[Stein] Rockets Latest DMo offer "multiyear starts at a fully guaranteed $7m in Yr 1"

Restricted free agency is a dirty game. You are dead wrong on his market.

 

So...DMo's feelings are hurt? That's all this is? Damn...and here I thought it might be an ACTUAL reason!

So the signing of Ryan Anderson is what triggered DMo into thinking he could be traded at the deadline? What about that time where the Rockets, uh, actually traded DMo at the deadline? I mean...does he think he's untouchable?

Being traded, or potentially traded, is part of life in the NBA. I dearly apologize to DMo if such a "betrayal" is too much for him to overcome.

 

This should be a sticky post and everyone that comes into this thread should be compelled to read it before posting.

 

D-Mo's career average is 8 and 4. Last year he gave us 6 and 3 then had back surgery. It was a betrayal to bring someone in to start? It would have been malpractice not to. In his best year he gave us 10 and 6. Nobody gets promised starter's minutes based on that record. They have to earn them. And still, the Rockets wanted him back and were prepared to match a reasonable offer sheet and had plans to play him.

Now you're saying there was a conspiracy to sign and trade him against his will? If that were true (it's not) why would it matter? And where would they trade him that would constitute a "betrayal?" Siberia? You know they can't do that, right?

Everything I've heard publicly from D'Antoni and everything I've heard publicly and privately from Morey was that they absolutely had him in their plans. And if he played well you can be sure he'd get 30 minutes or more. The Rockets have held on to D-Mo for four years when he mostly hasn't produced. Yes, eventually they decided to trade one of him and Jones because they couldn't sign both when neither was fulfilling the starter's role, but the team has been very patient about his productivity.

But the trade thing doesn't matter and it especially doesn't matter now. RFA is not a dirty business. It's a business. One in which men get paid millions of dollars to play a game so I hope you'll forgive me if I don't feel sorry for your boy for not getting more than market value. RFA happens every year and every player/agent acts according to what the market bears. You sign the QO or you bring a better offer. If you're unhappy you ask for a S+T to a preferred destination and see if the team can accommodate you. Those are your options. Those are all of your options. They didn't request the S+T (to the best of my knowledge - care to fill us in otherwise?), they didn't bring an offer sheet (because it would have been reported), and they didn't take the QO. They just sat on their hands and waited for their wish to come true.

And your response is that he's been "betrayed?" and that "Morey got plenty dirty?" Good lord. I mean someone set up a fainting couch and pass the smelling salts, because you sound you're about to fall out. Over a role player.

I repeat RFA isn't a dirty business; it's just a business. It favors the team in that they can match, okay, but every player goes through it unless he proves he is extra-special. D-Mo hasn't. RFA has worked for just about every player in the league for a lot of years and suddenly this mostly-potential, oft-injured, unproven player is supposed to get special treatment? Until he proves he's more than a role player, he's a ROLE PLAYER. Until he gets on the court we don't even know if he's a role player anymore.

When you do four years at D-Mo's level of production you don't get special treatment. Now that he can't be traded he needs to sign here or quit the NBA. And sitting out is only giving Dekker a chance to take his minutes while Capela learns to hit free throws meaning he can finish games. His value is declining.

And that's a pretty severe accusation to make against Morey without explaining yourself. Care to back it up? Oh right, I forgot. "Yule C." I doubt it. I expect I'll just yawn again.

 

I agree completely. It's absurd. He's acting like an entitled, spoiled child. And he's done nothing to merit the sort of treatment he apparently believes he deserves.

 

Restricted free agency is a dirty business. The players hate it because of the manipulative tactics that keep them from being able to sign an offer sheet early. That's why in the new CBA it appears there will be higher cap holds for restricted free agents. This should curb the advantage of keeping RFA's dangling on a low cap hold while using the space to sign other FA's.

No, this is not about DMo getting his feelings hurt. This is about dollars and cents business. This is about a guys career. This is about defining a player as a top of the rotation contributor with higher extended earnings power versus him being defined as an extra bench warmer for the next season and a half and then becoming a journeyman baller. His career is at a crossroads. He is doing what he has to do to maximize his future earnings power.

Many of you are looking at this from the Rockets perspective. So it's understandable that you think and say, "Hey boy, prove it on court. Go earn it."

It would be great if this game was that simple. But unfortunately it isn't. Did Anderson "earn" $80 million? Did Gordon earn $53 million? And here's the next question. Think about this one. Be honest about it. If DMo had been unrestricted this summer what would he have signed for?

Restricted free agency is a dirty business, guys. If you think that DMo wouldn't have gotten offers in the $40 million range for 2-3 years if he were unrestricted then you're not being realistic. The Nets are sitting there with cap to burn. They have no reason not to try to win this season. Using that space to acquire a first round pick through trade does nothing for them and their future.

