I know there are like 5,000 threads on the subject, but who the hell reads through 300 pages of posts? I am hurt, mad and in denial all at the same time. I had dreams that Chris Bosh changed his mind and called us back. This is right up there with Pujols HR off of Lidge, Yao's injury in the middle of the streak, Stockton's 3, and the Oilers 35-3. We survived all of those to cheer another day. All that said, the term this is a business goes both ways. Half of you last season were willing to trade Arsons away for Rondo, but he's suppose to be loyal to us and play for pennies on the dollar? If someone today offered to multiply your salary by 15 would you leave your job? In context that's like guys making $100k being offered $1,500,000 the following year. I'd tell my coworkers is keep in touch and we could hang out on the weekend. Chandler could tear his acl next season and still not be financially secure. This is these guys livelihood. Their source of income. They are going to do what's best for them, not for us. Bosh is another one. I'm sure he didn't expect Miami to offer him the farm. He probably even thinks it was a stupid move on their part. They probably asked what it would take to keep him in Miami and he jokingly said $118M. And they wrote him a check. That's like you agreeing to change jobs, and your new job firing people to make room for you. Then on your way out the door they offer to raise your salary and make you the highest paid person in the industry. They also stroke your ego and give you the corner office. Hell you'd feel bad for a minute, until you got your first check. And I'm sure it's the single guys calling Melo and Bosh b****es for giving their wives input. Most married guys here would take their families into consideration when making career decisions that affected them. It's not letting your family decide, but weighing their input as a factor. I would like to think people in my inner circle would have advised me to do the same thing Bosh and Chandler did. I know it sucks, but all this talk of players betraying us and screwing us. They don't owe "US" anything. That said, if I were Morey I wouldn't do anything outside of signing Gasol and matching Parsons. $12 M to Tevor Ariza?!?!? Man Hell Naw! The same Trevor that was here a few years ago? No thanks. Rather over pay parsons.
Exactly you go big or you go home. If they never went for Bosh and tried to put little pieces together like Vince Carter or something (4 mill a year seems pretty fair), people would be complaining that's not big enough.
I agree with everything you said except the Bosh part. I think Bosh used us as leverage with Miami and never really had any intentions of leaving Miami whether Lebron was there or not. I actually think we had a better chance of getting Bosh if Lebron stayed in Miami for the max and the Heat kept lowballing Bosh. I don't know nearly as much as most posters on this forum but I do love being a Houston sports fan and am getting worried that the Rockets brass has this idea stuck in their head that they need 3 superstars. If they Could have signed Spencer Hawes before the Clippers got him and then traded Asik for Thaddeus Young I would have been happy with this offseason.
Beautifully written post. CF (and probably a lot of fans in general) forgets the human element of the people in sports.
Pau may be a Bull soon, so strike that one off. Isaiah going to Suns and Collison to Kings so PGs list is shrinking too.
You got morey to thank for that. The jersey gate debacle probably turned off a lot of free agents, particularly melo.
It was worth the shot. Nobody bats 1000. And there's no GM in the league i'd rather have to try and clean up the mess we're in than Daryl Morey. He'll figure something out.
Great post. Being a married man myself, you're words clearly relayed the importance of family. I will say, you're username is hilarious. jlobabydaddy - family expert bimathug - friendly cap-ologist.
No free agents want to go Houston. Very good reason for that, you are only good until morey finds somebody better than you then get treated like an asset. You can lol all you want but the rest of the league is lol at Houston's debacle of a free agency that actually downgraded the team.
You will never get the Morey lovers to see it this way, but the fact of the matter is it does play a part in player choosing to play for your team or not. It has the same effect as playing in certain cities or playing for/with certain coaches or players. A GM can help you or hurt you in your recruiting process.
Finally some sensibility. Good post. I'm pissed Bosh used Rockets as leverage but the rule of business is that you don't ever make emotional decisions, which is what the Heat did. Bosh max with the Rockets is MUCH different than what the Heat gave him. He was a compliment to our star core and an owner was willing to foot the bill. The Heat have made a marginal all star the highest paid player in the entire NBA and have pretty much guaranteed themselves an above average team for the next 5 years. Rockets weren't ever going to compete with that. Can't blame the guy for taking the money, just mad at the way it played out. We were so close. The only real winners this off season have been Cleveland. We still have the best SG and C in basketball. 2 years ago we had NOTHING. I'm cool going to war with what we have and have confidence we can find another Bev/Lowry/Daniels/Landry/Jones/Parsons or two.
That's just silly. They want money and usually they want to win. That's the criteria. You are reading far too much into the thought process. Brad Miller, Brent Barry, Trevor Ariza, Dwight Howard, Sam Dalembert, Asik and Lin signed restricted offer sheets as free agents, Delfino, Cassippi, Brooks this list goes on under Morey. So generally speaking your premise is silly and your facts are weak.. at best.
Morey has put us in a convo of being able to recruit a free agent with Asik and Lin still on the books. Not only was he able to move them, he was able to net a highly valuable New Orleans pick. He found a way to clear 17 million off the books for players that were definitely over market value(at the time of the original contract). He put this team in a position to win now. Because Miami broke the bank on a 30 year old Bosh who was clearly their 3rd choice, it should come as no surprise that Bosh did what was best for him: Either a chance to win with Lebron(the best player in the league) or make money. There was only one team that was able to offer him the most...It wasnt Morey's fault that Miami's irrational behavior kept Bosh on the team. Ripping Morey for actually taking risks and gambles to make us relevant again is idiotic.
I feel ya brother. I was born and raised in houston and I have witnessed let down after let down in this town. The only optimism we have had has been the two championships in 93-94 and 94-95. Since then we more first round exits than I care to talk about. Houston deserves better because there isn't a better city in the world.
Yes money matters. Only superstars on max money will actually want to come to Houston. They will be treated like royalty. Everybody else is an asset and will be shipped off for the next best thing. The league is figuring morey out and guys like Cuban are taking advantage.
I completely agree. Their world could crumble in an instant and everybody in their right minds would most likely do the same thing...take the pay upgrade when playing for pennies (relatively speaking) compared to other players. I don't blame Parsons for taking that kind of money at all. What he's contributed to the team so far at his salary has been quite the bargain.