...from me anyway. It has been suggested that in the media that the reason Hakeem left Houston was because a perceived lack of respect during negotiations. Some in the media have suggested that if we had offered the Dream a 3 year 13 mil contract from day one then Dream would have signed. It has been said in the media that the latest contract proposal and the attempt by Rudy, CD and Cuttino to talk face to face with Dream was just to little too late. By the time the time the last contract was offered Dream had already made up his mind. Well I just want to make one thing perfectly clear, it was Hakeem that set the wheels of this type of negotiation in motion when he hired his agent. Perhaps if Dream had not hire an agent the Rockets would have started out with their best offer but we will never know. However when Hakeem hired an agent by the name of Fagen and refused to make himself available to the team for negotiations then it is obvious that his intent is to play hardball with the team. In a normal contract negotiation them team never starts out with the highest offer that they are willing to give and the Agent never starts out with the lowest offer he is willing to except. It was Hakeem that wanted to hire an agent and experiance life as a free agent. Had Hakeem sat down with Rudy T, CD and Les face to face from day one of free agency then possibly things would have been different. We will never know. Unfortunatley Dream decided to make himself unavailable to the Rockets probably on the advive of his agent. The point of this thread is to show that while the Rockets might have done something differently Hakeem is certainly not with out fault in the way the negotiations played out. I for one will certainly not bash the Rockets for doing what they think is best for the team. I wish Dream all the luck while he is in Toronto and I am greatfull for what he has done for all of us as a member of the Houston Cougars and the Houston Rockets. Now its time to move on...
