/center Donatas Motiejunas from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner Rio Grande Valley.

Motiejunas (7-0, 222, Lithuania), who was assigned to Rio Grande Valley on Nov. 13, averaged 24.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in two starts with the Vipers. In Friday’s season opener against Bakersfield, Motiejunas led the team with 31 points and eight boards in 36 minutes. Last night, he posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds against the Jam.

I think this is more a case of D-Mo having nothing left to gain down in the Valley, after destroying the competition, than it is of him being needed in the rotation.  He doesn’t really have any skills left that need to be honed against the underlings – he just has to get reps against the big boys, at this point.

At the same time, with Terrence Jones somewhat fizzling off, and with the staff perhaps feeling reaffirmed in the importance of a stretch shooting-4 for this offense, maybe a case could be made that ‘Mo will get some burn.  We’ll find out on Tuesday.

The post Houston Rockets recall Donatas Motiejunas from Rio Grande Valley Vipers appeared first on Red94 | essays and musings on the nba and houston rockets.

Click to download.

Also be sure to check out ESPN.com’s 5-on-5 roundtable on Lin where I and four others took a few questions on Lin’s struggles and the Knicks’ future.

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The Rockets have acquired reigning Sixth Man of the Year award winning guard James Harden, according to Yahoo! NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski:

The Rockets sent Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, and future draft considerations to the Thunder for Harden, sources told Y! Sports. Along with Harden, the Thunder will send Cole Aldrich, Lazar Hayward, and Daequan Cook. 

As part of the deal, the Thunder will receive “significant” future draft picks from Houston, a source told Y! Sports. 

The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry adds that at least three of the picks the Thunder will be getting are a protected first-round pick from Toronto, a protected 1st-round pick from Dallas, and a 2013 Charlotte second rounder.

Being that I just heard about this deal roughly 30 minutes ago, my ability to analyze and absorb what just happened is borderline non-existent. There are so many questions, so much excitement, and too much shock. The Rockets got the best player in the deal (by a mile), but the plethora of draft picks they just lost for a player who the Thunder apparently weren’t willing to offer a max contract is, well, tragic.

Will this go down as the defining transaction of Daryl Morey’s tenure? To date there’s no question it is. Can James Harden be “the man” on a championship contender? How big of a step back did the Thunder just take? Can Kevin Martin compete on a good team? Man, so many questions. I can’t wait to find the answers.

 Twitter: @ShakyAnkles

UPDATED at 10:20PM - 

Like Michael above, not having had enough time to absorb this, I’m not exactly sure how I feel.  Wages of Wins made a case last season for Harden as the league’s best shooting guard, a premise which lost much steam after a disappointing Finals performance by the Bearded One.  Still, you can see some of the rationale that might have weighed into Morey’s decision.

The Rockets give up essentially Lamb and a guaranteed lottery pick from Toronto for an emerging 23-year-old All-Star talent in Harden.  From the Rockets’ perspective, Kevin Martin really was a throw-in for matching purposes.  (Though a major coup for the Thunder; more on that.)  They’ll quickly resign Harden (we hope) to the max and boast three young, proven building blocks in Harden, Lin, and Asik with rookies Royce White, Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas, and second year man Chandler Parsons left to boot.  They have another piece in their quest to build a team after the demise of Yao Ming.

On the other hand, this shifts the team more towards that familiar road in the middle.  With Harden, the Rockets certainly won’t finish near the bottom of the league but will still struggle to make the postseason.  That will take them out of the running for one of next summer’s top picks.  Trading the Raptors’ pick already knocked out the other percentage of that occurrence.  They have youth, but still, no premiere-premiere talent.  James Harden cannot be the best player on a championship team.

The Rockets will need to hope that they can lure another star through this deal or strike a similar transaction.  They’ll hope that the rookies remaining will bud into more than what they currently are.  For now, the Rockets got a bit more interesting–a turn of events which should surely help them in their ongoing negotiations with the major television providers–even if we don’t know how it will play out in the long run. — Rahat Huq

UPDATED at 2:25AM -

Here is Hollinger’s reaction to the trade.  A snippet:

Did I mention there was another team in this trade? The Rockets are looking good. Reeeeal good. They gave up some choice assets they’d accumulated to make a deal just like this one, and in return they finally have a go-to star on the wings. Harden will have a max extension faster than you can say “beard,” and Rockets GM Daryl Morey can finally move forward with the post-Yao strategy he’s been working so hard to initiate.

