word already has spread to multiple levels of his support staff that Howard re-signing with the Lakers is far from a done deal. OK thanks Aleron. So its not his GFs best friend's friend as I was thinking. I thought Dwight wanted to avoid the Dwightmare like in Orlando, why is he telling multiple levels of his support staff to speak to the media and spread that he is interested in the Rockets? I'm trying to work out Dwight's strategy here. Is he trying to use Houston as leverage to get the Lakers to fire D'Antoni? But Mitch already said D'Antoni is 100% coming back and recently let him fire the old staff and bring in all his own support staff. It really sounds like Laker's FO is going with MDA and his staff for next season. I am baffled by Dwight's media leaking strategy? What's the angle?
The dude probably legitimately doesn't know what he wants to do. He probably has hundreds of people telling him different stuff and he's going to have to make a difficult career decision soon
You're probably right. But I can't see why so many people are putting the odds at 80/20 or 70/30 to stay with the Lakers. After this intentional media leakage the odds should be more like 50 / 50 or even 55 / 45 in favour of Houston.
Probably just letting it be known leaving is a real possibility, media go crazy over it now, but its all out on the table if/when it happens. On D'antoni, the problem in that sense is that they're choosing to keep D'antoni. Sure he could request getting rid of D'antoni, but he probably feels he shouldn't have to, so in that sense them keeping him shows that organisation isn't what it once was. It'd be like me leaving a $10 note on the table, I shouldn't actually need to tell you not to take it, and if you do it shows you have issues.
^This. I think he might be inclined to play for the Rockets but his agent is no friend of the Rockets and will certainly try to keep his meal ticket in the major market. That, and Lakers brass have already pulled out the b.s. media overkill with "I truly believe when all is said and done Dwight will have his own statue in front of Staples Center". We have a good shot, but Dwight will need the balls to leave L.A.
Either stupidity... or he's trying to force the Lakers to either fix their situation or to trade him. It doesn't take a genius to see the situation with their cap space and having a non-existent bench, and Howard was in the middle of that. But regarding trades Houston probably doesn't want to let go of any of their major pieces, and now know that Dwight might walk to Houston anyways which would help their leverage in not giving up their core, so both Rockets and Lakers knowing that Dwight is liking Houston would help Houston not lose too much in a trade (ie. the pieces that make the Rockets 'fun', what's the point of being traded to a fun team if half the 'fun' gets traded away for you?). Other teams, if they've been named, will know whether they have a chance in hell of signing Dwight and will know what packages to throw at the Lakers. Meanwhile if Dwight is traded, wouldn't that mean his Bird Rights follow him? Which would help whatever team he's signed with cap space and thus help with their being a contender.
Hey cyberx, I posted this in the Parsons/Fegan thread, but figured I'd ask here. Do you think that Chandler signing with Dan could help the relationship between Dan and Daryl? The reasons I think it could: 1.) Most importantly, it should open the lines of communication. After Martin and Lee left Houston, I don't think Fegan had any Houston clients... now the second-best player currently on the Houston roster (and one poised to get a rich deal in the near future) is represented by Dan. I would think that would get more dialogue started. 2.) If Dwight signs with Houston this summer, thus putting a contending core in place, it should increase the likelihood that the Rockets let Parsons hit FA in 2014. That is, they could give him a "good faith" gesture with a year's head start on his next contract. If Dwight doesn't sign in Houston, though, cap space will be at a premium for the Rockets moving forward, and it would be a near certainty that they'd keep him on his cheap deal through 2015. If anyone is unfamiliar with the particulars, read items 4 and 5 on BimaThug's recent analysis: http://rockets.clutchfans.net/3681/chandler-parsons-contract-take-two/ I know Chandler won't be on par with Dwight on Fegan's priority list. However, if Dwight signing in Houston could indirectly benefit one of Dan's other top clients, my hope is that that might reduce the sting from losing the commission off LA endorsements.
I could definitely see Feagan telling DM that, "If I bring D12 to Houston you are going to have to make sure and take care CP25 when the time is right. 10+ million a season easy and no heart aches about getting him a prime time contract!".
Yup. And I think Daryl would point out to Fegan that if Dwight is here, it becomes much more reasonable for the Rockets allow Chandler to hit restricted FA next summer and get his deal then. Could be a win-win for all sides.