All these factors, signing Anderson to play in front of him leaving him with scraps combined with seeing guys get these big money deals that aren't as good as him, combined with knowing another team is willing to pay him now have led us to this point.

(By the way, the Rockets are willing to pay DMo more now too. If DMo signed an offer sheet right now for 3/75 with the first year guaranteed, Morey would match in a heartbeat. But that offer is not being presented right now. Know why? It's not because there aren't other teams willing to give DMo that kind of money. There was. But it's because they know Morey would match that deal and it doesn't help them to dole out that offer sheet right now. But.....if they wait, it could benefit them later...if they help with a trade. Oh, do you think DMo doesn't know this too? Restricted free agency is a dirty business.)

DMo is STILL a trade pawn. And if things hold off long enough, Anderson could become a trade pawn. Better start looking at Brewer trades to Brooklyn. And better keep looking at possible Brook Lopez trades. Brooklyn is ready to go with Hamilton in the middle, especially with Lin running the pick-and-roll show. It's no longer a secret that Brooklyn wants to move Lopez since Codman is referencing it. Believe it or not, this is all affecting DMo's situation because he is a restricted free agent, or should I say a Houston Rocket restricted free agent.

 

Donatas really needs be careful here and really needs better veteran mentorship around him. When players that aren't mega stars start down the road of grand conspiracies where their teams are betraying them and can't understand that things aren't given to them in the NBA, and can't grasp the business side of the NBA, it's bad news always for those players. Careers are usually cut short.

Royce White is an extreme example but Terrence Williams really isn't. Jeremy Lin even has a little of this bone in his body too but good for him on remaking his game a bit in Charlottle last year. Even our beloved Vernon Maxwell got caught up in this when he exited the Rockets because he felt betrayed and never really recaptured his career after that.

Point is DMo needs to understand that he has to take care of his own business in the NBA, and can't allow his feelings about how a team should be gambling on their talents(cause that's what it really comes down to... there is no statistical evidence that Donatas is a great player), and playing the victim.

Donatas is going to need to take care of proving that himself, and he can't do that up in Canada waiting on a contract that'll never happen. If he's not careful this could be the beginning of the end of his NBA career. Should have signed the QO like any rational NBA player would have or taken the 7 Mil with the chance to be traded. An extra 3 million next year just for the fear of being traded.... that's a pretty nice trade off. His ego is too big to be making smart decisions for his career at this point. He needs better mentorship moving forward.

 

My guess is Morey wanted a second year for DMo with say only $2m guaranteed.

With the Rockets capped out, they can probably only improve via trades.

If DMo plays poorly this year, and/or doesnt recover from injury, the Rockets can trade him and Brewer together to a second team that can cut DMo with only a small guarantee contract next year, ie salaey/cap savings.

If DMo plays well, he could be worth $12-14m on a $7m contract and Morey can probably package Brewer with him in a trade.

Dmo is pretty much a binary situation, and Morey probably wanted to price his contract accordingly.

 

Why are some people acting like restricted free agency prevented DMo from getting the money he so rightfully deserved? All his agent had to do was go out and get the best contract a team was willing to offer him. That's it. It's always been this way. EVERY team in the NBA suddenly had cap space and apparently not one single team made an offer he felt was good enough. EVERY team in the NBA knows that DMo can probably be had because the Rockets have determined a monetary value that they feel he is worth and may not be willing to overpay him. Yet still no offers? RFA didn't seem to prevent Chandler Parsons from getting a contract from the Mavs. Poor DMo. He overpriced his services. Why should I pay a guy $80 to cut my yard when I can pay another guy $25 and get pretty much the same thing? The market determines your worth.

 

38 pages here and counting and 47 pages from the "source" thread and counting

All DMO had to do was to get the best offer out there and make the Rockets match. If DMo, wants $10M per then he should go get it. If BKN is swimming in cap space, why didn't DMO get a lucrative offer from them? Some things don't add up here despite _holic's essays of citing every excuse or possibility why it's the Rockets fault.

 

Yule C.

 

Just telling you because it's Shi easy to do. When things start moving you'll just say I was guessing and I guess about so much stuff I'm bound to get something right. Read all your drivel before. You're not offering anything new, unique, or enlightening.

But Yule C.

 

Rockets have played this perfectly from a business standpoint. They have created more and more leverage for themselves.

 

Good Post...

T_Man

 

Bbholic-please explain what this means. Morey would pay 25per for 3 years but then took a 7mil deal off the table? If Dmo is so valuable then why won't anyone offer him a contract? Make Morey match. There is zero impact for them now tying up a few days with an offer.

 

Read my posts. Go back to when we signed Anderson and read my posts.