Mark Cuban was on the Jim Rome show this afternoon and Rome asked him about the deal: Said about the trade "It went from easy to sleazy" I'm pretty much parphrasing things, and I might have missed a few things: Says that CD run a great ship, and does a great job, but to have the owner step in and, to paraphrase him "interfere" with the deal was something he didn't like. Said it went from a medical issue to a "deal" issue with Les Alexander. Basically Mark Cuban didn't have a problem dealing with the Rockets, particularly CD and Rudy T, but had a problem with Les suddenly stepping in and putting the clamps on the trade. Stopped short of calling Les "sleazy" outright, but it was interesting. <b>My Thoughts:</b> I don't think this will hurt the Rockets dealing with other teams since CD will be doing the work, but Les' image may have took a hit with this deal. Nothing serious, just a small dent. Interesting enough, Jim Rome, who usually rips into Rice, has been praising the trade since it went down. He thinks the Rockets got the best of the trade, and think Rice will be a nice fit in Houston and it makes them better. That caught me completely by surprise, because I thought he would be one of the main critics, or at least a skeptics of the trade. I don't know if Tim Hardaway is officially signed with Dallas yet, but if he isn't he pretty much is now since Mark Cuban talked about him like he was a Dallas Maverick.
RM- I heard it too and you took about the same notes that I did. He did say it went from Easy to Sleazy deal to make. He complimented CD, then criticized Les's interference. He did stress that he wasn't calling Les slaezy. I also agree that deals like this hurt in the future, the way we may have accepted then re-countered on the deal. Good news is most owners resent Cuban and I'm not sure how the NY Knicks are actually viewing how the deal happned. But that is why I like Cuban. He is a straight shooter. He may not always be right but he speaks his mind.
I understand Cuban is criticizing Les for second-guessing his staff and interfering with the team's process in such an awkward, public way, but I do think it's funny that it's Mark Cuban who's getting on another owner for being 'too involved' with the particulars of operation, if you will.
I didn't catch the conversation, and I don't know how highly regarded Rome is as an interviewer ... but it seems like the obvious question to ask would have been, "Would you ever do this in a trade -- overrule your coach and GM, even partially, because of a concern you had that they hadn't addressed?" As others have noted above, Cuban's an owner, and an obviously "active" one. So put him in Les' shoes and ask, "Are you sure you wouldn't do the same thing?"
A HUGE part of Rome's approval of the Rice deal is the fact that he is a big big fan of Houston and the athletes who play here. We are still the number one big mutha tour stop (22,000+) and he loves Rudy T., Jeff Bagwell, Cuttino Mobley, Steve Francis and many other athletes and coaches in Houston.
Doesn't this make it two in a row for Les? Didn't we read here that he was against the TMo trade with Atlanta and had to be sold hard by CD and/or RT? This interview seems to sink the perspective that Les was out to be a pain in Fegan's rear end.
I think the difference is that MC is known as an active owner and Les is not. I'd sure like to know how the internals of the Dallas organization work though.
At least Les pulls the trigger on these deals. A lot of teams have deals stopped by the owner in the formation stage. It doesn't seem that Les does that. When the recomendation comes down Les seems to get the job done.
True, if you look at the trades that we have done it doesn't appear that there have been any worries. This is the first mixed signal we have ever seen from them since Les bought the team. Sooner or later you would think that a mistake in communication would be made that would lead to this. We wouldn't even be talking if Les had made up his mind more quickly and expressed his concerns a day or two earlier.
Good cop/bad cop is the oldest game in the book. The Rockets had the position of power over the other two teams and used it to get themselves something extra. Way to go guys! Les made his fortune by tiny little point spreads in bond deals. A extra mil or two on top of an already done deal...that's just the icing on the cake.
Totally agree with that, plus in the next deal CD or Rudy tells the GM, we got to have more then that to get the deal approved by Les. Helps now and help in future deals, and I really think Les could care less what Cuban thinks of him as long as it helps the team in the long run. Cuban may be rich but he still has a few things to learn about basketball dealings. Les, CD and Rudy been working these things togather for a while.
The Good cop/Bad cop explanation makes a lot of sense to me, but in regard to the TMo deal, I must say I don't blame Les for second-guessing Rudy on that one. I do trust Rudy, but I can't believe that at least one of those big men that went in the second round won't turn out to be at least a solid backup at the 5. I was very glad Rudy and co. picked up Morris and I believed and still believe that TMo can be an excellent fit with the Rockets, but we'd be riding a lot better right now if we had picked up an extra center instead of an extra SF. Of course, hindsight is 20/20.
You guys put too much stock in the draft, IMO. Just remember that the vast majority of the picks taken don't really pan out. Very few of them actually have serviceable NBA careers. That said, I still think that CD/Rudy are masters at draft selection. Hell, whodathunk Cuttino would be where he is today? I expect them to use those "considerations" well in the future, and to good purpose. As far as what Les did with the Rice trade, no one can accuse us now of being on the "Raped by Fegan" list.
