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(Geltzeiler) Source: Tilman feverishly cutting costs in all Facets of Rockets organization

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by NateNate, Mar 13, 2019.

  1. jayfree

    jayfree Member

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    You mean WalletGate!?
     
  2. sheb

    sheb Member

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  3. NateNate

    NateNate Member

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  4. ISOBall

    ISOBall Member

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    Literally bought off Wish
     
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  5. bilaal14

    bilaal14 Member

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    Have a feeling he will have to less them in the next 5-7 years.

    Might be too poor. On the real. :/
     
  6. dachuda86

    dachuda86 Member

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    Oh god... if this is true and not hyperbole then we are in for decades of hell.
     
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  7. dachuda86

    dachuda86 Member

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    Les always compared owning a team to owning a painting.

    Tilman sees it as the future of his family.

    One thinks like a billionaire. The other thinks like.. well... Tilman.
     
  8. pippendagimp

    pippendagimp Member

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    we'll be signing nunnally's every summer. as our prize acquisitions
     
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  9. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    I am certain that Tilman thinks he knows bball but he does not.

    He won't let the GM do his job.
     
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  10. JW86

    JW86 Member

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    Why did the NBA approve an owner who cannot even afford the team? I rather it would’ve gone to that joint ownership lead by Mutombo.
     
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  11. Tenchi

    Tenchi Contributing Member

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  12. Verbal Christ

    Verbal Christ Member

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    Do you think they'll cut the $27 dollar hot dogs and $500 large drinks a bit? I'd really like to not have to refinance my home everytime I go to a game!
    [​IMG]
     
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  13. smoothie

    smoothie Jabari Jungle

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    to be honest i have no idea who said what online or what bandwagon you are referring to but check my post history and you'll find over a year's worth of arguing why we need to be going all in and paying tax during harden's prime.

    here's how they're not trying to win. they are just trying to stay competitive to keep people involved. there's money in excitement and winning and playoff games and national tv broadcasts. you don't think westbrook gets us more national tv games than paul? its worth making enough right moves to stay competitive. competitive = profits. but contending for a title costs money. we've seen this time and again, when there's an opportunity to add to our depth and make us serious contenders like expanding the trade to take on another 25%, or spending the NTMLE, tilman avoids doing so because he wants to avoid the tax. we wants to win enough to make a profit. no more than that.

    look at how he's operated since taking ownership of the team:
    • letting ariza walk
    • not expanding the westbrook trade
    • not using the NTMLE for 2 summers
    • not replacing half the coaching staff he fired
    • spending picks at the deadline to avoid the tax instead of adding more talent
    • not spending cash to buy picks like the warriors do and like les did
    • won't pay to extend MDA. won't pay to replace MDA, because then he'd be paying 2 HCs this year. probably going to let him go through a lame duck season which always leads to underachieving, and then use that as an excuse to part ways next summer. the truth is its the cheapest way out without regard for winning.

    i don't root for tilman saving money and neither should you, unless you're one of his sons. i root for wins. when theres an opportunity to improve the team and we pass on it so tilman can open another restaurant, i feel cheated. when he says he's "willing to spend the tax to win," and he's "willing to win at all costs" where is that?

    we need another piece to get us over the top. there was only a few wins difference between 1st and 4th place last year. one MLE guy is the difference maker over the course of 82 games. the difference in seeding ends up being the difference between WCF and a chance at the championship or second round exit.

    its just not enough to put together a top 3 team in the west and collect your profits. if it takes spending the tax to acquire 1 or 2 rotation players to get us over the top, i expect them to take that opportunity, not avoid it.
     
    #333 smoothie, Jul 17, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2019
  14. Shark44

    Shark44 71er
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    First time to see this thread. TF is a business guy, so its not uncommon for a new owner to cut costs and look for efficiencies when taking over a company. With that said, I do believe TF will instruct Morey to stay under the LT unless there is a deal or deals that can really make us great. Westbrook is one of those trades that made us younger, more athletic, more exciting (Big for TF I bet--helps sell tickets/merch) and Harden happy. Financially it was basically an even swap (+ 1-year).

    I think we all have to admit that Morey has taken a much different approach to this off-season versus last. Last year was the off-season of Melo and MCW. This year we swung for the fences and landed WB, Chandler, and resigned Rivers/House. This has a much different vibe than bargain basement shopping.

    We don't know if TF limited Morey in expanding the WB/Paul trade or whether we just couldn't find a deal that worked. I truly doubt any teams we're eager to give us something for Shump/our limited draft pick options/young players. We may be standing pat for a bit until something else breaks free. I'm sure Morey is looking for something, but sooner or later we'll have to make a decision on Shump.

    Frankly, I think we're in a pretty good spot as we sit. I'd love Covington, but doubt we'll be able to swing that one. AI is old, but if we could get him for a 2nd RPs and Shump or a buyout then great. If not, we need to look for other options, because I don't believe he's worth us paying LT. Someone like Jonathan Simmons on a min deal, would be a good bench wing for us to look at.