Howard's contract is expiring this summer. I'm pretty sure they cannot trade him at this point unless it's a sign-and-trade. And there's no reason for Howard or the Rockets to prefer a sign-and-trade. Howard will make the same money either way, and the Rockets would obviously sign him straight up and lose no assets. It could be a play to get the Lakers to fix their roster. But, I think they already know their roster is broken and are already highly motivated to fix it. They don't need a kick in the pants from Howard to get them going. What it could do is bend their plans to better accomodate Dwight's timeline or else what he thinks is best -- which would be suboptimal. It would help protect him, though, from the Lakers rebuilding by playing him for a season and then trading him for young assets. In any case though, with all the high-dollar old fogies they have and no young assets, it's going to be very hard for them to fix the roster, even if they do it the way Howard would want. But, I think it's most likely the first option, stupidity, except I'd call it wisdom. He should want a team that has a window that's opening instead of one that's closing. The Lakers' is closing, and they have to go and find another window. The Rockets' window is opening. Why would he want to stick with the Lakers when the Rockets opportunity is right there, unless it was for reasons outside of winning championships?
The big difference of Chandler hiring Fegans means a less than friendly negotiation in regards to what Morey was willing to offer to Chandler after next season when he was restricted. I don't think Fegans will settle for what Parsons and his previous agent would have settled for. They'll undoubtedly push the envelope with Fegans pushing another GM with another team that has one of his players on it to offer Parsons $50 million over 4 years or so. Perhaps Washington or Dallas. Fegan will get somebody to offer top dollar for Parsons and Morey will then have a tough decision. I would be very surprised if Morey is able to negotiate a contract with Fegan in this scenario. Soooo, with that said. What happens before that? Well, guess what? These things have a way of working themselves out. If we sign Dwight, don't be surprised of Parsons' role next season is severely limited. (Everybody's role will be somewhat limited with Dwight on board with Harden. But Parsons will be the one most likely to lose the most shots and the most offensive opportunties.) The answer to keeping Parsons contract down is to low-ball his production by limiting his touches the most. Don't be surprised.............if that happens.
actually, if I understand Bima's article right, AT THE TIME of writing Parson's contract for a second rounder was really good. At the MOMENT Parsons is underpaid. But if you're talking about the contract his previous agent created, it wasn't about 'settling'.
Exactly. No one knew how great he was going to pan out, especially so quick. Worked out excellent in our favor, though.
I don't really understand how it makes that much of a difference. Certainly, Parsons isn't going to leave any money on the table, which is no different than it was before. The biggest benefit for Chandler is that Fegan is probably better (much?) than his previous agent and "playing the field", and more importantly getting Chandler other revenue generating deals. Consider that superstars have been represented by their friends and family before. Consider selling your house, only in an environment where there are an extremely limited number of houses (NBA players), you're a fairly sought after one of those anyways (Chandler will be a highly sought after FA when the time comes), and they buyer universe all plays by a very similar set of rules. If you're selling that house, your choice of "broker" shouldn't impact things all that much. But it's always better to have the best broker, so I can't blame Chandler for the change. I do think, however, the other non-monetary things can certainly help. Opening a line of communication. Getting Parsons and Dwight more buddy buddy, etc. Yeah, of course. Nobody twisted Parsons hand. Quite the opposite. It was probably an above-market deal. Giving out 4 guaranteed years. Sure, DM's had some second round hits, but he's had his fair share of non-hits, too. God knows, if he had given out 4 year deals to all his second rounders, the Rockets would be worse off. Why he chose to do so here, I'm not sure, but I'm definitely glad he did. He must have been really sold on Chandler's potential. But before last year I couldn't have told you whether he would turn out how he did, or become another Dan Langhi.
Dan Fegan. Fegan. One 'E'. One 'A'. Fegan. Dan. Fegan. [This message brought to you by the Association for Anal Retentive People Who Think You Should Respect Someone Else Enough to Get Their Name Right Especially When It is Spelled Correctly in the First Post of the Thread]
It wasn't 4 guaranteed years. Every year was at least partially unguaranteed except for year 1. What makes the contract better than the contracts before, was that Parsons get his guarantees easier. So he doesn't have to sweat out every offseason whether or not he'll be cut. But if Parsons had bombed as a rookie, we'd currently be out of his contract already.
