That's my whole point. The moves that Morey has been forced to make since Tilman took over and insisted we not go into the LT put us in a position to where last summer, we had almost nothing left to spend. And this trade deadline, it's going to be more of the same. I'ts not that Tilman is saying "Don't sign these guys," it's that his insistence on avoid the luxury tax at all costs has left us in a position to where we have no way to sign them.
That's depressing just to think about it. One can only hope Fertitta sells the team to someone who is fully committed to winning it all.
I'm not at all disagreeing with your overall point - I've made the same point countless times. What I am doing is pointing out that some of those players you listed in the OP just weren't available to us if we keep House. The real problems started after the 65 win season , letting Ariza go while not having the financial ability to replace him - We are still dealing with the repercussions of that. That same offseason , they fail to use the MLE (a small portion was used on Clark and Hartenstein) while they told us it was being saved for the buyout market - it went unused. Then all the assets thrown away to get under the tax line - Ryno's contract (sure would like to have that $20m expiring right now) Melton , a 1st , 2 2nds was the eventual tally. Now to the present - they used $3.5m of the MLE on House. That leaves about $2.178m of the mini MLE unspent. It would have left $5.178m of the full MLE but capped us at the apron -$138,928,000 , which they are over by $1,147,852. Yes , its possible Morey could have landed one of those players you listed for the remaining $5.1m of the MLE but it would have been real difficult to fill out the roster being that its use put them perilously close to the apron with roster spots to fill. As it stands he'd have to shed $6,325,852 to use the rest of the Full MLE and then not spend another dollar. Morey got creative with the Nene contract to create some financial flexibility ….. which Silver and Co gave him a screwing on. Like I said , I agree with your overall point - Tilman handcuffing Morey sucks but I'm more or less pointing out that the damage was done in ducking the tax the last two seasons , not necessarily this offseason. I wonder if Tilman or Junior read this forum and know what we think of them as owners ? I mean , I can understand ducking the tax for a poor to middling team but not for a team with maybe the best offensive player in the games history , a team that has a legit shot at the #1 seed and a Larry O'Brien Trophy. That's the team you don't cut corners with. Cut corners when you don't have a chance ….
he saw the potential tax bill for this team and dipped taking the championship trophies with him...disgusting
Imagine if we had a real GM that spent more time building a proper team, (you know, the kind of team that doesn't win 8 in a row, only to lose 5 in a row) instead of tweeting Imagine if we had a real coach who could run some plays and not stick to the failed give the ball to Harden and get out of his way and shoot 3s until it goes in... Imagine that, Imagine we still had an owner, Leslie, who didn't dribble one basketball to contribute to our 2 titles, but felt the need to take "his 2 titles" With him when he sold the team Imagine an owner, Leslie, who traded Hakeem Olajuwon.....
Yeah, we're kind of saying the same thing, although looking at my original post, I guess I missed the target slightly. The point was meant to be that Tilman's handcuffing of Morey since he bought the team keeps leaving us unable to make some critical moves, especially last summer when some quality rotation pieces were on the market.
I got the idea that you were only talking about this past offseason for the most part , I was just expanding upon your point while explaining that the problems we faced this offseason were created by past decisions and how House resigning limited what they could do this offseason. The list for me starts with Ariza when you had no way to replace him financially. Ariza's bird rights not exercised MLE unspent Ryno being dumped at the expense of Melton Chriss being dumped for a 2nd Knight and a first for Shumpert Ennis being dumped for a 2nd MLE money again unspent aside from what went to House The extra 10m in salary that could have come back in the Westbrook trade Shumpert's bird rights not being exercised. Two TPE's 3.2m & 3.6m withering away on the vine. That's the assets that have been thrown away since Tilman took over …. and while he was telling us he was willing to go the extra mile to win a championship. How far he's willing to go is the luxury tax line. Hey Tilman , do you read this forum ? Shut up and listen: We see thru your BS. And don't try to blame Morey - we all know all those moves are …. Anti-Morey. He's the asset collector , not the guy throwing them away.
Imagine throwing away a 1st round pick (that could have been used to acquire Oubre) to instead off load a contract (Knight) to get under the LT. Tilman has the Rockets 2020 FRP ready to be used to do it again this season if he so wishes. @Clutch wouldn't that be great? Thanks Tilman!
It is. Thanks for taking the time to outline it all. When you look at it in *totality* it just is incredibly striking.
Exactly. I can imagine how the other smarter GMs wince in sympathy pain for Morey every time a new Rockets roster move is made. Bottom line is that this team would look MUCH different under an owner who didn't have to leverage himself to the teeth just to buy his beloved team.
It is not even just the financial. It looks pretty obvious that Tilman is a narcissist in personality trait and problem thinks all the problems are everyone else's fault. -GM better -Coach better -Players play better. "We have more than enough to win a championship!" No, no you don't. You need to "Owner better."
What if Tilman told Morey, "If you keep me out of repeater tax, while remaining 'contenders,' I'll extend your contract for $8m/yr for 5yrs." And Morey replied, "That'll be tricky, but I can do it." then isn't Morey complicit?
Absolutely, our player development has been **** for years . This is on coaching , Morey , AND ownership . This reminds me of the early Yao and Tmac years with our old ass squad . The idea that teams playing younger players cant win is a myth at this point . We went so far all in , but have placed such a low priority on young talent it’s unbelievable. Is there any other team that repeatedly skips out on the draft ?
Sure, if that's what happened. Morey is an employee, and his job is to put together the best team given the constraints the owner places on him. But everything I've seem of Morey thus far tells me he badly wants a title. I'd be surprised if he willingly accepted a challenge that great for the money, considering he can get the same money elsewhere without the handcuffs.
