Lull isnt coming to Houston give it up guys. How many times must this guy choose to continue with his current team and tell the rockets NO before you guys stop living in fantasy land?
When has he turned down the Rockets when they were offering significantly more total take home money? There were really good reason$ for Sergio to turn down the Rockets past offer/s. You guys need to stop acting so butt hurt that "How Dare" someone turn us down to boo hoo... NOBODY wants to play for us. Just stop with the pity party guys. 99% of NBA moves are based off of 1 major primary factor.... MONEY. The finances never made sense for Sergio to come to the NBA. This summer could be a different story. I'm not saying that Llull is coming, that the Rockets still want him at the cost he will come for, or that I even want him. All I'm saying is that the path the NBA is much clearer this upcoming Summer, and really wasn't all that realistic in prior years (after he signed his initial 2012 extension w/ Real Madrid that was a good contract for a Euro player). The Rockets TRIED to get him sure, but they tried within a budget that was mostly limited to the MLE. So let's just stop the woe is me attitude here guys. The Rockets are going to be just fine in the future in players WANTING to play for them if they are willing to pay what good players cost to sign if you aren't the GSW, Spurs, Heat, etc. The Rockets aren't the cream of the crop sure... but they are alot more attractive then most NBA destinations. WE WILL BE FINE.
How many times? He said "no" once when the Rockets had limited cap room and Llull had a huge buyout. So slow down.
Thanks. I hope folks aren't taking my notes here as some huge endorsement or that I think Llull should be plan A. or anything. All I'm wanting to note is that this a GREAT Summer for teams to bring over their Euro stash prospects if they have any worth taking a shot at. You have their rights so you are not negotiating against the NBA market like you are with existing NBA free agents. You are negotiating against the Euroleague market. I would also say that Gentile would probably be higher priority than Llull even though he SHOULD cost much less. With the Rockets likely (or hopefully making the playoffs to) giving up their first rounder & needing to reload talent more than ever, getting new young prospects should be a high priority. Taking a year off in acquiring young talent should never be acceptable. Gentile could represent the substitution to that 1st round talent next season. Not sure what his buyout is (since his contract runs till 2018), but he's not in the top 50 even of highest paid players in Europe. If the Rockets have the Bi Annual MLE to offer him, he'd probably take it since he's likely to at least double his salary, and for the Rockets that's about what they'd be paying a high lotto pick anyways sort of like the KJ McDaniels contract (which should be viewed in a similar fashion).
The MLE isn't rising this summer. Gotta wait for the next CBA in 2017 to have such an advantage over European teams.
But the cap is. If you have cap room you have an advantage. Who needs the MLE when you can have 50M in cap space!?
? What does the MLE have to do with it? In Llull's case they were likely trying to get him with the full MLE LAST YEAR. This year obviously they'd have to sign with cap space. The Rockets could have 35 to 40 million in cap space this Summer before trades to free up more space & assuming D-Mo's cap hold. Its not a wild assumption that the Rockets could find 6 to 8 million in cap space to make Llull an offer. In talking about Gentile, the guy is making probably close to what a normal late 1st rounder in the NBA would be making over in Europe. If the Rockets offered him the CURRENT MLE, he'd probably swim over to the US to play for the Rockets. For the record, I wouldn't think they would come all the way up to 5+ mil a year anyways. The KJ contract seems pretty likely the offer he can expect to get which probably triples his total takehome (not sure on buyout though). Not sure what the MLE staying at the same rate has to do with anything. The Rockets were never getting Llull at the MLE rate even last year. This year there is no reason to expect they still wouldn't have to increase their offer. ........ Other teams and their MLE? What other teams out there with top Euro prospects are having trouble luring their players over because of their current contracts being too good overseas that they wouldn't come over for even the current MLE???
Why are you quoting a tweet that happened July 2015? his buyout was greater and Rockets options were limited $ to get him to come over.
I actually thought they offered him LESS than the full MLE, which contributed to him declining coming over. In any case I agree with the increased cap and the lowered buyout that Llull coming over is a possibility this year if we strike out on free agents.
I talked about the MLE because most foreigners are signed using the mles to lure them. And free capspace dobro you make it sound so easy? I thought we were trying to add two max contracts and would be hard pressed as is to get rid of Brew and dump him somewhere. Now we will have to also find another 8 million?
If the Rockets can get 2 max FAs to sign in Houston, then it is highly doubtful there will be money available to get Llull etc. BUT, if plan A doesn't work, plan B will have money to burn for those types of players.
I recall the offer being 3 or 4 years / 17 to 21 million which would sound like a full MLE offer. Full MLE last summer could up to 4 years 23 million I believe.
What is his buyout this offseason? I know it was somewhat high last year, and given teams can only contribute so much, you'd have to back off whatever amount he'd have to pay out of his own pocket for the buyout. I think the buyout goes down a fair amount this offseason. Anybody know?
What is "Easier" to see- -The Rockets waiving Ty Lawson & Dwight Howard leaving in free agency & not scoring 2 top free agents such as Durant, Horford, Conley, etc. or -The Rockets scoring 2 true max contract players in free agency? As Deuce noted, sure if you land 2 max free agents obviously you won't likely have the cap space unless you trade Brewer and/or Ariza for no salary back. The Rockets could probably easily trade Ariza if needed into someone elses cap FYI, but I would think they wouldn't do that to sign Llull. The most likely scenario this Summer though is that they probably don't even score one max free agent superstar much less 2. If the Rockets aren't planning contingencies to add quality value players as a plan B then they really are as bad at their jobs as someone like DD tries to portray. For the Rockets, if I was GM (DD is thanking God I'm not), I would want to be prepared to retool my roster around undervalued players that gives me the flexibility to put more top talent around Harden before his contract is up in a couple years. This is just one way to get great contracts on your roster & not overpay for mediocre NBA free agents or sign minimum salary players who can't play.
I can't believe people were frustrated with him for not signing with us. Not only was our offer less, but there was a large buyout which he would need to pay out of his own pocket. Why would anyone pay millions of dollars to play in a foreign country for less money? I wanted to see him in a Rocket uniform, but there's no question he made the right choice for himself.
Lithuanian commentator: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LUvZz785wls" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> :grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:
