After serving as Conley's substitute for more than a year, Lowry was sent to the Rockets.
However, after coming to the Rockets, Lowry still couldn't play in the starting lineup. He still had to play as a substitute for Little Black Bean Brooks, and was unable to get stable playing time.
No way, this past season due to Yao Ming's season reimbursement, Tracy McGrady only played 6 games. The Rockets were Home Alone. Brooks seized the opportunity and performed very well. He started all 82 games and averaged 19.6 points per game in one season.
Points, 5.3 assists are impressive data.
Brooks also won the Most Improved Player award last season.
So Lowry can only serve as a substitute for Brooks.
Playing as a substitute means that there is not much playing time, and it is not stable, and it is difficult to guarantee the status.
It is difficult for anyone who plays in an uncertain situation to adjust to his best condition at any time.
Therefore, Lowry's statistics last season were not impressive, averaging only 9.1 points, 4.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game.
Such data can only be said to be good for a backup point guard.
It is for this reason that even if Lowry becomes a restricted free agent this summer, he is not very popular in the free market.
This is also the reason why Deng Fang is not in a hurry.
Deng Fang knows Lowry's strength.
Lowry is not tall, but is very strong, full of impact, strong offensive power, fast breakthrough speed, and extremely aggressive. His game looks very passionate.
Although he is a substitute, Lowry's diligent style and tenacious fighting spirit on the court are most appreciated by Rockets executives and even fans.
Although he is not tall, Lowry does not suffer on the defensive end.
Due to his sufficient strength, Lowry can switch to guard players in most positions.
Even against a strong third-position player like James, Lowry can hold up!
More importantly, Lori is not a rough guy with a simple mind and well-developed limbs!
Lowry is very smart on the defensive end, makes accurate judgments, and is not afraid of physical confrontation, so he is a good at drawing offensive fouls!
Of course, Lowry's problem is also very prominent.
Lowry's biggest problem is his inaccurate three-point shooting.
In the early stages of his career, Lowry relied almost entirely on breakthroughs to make a living, and his outside shooting was very poor.
Forgetting that he only played 10 games in the first season, for the next three consecutive seasons, Lowry's three-point shooting percentage fluctuated around 25%, not even 30%!
This is very fatal for a point guard.
Without Livingston's height, he cannot post up and attack opponents alone. If he does not have three-pointers, such a point guard's weakness will be too great.
The point guard usually has the ball in his hands, and his biggest role is to create opportunities for his teammates.
But if you don't pose much of a threat on the offensive end and only know how to rush in, then why should your opponent defend you closely?
You don't even care about the players you are playing against, and others won't come up to attack you!
There are always people in front of your teammates, so how can you create open opportunities for your teammates?
Lowry's weakness is very fatal.
It is precisely for this reason that Lowry was pushed to the bench by Little Black Bean Brooks.
There is no way, Brooks' three-pointers last season were very accurate, almost 40%!
No matter what time, the defender's shooting is the most important.
Although the small ball era has not yet arrived, and although today's teams still attach great importance to the inside, shooting from the outside is still a must.
This is the essence of basketball!
This is also the main reason why Lowry is not popular in the free market.
The Rockets gave Lowry a contract offer of more than $2 million a few days ago, making him a restricted free agent.
This way the Rockets can match any team's offer to Lowry.
But the free market has been open for more than ten days, and still no one has made an offer to Lowry.
This is also the reason why Deng Fang is not in a hurry.
Let Lowry wait a few more days to give him some self-doubt before his asking price is too high.
Doing this can also make the Rockets relax their vigilance and think that Lowry is really worthless.
The Rockets are not in a hurry.
Little Black Bean Brooks played very well last season, and Lowry was just his substitute.
It's not worth spending too much money on a substitute player.
A guard without three-point shooting is not very valuable.
Only by allowing the Rockets to make such a judgment can the Warriors easily win over Lowry.
And it doesn’t cost much!
Others didn't know, but Deng Fang knew it very well.
Lowry's three-pointer is not bad!
The three-point shooting in the first four seasons of his career was indeed not very good, even very bad, but Lowry's three-point shooting will be very reliable starting from next season!
Lowry is a very down-to-earth player, good at using his brain, diligent in learning and hardworking. Such a player will not keep stretching his hips on something as important as shooting.
Of course, some people work very hard, but due to their talent, they have never been able to practice shooting.
Lowry is not that kind of player.
Historically, Lowry practiced hard this offseason and successfully developed his three-point shot.
After a summer of hard training, Lowry made 129 three-pointers in the 2010-11 season, while the previous single-season high was only 37.
In the first four years of his career, Lowry only made a total of 101 three-pointers, with a shooting percentage of only 26.4%. In the following 10 years, Lowry made a total of 1,584 three-pointers, with a shooting percentage of 37.8%.
!
And because of Brooks' injury, Lowry successfully took over this season, averaging 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
This kind of data combined with his three-point shooting percentage looks very good.
It is very suitable for Lowry to come to the Warriors to play as a backup point guard!
There is even no problem in bringing Lowry into the starting lineup and playing dual point guards with Curry at some point.
That's why Deng just wanted to trade Lowry.
Of course, there is another reason why Deng Fang wants Lowry, and that is that Lowry is not the boss of the Rockets.
If he's like Love, Lowry is untradeable.
But Lowry is not.
Love was already established as the core player of the team by the Timberwolves in the second half of last season and was focused on training.
The Timberwolves sent away Jefferson a few days ago for this reason.
But Lowry is not the boss of the Rockets.
Not only is he not the boss of the Rockets, Lowry can't even make the starting lineup!
Such a player fully meets the requirements of the system and will not be restricted by the system.
The Rockets in the 2009-10 season were completely in a home-alone situation. Yao Ming was reimbursed for the season, and Tracy McGrady only played 6 games before being sent away. If I had to say who is the boss, it would be Kevin Martin and Brooks.
Even for the Rockets next season, Brooks was out for a long time due to injury and was even pushed to the bench by Lowry. The team bosses were also Kevin Martin and Luis Scola.