Dwight update: Not close to a trade with Rockets

We may be heading for risk then, because I doubt we wait that long to pull the trigger. He may be a rocket in a couple weeks

 

You guys will LOVE this.
WATCH IT.

STUFF DWIGHT HOWARD HATERS SAY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIHk37QlH3g&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

LOL!!!!

 

Rack him!

 

The case for Howard in Houston- By J.A. Adande ESPN.com

One of my first college journalism professors, who always used green pens to correct our assignments, would have these Dwight Howard reports looking like a rainforest by the time he finished with them. There’s been speculation about Howard’s next destination since before Christmas and we’re well past the Fourth of July with no one able to provide definitive answers to the essential journalistic questions, the Five W’s of Who, What, Where, When and Why.

I’ll take on that last one – Why – at least as it pertains to the Houston Rockets, the most curious of all of Howard’s suitors. He’s never expressed a desire to play there, yet general manager Darryl Morey is relentlessly chasing Howard. Others around the league wonder about the fervent pursuit, one that has already seen the Rockets use the amnesty provision on Luis Scola as a means to clear salary cap, all so the Rockets can accommodate the Orlando Magic’s wish to shed weighty contracts in addition to Howard.

It doesn’t seem to matter that a strictly two-team trade would leave the Rockets in the exact same situation as the Magic: a non-championship team stuck with bad contracts and a superstar who doesn’t want to stay around. So why bother?

As one person familiar with the Rockets’ thinking put it, no matter how small their chances of keeping Howard might be, that percentage is still higher than their chance of getting a player of Howard’s caliber – a true franchise player who has come within three games of a championship -- through the draft lottery. History is against the salvation-through-the-draft model. Only six No. 1 overall draft picks have won a championship and a Most Valuable Player award while playing for the team that drafted them. So that’s why the Rockets are still in this, even as they trudge uphill and against the winds of logic.

Why would Howard stick in Houston? Well, part of the Rockets’ plan is to clear enough salary cap space to go after another major free agent next summer, and provide him the second superstar he’d need to pursue a championship.

They’ll have the “homecourt advantage” when he becomes a free agent, with the ability to guarantee him an additional year and approximately $25 million more than anyone else, as the Brooklyn Nets just did with Deron Williams. Remember, by opting in for the final year of his old contract that was negotiated by former agent Aaron Goodwin, Howard kept his new agent, Dan Fegan, from receiving any salary commission from him this season. There’s lost money to be made up, so wouldn’t that provide incentive for Fegan to get Howard to sign the most lucrative possible contract – the Rockets’ – next year?

Second would be the Jeremy Lin factor. If the Knicks don’t match Houston’s contract offer and Lin becomes a Rocket, the Rockets would resume their role as Asia’s NBA team. The Rockets already established business relationships with Chinese companies who bought courtside banner ads while Yao Ming was with the team, so they’re perfectly positioned to market Lin – and Howard – in Asia.

Howard wants a global brand, and he’s already made efforts to establish his presence in China. Playing with Lin would help that cause. Chinese television scrambled to add Knicks games to the schedule after the Linsanity craze last season. Imagine how many Rockets games they could broadcast knowing his schedule months in advance.

Howard should consult Tracy McGrady, whose jersey was among the top four sellers in China from 2006-2009 while he played alongside Yao. T-Mac’s No. 1 Rocket jersey outsold LeBron James and even Yao himself.

All of this doesn’t mean this trade will happen. Heck, there’s still a chance NO Howard trade happens and he goes through the season with the Magic. But at least there are a couple of reasons why the Rockets would take the chance and why Howard might actually reward them for it.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/47820/the-case-for-howard-in-houston

 

One person familiar with Rockets' thinking? Guess that would be 'meh'. lol
That's straight from his thread.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=223276

 

Yes but this logic is GREATLY flawed. If you stipulate: only number one picks that only stayed with their teams, then yes its a small percentage. If realism sets in everyone and their grandmother knows your not necessarily tanning for the number one pick, but for a top tier pick. The thinking is most drafts produce real good talent to about the 8th pick. Now change the parameters to that and you have players like Jordan, Wade, Bird, etc etc.

Tanking is to have a chance at those types of players.

 

Getting Lin to stay China's team and let Howard take his brand global makes sense. It also shows why it doesn't make sense for NYC to not match Lin. Yao was pulling in 200M a game when they aired our games in China. Even if Lin could just get 10% of that.

 

Apparently you didn't read even the OP in that thread I linked.

 

When he said "I'm sure Serena Williams Is doing something!" I spit Dr. Pepper all over my phone!

 

Well, I think the "$400 Million" deal is also highly unlikely and overstated...first off that would have to be over 5-10 years or more, it is definitely not a 'one' year option (one of the biggest sponsorship deals ever is for the 2016 Olympics. A title sponsorship sold for close to $300 million--most stadium deals are for the $100 M range over 20 years to put things in perspective).

As the world markets converge and the global brands are being sold just as much in China as in the United States (for example Luis Vuitton and Chanel have higher sales revenues in China/Japan than in the US) and as the developing world increases its standard of living, I think you will see a bigger "wash" of value for endorsements where the rule of thumb used to be that the US was your prime target market. Now we are seeing huge, UNTAPPED markets emerging in China, India, Japan/Korea, Russia, and even parts of Europe that were never properly monetized or "exploited." This is very true in the Soccer world, where some of the largest sponsorships/endorsements are given out. With basketball rapidly becoming a more globalized sport (unlike say Football or Baseball) you will see greater sponsorship opportunities coming from abroad. In fact, one could argue that any sponsor deal focused on the US market only (which was mainly the case up until the past 10 years) is not getting the most value or potential for what the market can bare.

In summary, we are living in a different age and there are many untapped markets to be had. A player would be wise to consider the impact of international sponsorships and also consider that foreign companies (especially Chinese ones) would probably OVERPAY for the opportunity to have an American basketball superstar on its roster--we have Yao to thank for a lot of that. I do think that if Houston plays its cards right, it can offer equal or greater deals in terms of sponsorship returns with the proper alliance/allegiance internationally.

This is a relatively NEW paradigm that most NBA players haven't probably grasped too much to date. It has to be carefully cultivated, however. Many people in foreign countries are extremely LOYAL (to a fault in many cases) to specific players, brands, teams, etc. For example, people in Indonesia are crazy for blackberry (everyone has one). Women in Japan LOVE Louis Vuitton--as in close to 90% of grown woman own or have owned an LV bag (Even if they have to save up for years to get one). These cultural intricacies are important to understand and warrant respect if the Rockets want to foster these types of relationships. So if a country is loyal to the Rockets as a team, its important to focus on team and city of houston dynamics. If its a player, then the focus has to be on that player--but one could damage the appeal if that player is traded to often etc. Some food for thought!

 

didn't Derrick Rose just get a new deal recently with a shoe company? IIRC, it was a 10 yr contract I just dont remember the money involved.

I think knowing that information would give us a better idea of the possible value of Howard's prospective deal.

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, I think the key is developing international allegiances for endorsements with global companies/properties. I don't think Houston will ever compete on a 1 to 1 basis with New York or Los Angeles..to compete it has to expand its audience base beyond Houston (either within the US or internationally). With the right marketing/promotions, Houston could easily become "adopted" by another country the way a favorite brand is (such as a clothing brand, cell phone/computer brand)...in the US, we go for what's cool, new fad, and are always looking for more. In many other cultures, they like to stick with what they have/like and stay loyal to it. So in my estimation, I would work on selling Houston and the Rockets to a foreign fan base (through exhibition games, Houston Rockets tv channels in those countries, gear promotions etc) and then sticking with them--kind of like a sister-city relationship.

As someone who works internationally with sponsorships, brands, foreign companies and others, I could see this as being a unique way to get ahead of the LAs and NYs of the world and become a truly global brand.

For example, we would do a sister-city program with Shanghai (I think Yao's team is from there). And we would aggressively market, promote etc in that fan base and grow it from there. Show them you care and they will start loving your team and caring about the talent. This is what Houston has to do to stay competitive and become an attractive landing spot for the big superstars.

 

Yes. I've made that point several times before. Trying to draw attention to the fact that 1 billion Chinese is much greater than 30 million New Yorkers.

 

exactly. but I think one mistake (not coming from you--in general) is that we have to appeal to "all of China." I would take a more systematic approach through carefully forged alliances and shore up a TRUE second base. From there start expanding and go for the 1 billion chinese...but if the forrest is too big you'll get lost.

Better to start by:
1) narrowing the field of play (region in China--say East coast area)
2) establishing a base of operations (shanghai)
3) STICKING WITH IT (why did we give up with China after Yao?--I know that is not entirely true but we should be more aggressive)--build the brand, forge sponsorships (regional and national) international events, invite chinese to houston, etc
4) and then making the brand interactive. Play some real games there, summer exhibition games. Have contests for a chinese player to "make the summer league team?" for a chance to be on the team. Make the viewing hours interactive and friendly...have chinese/english translators on hand at all times etc.

Only then can we hope for a SUSTAINABLE market opportunity. Not just create fanfare for when a Chinese player (or other international player) comes around

 

180 Million

 

Posted this also in the Lin thread:

Chris Mannix: Latest on Dwight? Lin to Houston factor in?

It does. It would eat up the Rockets salary cap space and they would have less flexibility to absorb bad contracts. Houston has been banking on this, we can offer some assets and absorb some bad contracts. If that's the case, Houston loses some ability to take on bad contracts. Dwight to Houston has been exaggerated. Nothing close. All these reports about taking on Davis, Richardson, and every crappy contract have been overstated. 1 or 2, not all of them at once. Dwight is member of the Magic and come training camp, he'll be with the Magic.


Stephen A. on SC: Reality is Dwight messed this all up by opting in. Magic are wondering to make a move now or wait a few week or for a better offer, etc. They know they can't start the season with him. Dwight has been taking the blame and that's because of his indecision. He can't go to Brooklyn any more. Now you have to look at the other teams. His agent thinks LA is a good situation. Biggest impediment is if Bynum won't commit somewhere else long term, that is another roadblock in Dwight getting to LA.

Jarrod Rudolph: Houston willing to give up everything. Nothing in Houston that Dwight wants or needs. Nothing will convince him to stay.

 

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thanks. Doesn't sound good all of a sudden