U have a player like harden and u refuse to go all in to create a team to win it all. Is Tilman waiting for MJ to lace it up to go all in? I guess u like people that was just speaking out of their ass then. Some people just like lapping up bullshit.
Agreed but what if I told you that a HOF coach, HOF GM, multiple assistants that gained GM positions elsewhere, HIf top 5 offensive player of all time, and HOF all nba player all wanted out within 3 years of a new owner buying the team with documented cost saving moves (the national media literally makes fun of him for being cheap). To make matters worse the coach threatened a discriminatory lawsuit and immediately got snatched by a team. The GM said he wanted time to his kids and immediately signed with another team. The all nba player is... the same. But our HOF generational talent who never made a peep in the national media about anything now wants out too. That’s leadership issues. It’s all on him.
Morey has his chances, just didn't estimate the potential trades/signings available at february would improve enough the team to be worthy and ultimately preferred to save the luxury tax wildcard for next season. And last season we were just too far of contending level. Tilman said it and Morey never denied it, not even out of the franchise.
Ok correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Ariza sign a 1 year $15 million dollar contract with the Suns in 2018? Per the reports we were only offering around $5 million a year to him. But how would we have any roster flexibility to sign other guys if we gave Ariza $15 million dollars or anything close to that? I don't get your point here if you are basically arguing that Houston didn't do whatever we could to align Harden with more talent. Seems counterintuitive to me. Again I don't get the logic here when it comes to Chriss and Knight either. You say that you want the Rockets to swing for the fences but when they actually do and bring in a guy like Chriss whom some NBA scouts thought was an all-star level talent, and Brandon Knight who has been a very very good NBA player in the league for many years you still complain. You know how I feel about Green and Temple, no point in even discussing those fringe guys(let's agree to disagree on those players). Now let's put a major fork in the road when it comes to this last part. Of course Tilman is going to say it was his idea lol. Why would you as the owner say anything different? You don't want to put out the perception that a player is calling the shots. And he's actually doing what so many of you posters here love to do, DEFENDING JAMES HARDEN. He's not throwing Harden under the bus and saying "Yeah Harden really likes Russell and we decided to make the trade because of Harden's input". Because then the talk here would be why did Tilman say Harden wanted Russ instead of the organization? Especially after the abysmal playoff series Westbrick had against the Lakers.
Maybe it is. Or maybe it was just a circle that ended and everyone parted ways. I mean, we are in current longest playoff streak, so everyone you named deserves a good spot in the league. On the other hand, this same group lasted for years and we got zero rings. So changes were needed. Most of the billionaires are considered cheap. I don't blame him for not going all in (aka paying luxury taxes) while there are superteams in the league.
I never thought he was trying to rig the team. I just thought every time he opened his mouth it was like fingernails against a chalk board.
No he is not really THAT bad in the sense that he is not the cartoon villain he has been portrayed as. He is not a great owner but he is not the worst in the sport either. Basketball ops has been allowed to make basketball decisions. They haven't paid the luxury tax BUT they've been one of the highest payroll teams in the NBA every year. It's not black and white. I wish he was better. Like @Deuce and I have discussed on here and on twitter for years now, his stupid "repeater tax" fallacy has hurt them from improvements on the margin which may have helped increase the team's odds. At the same time, there have been moves they tried to make (Memphis deal) where the other team backed out and they would have paid the tax. And the idea that all winning teams would go into the tax is belied by reality. Vast majority of teams, even playoff teams, do not pay the luxury tax. The BUCKS! let Malcolm Brogdon go entirely over tax issues. The Cavs and Warriors kind of set unrealistic expectations of what teams would do WRT to the luxury tax because they were profit monsters. Rockets currently have the 4th highest payroll in the NBA. 17-18 they were ranked 8th 18-19 they were ranked 8th 19-20 they were ranked 9th I think he's likely to get WORSE as an owner unfortunately because of the financial crisis. As a person he just doesn't seem like a good dude. I think he lacks...class for a better word I guess and that hurts the franchise. Say what you want about moving on from Mike D'Antoni, he deserved to be treated better on the way out than Tilman treated him. But that's Tilman. The problem is that stuff can build and you can come to be seen as a toxic owner. So, TL;DR, he's not a great owner but he's not the James Dolan level owner or Sarver owner he's presented as #onhere. I wish we had better but we could have worse.
