He wants to be an unrestricted FA next year. That way any team can come in and offer him a huge deal. If he gets his contract converted that is what will happen. Rockets want him to sign a multi year deal to keep him here. He is unwilling to do so at this time.
So, you're saying we don't want to spend the MLE on him yet, but rather only after the buyout market? In order to save 1 1/2 months of higher pay?
Im with Morey on this. House forgot how hard it was to get to a starting spot with the MVP...good luck getting that spot back
The guy has played 25 games? He thinks he is going to get big offers after that? A few weeks in the G league will change his mind. If he doesn’t play in the NBA the rest of the season, no one is going to beat the rockets’ offer.
I think march 1 is too far in the future to let this play out . We will know before then whether or not we need to convert house .... and conversely I think house will know if he should take our offer . By march 1st house will be out of the rotation permanently (if we haven't made a deal) .... good luck on his part trying to find anything better than we are offering . I also do think that we should dip into MLE now and just get it over with . If we aren't at least offering 500k over the min then we are cheap asses and deserve to be burned . I understand the through process of playing out every angle , waiting for buyout market information etc .... but a bird in hand is better that a bird in the bush .... and with house we are getting a rotation caliber player right now. Who will be available after buyouts is anyone's guess .... and it is just that .. a guess. Even Though Morey can make an educated guess .... he still lacks certainty . I think we are deep . MAYYYYBE the only reason you play the house situation like this is that you are supremely confident a big upgrade at pf/c will be available .... AND they will only sign with us if we can offer them the most money . I think Morey is underestimating the benefit of playing with harden for FA's and at the same time using that as an argument for why we shouldn't just pay House . I would rather just use knight and Chriss and picks to improve the roster . in general , I think the level of player you can pick up on the buyout market is around House's level anyways . I know it's a negotiation.... and I'm not expecting DM to quickly and completely capitulate to house .... but I'll be pissed if they wait till march 1st .... at that point house will be totally out of NBA rhythm (even if he plays in the g league ) and you basically did cost yourself a rotation player .
Team friendly contract doesn't always mean veterans minimum …. in this case the max the team can offer is the $3.9m remaining on the T-MLE. You are going to be operating over the cap for the foreseeable future and 3D wings are a hot commodity - just look at some of the stupid deals these role players are getting … ALL of the guys we've talked about trading for this season make a silly amount and House is playing as well as an of them …. He'd basically your Ariza replacement and if you can lock him up for 3 years at 12m total with full bird rights at the end of that deal, that's team friendly. Sure more cap friendly than paying Bazemore 18m , Ariza 15m or Covington 10m definitely not a cap crushing deal at 3.9m per. Nor does it guarantee you are paying the repeater tax next year …. If anything , some or all of the T-MLE on him this year leaves you more flexibility next year as you will still have that exception to use elsewhere rather than having to use it on House OR losing him with no compensation. This situation wreaks of "Luxury Tax Costs".
That's a load of crap, right there! So we're not willing to convert him over and have him contribute for the rest of the season because we "Do not want to set precedent of converting 2-way success stories for rest of season." So basically, it's accept our longer term lowball offer or we're just gonna hold you hostage for the rest of the season with the RGV?
What is stupid is you taking what the agent says at face value obv he has an agenda remember Dmo and his agent? We don't really know how much spin is being put on the negotiations. If you look at what the tweet said Rockets don't want to invest in players for only short term gain. Basically the Rox want him on the team for a long time so does that sound like a team that would give a unguaranteed offer? The tweet also mentioned the offer House got is more than what a late first rounder would get. So you telling me the Rox offered more money than a drafted player gets but made it unguaranteed? Lol! Nobody is right or wrong im this issue everybody is looking out for their best interest. Its not a good precedent to bend over backwards every time an agent makes a demand other agents would take that as a precedent in negotiations.
It’s been Morey’s MO during his tenure as GM. Daryl is great at finding talent and looking at data, but he is not good at dealing with people, especially in contract negotiations. He lowballs players, holds his ground or barely increases offers, and then the player is pissed and negotiations get contentious. It happened with DMo, it happened with Capela, it’s now happening with House.
