Mark Deeks: Houston trying to dump Jeremy Lin, prioritize salary over basketball assets

Hey Carl,

Just curious.....have you received any silly demerits from one of the mods with the David Sternish attitude with some sort of comment like this?:

this is what happened to me when I kept making comments about circumvention in different threads. So be careful about posting about your dislike for the TRob acquisition in threads that aren't about him. They don't like this sort of thing.

 

His area of expertise is NBA contracts, lol. He runs the best salaries / cap website online.

Also, people need to use a little bit of logic themselves. So, you believe that Deeks is a typical clueless writer who thinks that Lin's cap hit is 5 mil next year (instead of 8.3) and then 15? And that it somehow hurts signing Dwight? How does Lin's cap hit being *smaller* hurts the Rockets, lol? It's just beyond stupid to read it that way.

It makes no sense whatsoever to read it that way, and on top of it the guy is a cap guru.

This is a typical case of people trying very hard to see incompetence when there is none.

 

really impressed that mark came to a rabid fan site to explain/defend his tweets. This makes sense to me and fits with how morey has done things in the past - unless you're an all-star, you are tradeable. I think if Lin was making $2-3 mil a year and performing at his current rate, Morey would be only Taking calls. because Lin has the contract he does and played the way he did, Morey is Making calls.

Lin was not signed to play next to Harden. We signed him to be the primary ball handler on a lottery team that would eventually draft a superstar. When we traded for harden, that went out the window. Lin was asked to play a secondary roll that first and foremost entailed stretching the floor. Lin did not adjust to this roll very well. he may, eventually become a great player without the ball. his mid range and 3 pt shot % may become respectable. He may learn to go left and finish left. he may learn to get into the paint without turning the ball over.

but until he does, as long as he makes the money he makes, I have to believe Morey will send out feelers to see just what he can get for him. Does not mean a trade in imminent and it doesn't mean the asking price isn't steep. I don't see Lin going anywhere, personally.

 

If Lin is moved to another team would assure me there is a God.

 

The bottom line on Lin right now is this:

If we can trade him for little salary back, we can sign Dwight outright without trading anybody else. For instance, Lin for Jimmer. There's your cap space to sign Dwight w/out moving any other players. That should leave us somewhat thin at point guard but I don't think so with the Canaan coming in.

Don't read anything extra or attack me for this not being a fair value trade proposal. Probably not fair value talent wise but fit wise I could make quite the argument. Another example would be Jeremy and Royce to Charlotte for Sessions. Sessions on a $5 million expiring deal. We're moving out $10 million of cap space. Sessions could become an asset at the trade deadline or even a trade asset this off season after signing Dwight. Combine that $5 million salary with one or of the young 4's and one or two of our non-guaranteeds and we could take back another $12 million player (JSmoove, Millsap, etc.).

That's the way you have to look at a Jeremy Lin salary dump. Not about getting fair value as far as talent. It's about options!!

Here's another wrinkle when it comes to options with a Jeremy Lin trade:
It opens up the distinct possibility of a sign-and-trade acquisition for Dwight!! I'm gonna keep saying it until it doesn't happen. A sign-and-trade for Dwight would be huge because it would give us our entire MLE to use this season. We need that MLE to be able to win Sergio Llull to come over here and with Jeremy Lin gone, it would be the perfect opportunity to go after Llull to help him buy out his deal and get his fanny over here.

We'll have to continue to watch today and tomorrow to see if Morey gives up the cash and adds some non-guaranteed salary to this roster and if he is able to convert Brooks and/or Delfino to more non-guaranteed salary to add to this roster. We actually have enough non-guaranteed salary to get a sign-and-trade done right now if we can send out TRob and Royce with Jeremy. However we'd have to lose Ohlbrecht, Anderson, and Smith to get it done. And that would in turn limit our trade flexibility going forward. Personally I'd rather keep a couple of those guys for possible floor time and future trade value when added to Omer's contract.

From the Lakers perspective, all this bluster about making Dwight walk...is bluster. They won't take back big salary for him. But....they will take a draft pick or two and a huge TPE and possibly some other guys on minimum non-guaranteed salaries that they can use and then dump if necessary before January. And I'm pretty convinced that Morey knows they would take TRob back for Dwight in a trade. Why wouldn't they? And why would Morey say he's 100% certain he can clear the cap for a trade if he doesn't already know this?

Do not underestimate the possibility of a sign and trade so that we keep our free agent exceptions!!

 

That's not true. If Lin is gone, they will root for pacers.

