Good for the Rockets, a little steep, but good!!!.. with the argument on Griffin being the PF of the future, why not let him play the center (in the future). He is already the same height as Jackson (?), just needs to bulk up. If he grows another 2 inches, he is 7 foot. Unlike Jackson, once Griffin's offensive moves become consistent - he could be the next coming of Hakeem (remember he is only 19). Jackson is still needed to secure some depth at the post. Anderson & Mooch need to be THE LAST PRIORITY on this team (unless they fire Feagan). Rockets need to make a decision on center (or leave cap room for next year), then sign Bullard, Langhi, Morris & Griffin - and then what ever is left over can go to Feagan, within reason. Both of Feagan's guys are replacable, at a much lower price (except for Mooch's fro).
the amount came to a surprise to me. Being a David Falk client, i thought they were going to ask for an outrageous amount such as $10 mil per year. But I am happy he is staying and hope we can retain our other free agents.
That is pretty descent than what they paid Croshere and MO has got more game than him. Great job CD!!
VOR, Again, those are not simple interest raises. Recalculate please, you will see a big difference!!!!!!! 40,000 after 17 yrs results in $120,000K in the last year. You are more than twice over that. The simple fact is that the salary cap has increased over 15% each of the last two years. If a player has a 12.5% simple interest raise, his salary is going DOWN in relation to the cap. what is the big deal. Besides the league-wide average pay is $4.5m. He is getting on the low side of above average pay versus the league.
This is great news for the team. As mentioned earlier, we are locking Taylor in for his prime years. He is a very good offensive player and really improved his defense and rebounding as he settled into his role last year. I really expect him to get much better. And consider this regarding CD and how the Rockets are perceived: How many high level free agents would have patiently waited for their team to deal with someone "in front of them" and not make a squeak or flaunt that as public leverage for negotiating? That is a great sign of mutual respect (haven't we heard that term somewhere before?) and portends good things regarding our signing Moochie, whatever we have in mind for Shandon, or any other players we may acquire or sign. This should be a fun year to watch the team grow and gain confidence.
I am happy the deal is done. At 1st glance it seems like it is expensive for the Rockets but upon review everyone is overpaid in the NBA, I know call Mr. Captain Obvious . Now let's get to work on Shandon, Moochie and probably Jackson from GS and/or a trade to get us a dependable Center.
Im sure the deal was made a long time ago, thats why nobody was courting him. We didn't offer Hakeem that much because we knew we were never going to get Hakeem. The Hakeem deal: 1st round/2nd round/a full one month staged fiesko to make it look like he left peacefully in exchange for a S&T. Fangen agrees, because he can sign Mooch and Mr. Anderson. Taylor is far from a Cato. At least Taylor wants to play. I would take anyone who wanted to play for the team than someone who would rather watch on the bench and be happy. And yes, it may appear to be a bit expensive for Taylor, but in a few years it will be about normal. There is still a future left in Taylor.
Hi all... I hope everyone had a nice weekend. First of all, I want to say DAMN! His raises are seven times that of a fairly wealthy man's yearly salery! I'm not saying we overpaid, but just making a statement on how shocking the numbers are on Athlete's incomes. Wow, wouldn't it be great to get a $762,500.00 raise? I hope I make that much money in ten years! As far as Mo Taylor is concerned, I think this makes signing Marc Jackson imparative. Besides his shot-blocking deficiencies, the biggest thing I've heard about Jackson is his incredible work ethic. Think about it, Mo Taylor's had it easy: he's 24, drafted in the first round, paid well since he left school, and he left school early. Jackson did it the hard way: busting his a$$ to even get into the league at 26 y/o, and then having to kill himself in practice and improve himself every day in order to stay on the roster. I think making them frontcourt partners would improve Mo Taylor's defensive/rebounding game tremendously. It could also help Taylor condition himself and become one of the league's toughest forwards. He's got the body and skills to do that, he just needs to be molded properly and the elder workhorse Jackson is perfect for that. One more idea... make Carrol Dawson the big man coach again. He helped mold Olajuwon, Sampson, Malone, and Mr. Mean (c'mon ya'll he had a few 20 rebound games!). Maybe he can light Cato's fire, get Collier conditioned enough to stay healthy, hlep Jackson work on his shot blocking, and help Taylor to rebound and play tougher defense... it could work! Take it easy ya'll... I would love to hear some thoughts on my Jackson/Taylor theory...
