I thought that at first but then I reread it and realized it's talking about their appeal to FAs - not necessarily the best owners or GMs. Obviously the first 3 are there because they are "spare no expense" type of guys. Players are paid more, and treated more glamorously. Miami has the weather/location going for it....not sure why the attraction to the Celtics. Seems like if you wanted to join a good team on the wrong side of an battle against aging, you would join the Spurs - better GM there too. The list seems incomplete to me - no OKC? That's a team I would be dying to join if I were a player. Great GM, an ownership team that clearly is passionate about making an impact with their team in Oklahoma, new erena, almost college like fanatic environment at their home games, great young players, poised to be a contender for years to come. Being in Oklahoma is the only knock on the situation but for the true basketball players, as long as they got basketball gyms in OKC that's all they need.
What has Mikhail done to be put so high up on that list...guarantee that they'd win a championship in a few years? Until he makes these aggressive moves, he has done nothing.
I am always ready at war for my beloved Rockets! That chump was asking for it with his r****ded post. Hopefully he will leave us to follow his players to China when they realize no one in the NBA wants to deal with them anymore. I go to work and deal with dumb asses all day. Watching that fool spout that sort of nonsense about two broken divas pushed me over the edge.
Yeah if the Free agents are real serious about all of that global icon stuff and international money? This is where they should only be considering. Then its possible Chinese endorsements and real bucks to be made here. Of course if there agents just arent that smart or savvy I cant blame the players themselves.
lists like these are never legit, it's a way for writers to grease the palms of their friends and ppl they have relationships with. what Stein wrote doesn't even make sense. getting a new stadium or analysts is good for business but doesn't do **** for the players. It's not like they get a cut of the luxury box revenue and analysts can be used poke holes in your game when it comes to negotiating time. not all free agents are created equally I guess if you're a Chuck Hayes level free agent there may be benefit to sabremetrics to prove you're more valuable than other teams think or a shoe deal from China is lucrative. but name one big multimillion dollar deal that any big star has coming out of China that can rival a deal from Nike or Gatorade. given a choice players would rather be popular in America than popular in China... and it's not a zero sum exchange... being in Houston comes at a cost of not being in NY or LA or somewhere else you could leverage popularity in the US the bottom line is that for most stars outside of the top handful, the single biggest source of revenue is your contract. Les has never been generous with that so even if either of what Stein wrote about Alexander is correct, the biggest piece: your contract is hardly an area where Alexander could be considered an attractive owner in any regard and who says you need Les Alexander, Houston or Yao to be popular in China? Kobe has none of those and is the 2nd (or 1st) bigger basketball star in China. again it's helpful for a no-name player to get a shoe deal but a top level star really doesn't need that... the same guys who are popular in the states: Lebron, Kobe, Shaq are popular in China
^This Big names are big no matter where you go. This is why I believe that Yao's Chinese connections nor the NY scene will have much affect on LBJ's decision of which team to go to. When you are a top elite like LBJ and Kobe or like Iverson and T-Mac use to be, the market comes to you.
I personally don't like the word "asset". If I was a player I would hate being equated with a piece of real estate. Don't get me wrong. I understand the meaning of the usage, but I think it sends a message that is less than inspiring. Asset. On my tax return my cars are about my only asset. For Morey (in whom I trust) it's Battier, Ariza, and Brooks etc. If just the terminology changed to "players" I think it would make a difference. As in "we've stockpiled 'players' to make a run at a free agent". I think the late William Safire would agree with me.
This is where I meant to quote the reference to "asset". Forgive me, it's been a long day. The fact is Morey, in whom I trust, uses the word alot, or at least he did and now we've taken to using it. I wish we wouldn't. If you are wondering what I'm talking about please refer to my post above. You all da man.
I'm not in Morey's head (thankfully) but I think when he says "assets" he means more than just the players. I think "assests" also includes things like cash and picks. Sounds like a catch-all term, not just a title for a guy in a uniform. But....maybe I'm wrong?
I think the term assets means we have the most of them. Which doesnt just mean young players, role players, and contract players. It also means draft picks, money, other teams draft picks, and endorsement heavy Chinese fanbase to Houston players coming here. In that realm Houston is unmatched in total money able to offe any free agent via sign and trade because we have the most assets to give back and a sign and trade gives you more money than a straight up free agency signing also.
Thanks for considering my suggestion. Then what about "players and assets". Otherwise we are putting our "players" in the same bin as "cash and picks" which I think sends the wrong message. Maybe I'm picking nits here. Probably. But I think it's an important distinction. If I were Battier (or Ariza or Brooks) I would hate to think that my GM thinks of me as a piece like cash or draft pick. Not that anything is gonna happen in the front office but if it did I think it would send an important message, albeit a small one.
