Dmo trying to outsmart this guy...who just called his bluff... This will go down as an expensive lesson learned Donatas...Fire your agent...cut your losses. And remember that in business....ALWAYS look out for yourself first. Daryl did his job and looked out for the Rockets and Les Alexander...Your hired help...did NOT and set up this predicament.
I believe Coon mentions later in the article that in this deal the incentives were unlikely for both teams right? That was just an example of why the rule is in place. Glad Coon is willing to call it like is and put this on BJ's shoulders. He wrote a deal that screamed "match me" and seemed shocked to learn about the basic RFA rules, and right of first refusal. D-Mo suing Wasserman for Gross Negligence here seems to be a slam dunk if they wanted to. Hell I would. As a 26 year old basketball player that roughly gets 5 to 6 seasons on average for his career, losing likely more than half of a season, 6 million dollars in a contract opps, the PR hit that will hurt his market value... I'd say there is cause for suing in this case.
You would think that the Wasserman group has their own in house capologists ie.attorneys to look over every angle of an offer sheet or contract. Some heads should roll for this without a doubt.
I just don't see how the Rockets risk the "good faith" agreement where they have to tear up the current offer, and put D-Mo back in RFA so they can renegotiate different terms on a new but similar agreement that does what you are saying they should... even if it makes sense to have a happy D-Mo rather than a pouty D-Mo at minimal cost to the Rockets. Do you really trust BJ to operate in good faith if the Rockets tear up the current matched agreement knowing that (according to rumors & Watkins alluded to this potential) the Jazz can screw up those plans by giving an offer that BJ/D-Mo take instead? At this point, I certainly don't trust BJ to operate in good faith if the Rockets reject the current offer that was matched. What I'm not sure of is if its legal for the Rockets to present and have D-Mo/BJ sign off on an amended agreement while the current matched agreement stays active. My understanding is they will have to reject the current agreement, and rewrite a new contract.. hence putting him back in RFA for a short while.
As expected. So what happens now? Fines? Suspensions? Cause we sure as hell shouldn't be paying his ass not to show up, that's for damn sure.
I am not sure about how that all works, but I ASSUME (could be wrong) that the Rockets can negotiate with him at any time as a RFA - outside of the offer sheet. That March 1st 9m guarantee sucks for the Rockets - they really don't want to have to make that call by then.....I mean what if DMo comes in and stinks up the joint on purpose, or pouts all year, will they really guarantee 9m more to him next year? Lots of times players don't play well until after the trade deadline due to the uncertainty. I would think the Rockets really REALLY don't want to have to guarantee 9m for year 2 by March 1st and would be motivated to move that date, and DMo really wants more $$$, seems it is obvious to me where this is going. DD
My understanding is that they have to waive the physical in order to consider him active and start to fine him... IE force him to the bench. The physical is the final activity to finalize the player. So if you see something that says the Rockets are waiving the physical, that means fines are coming next up. This actually might happen because I would think the Rockets want to make sure that he is worth keeping post March 1st so if he's not, he doesn't tie up unnecessary cap space this Summer. Getting him in uniform, and on the court wont tell you everything a physical will, but it will give the Rockets time to make a decision about his future after March. If not, he could holdout until Feb, show up for his physical, pass, and then the Rockets only have a few weeks or even days to make a decision about his future. That's why I think you'll see him forced back if he doesn't show up for his physical in a couple days. Just my thoughts right now (could change if more information comes out of course).
I'm sure this has been covered here but I still don't fully understand: what happens if he just doesn't show until March 1? Is he back to being a RFA again?
Yes they can negotiate a new contract with him as a RFA, but he's not a RFA right now. He's under an an agreement now. So if the Rockets want to renegotiate a new contract with him, do they have to "tear up" the current agreement first, which I noted earlier would allow a Utah Jazz to sneak in and operate on the side with BJ. See what I'm getting at with the trust issue I would have with the great incompetent BJ? The question is can the Rockets amend the current tentative agreement without ripping up the current one, and sending him back in RFA to renegotiate. That would be a risk I would NOT take if I'm Morey knowing the Jazz are talking to BJ on the side. ............................ To you second point I agree. They don't want to have to make a call by March regarding his future. That's why I alluded in the previous post that they might go ahead, and waive the physical to force him in action if they think he's going to wait it out till March. They won't get the full info that a physical provides, but they will at least get to see him in practice and in the gametime he gets to make a judgement based on some info. I would think they would want the full two months of January and February for sure so I'd expect to see them waive the physical by then IMO. I think that's more likely than tearing up the current contract, and risking sending him back in RFA to renegotiate new terms.
Yes. He becomes a RFA, but can't sign for a year with Brooklyn. Can he sign with the Jazz at that time.... that I dont know but my guess is he could.
That is my understanding of the situation and then we will extend him another QO and start this all over again.
Rockets can't allow that to happen. Can't let him just refuse to show and then lose him for nothing, to a primary rival no less. That would set a bad precedent, and he gets away with basically being a punk and gets his way in the end. Morey needs to come down with the hammer on this one.
You would think every NBA owner and GM is telling the Rockets to stand their ground and not budge from their current rightful position as it would set a bad precedence for all NBA teams and their future restricted free agents.