Good job Mo! I think the Rockets are paying him that much money based on his potential. Hey.....this kid can flat out ball. He can become one of the best PF's, offensively, in the league. U guys got to consider that he just joined the team last season and had to make adjustments half way through it. It Reported in the Chronicle that his after all-star weekend stats was that he averaged 16 ppg. Not Bad~! Hopefully he will keep his word and get better this year. I'm hoping for ATLEAST 7 or 8 rebounds per game!
Speaking of players that need to step up now! Mo's contract is a bit high, but if he starts rebounding (at least on the defensive end) he'll be worth it. The Rocks' playoff hopes rests on Mo (as well as KT, Eddie, TMo, & Collier, not counting on Cato) providing some solid, tough interior play, not just scoring. Congrats to Mo! Next up: Moochie
$6.1M in year one plus a simple 12.5% raise for the next 5 seasons is (pardon the pun) right on the money. From the Chronicle article: "First and foremost, I want to talk to the Rockets," Taylor said before teams could begin talking to free agents. Thanks, Mo.
First, I'm happy the Rockets are bringing Mo back. Second, I'm a little worried about the contract. It's not the $8 million a year - that is steep, but considering the amount of money the Todd MacCulloughs of the world get... I do feel a little uneasy about the 6 years. There are plenty of players who get the big dollars and take a big step back. Take away the carrot of financial gain that they have in a contract drive and it's human nature to relax a little (or in Cato's case, take a long, 7 year nap). If Mo never learns to rebound better and Griff fills out to become a power forward in the next few years, Taylor becomes a very expensive backup.
Mo= good guy, good attitude, good contract....I think its fair. Some of you might say "but Roxran,..remember when you got on Mo with negative comments"....Yes, I still have concerns but you can't help but root for the guy when he has the right intentions about being with the team, unlike someone we know..
crispee- You're forgetting one thing. Mo can only receive 10% raises, since he's not LBR. By my calculations, a deal starting at 6.5 mill with full 10% raises comes out to 48.75 million. What's even crazier, is that Mo will be only 31 when the contract is over- or younger than Antonio Davis who is starting his 60 mill deal. We're getting market value for Mo. Considering he cost 2.25 mill last year, maybe a little less. Also, assuming we resign Steve next year on Aug. 1, our core (Francis, Mobley, Griffin, Taylor) will have the next 5 years together.
That's a good point SamC. It's kind of early, so I might be proven wrong since all the details aren't out, but I'm surprise an option wasn't dropped into Mo contract somewhere between 3 to 5 years into it. It would be nice to have Marc Jackson no question, but Marc Jackson left school early as well, and that is a reason why he didn't make it to the league the first time around. He should have stayed for his senior year.
Put me in the camp with those that believe we overpaid. Sure he is still young, but a power forward has to be able to rebound and play defense. Can he get better? Yes. However, we have already taken a gamble on Cato and I would of liked to stay away from another. On the other hand, Cato's contract does not look as bad as it did before this year. Just look at some of the contracts that have been given to players this year and if we use these contracts as a comparison for Mo's, it might actually be a steal. Well, I guess I have changed my mind while I have been writing this post. Put me as one that is on the fense on this decision. Let's just hope he averages 18 and 10 for the rest of his career.
This leaves the Rockets with a little over $10 mill under the cap this year. We could offer Jackson & Shandon $5 mill each, which would put us right at the cap & go a little over the cap to resign Moochie & Bull.
This says all you need to say about Mo Taylor: Q: What about Antonio Davis? Olajuwon: It's wonderful to play with a legitimate power forward. That frontcourt is respected around the league.
Actually, the signing of MO brings with it two pieces of good news. Cato is no longer a BYC player. Let's trade his arse.
