Pacers may offer Landry

[andonewheel]

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/My- ... ndry-2923/
That is a great article that details some of the reasons why Landry went in the second round and was underrated. He had a 36.5" max vert and measured at 6' 7.75" without shoes, so if he put on the shoes that a lot of guys wear he could measure at 6'9.5" easily. I don't consider his size to be an issue, I'd be much more worried about his knee and how he will continue to develop if given a starting role and 30+ minutes per game.

[MilBucksBackOnTop06]

Landry for the MLE
I would be very satisfied, he would be a top-notch workhorse for us at PF. He'd fit in well with our team and our direction for the future. I would be content with our offseason at that point as long as Sessions got every opportunity to play over Mo.

Also, surprisingly I get the impression that Houston is planning on letting him go. Normally teams put out the word that they'll match any offer their player receives, even when that is not the case, just to scare off other teams and keep the offer lower. I haven't heard that for Landry, and their drafting suggests they could expect Scola or Landry to be out.

I for once disagree on Landry. You have Landry in Luc Mbah Moute!

Dont waste money.

Go get Duhon if he and Skiles get along or another free agent PF. Plus I am leery of Landry coming home this early in his career.

There might be distractions he might have being a young guy just learning the NBA ropes. The timing is just not right.

Don't get me wrong. I like Landry a lot. But it's too early for him to come home yet. He is another duplicate of the guy you drafted out of UCLA.

Same size and game and everything.

[trwi7]

I for once disagree on Landry. You have Landry in Luc Mbah Moute!

Yeah except Mbah A Moute is one inch shorter, 27 pounds lighter and is almost doubled up in the bench press by Landry.

[Neapolitan Buck]

To finish not in the luxury tax threshold, Houston can not match even a 4mm a year contract...I would try to give him part of the MLE, say 3year- 13 mm, for example.

[bstein14]

Landry will get the full MLE for someone....

I can see him taking it for just 3 years though... Feeling that he will be able to raise his value and get a big new deal in a few seasons.

[andonewheel]

I for once disagree on Landry. You have Landry in Luc Mbah Moute!

Dont waste money.

Go get Duhon if he and Skiles get along or another free agent PF. Plus I am leery of Landry coming home this early in his career.

There might be distractions he might have being a young guy just learning the NBA ropes. The timing is just not right.

Don't get me wrong. I like Landry a lot. But it's too early for him to come home yet. He is another duplicate of the guy you drafted out of UCLA.

Same size and game and everything.

I don't see that comparison at all. I think of The Prince as a SF who can play spot minutes defending small PFs or slower SGs. Landry is a PF, without question. Landry is a better rebounder and has a decent face-up game against slower bigs or he can post up smaller bigs. He has far superior touch around the basket and is developing a threatening mid-range jumper. The Prince has very little offensive game to speak of and he probably won't play more than 5 mpg this year.

I don't think you need to worry about a player returning home, that is all a media construction IMO. Landry is probably the only free agent who would see playing in Milwaukee as a plus unfortunately. My worry is his knee which may be a problem area and may not be the type of issue you want in a player signed to a multi-year deal. If his deal expired along with Redd and Jefferson I'd be very happy to give him the full MLE. Otherwise I'd want to go less.

On the topic of the Rockets wanting more testing beyond imaging, doesn't that imply some sort of arthroscopic surgery? I can understand why Landry would be upset with that, but putting that out there does worry me even if it's all a ruse by Houston.

[carmelbrownqueen]

I was listening to an interview Carl Landry did last week, and he sounded very committed to staying with Houston. He seemed to love everything about his current team and wasn't necessarily interested in going anywhere else.

[Balls2TheWalls]

I was listening to an interview Carl Landry did last week, and he sounded very committed to staying with Houston. He seemed to love everything about his current team and wasn't necessarily interested in going anywhere else.

I have to think that if anyone can pull him from Houston it would be Indiana (College Town) or Milwaukee (Home Town).

[carmelbrownqueen]

He was asked about playing for his hometown and didn't really sound all that interested. He didn't dismiss the possibility, but was very indifferent about coming home to play. Again, based on what he was saying.. he sounded content with his current team, seemed to love his teammates, and the coaching staff.

It's also worth noting that he didn't seem very knowledgeable about the Bucks either..

[craig]

Landry is a young man, and over most of his lifetime the bucks have been losers, losers, losers. During his one season in the league, the bucks were one of the biggest losers and super dysfunctional. Easy to understand why he might not be that tuned in to what gives with the Bucks. Make him an above-market offer, then maybe he'll be interested enough to let Hammond give him a sales pitch. Perhaps he'll be persuaded that the consistent losing of the past is going to get reversed soon, and that perhaps he himself could help make that happen. But to even get in the ballgame would probably require both that you make a superslot above-market offer, and that Hammond (and perhaps Skiles as well) be very persuasive recruiters.

The other factor in FA, I'd think, is Skiles himself. There apparently are a few players around who respect him and think he can be an effective coach. But it seems whatever love he gives, it's tough love. I'd guess that for most players, even those who are hard-working, well-intentioned, and good team players, that Skiles probably does not present as a coach you want to play for. Justified or not, my guess is that his reputation around the league's players is pretty unpopular.

So I'd guess that for most possible FA's, all else being equal, that Skiles is more likely to be a losing tiebreaker than a winning tiebreaker factor.

So in general we've got a franchise that's usually undesirable weather-wise; location-market-advertising-wise; probably coach-wise; and has been a consistent loser. Which FA's will be attracted to that? Needs to either have some unusual local ties (Landry has that, although as carmel suggests it's questionable how motivating/attractive those are); or you need to pay above market; or the guy needs to be some rarity who for some reasons thinks playing for Skiles will be a treat rather than a perpetual downer; or ELSE HAVE A PLAYING-TIME OPPORTUNITY THAT ISN'T AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE.

The latter could apply to Landry, or perhaps to some other PF's or guards. Guys who are clearly backup players elsewhere, maybe they see the PF and the PG situation in Milwaukee as being uniquely attractive in that the team is so bad with such feeble competition, that a guy will get a clear and winnable shot to be a starter for us. And maybe nobody else will be able to offer that.

So I think the open spot at PG and PF could appeal to some guys who frankly aren't good enough to be offered starting jobs by any or many other teams. Duhon, he's not that good. But Milwaukee, maybe all I need to do is beat out this inexperienced late 2nd round Sessions to start? Maybe that kind of opportunity isn't available anywhere else? Perhaps Landry or some other PF could be made to understand that all he'd need to do to become the primary PF is to beat out an undersized raw rookie (easy), a marshmallow CV, and no-skills Gadzuric. If the guy isn't actually good enough to be offered primary minutes anywhere else, we might look pretty interesting.

Whether it's desirable to get FA's who probably aren't good enough to get consideration for starting with other teams, I'm not sure.