Yeah Its a little concerning. The Nene from last season would be a great fit on this team and I'm not sure what plans the Rockets have for backup center if he leaves. There may be a price point they're not willing to go over though.
I'm going to guess he doesnt think it was an honest mistake. Not saying it is true but it is possible the Rockets offered him the deal knowing the NBA wouldn't approve it. Perhaps they thought that once he agrees to the first deal and is excited over being a Rocket, he wouldn't change his mind over an extra year and wouldn't blame the Rockets. It's like getting a letter in the mail saying you won a free car then getting to the dealership and learning they can only give you a $10,000 discount due to legal complications.
Arrgh.......Daryl Morey, don't make me wait too long. http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/r...e-to-over-38-rule-big-man-still-a-free-agent/ https://www.sbnation.com/2017/7/1/15908424/nene-rockets-contract-over-38-rule-nba-free-agency-2017 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...tential-drop-in-contract-value-in-free-agency
I'd like to think that's not what happened. But that is a plausible explanation of what Nene may be thinking.
The expectation was always for Nene to take the non-Bird figure. At this time last week, the Rockets weren't even going to have the MLE. When they got the MLE by virtue of trading for CP3 early, the expectation was for a combination of a forward (Tucker) and Zhou Qi. At no point did any reasonable person expect the Rockets to dip significantly into their MLE or cap space for Nene, yet the expectation was always for him to return. The Rockets are literally giving Nene every penny they're eligible to give him without dipping into the MLE or going under the cap. It's a fair deal, and they probably gave him the fourth year as a sign of good faith. Unfortunately, both sides got screwed over by a senseless rule. No foul play.
He's pissed at the Nene situation. Also said he thinks Nene will stay here but won't blame him if he leaves.
From my understanding, this rule was a part of the last CBA, but it was a 36-year rule then. The thought is that it prevents teams for overpaying aging veterans to backloaded contracts. Like if the Rockets had all the cap money in the world and wanted to give Nene a ridiculous contract with the vast majority of it in those third and fourth years, this would prevent that. But I've got to think that this Nene deal is not what this rule was intended for. It's screwing Nene and the Rockets out of a completely reasonable contract for a quality player who has earned it. The league needs to take a serious look at this rule at the next CBA, and if I'm Nene, I'm sending some pretty strong emails to Adam Silver and the players union right now.
If you're Morey and you can get the Raptors to agree to the sign and trade for Tucker for some of your non-guaranteed contracts, then I think you have to do it if it means you'll get to keep Nene. He's too integral to this team's rotation to lose at this point, and you're not going to get a big man for a contract this reasonable on the open market. Plus, it's not like the Rockets have a lot of other holes to fill. They can use the BAE and veteran minimum deals to add 2-3 more competent veteran players, and probably one more shooting, playmaking guard. The one wild card in this situation would be if Morey still thinks he can pull a trade for an updgrade at PF, whether it's Melo, Love, Millsap or Ibaka, and he needs some of the non-guaranteed contracts to make that happen. But I kind of think that's a long shot at this point with Anderson's value as low as it is.
Why can't we extend him the BAE? Is there a year limit in the BAE? Couldn't we feasibly give him 4yrs at the 3.4m BAE? That would be 13.6m without including %raises
I was about to make the same statement, until you mentioned that his agent didnt know either. Makes sense. However, its still hard to believe for a GM at DM caliber to not know this new rule. I really hope its innocent mistake..
Was wondering this myself. I think 2 years is maybe the max for BAE? Maybe someone can chime in on this?
I'm concerned the perception by Nene and his agent is that DM did in fact know about this and tried to pull a fast one. In this situation it's better to be ignorant than malicious. If he believes it's the latter than restructuring the deal to resolve this is a whole lot harder. Trust is crucial