Printer-friendly format July 25, 2001, 10:15PM Dawson, Olajuwon's agent to talk Alexander reinforces Rockets' interest By BRIAN McTAGGART Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson traveled to Utah on Wednesday, where he plans to meet with the agent for Hakeem Olajuwon in an ongoing effort to re-sign the free-agent center. Dawson, who joined Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich at the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City, hopes to continue negotiations with Dan Fegan, but the two men had yet to meet as of Wednesday night. Fegan represents 11 players, including Olajuwon. "Usually, I'm out here for the whole (Rocky Mountain Revue), and I haven't been able to see what we're doing or how we're playing or anything," said Dawson, who wasn't sure if he'd meet Fegan in person or over the phone. "Face to face is good, but we need to keep the dialogue going, whether it's on the phone or face to face." Dawson reiterated his No. 1 concern is coming up with more money to re-sign Olajuwon, who already has turned down a two-year deal from the Rockets believed to be worth about $4.5 million annually. Dawson said he hasn't discussed any possible sign-and-trade deal with any teams, although the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers have all shown interest in acquiring Olajuwon. "I'm still trying to get Dream signed for us, and when that can't happen or he says he won't do it, then we'll start looking at the other options," Dawson said. "Right now, we're trying to keep him on our team." The impending meeting with Fegan comes on the heels of a phone conversation Tuesday between Rockets owner Les Alexander and Olajuwon. Alexander called Olajuwon in Houston and had what was described as a pleasant conversation in which Alexander told Olajuwon he wasn't being ignored and that having him return for an 18th season is vital to the Rockets' playoff chances. Alexander was responding to a letter Fegan sent to the Rockets last week requesting a meeting with Alexander and Dawson. Alexander urged Olajuwon to let Fegan and Dawson work things out by themselves, but told Olajuwon he would be happy to talk to him either in person or over the phone. The Rockets want to resolve the Olajuwon situation before they begin trying to sign any of their other four free agents. But Dawson said the team isn't ready to offer Fegan an ultimatum. "Not right now," Dawson said. "When we have nothing else to talk about, then something might come up like that. But we're still talking. Both parties want to get it done if we can. It's not like that one's being difficult and one's not being difficult. We're just working trying to see if we can get it done." Fegan did not return phone calls Wednesday. ------------------
It appears that Hakeem crossed the picket line first. I guess he realized that nobody was going to pay him more than 4-5 million elsewhere. This should put the Rockets in a great position to deal with Feagan. ------------------
This sucks. The tone of the article is that nothing is going to get done any time soon and there is very little sense of urgency from both sides. All of us sitting here on the BBS are going to bored as hell. ------------------
The more the Rockets steer this decision to Fegan, the more suspicious I become about his conflict of interest. Why aren't Shandon and Moochie visibly restless about the drawn-out negotiations with Hakeem? The logical answer is that Dawson has already worked out their deals, which is why they're happy and why there's not enough money left over afterward to satisfy Hakeem. But how can those deals have been ironed out without Fegan's knowledge? In that case, Fegan has boxed in his own client, Hakeem. He can't demand more money for Hakeem without eating into the contracts of his other clients, which are already set. The whole thing is rigged against Hakeem. This conflict of interest may be great for the Rockets, but it ain't right.
What if Fegan has merely rigged things to get Hakeem out of Houston without making him look like the bad guy? In which case, the fact that he may have hog-tied the Rockets efforts with contracts to Shandon and Moochie may simply be a way to place the blame for Olajuwon's departure on the Rocket's organization. ------------------ The time for logic and reason has come and gone. It's homer time now. Believe.
Maybe I can nail him down for an interview... ------------------ "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and STATISTICS..." - Mark Twain -
The only thing positive about this article, is that Fegan/Hakeem sent the letter to CD last week to schedule a meeting. Presumably after getting all of the offers on the table (minus S&T's), Feagan broke the news to Hakeem and then they sent the letter to CD & Co. Its interesting that Alexander waited until Tuesday to call Hakeem. That shows you that he was playing his hand, in these negotiations, very cool/calm. He definitely is not going to let Feagan manipulate his pocket book. I see the Rockets making a final offer around 5-5.5 million a year, unless Feagan can make a S&T work with Atlanta,etc... for Anderson & Cato (that would be sweet!!!!) to clear more cap room for Hakeem. ------------------
I surmise that the meeting/discussion will be w/ regard to S&T options....the Olajuwon camp initially seemed hot for the Toronto deal but it looked like CD didn't go for it. ------------------
Dawson reiterated his No. 1 concern is coming up with more money to re-sign Olajuwon, who already has turned down a two-year deal from the Rockets believed to be worth about $4.5 million annually. Rising by the day? From 4.1 to 4.5. What seems even stranger, is this is strictly business. You'd think a guy who has spent his entire career in one city, and as prominent a free agent, would be more active in the talks. According to this, Olajuwon isn't even involved in talks. Would seem to me, strange things are going on between Fegan and CD. ------------------ "I always thought Hakeem was the better offensive player and DRob the better defender." Spurever Shaq would probably agree.
CD hasn't even met with Dream's agent yet? Geeeeez... ------------------ "I'm attempting to dream in a world where not many people dream any more," he said. http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/07/23/rocket.man.ap/index.html
I think Mo Taylor is the one being affected the most from all of this. Of all our free agents, he seems like the one most likely to get lowballed and still be willing to accept it, because that "lesser" offer will still be more than other teams are willing to pay him. Really, this applies to all our free agents sans Mooch....maybe. I think Mooch's contract numbers are set in stone regardless of the Hakeem situation. Maybe Shandon's contract numbers go up slightly if Mo gets lowballed? Sidenote, the schedule is supposed to come out tommorow. Be on the lookout. ------------------
I hope we play Memphis the first game. ------------------ "The girls danced, started fondling me, I got aroused, they performed oral sex," Ewing said. "I hung around a little bit and talked to them, then I left."
LOL! ------------------ "The girls danced, started fondling me, I got aroused, they performed oral sex," Ewing said. "I hung around a little bit and talked to them, then I left."
I can't believe that Fegan had to ask for a meeting!!!! Why haven't the Rockets been at their front door waiting to talk to someone every day??? I thought Dream was the problem. It seems that the Rockets were the ones holding things up. I sure wouldn't make a good negotiator if all this was for positioning or affect. Let's get the damn thing done!!!!!! ------------------
Tolpatsch: Agreed. Mo's the only one of our free agents who's really worth much more than the middle class exception, anyway. With Antonio Davis getting the Max, one can't help but think that Mo's worth 7-9m or so... He can't rebound as well, but his ball skills and offensive skills are much better than AD's... and he's 8 years younger to boot. People are talking about how Dream's not getting what he deserves... but I think Mo's going to get hurt more than anyone else by the cap crunch and the Hakeem situation. ------------------ Clutchcity.net... source for all your Rockets, Astros, political, music, humor, and Gordita news.
Well maybe I can nail two birds tonight... CD and Griffin... ------------------ "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and STATISTICS..." - Mark Twain -
