The salary cap has hovered at 58m because of a lockout and a change in BRI calculation, the old bri calculation for the cap would have the salary cap at almost 67m, so no 62m isn't some out there calculation, it's slightly lower than the yearly average of the nba's growth the last 2 years, and if you think that the nba's growth will be less than than that for two years rather than one, well yeah....
As always in matters like this, after next season Parsons and Morey will sit down for lunch in some nice restaurant and discuss the pros and cons for both parties. It helps Morey's case immensely that Parsons seems to be having a great time and probably would not want to leave the organization. They will decide what is best for both parties and act accordingly. Fans have to remember that Parsons actual worth exceeds his on the court contributions. I personally cannot put a dollar figure on Parsons ability to achieve ultimate 'bro-ness' with team members, his contributions to the team in the locker room, his image and charm being associated with the Rockets organization, and his ability to actively recruit players from other teams. But I would lay money on Morey being able to quantify it. People speculate about who will be the face of the Rockets franchise: Howard or Harden? My money is on that goofy smile on that all to pretty face of Parsons. After all is there a single Parsons hater out there?
Can't disagree with this assessment... of course, these are all factors that drive up his trade value. Does More seriously turn down a top five or so overall pick in next year's stacked draft for Parsons? Surely not!
NBA is a business and at the end of the day, it is all about money. For an athlete, who career is short, they will get whatever they can. Who know when that career ending injury going to come. I am sure you have see enough talented people who never made it or have their careers cut short because of injuries.
I think you understandingly underestimate the inflation of the value of first round draft picks. Didn't Utah in essence pay $15 million each for 2 first round picks? The best possible NBA contract since the new CBA is a productive draft pick locked up for 4 years at a below market value rate.
I guess it just depends on what you think of when you say "face of the franchise"... Some people would say it's your best player and others I guess would say it's who the fans like the most... Usually they are the same person. Parsons is a great public figure for the Rockets to be sure and he may be awarded some kindnesses because of that plus the fact he's a great locker room guy. That said, I think ultimately the contract he gets will be based off what he does on the court. The good thing for him is that he's pretty good on the court as well as off. It's going to be interesting to see what the Rockets do in this situation mainly because for the past few years we've been wheeling and dealing assets left and right. Didn't we all love Brooks, Lowry, Goran, Chuckwagon, and Scola? Did we not see a lot of promise in Budinger and Patterson and others? A year ago it didn't matter how much we liked a guy, it was always about getting the best asset to put us in position to get a star. Now we've got two, so how do we operate? If we didn't have two stars, would Parsons be more valuable as a player, or an asset? What is his value to us a year from now not just on the cour but as the unofficially official Rockets spokesman and lead recruiter for Dwight Howard? It's a fascinating dynamic to look at. In the end I hope he plays well, we convince him to sign a 3 year 25 million dollar a year contract, and we get a ring or two sooner rather than later.
Anyway that is my opinion. Who did I love? Parsons, Harden, and D-Mo. Howard was a no brainer. I kept silent on Asik initially and Lin until seasons end - did not want to step into that morass.
Those guys all had fan followings at the time, was what I was trying to say. Maybe I remember things differently... -When Brooks went from "Why did we pick him?" to Sixth man of the year and tearing up the Lakers in that seven game series, a lot of people were really high on him. -When Lowry went from the Memphis back up to usurping Brooks to the Rockets bulldog and one of the best defensive pg's in the league per Hollinger, people were pretty excited. -People loved Gogi and are still mad he isn't on the team. -I'm not sure how you didn't love the Chuckwagon, dude should have never been a starting center but worked hard and was a great team and fan guy. -Scola had his haters because he didn't dunk or defend but we loved the ice cream scoop. -Bud was a second round pick who rose to starting sharp shooter, hey bud, let's party. -Patterson I stretched on basically because Carl H is so adamant lol. Anyways, my point was that we dealt a lot of guys the past few years even if a lot of fans, obviously not including you, were fond of them at the time. I then said it would be interesting to see how things have changed now that we don't really need to wheel and deal guys like that, we can keep solid role players and let them flourish.
Good point. However, I'd argue that you may underestimate the stupidiy and short-sightedness of a good number of NBA organizations. I am confident that one of the teams holding picks in the top ten overall in next year's draft is going to be dumb enough to trade that pick for a Chandler Parsons-caliber player.