    From my recollection TF didn't have a lot of extra cash to own an NBA franchise, but he's a Texas guy and I'm going to give him some time. This year we have a real chance, so hopefully he's gives Morey some rope to run the franchise.
     
  15. Sanity2disChaos

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    It is a business....... although it sux!
     
  16. Gray_Jay

    Gray_Jay Member

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    Let's compare those aircraft. The Patriots own (or lease) two 767-300 aircraft, with the previous registration numbers N39367 and N366AA https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Patriots
    (Scroll down to the Aircraft section.)
    N39367s ownership history: https://m.planespotters.net/airframe/Boeing/767/N225NE-New-England-Patriots/0WbrTRN0 American Airlines service for a bunch of years, then bought by a SoCal airplane broker for a year, then to the Pats.
    N366AA's history: https://m.planespotters.net/airframe/Boeing/767/N36NE-New-England-Patriots/G9DLudpN
    Ditto. Surprisingly similar operational histories.

    Now the Rockets airplane: https://m.planespotters.net/airframe/Boeing/767/N625HR-Houston-Rockets/xnAPtbLY

    United Airlines until 2007, then a bunch of different operators, some great (Avianca), some lesser-known, and then it ends up at Asia Atlantic airlines in 2013, a Thai air charter company. Wherein it flies for 5 more years until the company ceases operations in 2018, then the plane goes into storage until the Rockets buy it.

    One set of ownership histories suggests frequent maintenance and care and one set does not.
     
  17. steddinotayto

    steddinotayto Contributing Member

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    I think therein lies the rub--the determination of a players' value and the importance of the non-stars. I don't think Tilman knows enough about either and, while it's unfair to blame him for not knowing because he's only been an owner for two years, it does seem (from a fan's perspective) that he's not giving the people that DO know these details (e.g. Morey) enough freedom to do what needs to be done to achieve the ultimate goal. From our inability to sign any players with the exceptions we have left over to us not getting any player beyond Westbrook when we had an opportunity to....this offseason is a bigger cause for concern, IMO, than last year's LTS bonanza. From a league parity perspective, it hasn't been this wide open since I don't know when. This season would have been the ideal time for the Rockets to spend (or overspend) in order to get a better shot at a championship.

    Do I think Iguodala is worth a 1st Rounder? Nope. Do I think he's worth payig $X of luxury tax for? From the numbers floating around here, nope. BUT I'm not Morey and I don't have the information he has. If Morey thought that acquiring Iguodala would put this team over the top among the other teams in the West, I'll roll with it and I think Tilman should too. Morey's shown that he DGAF about sending out picks if it yields someone/something that can help the team in the now. With all of the reports that Memphis wanted a 1st and the Rockets actually having one to give, it's confusing to me why we didn't execute the trade from a basketball perspective, especially with all of the reports that we're really wanting Iggy.

    Then it all came back to Tilman. He clearly wants stars. Who doesn't? But I think this is where he doesn't understand that, if Morey has enough data, enough information, and enough conviction that X complementary player will put us over the top you gotta do it, even if that guy isn't a superstar. I mean, that's why you hire guys like Morey right? Because Morey understands both the superstar aspect of team building as well as the importance of role players. Hakeem, for all his greatness, needed his teammates to step up and his trust in them is what took us to back-to-backs. If Harden can't get that kind of support because the owner refuses to spend unless it's a household name, all he's doing is wasting valuable time and opportunity.

    I'm all for giving Morey (ergo Tilman) time to continue to build this team because God knows it's only July. I understood why the team shed salary last year to get under the luxury tax. But this is a new year with a league that's even more up for grabs than any time before. If Tilman can't or aren't willing to spend this year....then when will he?
     
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  18. DFWRocket

    DFWRocket Member

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    Looks like the Rockets make about $32,000,000 a year from $326,000,000 in Revenue. If we go something like $12,000,00 over the cap that would mean we'd pay about $21,000,000 for the luxury tax. That would cut our profit down to $11,000,000. Thats only a 3% profit margin. Tillman would have to cut business costs somewhere in order to safely pay the luxury tax.

    Yes I know he's a billionaire, but you can't use the profits from one business to prop up another business - that would be very poor management.
     
  19. tc0330

    tc0330 Member

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  20. Gray_Jay

    Gray_Jay Member

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    Why do you think that present cash flow is the only way to operate a sports team? Aside from which, I wouldn't trust publicly stated Rockets cashflow or NOI figures as far as I could throw them. Les Alexander bought the team for 85 million in 1993 and sold it for 2.2 billion in 2017. That's a 14.5 percent annual rate of return. I see no reason why Fertitta or his investors couldn't expect a rate of return at least half of that. What were the net RoRs for the Clippers or Hawks sales? Doubt they were negative. But assuming half of that rate of return for Fertitta would be about 7 percent. And 7 percent of 2.2 billion is 154 million dollars.

    None of which is to say that Fertitta can go to the Bank of The Houston Rockets and withdraw 150 million dollars in equity. But it does say that Fertitta probably isn't having to sweat whether the team acquires Igoudala or not.
     

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