Royce Young from Dailythunder.com:

It feels like a dark day for the organization and professional basketball in Oklahoma City. Again, it’s a nice trade speaking strictly about pieces. And if the Thunder had topped Miami in the Finals last season, I’m not sure I’d care all that much. But I wanted to see THIS team go for it. I wanted to see if this group could get it done. Now, we’ll never know. And there was no reason it couldn’t have happened.

While I think the Beal offer on draft night was better, I think the Thunder did great with this haul.  (They certainly did far, far better than that embarrassment of a package Orlando claimed in return for Dwight Howard.)  Martin will fill it up with ease and Lamb–who I’m extremely high on–will one day be a real player; there’s also the lottery pick from Toronto.

Even after having four hours to digest this news, I’m still not completely sure how I feel.  Though, I think I’m coming around.

Your best bet–and what I was hoping for–was that the Rockets would be awful with Toronto faltering as well.  That would have given the team two high lottery picks this summer, in addition to all four of the rookies.  You then would bring them up together.

But Toronto is looking nice and could push for the playoffs this season.  Selling early on that commodity surely factored into the calculus after management got burned on two Knicks picks from the McGrady deal originally thought to be sure-fire lottery.  If it’s Lamb, Martin, and 14 for Harden, that’s a no-brainer homerun.  And most would agree, I think, that Lamb/Martin/14 was a higher probability than Lamb/Martin/4.

Harden’s a star, if not a superstar, and one of the best decision-makers in the league with the basketball in his hands.  With Jeremy Lin, the Rockets might have the best pick and roll backcourt in the entire league.  Those two players now suddenly also make up the most interesting backcourt in the NBA with both men having much to prove: Lin that he really is a star and Harden that he is worth the max.

As is now being widely reported, the Rockets will also have the cap space next year, even after giving Harden the maximum, to add another player at the maximum level.  Notables next summer include Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, and Andrew Bynum.  Neither Howard nor Paul are coming.  Smith just does not make sense.

I think the greater likelihood is that Morey will try to trade, once again, for his second star to pair with Harden.  Some names to watch would be the Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge and Minnesota’s Kevin Love (most recently of The Love Stomp on Luis Scola’s Face fame.)  Assets remaining to deal are Jones, Motiejunas, Marcus Morris, and Royce White.  The team hopes that atleast two from this quartet shows promise this season so it can facilitate its follow-up deal.  A follow-up for a second star in such a hypothetical would see the Rockets completely rebuilt without having tanked, featuring the new acquisition flanked by Parsons, Asik, Lin, and Harden at the other four spots.

For now, until that later deal is made, the focus is on Harden and the present.  The Rockets still won’t make the playoffs but without a doubt, they’ll be interesting.  As mentioned, the pieces are finally coming together and the nucleus is starting to take shape.

All that’s really left is finality at the four.  If another deal isn’t made, can the jump they hope for come from within?  Jones himself this preseason has looked like a poor man’s Josh Smith.  Motiejunas’ upside is of Andrea Bargnani.  And we haven’t even seen yet what can become of Royce White.

The next step now will be for the Rockets to see what they have at the ’4′.  Whether you liked this trade or not, things are finally starting to come together.

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Omer Asik, as much as those legs can handle, will be given starter quality minutes in Kevin McHale’s system. The former Bulls center’s fouling rate dropped significantly in his second season in 2011-12, and his defensive presence improved, somehow. This is a player that, by himself, could halve Houston’s 17th ranking in defensive efficiency — and yes, we’re aware that the Rockets field a backcourt of Lin and Kevin Martin amongst a group of rookies and youngsters. If Asik can play around 2600 minutes in total this season and come through with an approximation of his Chicago effectiveness in spite of the fatigue that comes from the minutes increase, you could have a real haughty column in his defense on your hands come May, when Dwight Howard walks away with another Defensive Player of the Year award.

