No one can pay him for longer, even if they wanted to. 5-year deals are extremely limited (one per team) and are only given to bonafide superstars. Four years is the absolute max he'll get. I think there's a middle ground to be found here -- no harm in giving Brewer a 3-year contract if the per-year money is reasonable.
Someone should make a new thread about this as clutch said so the rumours dont get lost. It definitely affects our free agency. Remember when cyber said we were afraid of losing brew and everyone thought he had made a mistake and meant to write smith?
Teams can RE-SIGN any of their own free agents for whom they have full Bird rights to five-year deals. You may be thinking of EXTENSIONS. (This is all moot as to Brewer, however, since he's an Early Bird free agent.)
Maybe he signs a 4 year deal with us for a lower dollar amount? I don't care how many years we sign him as long as it's not $$$
Mac Stein: Houston wants an elite stretch 4. Working hard to figure out how to get Love and Aldridge.
Stein: (Houston) They're looking at their trade options. They want a stretch four. You can rest assure Morey and his number crunchers are looking at ways to create cap space. BW: Bledsoe will be available. They can't trade him until they have a Knight deal locked in. If they find a market for Bledsoe, that could be a major trade. AE: Knight fits the mold of what they want more than Bledsoe. From a personality standpoint. The guys in the locker room will gravitate towards him.
If Brew is seeking a longer deal, i think Morey would like a s&t for someone who has only one year contract
I agree. His undisciplined style of play became a liability during the playoffs. His desire for a longer term contract to be executed this year may not jive.
Not sure why folks reflexively react with "Let him go!" whenever news comes that a player wants to be paid what he can. With this Brewer news, there is no indication as to how much money he is seeking or how much the market will offer him. It just says he prefers a long term deal. The deal might end up being way too expensive to match, but it may also be within reason. Morey has said, and shown, that he doesn't mind giving out longer-term deals as long as the $ amount is reasonable and that contract can be traded if need be. Trevor Ariza is the most recent example. If what it takes to retain Brewer is reasonable in light of all the factors out there (like it was with Ariza) and it does not interfere with the Rockets effort to chase a higher priority player, I see him staying with Houston.
How many more years would Brew need on a Rocket contract for Rox to get Bird status on him? And why is Brew's desire for long term deal a surprise or a concern? There will be a market for the guy, but there was always going to be a market for the guy.
I don't think Morey will offer Brewer a contract over two years; and i don't think Brewer will accept a contract less 3 years; so it's best way to s&t
Gotcha, I was thinking of extensions. What I meant to say was Brewer isn't eligible for one. There's a weird defense mechanism with a lot of folks. Anytime there's the slightest chance of someone leaving, they just prefer to assume the player is gone so that they aren't disappointed. Baffles me.