He paid millions out of pocket for SRP just so the team can have trade flexibility even when those gambles didn't help them immediately stay competitive
Totally fair post from @justtxyank. Could be better, could be worse. People hate because he’s “cheap” and his politics (@Bobbythegreat). Spoiler As if paying the Luxury Tax is some magical bullet or guarantees anything. As if Leslie Alexander/the Rockets franchise have a history of paying the luxury tax. Houston has paid the luxury tax only twice: 2010/11 ($757K) 2015/16 ($4.9M) Luxury Tax 2019-20: Blazers: $5M (35-39; L 1st Rd 4-1) Heat: $2.4M (44-29; L NBA Finals 4-2) Thunder: $2.1M (44-28; L 1st Rd 4-3) Timberwolves: $497K (19-45) 2018-19: Thunder: $61.6M (49-33; L 1st Rd 4-1) Warriors: $51.5M (57-25; L NBA Finals 4-2) Raptors: $21.4M (58-24; W NBA Finals 4-2) Blazers: $15.1M (53-29; L Western Conference Finals 4-0) Celtics: $3.9M (49-33; L Eastern Semifinals 4-1) 2017-18: Cavs: $50.7M (50-32; L NBA Finals 4-0) Warriors: $32.3M (58-24; W NBA Finals 4-0) Thunder: $25.4M (48-34; L 1st Rd 4-2) Wizards: $7M (43-39; L 1st Rd 4-2) 2016-17: Cavs: $24.8M (51-31; L NBA Finals 4-1) Clippers: $3.6M (51-31; L 1st Rd 4-3) 2015-16: Cavs: $54M (57-25; W NBA Finals 4-3) Clippers: $19.9M (53-29; L 1st Rd 4-2) Warriors: $14.8M (73-9; L NBA Finals 4-3) Thunder: $14.5M (55-27; L Western Conference Finals 4-3) Spurs: $4.9M (67-15; L Western Semifinals 4-2) Rockets: $4.9M (41-41; L 1st Round 4-1) Bulls: $4.2M (42-40) 2014-15: Nets: $20M (38-44; L 1st Rd 4-2) Cavs: $7M (53-29; L NBA Finals 4-2) Knicks: $6.9M (17-65) Clippers: $4.8M (56-26; L Western Semifinals 4-3) Thunder: $2.8M (45-37) 2013-14: Nets: $90.5M (44-38; L Eastern Semifinals 4-1) Knicks: $36.3M (37-45) Heat: $14.4M (54-28; L NBA Finals 4-1) Lakers: $8.9M (27-55) Clippers: $1.3M (57-25; L Western Semifinals 4-2) 2012-13: Lakers: $29.2M (45-37; L 1st Rd 4-0) Heat: $13.3M (66-16; W NBA Finals 4-3) Nets: $12.8M (49-33; L 1st Rd 4-3) Knicks: $9.9M (54-28; L Eastern Semifinals 4-2) Bulls: $3.9M (45-37; L Eastern Semifinals 4-1) Celtics: $1.1M (41-40; L 1st Rd 4-2) 2011-12: Lakers: $12.5M (41-25; L Western Semifinals 4-1) Celtics: $7.3M (39-27; L Eastern Conference Finals 4-3) Heat: $6.1M (46-20; W NBA Finals 4-1) Mavs: $2.7M (36-30; L 1st Rd 4-0) Spurs: $2.5M (50-16; L Western Conference Finals 4-2) Hawks: $666K (40-26; L 1st Rd 4-2) Further back... http://www.shamsports.com/2015/07/complete-history-of-nba-luxury-tax.html
Come make me tough guy. Did I ever say that Tilman was a great owner? Did I ever say Tilman wasn't cheap? Go back to school and learn some reading comprehension and then come back to me.
This is the kind of stuff cited that's just ridiculous. You think Tilman should have been able to keep an assistant from taking a promotion to a GM position with another team?
I bring up Cuban for good reason because both are huge fans of the teams they have. That's the one positive advantage that Tilman has, he's an actual Rocket fan and Houston guy. I remember SAS after we lost to GSW again came out and said he spoke to Tilman and that heads would roll after that loss. Turned out it was CP3s head that was on the chopping block. It's a very fan move to make, if you remember most of the board wanted to trade CP3 at the time, I don't know if people knew we'd get Westbrook back... So my hope is that Tilman will have learned not to make erratic emotional fan decisions.
Tbh he was rookie, i feel like Morey kinda finnessed him and all he did was cut salaries. But it seems he learns. This year moves are bold and strong. He ran off pringels? Thats supposed to be negative? He hired great prospect coach and didnt fall for Ty Lue? Some would say its because of money but at the same time JVG was at the top of his list and I doubt it was cheap. Staying calm through the Harden madness and let Stone actually make several good deals(which i havent seen since trading for CP by Morey). They basicaly saved our season and this need applause.
I said it in the other Tilman-ain't-so-bad thread (why are there multiple of these? hahaha) and I'll say it here: I would hate him much less if he were just honest about his relative poverty. He was once way early on when he admitted that he's one of the poorer NBA owners and that could impact spending. Later though, he went into full blabber mode with the "I'll do whatever it takes, spend whatever it takes" interviews and quotes. And during the entire tenure, he's selling first round picks to save money and making financial decisions that hurt the team. Just be real instead of a blowhard.
I would say we truly dont know yet , but there are bad signs. Its pretty strong evidence that we havent gone over the Tax during the last couple of years. But hey , we are in the Tax so far this year. Lets see. It wont absolve that im pissed about not making a deal the last couple of time ... but maybe there truly were no good opportunities. Its just hard to believe a hyper aggressive GM like Morey wouldnt pull the trigger on something.
