Stephen A. Smith was on First Take and they were talking about clearing cap room for Howard. His "sources" say Howard and James Harden have been "talking everyday."
Maybe somebody else leaked this. From another thread, Morey was quoted to still say that they were pleased with Robinson blah blah blah. So it seems that Morey still wanted people to believe that they were keeping TRob for now.
You have been very cryptic. Saying you have inside information... 1) Rockets are only 5% away 2) do something for Dwight and his family and we are set Stop teasing and spill the beans! If you have something to say, just say it.
Morey does like Robinson, just not as much as Dwight Howard or Chris Paul. Robinson makes 3.5 million and that is a decent chunk of cap space.
Dwight wants the Rockets to get some sort of sponsorship so he can fly his family anytime to his games in Houston. That's the 5%. If you don't believe me, just watch.
How would a sponsorship enable that? Is his family in ATL? Do they go to his games in LA? I wonder what the rule is for NBA "in-kind" contributions.
Ok, so I guess you have some kind of connection to Dwight or his family. Are you talking about his kids in LA or his family in Atlanta. Also, what you imply by saying all this is there have been negotiations between Dwight and Houston and this is the last 5% that has to be dealt with. 1) it's not a sticking point when you're talking about an $88m contract. 2) free agency doesn't start until July 1st so I can't see how there can be any negotiation.
I don't think the term "leak" applies to this situation. This is not one of those closed-door negotiations between trusted parties. it is DM putting the word out to other GMs that TRob is available. It's a given that this information will spread, since there are a lot of people who will be privileged to the initial communication. I'm sure that's something Morey fully expected to happen. Your overall point seems correct. It's not complicated. DM is putting a product out on the market to see if there are any takers. It's only logical that he would want to maintain the perception that this is a product the organization values highly.
I wasn't too sure that the Rockets REALLY wanted Howard but now that they're trying to get rid of Robinson it's pretty clear now. This makes the Patterson/Robinson trade all the more baffling. I didn't understand why they traded for Robinson at all because Patterson in my opinion is by far the superior player who has the cheaper contract. So now they're trying to get rid of Robinson before even one full season. So they basically got rid of Patterson for free who I thought was a decent young player. If the Rockets don't even up getting Howard they shot themselves in the foot big time.
Yeah, it's a tough break more than anything. He's basically the easiest piece to move. It's not really a reflection on how he has played. The kid still has a ton of untapped potential.
Looking at the situation in Miami as an example, I dont see two teams looking to contend in a large market facilitating this trade to help Houston be able to become the Miami Heat of the West. That being said, if you S&T Howard first, you are banking on CP3 defintely signing, and signing for a few million less(on top of whatever he's leaving by not re-signing in LA). If you S&T Asik & Lin first(along with T-Rob going away as well), you will be close, but still a few million shy of giving CP3 the full max he is set to make. You can also makeup that cap space by sending out T. Jones, White, & D-Mo, but your talking about moving - Asik Lin Robinson White DMo/or Jones and getting NOTHING back that hurts the dampens your cap space. That's a tough, tough task for Morey to pull off. AND on top of that your banking on LA/LAL facilitating this trade to make Houston a threat to contend for the next 5 years.
Sorry can't get into technical questions. I wish Dwight Howard was in my network, but I do know an inside source thats good friends with the Rockets.
Robinson's got more trade value than Patterson. Garcia really helped us in the playoffs. T-Rob's contract just happens to be the amount we need to free up, nothing against his potential. You do everything to hook the biggest fish in Dwight. If the Rockets get Dwight and a future high draft pick, it's a success.
It might be his way of REALLY getting Dwight's attention: Hey, dude, we are serious enough about this to dump a player with potential. Time to climb aboard the Title Train now and leave that soap opera team behind. Morey obviously knows the dump was required in order to free up sufficient space, but his apparent "letting it be known" that Robinson was available seems to me like a bigger announcement that he intends on getting the Howard thing done and wants Dwight to start considering it seriously.
This is already starting out worse than last year. Dwight Howard is not coming to Houston. He's going to do the talk & walk the walk, but at the end of the day he'll end up in Dallas, or somewhere other than Houston. Somewhere you're not even thinking about right now.
