09-19-2023, 09:40 AM
It seems like the only possible reason a team might trade for KPJ is to salvage/rehab him. It's like buying a stock at a really low price. Makes no sense to cut him.
Here's what we know about guys who do stupid / hurtful / illegal things off-court:
1. Given enough time, and perhaps a heartfelt public apology, people forget. And if the player performs well, they forgive. Remember when Kobe was accused of rape in Colorado? And had to buy his wife the $4m diamond ring?
2. In the moment, teams can respond very emotionally to off-court antics, basically selling at the lowest price. Remember when Rondo quit on the Mavs? They were just done with him, and made zero effort to re-sign him in free agency. He went on to have several productive years with other teams. The Mavs gave up assets to get him, and received no value in return, mostly because of emotion.
In contrast, when Miles Bridges screwed up, the Hornets chose to hunker down, wait for the public backlash to blow over, and then re-sign him to a cheap, $7.9m contract. If he performs well, they'll sign him again. And the Charlotte fans will quickly forget his sins.
If Ja stays clean off the court, and continues to appear on the highlight reels, in another year or two it will be like he never got in trouble to begin with. But if his play drops off...
We fans are a fickle bunch, and our perception is heavily influenced by how we feel. When our teams win, we think everyone involved is amazing. But when they lose, we need to find the responsible party so we can vent.
Right now, Houston fans are venting on KPJ. Will their front office respond emotionally?
For all my dislike of Daryl Morey, I have to admit that he's done a good job of extracting value from players who's stock is very low. No knee-jerk emotion.
Here's what we know about guys who do stupid / hurtful / illegal things off-court:
1. Given enough time, and perhaps a heartfelt public apology, people forget. And if the player performs well, they forgive. Remember when Kobe was accused of rape in Colorado? And had to buy his wife the $4m diamond ring?
2. In the moment, teams can respond very emotionally to off-court antics, basically selling at the lowest price. Remember when Rondo quit on the Mavs? They were just done with him, and made zero effort to re-sign him in free agency. He went on to have several productive years with other teams. The Mavs gave up assets to get him, and received no value in return, mostly because of emotion.
In contrast, when Miles Bridges screwed up, the Hornets chose to hunker down, wait for the public backlash to blow over, and then re-sign him to a cheap, $7.9m contract. If he performs well, they'll sign him again. And the Charlotte fans will quickly forget his sins.
If Ja stays clean off the court, and continues to appear on the highlight reels, in another year or two it will be like he never got in trouble to begin with. But if his play drops off...
We fans are a fickle bunch, and our perception is heavily influenced by how we feel. When our teams win, we think everyone involved is amazing. But when they lose, we need to find the responsible party so we can vent.
Right now, Houston fans are venting on KPJ. Will their front office respond emotionally?
For all my dislike of Daryl Morey, I have to admit that he's done a good job of extracting value from players who's stock is very low. No knee-jerk emotion.