that is a bit misleading - Les has repeatedly said he would be willing to go over if it means fielding a championship team. The Rockets have been no where near that level of contention over the last decade. The closest team was the 09/10 team which also faltered due to injuries. Yet Les paid out a small amount of tax the follow season as he was convinced it was necessary for a greater goal in the future -- that minimal payment enabled for the current team to be constructed -- but most owners would have been upset if they were to pay that tax knowing that they were going to be a non-contending team. Les also hasnt had to pay the tax because of the shrewd moves by Morey but not handing out any crippling contracts -- Those type of contracts are what send teams high into the luxury tax. I am sure if the current Rockets teams does well and go far in the playoffs - Les again would be willing to pay the luxury tax since it will mean winning again on the big stage. Les has spend money like crazy on this team - buying draft picks, expanding the staff, renovating the arena and possibly buying out the tv network. Despite the misconception -- he is one of the better owners in the NBA
New Orleans has a salary of about 65 million the Tax Threshold is about 71 million Ryan Anderson counts 8.3 million against the cap Omer Asik counts 8.3 million against the cap New Orleans cap situation does not change with a Omer for Anderson trade. Since New Orleans is under the Tax Threshold they will not have to pay any tax penalties.
Sounds like there is at least one GM who wants Asik. I'm sure there are more...and as injuries mount up and the season craters for some teams, there will be plenty of interest in him. Sell high.
A deep playoff run with 20 min of Asik for every GM to see first hand will do more for his value than anything leading up too that. And give the Rockets the best chance of a deep run. Keep him.
I think Morey is doing a good job. basically going from scratch 2 years ago to a contening team. Parson is really the only player left that started 2011-12 season I dont think Morey wanted to trade Asik except Asik keeps grumbling for a trade. His contract is hefty next year but he still valuable to other teams. There a lot of bad players contracts out that are a lot worse then Asik, that GM are begging other GM to take off their payroll.
Alternate Headline: "Rival GM says More is Delusional, Gets Panties in a Wad Because Morey Refuses to Trade Asik for Peanuts" I take this as a good sign. We aren't desperate and we shouldn;t act like it. Wait until the right deal comes along. It will.
So I'm guessin, when Cuban inquired about Asik, DM said he'd take Nowitzki.... and now Cuban is all butt hurt? Good ta hear that DM is asking fir too much... start your negotiating point high to get the best value...
Said rival GM is obviously salty that Morey's asset collecting ways have netted us two stars and a 12-5 record looking like a championship contender in only FOUR years. It was only 4 years ago when T-Mac and Yao were done for the career. Now? Contenders again.
you're delusional, you're delusional cubes you're losin your mind it's confusin you, you're confused you know why you wastin your time? got ya all fired up with napoleon complex seein' right thru you like ya bathe in windex cubey why ya so obsessed w/ me? scrub i wanna know lyin' you can trade w/ me, when everybody knows it's clear you've choked on morey's D RFFL pearls on your nose ….finally found a G that you couldn't surpass deez nutz in yo mouf, no dwight in dallass
FWIW, the Rockets would've been way over the tax had we signed Bosh. Which mean pursuit of him was signed off by Les. Also, Les was the only owner willing to sign off on getting the Jefferies contract(with reward of Jordan Hill, a pick-switch, and what became the 16th pick) when the Rockets were going to be over the tax. Also, according to Morey, we have the biggest analytics department in the NBA. This is the type of "hidden" spending, similar to buying 2nd round picks, that Les is willing to pay instead of blindly overpaying mediocre talent.
Thank you, I get tired of people saying Les is not a good owner. He is clearly top 10 at least in the league, I would argue top 5.
morey holds all the cards here. asik looks like he is enjoying playing again and he is getting more minutes and we are winning. no reason to trade him for anything less than an all-star.
Because GMs unlike the fans sees the NBA as a business as they should and value profits. Most owners don't treat the team as their toy, profit is more important to winning
Asik is more valuable than Anderson. Asik's 10m per year real money is probably close to, if not slightly underpaid for that type of player, Anderson is overpaid by about $2m per year. Also pay schedules can be highly manipulated, you can pay a player 25% on July 1, a further 25% on/after October 1, and then the other 50% on the normal paydays starting in November. Given how Asik and Lin's contracts were structured, I would expect them to have been front loaded to make them easier to trade.