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Isaiah Thomas, Rich Devos, Leslie Alexander and John Gabriel, you believed in me and I thank you. Jeff Van Gundy, you exemplified the brilliance of what a great coach is. Steven A. Smith, you gave us players a voice and for that I thank you. Doug Christy, Charles Oakley, Dee Brown, Mugsy Bogues, Antonio Davis, Dell Curry, Kevin Willis, you all showed a young kid from Auburndale Florida how to be a better player. Kobe, you made me work harder and it was an honor to play against you. And Yao, we shared an experience together that will always be with me, thank you.

The Stephen A. Smith dynamics were interesting because I can’t recall another athlete, at least in this sport, outright showing appreciation to a media figure for serving as an outlet to the public.  But what hit home more was the mention of Jeff Van Gundy, the only such mention in the post of a former coach.

We’ve heard Van Gundy rave about McGrady’s talents over the years on national broadcasts, even recently going so far as to say that T-Mac was the closest thing he had ever seen to a perfect body and a good mind.  Until now, we didn’t know if the appreciation was mutual.

I’ve contested that Jeff Van Gundy was the best coach this team has had in the now-close-to-20-years I’ve been following it.  I felt this way because, despite his reputation as an authoritarian, Jeff was a realist.  He knew how to get through to people in unconventional manners.  His communication skills are precisely why Kelvin Cato and Cuttino Mobley enjoyed career years under his tutelage.

The thing about Jeff, like any good teacher, was that he knew what buttons to push and that not everyone can and should be dealt with the same.  Guys like McGrady and Kelvin Cato needed to be handled delicately, in McGrady’s case because he was a diva and in Cato’s case because he lacked drive and self esteem.  You never heard Jeff even remotely disparage either of these players in the media.  On the contrary, he asked of more from Yao in his public statements because he knew Yao could take it.  Yao didn’t break at criticism.

One might contest that Van Gundy ruined Francis’ career.  I’d strongly disagree.  With the leash Rudy T. had given him from the start, I’d argue that the damage had already been done.  No one before Jeff had ever held Francis accountable.

My greater point though is that I think there’s a lesson to be learned here.  Van Gundy got the most out of McGrady because he understood him.  There were rumors that McGrady was allowed to sit out at practice and his lack of intensity on defense was tolerated.  Why?  Because McGrady was a hall-of-fame level talent at the other end.  It wasn’t worth alienating him simply out of idealist demands.

From what we heard last year, I worry somewhat about Kevin McHale.  He’s old school and seems to want to hold everyone accountable equally.  I think that makes for a great speech but I’m not sure that’s always the best approach.  Everyone has different buttons that need to be pushed.

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As all of the facts have finally come to the forefront, we have a clear understanding of the saga and, while its somewhat understandable, its rather disturbing.  Medcalf in the article goes on to say that, “when White called me Wednesday night, he wanted to make sure that his message would be heard by the masses.”  That statement sort of confirmed some of the suspicions many of us had held.

For Royce, it seems, this whole ordeal was about two things: 1) exposure and awareness for mental health and 2) assessing the level of trust extant between him and the Rockets.  Unfortunately for White, this isn’t the amateur ranks anymore and executing what essentially amounted to a calculated holdout is not the way to handle things in the pros.

Medcalf sums my sentiments well when he closes saying:

But he is potentially risking his NBA future by doing things this way. He could alienate his teammates. He could adversely affect his relationship with the franchise and the league.

Access to a bus might ultimately give White that sense of security he’s always desired. What he may not realize, however, is that the Rockets have to trust him too.

Unless White is really, really good, teams won’t stand for such shenanigans.  He’s off to a very, very poor start in his NBA career.

Teams tolerated Dennis Rodman because he possessed hall of fame level talent on the basketball court.  But something like this won’t fly for a marginal rotation player.

I had high hopes for White.  Not many people his size can pass the basketball the way he showed he can in the summer league.  But he’s raw.  If he’s punished by the coaching staff for this stunt–something I’ve said I hope is not the case–he really will only have himself to blame.  I understand the cause and I understand the motivation, but how Royce White handled this situation was not the proper way to go about things.

