Zach Lowe: Terrence Jones could be asking for $15M per year

LMFBO :grin::grin::grin::grin:. You are repped.

 

If Kevin Love, a player that Daryl Morey has (probably) coveted, is making an average of, say, $20,500,000 over the course of five years, I don't know if Terrence Jones or even DMo can expect an average of $15,000,000 in Houston.

Even with the numbers shifting grossly upwards due to the exploding cap, Morey has that tendency to (want to) overpay stars, and not overpay the middle-tier dudes.

But we'll see how much Morey adjusts his definition of "overpay".

 

Tristan Thomas makes Jones look like a soft little b****.

 

What is an overpay? Is it a max contract? If so, can you get a real star without "overpaying"?

 

Tristan Thompson played like a man possessed in the playoffs. He pulled down more offensive rebounds in one game than Jones probably did in the entire season. As of right now, Thompson is clearly the better player, and I don't know if it's even all that close.

 

You are WORTH what you are willing to NEGOTIATE.

Its basic economics, and supply and demand. There will be great demand for PLAYERS, not just good or great ones next Summer. The SUPPLY will be minimal based on what is currently projected to be available.

"No One wants the Rockets to waste that money"....

That's a more complex statement in consideration to the Rockets current, and future financial situation in regards to their cap moving forward into next Summer. Alot of variables, but the one variable that will be obvious is that the Rockets cap flexibility isn't going to be swayed one way or another in a pivitol motion by whether or not Jones or D-Mo for that matter get paid a large sum.

The big factor will be whether or not the Rockets are able to land Durant first and foremost. After that, the Rockets will almost surely be capped out, and much like with the Bosh situation a year ago, it wouldn't really matter if they overpayed for a player like Parsons because they are already significantly over the cap anyways. At that point (IF WE ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM), it shouldn't matter to the fans how much D-Mo or Jones are getting paid. Its not our concern. Only Les Alexanders. If Jones or D-Mo are the best players available after signing Durant, WE SHOULD WANT THEM to help win.

There could be a situation where that is the case for D-Mo and Jones seeing as though they are both RFA. If one of those guys are better than what you would be getting in a replacement veteran minimum guy (assuming you are over the cap), it might be worth it to overpay one of if not both Jones and D-Mo because you are essentially going all in, and want to field the best team possible.

Cap flexibility in relation to Jones/D-Mo's salary.... it shouldn't be an issue for ANYONE else other than Les Alexander unless you have your eyes set on the Summer of 2017 free agency... which my guess is most of you do not just yet.

If the answer was as simple as some of you make it out to seem, it wouldn't be that fascinating to talk about with someone like Zach Lowe, or BimaThug for that matter. Its a pretty complex situation, and there are more variables in the matter rather than "He's not worth what he's going to get paid".... TRADE HIM ASAP.

 

in dollars? that's crazy.

 

Tristan *Thompson is a much much better defensively and at rebounding than T. Jones.

 

Damn, 15 million a year....we don't even know if he's the starting PF on the Rockets next year. Isn't Draymond Green getting 16/year?

 

Sure, in some sense that's true, but I was talking about relative value. Is he worth 15 mil a year as a backup quality PF for the Rockets? I highly doubt anyone at all would suggest that he is.

 

This can't be right, I was told by a self proclaimed insider that TJones would be out of the NBA in four years and he had no value?

 

I agree with most of you in the camp of thinking his demands are absurd... However, consider:

This is a 23 year old athletic young stud who has gotten some pretty solid numbers in essentially two years of play while not even being the 5th offensive option on his team, and facing an injury riddled season in which he never got a consistent stretch of playing time.

As Rockets fans, we know the ins and outs of his game and how much domestic abuse he has taken against stud PFs in the west. But most gms will see that resume that his agent will present to them, and he will get his money as a consequence of those circumstances along with Tristan Thompson setting the market value with his ridiculous contract.

 

It sounds like the cap going up will make max level superstars even MORE undervalued, if that makes sense at all.

The fact that all these middling teams will have that much more to spend, with a salary cap floor instituted on top of it all, means that all those role players in the middle will get huge pay checks at the expense of the superstars who really can go anywhere they want and don't have to select from the scrub teams in the boonies.

Which for Morey means that a.) the contracts he signed with Ariza Brewer and Beverley will look even better as time goes on, and b.) that we can look forward to a whole lot more rookie scale contracts filling out our roster. I just can't see Morey giving into to this fiscally insane trend.

 

Its all about options and situation.

Before the last season started, no one also will expect Dmo will make more than TJ after their rookie contract will be expired.

Dmo was the one who had been sent to summer league, and not TJ last year.

So there you go.

A full season could have a lot of things happened. Plus the fact that our GM indeed like the term flexibility a lots, it isn't a lock Morey will hang on to Dmo either.

When there is no other better options on the market and assuming TJ will have a healthy season and keep improving, anything can happen.

 

Last thing I'll say about this-

People keep on bring up this point about Jones getting torched in the 2014 playoffs by LMA, and Jones getting torched by Griffin this previous playoff series as some sort of vindication that he's not worth a thing, and is a scrub.

Let me as this of you then-

-Would Reggie Jackson have been able to match up, and play up to Steph Curry this year..... Reggie Jackson is getting paid 16 mil per over the next 5 years.

-Would Gordon Hayward be able to outplay Lebron James in the Finals?... Gordon Hayward is getting paid 16 mil as well.

-Would Enes Kanter have outplayed Lamarcus Aldridge, or Blake Griffin, or even Dwight Howard last year.....Kanter is making almost 18 mil per year.


Being subpar to superstar players really doesn't matter if you have the power to negotiate the salary you get that is well over your on-the-court value.

 

I always expected DMo to make more than Jones after their rookie deals were up. Skilled 7 footers almost always make more than 6'9 athletic hustle guys. Sure there are a few exceptions, but that's the rule.

 

Many also mentioned the Rockets should go after Delly to improve our PG situation in the summer and yet he only got a one year deal to stay in Cleveland when the FA market almost dried out.

The grass is always greener on the other side.

 

I would say the Rockets beat the Warriors in Games 1 and 2, and quite possibly win the entire series if we swap Jones for Tristan Thompson, simply for the offensive and defensive rebounding alone.

 

It doesn't matter though to a knowledgeable fan given the Rockets current circumstances. Circumstance is everything as it relates to how the Rockets handle D-Mo and Jones' salary much like it was with Parsons before. That's why its so fascinating to take a look at.

If Jones or even D-Mo for that matter were a free agent right this second, before the 2015/16 season then I'd say Morey would probably let them walk at that rate because of what it meant for next Summer's pursuits.

In the Summer of 2016 as restricted free agents, its a wait and see situation. If Rockets fans have dreams of landing Durant then it really shouldn't matter at that point. If that's your main purpose in cap management then you should then adjust your view as a fan to look at those two players as one-year contract players. If you want to move them it should be for the purpose of gauging their value on one year deals in REAL ON THE COURT value vs. what you would be able to sign or trade for if moved. In this case, the best you will probably sign would be a Boozer type from what i see.

The "what's he worth" game really shouldn't apply to us fans who want the team to build a superior contender. Its all circumstance, and that's what makes it so interesting.