Four Players The Houston Rockets Should Not Bring Back
By Travis Oquin
May 25, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Golden State Warriors guard
Andre Iguodala(9) drives to the basket as Houston Rockets guard
Pablo Prigioni(9) defends during the second half in game four of the Western Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs. at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Pablo Prigioni was mostly an unknown to Rockets fans before coming over from the Knicks at the trade deadline. With the Rockets moving on from Isaiah Canaan because of what seemed like personal reasons from Kevin McHale and his refusal to play Canaan, the Rockets saw Prigioni as a bit of insurance at the point guard position.
However, once Patrick Beverley went down that left them with two 37 year old point guards, Prigioni and Jason Terry, making for huge deficiencies on defense at the point.
Prigioni was supposed to be an excellent 3 point shooter (40% on career), however with the Rockets Prigioni only shot 34% in the regular season and 29% in the postseason, has a slow release and is often reluctant to shoot it.
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Prigioni did show some flashes of what he can do in the postseason, but it’s not enough of a factor to retain him. He has one year left on his contract at $1.7 million.
I do expect that Jason Terry will likely be back next season on a veteran minimum contract as he seemed to be a good fit off the court as a veteran leader and McHale loves him. But there is simply no reason to have two 38 year old point guards in today’s NBA, so we expect Prigioni, much like Dorsey, to be packaged in some deal and moved on.