 

you people amaze me. the ironic thing is lin is probably the safest guy, I mean using your logic and all... as in no team is going to take that contract when they already have cheaper options. the whole cash cow is something you guys have created to deal with the signing of lin. Taiwan is just raking in that gdp . Cash cow really? Did you take a look at the cashcow and how he sold out every seat at toyota center during the season? yeah because that didn't happen. Let daryl handle the F.O. If lin gets traded, then lin gets traded.

 

I didn't mention one thing about "cash cow". I brought up two teams who basically have midgets playing at point guard and who have the cap space to take Lin on without sending back as much salary. Sacramento has Isaiah Thomas. And Charlotte has Kemba Walker. Neither guy stands 5'10" tall. And both franchises are resetting and trying to get better and grow player asset value while still being in the lottery this season. Lin would be a fit for either of them.

Put Milwaukee in there too. They don't want Monta back. He doesn't want to go back. Redick isn't going back. And Brandon Jennings wants to leave town and they don't want him either except to use to get something in a sign and trade deal. They don't have a point guard. What do you think it would do for Milwaukee to have Jeremy Lin up there bringing in fans every night? He would be a tremendous draw if he was the featured backcourt playmaker.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Lin is an absolute cash cow for any team that acquires him, for at least one year. But the big salary hike is coming, &amp; it prohibits Dwight.</p>&mdash; Mark Deeks (@MarkDeeksNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkDeeksNBA/statuses/350395199828148227">June 27, 2013</a></blockquote>
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I feel like a lot of people are over analyzing his original tweets. His first tweet was simply reporting that the rockets were trying to "dump" Lin's "salary" even going so far to say if the rockets were to make such a move it would be purely for financial (cap) reasons and not because the rockets feel like Lin is lacking in talent, calling him a "young basketball asset."

Deeks was not saying that the rockets should or shouldn't trade Lin, he was just saying that the rockets were looking into it. And is this really so hard to believe? If there is even a slight possibility the rockets could sign Dwight AND another star or near-star such as Josh Smith, why wouldn't Morey look into cutting enough salary to make that happen? Obviously just trading Lin wouldn't be enough for someone that will be asking as much as Smith, but Lin would definitely have to be traded to make something like that to happen, and Lin alone could possibly be enough to add someone else that is proven at PF.

Whether Beverly is better than Lin really does not matter in this scenario, other than it would show that the rockets feel like Beverly alongside three stars (or two and a major upgrade at PF) would be better than Lin alongside two stars and someone unproven at PF.

Deeks second comment does not appear to be a "leak" or anything at all, but just the fact that Lin could make any team he goes to major money because of his marketability. When he said "But the big salary hike is coming" he was just explaining the "for at least one year" comment he made, which is to say that a year from now when Lin makes 15mil, he may or may not make his team more than that with his marketability.

The statement that it prohibits Dwight probably shouldn't have been said seeing how it does not really connect with any of the rest of the tweet as it isn't Lin's "salary" that matters, but his cap hit, and Deeks didn't mention anything about Lin's cap hit. Whether the comment seems wrong because he couldn't finish his statement due to length restrictions of twitter or not, it appears to be something we should just disregard as a statement that probably shouldn't have been made by an otherwise perfectly trustworthy source. His website on salary information is enough proof to me that Deeks knows what he is talking about when it comes to financial scenarios in the NBA.

 

Should I pull out the pro BEV comments? Frankly I rather not, it's tiresome.

 

Some of you are so dramatic

 

Can the Rockets management renegotiate Lin's contract, down to something like $1 million or something ? He might agree to that if it keeps the team together ... and obviously Harden won't be willing to take less money.

 

Harden earns every single dollar of the money he gets. 26 points 6 boards 5 assists and led this team too the playoffs.

 

mark deeks seems like a loh

 

Sounds good to me.

 

Doubt if we would trade Lin until after Dwight signs on the bottom line:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--d...n-with-rockets-as-frontrunners-023015124.html

The Rockets will sell Howard on a four-year, max contract with advantageous Texas tax rules, a roster constructed for championship contention, an offense designed with him as a cornerstone and an imprint into China and the Far East that could hold immense marketing and endorsement possibilities for him.

Because of their ties to Yao Ming and now Jeremy Lin, the Rockets are the most televised NBA franchise in China, with data showing that nearly 300 million regular-season viewers watched Houston on CCTV 5 this season. For Howard, the Rockets sell will assuredly be how much more lucrative sneaker, appearance and marketing possibilities will be for him in a basketball-driven part of the world.

 

He's not even invited to the meeting being right there in CA so who knows.

 

I wonder who this GM is. Is it illegal to tell? Was Deek told to keep that info. from the public? Would be interesting to know.

 

lol more like they would block the rockets from entering the airport.