People are getting the agents confused. Swift's agent, according to the Chronicle, is Andy Miller, who also represents Donyell Marshall. Bartelstein represents Walker and Simmons.
I just caught a small blurp on FoxSW about Swift. We made an offer and CD expects a decision from Swift on Monday. No Beltron 2 episode. Way to go CD. Give us a decision now, before it is to late.
Yeah, Marc Berman said that too on Fox news the day Stromile left (I think on the thursday night news). That the Rockets offered him the full MLE (no years mentioned) and were expecting Stromile to get back to them within a few days (most likely early next week).
Well, I expect Swift to decline this first offer, but I'm sure he's impressed at the way we have aggressively approached him. I guess we'll find out soon.
I am sure CD has offered Swift our full MLE. And I am sure of all the MLE offers out in the market Swift would take ours over anyone elses. However, Swift clearly wants more than the MLE. So what is probably going on right now is Swift's agent is calling all the under the cap teams to gauge their interest in Swift and see if they will offer him above MLE money. Also Swift's agent is probably trying to find some S&T deals for Swift so he can make more than the MLE. Come Monday Swift will have to decide whether to just stay on the Market or go to Houston. From Houston's side, their pursuit of Swift will probably stop on Monday. If Swift doesnt sign then they will turn their attention to their "plan B" which in fact might be a S&T Antoine Walker (keep in mind the Kings are very interested in Walker right now via S&T). When the music stops the Rockets dont want to be without a chair here so they cant just wait around. I am sure if Swift declines, the Rockets will still keep an eye on him but will proceed with their Plan B and try to get that done.
Very interesting take. I think CD just went ahead and offered him the MLE because there's no real harm in doing it. It's just a "maybe he'll take it, if not, we'll try something else." Probably just to see if there is a way to avoid a S&T. I hope this move wasn't a little premature though. Like you said, this gives Swift's agent a lot of leverage, he can basically "start the bidding" now. This gives teams a lot of time to think (til' 22nd) about our offer and how much he is wanted.
Or maybe Swift intends to sign for the MLE with Houston on monday, but he/his agent are using other teams for a 2nd reason. Maybe the Rockets have said they feel very confident that down the line Swift will make at least as much money in Houston as he can get offered from anywhere else. This would be ideal for Houston (signing for the MLE for now) as no further compensation or taking on bad contracts would be needed. Again trust in the Rockets organization taking care of their own (again I am not talking about an illegal 2nd formalized contract like the Joe Smith thing) goes a long way.
Well, even if he does accept this offer, it doesn't mean that a S&T is out of the question for more money. It would mean he is made his decision on whether Houston is the team he wants to play for next year. He could accept the Rocket's offer and he and his agent could go to Memphis and say "Look, I'm going there no matter what so this is your chance at getting something in return for me leaving. You do me a favor and sign me to a higher dollar amount, and my agent will get you quality compensation. A win-win." Anyway, I remember this is what happened last year with Jamal Crawford. He said he would sign with the Knicks for the MLE but wanted more money and thus Isiah & Paxson worked out a deal. I think a S&T for Swift (or thier biggest free agent coup) would be the best for the Rockets as it would still leave thier MLE & LLE to split among adding quality depth to the roster as well as re-signing Barry and/or Mutombo.
mogrod - the problem with the above scenario is the Rockets really don't have any assets that Memphis would want. Expiring contracts are useless to them, since by default Swift is already an expired contract. The only way the Rockets sign Swift in a S&T is if they also take something else back in return...likely Jason Williams. I'm a bigger J-Will fan than most. No, he's still not a great shooter - though he played fantastically in the 1st round last year - but he is a great playmaker and a suprisingly super-solid ballhandler. He hasn't had more than 2 turnovers a game in the past few seasons. He's still a good fast-break PG and I think has learned to run a half court offense the past few years. At 25-30 mpg a night, he'd be a true starting PG. Maybe something like Swift + Williams for Weatherspoon + Mike James + Draft Pick. I just don't see Swift signing for only the MLE. True, he's never produced as a starter, but neither, really, had Brian Cardinal, Adonyle Foyle, etc.
I think you resign Mutumbo before you do Barry. I like Barry a lot, possibly more than I actually like Deke, but Dikembe's more valuable.
And I don't want to see why they would want to help us. I'm sure they view us as one of their main rivals in the division.
Totally agree, and as a matter of fact, that scenario reminds me a lot of the T-Mac trade, sans Swift being in a contract year of course. Bottomline, if Swift is convinced that this is his team, his agent and the Rockets can find a way to get the numbers to work, trade or not. How could you not play for your fav team growing up? A team that is going to contend for the next 5+ years no less... We've marketed ourselves for two straight days, we've done our part, now it's up to him, possibly as soon as tomorrow!!!
Desert, how many contract yrs are needed for a team to gain bird rights to a player and what is the minimum contract length the MLE can be used on? Meaning, can we sign Swift to a 3-year MLE with a wink wink that we will take care of him once that contract is up?
Man, with the way we are aggressively trying to sign him, he should see that he's going to help this team be a championship contender. SWIFT, STOP THE GREED AND FILL OUR NEED!!!
Gets to play on a good team that he likes and, depending on the details of our wink wink, gets essentially a 9 yr total contract that can surpass what anyone can give him now in terms of avg annual salary and total payment.
Guys............... Everyone is missing the main point of signing Swift, yes, it is to put us at the championship contender status but of course the main reason for signing him is......... So he can stop dunking on Yao! unless you count practice....
