Does Anyone Get This One?

by ClipperSteve on Aug 29, 2008 6:10 PM PDT in News

The Rockets today traded Patrick Ewing, Jr. to the Knicks for the rights to Frederic Weis. Nice story, right? Ewing joins his dad's old team.

But why do the Rockets do this trade? I mean, plenty of teams trade guys for nothing. But that's when they need to get rid of salary. Little Pat's contract wasn't guaranteed - all they had to do was cut the guy.

And in case you don't remember Frederic Weis, this really is a trade for nothing. I think it's safe to say that he's not going to be playing in Houston any time soon, at the age of 31, nine years after he was a draft bust and 8 years after that dunk (I love that French commentary - it cracks me up).

So why does Houston make a trade instead of just waiving the guy? Out of the goodness of their hearts?

I'm not suggesting any sort of conspiracy. I mean, it's obviously some sort of favor to the Knicks or to Ewing or something, but we're talking about a late second round draft pick who didn't start on his college team, so the 'collusion' if that's the right word is on a very minor scale. Still, if there was some other team out there, salivating over the prospect of picking up PE2 from the waiver wire, this would seem to be a little anti-competitive. If the Knicks really wanted him, couldn't they have given up SOMETHING more than Weis? Cash considerations?

So I don't get it. Anyone have any theories as to why the Rockets would do this?

0 recs | Comment 11 comments

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The Kings gave Sean Singletary and Patrick Ewing jr partially contracts before the Summer League. In the end they salary dumped both to the Rockets to get back under luxury tax I think?

The Rockets have 17 players including two free agents they wish to re-sign. They again traded Singletary’s partially guaranteed deal for DJ Strawberry’s non-guaranteed one. Now they’ve salary dumped Ewing’s partially’s guaranteed deal for Frederic Weis’s draft rights.

by yogo on Aug 29, 2008 6:57 PM PDT 0 recs

Hmmm...

Are you sure they were partially guaranteed contracts? That would be very unusual for second round picks going into summer league. Contracts for second round picks are almost always ‘make good’ – the team doesn’t pay them anything if they don’t make the team. But if indeed PE2 has a partially guaranteed contract, then it’s no mystery. Just about saving the money since don’t need another small forward.

In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd

by ClipperSteve on Aug 30, 2008 6:54 PM PDT up 0 recs

Isn't Patrick Sr. a coach for the Rockets?

Maybe they weren’t getting along.

F-Elton!

by mikey p on Aug 29, 2008 11:33 PM PDT 0 recs

No

Ewing Sr works for the Magic.

In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd

by ClipperSteve on Aug 30, 2008 6:55 PM PDT up 0 recs

patrick jr. went to knicks to follow his father’s footsteps duh. I guess Knicks wanted the trade just for the fact that he is the son of their legend, and that relation can somehow lead the Knicks to win a championship.

by highriser on Aug 30, 2008 12:22 AM PDT 0 recs

I know why the Knicks did it...

Why did the Rockets do it? If, as Citizen yogo suggested above, the contract is partially guaranteed, then that explains it. It’s money. But most second round picks are unguaranteed, as I thought was the case with this one.

In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd

by ClipperSteve on Aug 30, 2008 6:52 PM PDT up 0 recs

I applaud the Sentiment.

You are totally right. The Rockets could have just cut Patrick Ewing Jr., but they traded him instead to a team that wanted him for nothing in return. It didn’t do Houston any good perhaps, but it kept Ewing from being cut and it put him on the team where his father paid. I applaud the nostalgia of it and saving some hurt feelings.

The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.

by clarkpojo on Sep 3, 2008 6:34 AM PDT up 0 recs

Also, perhaps

there was some unwritten agreement between the teams concerning a prior deal

by Jax on Sep 3, 2008 9:55 AM PDT up 0 recs

I read online somewhere that Patrick Sr has given the Knicks permission to “unretire” his #33 jersey so his son can wear it. But then the article said you better buy preseason tickets, since that will be your only chance to see the #33 jersey in play ever again.

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" – Albert Einstein

by Another son of Mike Smith on Aug 30, 2008 10:55 AM PDT 0 recs