[Feigen] Anatomy of a deal: How the Rockets landed Jeremy Lin

madmax11 = negative spin doctor

 

LOL my fav line in the article, and shows why people like SAS who accuse Lin of being all about the money are total hypocrites. Lin is a professional b-ball player, and just like any rational human beings him and his agents want to get paid as much as possible. If SAS had pledged on tv to donate his salary to help pay for the Knicks' lux bill if they keep Lin then maybe he could have had a right to b**** about Lin turning down a chance to increase his livelihood.

 

When I was reading that part, I was like hmmm. That is illogical.
Hey Jimmy I am so sorry to offer you more money, would you be open to that? I am surprised you were ok. MIT guy taking a shot at a harvard athlete?

 

That's exactly what I was about to post. That is the most idiotic thing I've read in a while (and I've read some idiotic things lately). It should be the league's responsibility to enforce its "laws" and not allow a team to make a mockery of its rules and regulations. At least do it for "basketball reasons".

 

I would have liked to hear this conversation,
Grunwald called Lin, 23, and told him, in a conversation that lasted less than a minute.

 

Excerpt from SI article:

 

Check out who owns the Golden Nugget and you'll know why the Rockerts stay there.

 

You're pathetic. You and your lame ass sig can get the hell out of here. Its one thing to be proud of an Asian brother succeeding, but worshipping him and bandwagoning on to him is just lame.

 

isn't it that the landry's restaurant group owns it or something?

 

#HouLovesGogi = #HouLovesHometownDiscount

 

Grunwald: i will have the chicken with broccoli

Lin: dude i dont own a chinese takeout. You know i play basketball

Grunwald: not for us anymore you don't...hahahha...oh god im sorry jeremy its just that dolans pissed at you and making me say these things for him...anyway good luck

 

The article expressly notes that the Rockets all along thought their chances of actually GETTING Lin (i.e., the odds of New York not matching any offer sheet, no matter how huge) were very slim. Even after giving Lin literally the largest three-year deal possible under the CBA (and making it the most "poisonous" offer sheet to the Knicks humanly possible), they were skeptical of actually getting him until the very, very end. (FYI, so was I.)

Re-signing Goran, I believe, was a good faith attempt to bring back a productive player. I don't think it was "half-hearted" or a sham or ruse by any stretch.

Also note that the team was going to try to get max value in trade for Lowry, so having both Dragic (quite probable heading into the offseason) and Lin (very unlikely at the time but still worth a shot) as the two PGs seems to have been one of the many variations of their PG plan going forward. (Note that both Dragic and Lin have the size to match up against some SGs, so I think they could have played in the same backcourt together for long stretches, like Lowry and Dragic.)

So, to recap the Rockets' thoughts on the PG situation heading into the offseason:

--Lowry: Was being shopped for max value, but the Rockets were just as happy to retain him as the starter. Not 100% likelihood he is back next season.

--Dragic: They wanted to bring him back but realized that many teams would be willing to "overpay" for him in free agency. Made a good faith effort to re-sign him to a four-year deal with either a team option or a partial guarantee, stopping short of giving him a player option on the fourth year. Probably a 60-40 chance of bringing him back going into the offseason.

--Lin: They really liked him (both as a player and likely as a marketing tool) and wanted to make a legit run at him in free agency, realizing that the odds of both Lowry AND Dragic returning was well below 50%. However, they realized that the odds of getting him were slim to none. ACTUALLY getting him was a pleasant surprise to the Rockets.

For the Rockets to gameplan only around Goran Dragic (while shopping Lowry and pursuing their "puncher's chance" for Lin) would have been short-sighted and foolish. You HAVE to have more irons in the fire than that. The Rockets did, and they at least came away with Lin and an almost-certain lottery pick.

Good for them. We'll see what happens.


P.S. This article at least makes me feel a little better about my "trumpeting" of Lowry as THE MAN on the morning of July 5. Let's just say that I had on good authority late, late the night before that Lowry was the guy in Houston and that they would move forward with Lowry as the starter. I conveyed that both on Twitter and on this BBS, only to see the Rockets trade Lowry THAT VERY SAME DAY. This article at least sets the timeline up so that, at the time I was given my information, it was THE TRUTH. Only later that day did the Toronto deal truly come together (due to Nash heading to the Lakers). I'm glad to know that my information was accurate at the time and that I'm not QUITE the fool I was made out to be on July 5.

 

Morey was clearly being sarcastic to the reporter. It was supposed to be funny. "SHOCKINGLY, they accepted more money! " That's the tone it's supposed to be taken in.

 

Sounds like they were hedging their bets knowing that there was a good chance that Goran would walk based on what they already knew they were not willing to offer, the 4th year.

 

Do not forget our propensity to play two point guard lineups. I have no trouble believing Lin was on the target list based on that fact. Lin was probably a target right behind Deron. Remember Morey's comments about needing two playmakers on the floor more often and about liking the Lowry/Goran lineup.

In my humble opinion, the ideal scenario Morey was looking at was trading for Dwight and having the cap space to go after Deron while keeping Goran's birds rights in hopes of convincing Goran to be third banana to Dwight/Dwill. While Morey may not have had in mind to trade Lowry for a lottery pick, you cannot deny that Lowry and everybody else was on the table when it came to trading for Dwight. With no Dwight trade, I'm sure Morey would have been happy going into the season with Lowry starting and either Goran or somebody else at the 2.

Keep in mind, you're never going to hear all the options Morey has or is considering when he is giving a rundown on his thought process. There are always thoughts unspoken always avenues not uncovered or explored.

 

For me, the most interesting part is how the Rockets thought til the very end that NYK would match. It shows how much of a no-brainer it was for the Knicks to keep Lin. I'm sure the Rockets more than the rest of us have crunched the numbers and know exactly what keeping him for the Knicks would mean. So all this stuff about paying too much luxury tax is likely pure BS from Knicks end.

Dolan threw a tantrum, Melo made it known his distaste for Lin, etc. and they made a move based purely on emotions. Regardless of whether or not it's the right move, it must really suck for the fans to have a team run like a club than a business.

 

Dolan has been an owner who is willing to spend money on his team . . . no matter how foolish the expenditure is from a basketball and cap standpoint. I agree, this was emotional for Dolan somehow. He could have waived Kidd, Camby and others (frankly, anyone other than Melo and Amare) in 2014 using the Stretch Provision in order to mitigate the tax hit.

Meanwhile, Les Alexander was willing to spend up to $21 million in waiving Luis Scola using the amnesty provision in order to help the Rockets' long-range plans to try to build a championship contender. He ended up being on the hook for $17.5 million for Scola NOT to play for the Rockets . . . all for the good of the team, as painful as it is from both a financial and an emotional standpoint.

People need to lay off of Les a bit. He's a good owner.