I agree that CP3's contract will hurt us in the future - but it really doesnt matter this year... CP3 only filled 5.6M of capspace - everything else was 'over the cap' money that we couldnt have used on anybody else anyway... We either could have let CP3 walk and had 5.6M in capspace to spend... or we go over the cap and get the 5.585M mle to spend... Either way we were gonna be severly limited in being to offer any contracts.... If we were paying CP3 5.7M or 10M or 20M or 30M this year... we would still only have the mle to spend on additional contracts...
If we already haven't converted him, there is a big reason for that. That reason is because converting him means with almost certainty that we will lose him in the Summer. Morey is in Lockout mode. And once you go to Lockout (and accepting the pain of annoying players, coach and losing ability to sign another 2-way), you're committed to play it out. I don't see Morey waiting for Feb 1st and saying, "damn, let's just convert him," and then later after the buyout saying, "crap, I failed to use the MLE, and can no longer use it on House, and now we'll lose him this Summer. That was dumb of me. I should have waited a little while longer, like planned."
So you think House’s agent is lying when he said the Rockets initial offer was non-guaranteed? I don’t. It fits perfectly with Morey’s MO and past contract dealings with players. Also, why should Danuel House agree to a three-year guaranteed deal at the league minimum with the way he’s played as a Rocket? Yeah, it’s a gamble on his part, but why lock yourself into a low salary for three years without any wiggle room? Furthermore, go tell all the players in the locker room that House didn’t earn his contract in these 25 games despite shooting 39% from three (47% in January) and playing solid defense. Better yet, go tell the league MVP and somebody that trusted House enough to bring him in his inner circle. The Rockets need all the healthy and productive bodies they can get right now, and their starting small forward, who shot nearly 50% from three as a starter, is no longer with them over a couple million dollars. How does that help them beat the Warriors this season exactly? Because that’s all the players in the locker room care about.
I understand why Morey is doing what he is doing. Trying to be sure he us here beyond thus season and retaining money for a potential buyout. But it is a very dangerous game to intentionally hold out a productive player given our current roster situation. I would rather just extend him now than hope for some huge buyout to come available. I think House is making a mistake. He doesn't realize how perfect a situation this is for him. Somebody else could easily usurp his role, Harden has a habit of making people look their best best to him.
Do people not realize that more than likely this has NOTHING TO DO WITH TILMAN BEING CHEAP... and has NOTHING TO DO WITH CP3'S BLOATED CONTRACT... We ONLY have part of the MLE left to spend - period! We are over 30M over the cap (yes, he's so cheap that we're spending over 30M over the salary cap...) Either we spend it on House or we save it and see who gets bought out... plus Morey is trying to get a longer commitment from House at a cheap rate... Personally, I think we should pay House... but the decision not to is more than likely based on Morey wanting to see what options come along during the buyout period and seeing if the money is better spent there... And all but 6.5M of CP3s contract is 'over the cap money' that we couldnt use to sign new contracts this year regardless... and if we had let him walk and had that 6.5M in capspace, then we wouldnt have the 5.585M mle to spend - so thats a wash! So his fat contract isnt preventing us from signing anybody this year...
What if Ennis flops , Clark flops , and Gordon feels nagging effects from his injury ? My point in saying we will know before march 1st is that either our depth will have stepped up and house is no longer "needed" or our depth will not rise to the challenge and it will show that we really miss House . I understand converting him means we will likely lose him this summer . But that's a future problem (granted it's in the near future) . The more pressing problem is our play and our depth this season . If Ennis and Clark play well and (fingers crossed) we don't have any more injury problems ... then I'm right there with you in letting this play out until then . Also , if our guys are playing well .... I think house will be more inclined to take our team friendly deal ... because there is a chance he doesn't make it back in the rotation. But what I'm saying is that I think both sides will have the information they need well before march 1st . Sure , after the 1st we can offer him more (if we choose not to spend on buyouts ) ... Plus , I feel like playing the buyout market vs locking up house are two entirely different directions . With one you try to get a player who will be with the team next season and hopefully improve over the offseason . Guaranteed cheap depth ... a great option . With the buyout market , you aren't signing anyone beyond the rest of the season and you are just hoping you get a veteran who can make an impact . I think with house you've got a role player who already fits and has upside . Even if you bring in a good veteran it's a question as to whether or not they will gel. To me the bigger (and maybe only) reason not to dip in the MLE is because it's taking away from our chances of keeping rivers .
