Tillman's not bad at all. He got rid of Morey, MDA, and eventually Harden. All moves the organization had to make. Addition by subtraction.
Morey had to give up Deanthony Melton to turn Ryan Anderson into Brandon Knight. The He had to give up a 1st roud pick to turn Knight into Shumpert, then we let Shumpert walk. We gave up a young player and a 1st to make that contract go away. Then we opt not to use the MLE on House to stay under tax, instead we waste the next seasons MLE on House Had we just held on to Anderson, heading into last offseason Morey would have had a 21 million dollar expiring contract and all our first round picks. Morey could have turned that into a borderline all star. We also should have had our MLE to add another good rotation piece, and another good player in Ariza who still should have been a Rocket. That's 3 really good, possibly great rotation players that were removed from a team during a championship window. Instead Morey had to scrounge through the clearance bin. Had we not been a contender it wouldn't bother me. But these windows are damn near impossible to come by for anybody except the Lakers, and he still chose to play it cheap.
Lol, that's not a good stragety. When you have James Harden and Chris Paul you surround them with as much talent as you can. Woods was a good signing(but always on Morey's radar) and we had to give up Covington to get him. Tate was a good find. Maclemore might not even be in the rotation and Brown has hot shooting but is a low IQ player. Anderson's contract was okayish at the time we paid him. That's not a good strategy for winning a championship. We had vets on that 65 win team squad. Finding minimum players and hoping they turn into championship pieces isnt a good strategy for that no matter what happens from now on. Its just being cheap. LOL, I'm sorry but Tillman is no genius, he's just cheap and Stone has always been here.
1. After Ariza's horrible Game 7 meltdown can you honestly blame them for not wanting him back? 3. At the time Anderson was $hit for us, and Chriss was a player with high upside that was deemed a knucklehead. Knight was actually solid for us imo. Melton still hasn't really done a lot in the league but he is a pretty good defender. 5. Can you blame them for getting cold feet on fringe NBA players? 9. Harden really pushed for Westbrick to be here as we have heard. That was never a Morey move, and I doubt Tilman was 100% on board with that trade too. I agree with everything else you said for the most part though.
Time will tell ultimately, I do think people might be wrong on the whole "Knicks South" thing...but time will tell. Cuban was thought of as a bad owner too at some point and the Buss heirs, eventually, winning really does cure all. The Rockets may not be the Celtics or Lakers with a championship or bust mentality but there is an expectation that they'll at least be relevant and in the playoff picture every year.
Out of all the franchises in the NBA though, I think its the Mavs who have gone into the LT more than anyone else.
1. Yes. Ariza was a key part of our team 2. Anderson could have been used as salary for a trade. Chriss as a salary for a trade. Knight was trash. Melton and the first round pick were an asset. 5. When you have James Harden playing at his abosolute peak with Chris Paul in the playoffs, you do whatever you can. Our offense wasnt the problem, it was our defense. 9. Tillman went on TV and said he forced it through.
I started the other Tilman defense thread but I'll be more neutral in this one. I think the CF complaints about spending on team payroll may have some validity but are somewhat overblown in comparison to most NBA owners. The spending thing doesn't worry me all that much so long as post-COVID Tilman's businesses recover well, though I get frustration people have with Tilman talking about willingness to pay the tax and not doing it. The situation with MDA should have never gotten so public but I don't blame not wanting to guarantee another year at a high base salary. MDA has been fired twice, got outcoached in the playoffs, and no one else hired him this offseason. Overruling his basketball people to make the Westbrook trade was really bad. That kind of thing does worry me. I hope he learned his lesson from that. He promoted Stone, who looks very competent so far, and let him make the moves to get Wood and Wall. Morey bouncing was also concerning. But I'll glass half full say that might have been due to Morey not wanting to clean up the rebuild mess due to the Westbrook trade (already covered) and Hong Kong.
I just dont like people who say all the right thing and does the exact opposite. I will do whatever it takes to win it all, proceeds to get rid of players, shredding contract coupled with picks to avoid tax. That's like BoB sprouting the same bs over and over producing the same exact horseshit. At least BoB got fired, we r stuck with this dude.
Just a reminder, I’m a diehard fan that finds himself neutral in this situation. I don’t think Tilman is *that bad* based on my points in the original post — he’s no Sarver or Dolan. But I realize he’s not the best owner either. No argument here. Just wanted to see other people’s perspective on why they truly think he’s that bad.
How could someone like us actually tell what is really Tilman's fault or not? The distance that we, mere mortal fans and what really happens in closed doors of a NBA organization is huge. All we know is 50% gossip, 40% intentional misleading information and at best 10% actual leaked info. I have nothing to like nor dislike on TIlman as Owner. Nor should most of you. You, as a free person that you are, can pretty much dislike Tilman for the figure he is. He is a douche. Also, most of the hate he gets here is for his public political stance. Just check all the **** posted here regarding Harden wanting out because Tilman is pro-Trump. LOL
Again it’s not about the player it’s the asset. Once above the cap you only have so many ways to improve on the team. 1) Ariza was still a playable body. He still got a 12 million dollar contract the year after. He was still sought after. His contract could fetch other more useful role players. He was turned into Oubre and Rivers. Could’ve used that on our 2018 squad 2) Again it’s not about the player it’s about the timing of the dump. Wait a year and you can save assets or use him to get another role player. Then the decision to dump Chris’s and knight and a first left us without a pick again. The decision to not bring back shumpert left us without tillable salary. For example porzingis and hardaway were had for expiring a and firsts. What if we got them instead with salary you deem trash. 3) still haven’t explained why we haven’t used the TPMLE or the NTMLE when we weren’t near being hardvapped 5) these are not fringe players. Jamychal green is a good role player. He was closing out the warriors in multiple series. You should watch his game. He’s a viable switchable 4 with corner 3. He would’ve been your Tucker replacement. Temple is a heady veteran that is a 7th man combo guard. He’s been highly regarded with the nets and bulls now. Shoots 35 percent and puts up near the same WS/48 as ego. These are not fringe players. These are worthy bench pieces. 9) Tillman is quoted in multiple sources as pushing through the WB trade. TF claims he pushed the trade through when his basketball ops guys got cold feet. There is no statement from him saying James came to me and I obliged. These are facts.
