(The Ringer) Rockets seriously interested in Robert Covington trade

DANUEL house and nene for Jae crowder

Then go to Detroit and do

Thabo and a 2nd rounder for Markeiff Morris

 

I'd rather have the Morris twins anyway, both of them.

Westbrook and Harden are organizing the buyouts already I'm sure...

Morris boys want to be together, and they each only have 1 year deals. (keef player option...)

 

You know, for a guy who's supposed to be broke, his company sure is buying a ton of assets and brands in the hospitality industry. Including a bunch of brands I didn't know were Landry's Inc properties. Restaurants Unlimited, Inc. and DelFrisco's in 2019. Go see the wiki for Landry's, and prepare to be amazed.

One thing there's a dearth of on that list, are international holdings. I dunno. Maybe there are Rainforest Cafes all over China and I just hadn't heard about them?

Spoiler

Also, as much as we love the Rockets here, 2.2 billion USD is a bit of a gross overpay, No? Even if Forbes thinks it's totally natural that the value of an NBA franchise tripled in the last five years? See, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2019/02/06/forbes-releases-21st-annual-nba-team-valuations/

There isn't a real estate deal associated with the acquisition, there isn't a new stadium, there really isn't a jewel of a TV deal, and annual shared revenue, per that Forbes article, for each team is around a 110 million dollars. Revenue, not profit. However much gate, concessions, and swag bring in---and I don't know how Toyota Center revenues are handled---it's still a long time to pay back 2.2 billion, right?

I go back to the only reason to pay this kind of money for this franchise, is if it helps your other interests make money they couldn't otherwise. Like in China. Is that permanently on hold after Morey's statement? Or is it back on after a decent interval following the tweet, a poor Rockets performance in the interim, and Morey being dismissed for cause?

But if China is out, might Fertitta be looking for a buyer of this white elephant? Or at least trying to keep costs pared as low as possible and not lose money while he waits for franchise appreciation to recoup what his ownership group spent? If gate, concessions, and other non-shared income is negligible compared to the check they get from revenue sharing, the easiest way to cut costs would be to move their high-priced talent and let the kids play. I.e., trade James for a gazillion picks, attach some of those to Westbrook and move him too, take back expirings, and be Phoenix-on-the-Gulf.

If non-shared income isn't negligible, and is somewhat proportional to team record, then it becomes rational to look like they're trying, talk about playoffs and a championship to keep demand strong, but not spend past an inflection point where the added wins per dollar spent rate stops rising.

Tl;dr: this franchise won't spend significantly until Landry's Inc is able to exploit its competitive advantage and gains significant penetration into China. If team revenue starts to drop, expect a high-priced talent fire sale. Thoughts about why this is so are behind the spoiler tag.

 

Isn't Marcus making 15 this year? When he's made 20 for all of his previous deals combined? https://www.spotrac.com/nba/new-york-knicks/marcus-morris-8065/

I'd like him too. He was shooting over 40 from 3 last I checked. I just don't see the salary working. 'Kieff I'm surprised isn't here already. What does Detroit want for the guy?

 

Terrence Ross AND Mo Bamba would be even more awesome.

 

FIFY

 

Damnit, you’re right. I thought he reached extension before August 6th.

I guess it’s Dario or nothing.

 

1 year deal... Buyout season baby.

And to be honest, I'd be willing to move Clint If you can bring back the Morris Twins...

 

He's making 15 this year, with maybe 7 left on the deal by the time of the deadline. (I'm assuming Dolan isn't Fertitta, and is paying his players throughout the year or upfront.) He's only made 20 million his entire career, 28 if we assume this happens around the deadline. Why would he forfeit a significant portion of seven million dollars, 1/4 of all of the money he's ever made, just so he can play on the Rockets?

Moreover, and I don't understand the buyout market, what do the Knicks get out of this beyond saving some portion of 7 million dollars? They lose the services of a competent player without receiving any compensation from the team the player is headed off to. They still have the salary on their books for cap purposes, right? (The Knicks are nowhere near the LT.) They forfeit his Bird rights, if any.

I'm just trying to see why the Knicks would do this.

 

Knicks will obviously try to trade him cause in a buyout situation they won't get anything back, but i don't know if it's going to be so easy to move him with that contract, they'll have to find the right team outside of those looking to compete and with a need at wing, willing and able to trade around 11/12M to match his salary. And yeah, no bird rights on him.

 

If they both wound up here. if I were any local YMCA, I'd get a restraining order on them, stat.

 

I would imagine we could get Arizia pretty cheap now. That would make many on VF happy.

 

Pretty cheap? he just signed a 2 year $25 mil deal in the offseason. That's a long way from min and a definite no no for LTS

 

Just realized it's basically one month left till the deadline...i guess at this point i'm just going to be

Spoiler

...for ch to drop something.

 

Nah. Less than three weeks.

 

That's really not a good sign.

 

old school Morey would always lie to the media about this. Let’s hope the slippery eel has returned.

 

Already giving his post-deadline speech.

"We thought we had a few deals lined up but obviously nothing that crossed the finish line. We'll continue to look to upgrade the team, now via the buyout market. [Narrator: Nothing will happen there either.] But we love the roster and guys we got. I think we're as good as any team in the West. Obviously we have to go out and do it now and prove it."

 

2nd year salary does not appear to be fully guaranteed...