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“What it’s going to look like is every game that’s drivable, I’m going to get a bus for myself,” White said. “And I’m going to make that bus feel like home so that there’s a level of consistency in a job where inconsistency is very apparent because of the schedule. I’m going to try and level that out and make sure that my stress levels stay low and that my rest is regular and that my meals are regular and that as much as I can, draw consistency from a very inconsistent schedule. …

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“We are trying to figure out a plan for me to be healthy and successful long-term,” White said. “It’s not really anything that’s going on right now. It’s more of trying to take a pro-active approach and trying to put together a solid plan.

“It is definitely linked with my anxiety sure, but it’s not so much as far as my anxiety now. Basically what happened was my doctor, we discussed it, and it was decided the way the plan was now just wasn’t logistically healthy.

“So what can we do strategically to try and improve the chances of everybody being successful in this situation, my success and the Rockets success? If I fail then that’s not good for them either, because it’s an investment.”

I don’t want to blow this out of proportion but this is extremely troubling.  We made light of the matter at the time of the draft but it appears that still, the illness is something which will affect Royce in his life.

First, your concerns go out to Royce as a person.  Mental health is no joke and can, in instances, cripple a person as much as physical afflictions.  But, this is a sports blog, so at the risk of appearing crass, we have to discuss the implications of the event.

My first reaction to the news was remembrance of the late Eddie Griffin.  That was an instance where the Rockets, the Rockets’ coaching staff and Rockets management did not handle a very delicate matter with appropriate sensitivity.  You cannot apply ‘tough love’ in situations where a person should be approached with kid gloves.  The Rockets did not give Griffin the mentoring and guidance that his background necessitated.  Similarly, they must now ensure that White attains the medical attention he needs and adheres to the prescription outlined in consultation.

In crude terms, we are discussing a corporation and an asset worth millions to the profit-seeking ventures of that corporation.  It would be downright foolish to not give proper heed to the sensitivity of the dilemma.  I pray that Kevin McHale in particular handles this smartly.  ’Tough love’ is not always the right path.

It would be easy to brush this under the rug and dismiss these concerns as sensationalistic.  But the fact of the matter is that Marcus Morris just wasted away his entire rookie campaign largely in part to not having the benefit of a training camp.  NBA training camp is no joke.  The fear here is that White, if missing camp, might not ever get back up to speed and might not ever be granted a chance by McHale.  Not to play slippery slope, but he could be buried before things even tip off.  It’s happened before, like I said, with Morris.

This is a year, the first in ‘The New Era’, where the team must see what it has with its new prospects.  They cannot afford to have any linger on the bench.  Let’s hope that White gets the treatment he needs and that things get back on track.  For both White and for the Rockets.

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But at least he wasn’t insulted by the leader of the free world this summer. No, that happened last winter (via Jodi Kantor of The New York Times):

No matter what moves Mr. Romney made, the president said, he and his team were going to cut him off and block him at every turn. “We’re the Miami Heat, and he’s Jeremy Lin,” Mr. Obama said, according to the aide.

Ouch. Perhaps for politicians or major world figures, a censure from the President of the United States can be brushed aside as nothing more than political rhetoric for the sake of rhetoric. But when Barack Obama’s taking potshots at you, 24-year-old athlete and fellow alumnus of said commander-in-chief’s alma mater… well, I’m guess that it meant a little more than anything that Chris Broussard or I might have to say.

In fairness to the president, the conversation being quoted occurred in February; Obama, ever the basketball junkie, had likely seen the Heat’s nationally-televised ending to Linsanity in which Lin, admittedly, was shut down in every possible way, posting a line of eight points, three assists and eight turnovers on 1-11 shooting. You know, the kind of game that you hope the president of the country you call home isn’t watching.

Still, Rockets fans can’t help but see some silver lining here; I mean, people talk about players hooping with chips on their shoulders after messy breakups with former squads, but to be dismissed by President Obama so roundly? One has to think Lin will eventually come around to the thought of the president eating his words at some point in this upcoming season while Obama watches a Rockets game in the White House. Or in Chicago as a private citizen, since most national polls still have the president polling at a statistical tie with Mitt Romney. Topicality!

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