Why are the terrific free agents still saying "no" to the a Rockets?

Management ,corporate culture make rockets not appealing.
In Morey we trust.SMH

 

I have been wondering about the same thing. Is the formula for a championship contending team changing?

The spectacular bombs of some recent attempts to make a next Big 3 (like LA Lakers and Brooklyn Nets) has been sobering.

Plus the luxury taxes in the new CBA make it harder to win with a Big 3. Higher taxes mean that it's harder to afford superstars, as well as provide a necessary good supporting cast. As we saw for Miami in the Finals this year.

Think of this: the Spurs Big three makes $12.5 (Parker), I don't think it's necessarily the worst thing.

Remember, the Rockets were very, very good last year, for a team that had just made a major change by adding Dwight. They just stumbled badly in the playoffs. They also had a slew of injuries, and their shooting went flat near the end of the season.

They better have a really good assistant coach signed up to improve the team's defense though.

 

Jeremy Lin?

 

Missing language added and bolded above.

 

This. Superstars know once they get old they will be treated as liars and a liability therefore getting traded.

 

#1 Money. They get a lot more guaranteed money to stay with their teams.

#2 Lebron, Bosh, and to a lesser extent chose where they want to play already. It's rare for a player of that caliber in their prime to change teams more than once.

 

So wandom.

 

Let's wait to see what happens. But winning one playoff series since 1997 isn't helping. We haven't been a real contender in a very very long time.

 

I feel like this great post flew under the radar.

 

This is how a major intersection at one of the most hip parts of Houston looks (Westheimer & Montrose):



This is how a major intersection at one of the most hip parts of Chicago looks:



What do you expect... Houston is ugly and unglamorous as hell. Most people don't want to move here because they like the city... they move here for the economy

 

True, plus NYC and LA are both major media hubs -- lots of opportunities for Tv, movies, music. Houston just barely scratches the surface on those three.

 

Got a point. Style-wise, the current uniforms suck compared to the '94 ones. Players don't want to play for the fools who got rid of the classic jerseys. Players also don't want to look like fools in the lousy Rockets uniforms since the '95-'96 season. They want to wear the old cool uniform that Hakeem and company won those championships with.

Stevie Francis got to wear the red and yellow back in the Cato/Yao/Griffin/MoT days (those guys used to be Rockets, kids) and Stevie said, after the game, 'We wish we could wear these uniforms all the time' - the throwbacks; it was sad, like the team couldn't wear the coolest uniforms the Rockets ever had - like there's a Rockets company policy against wearing the classic championship colors.

It's certainly one of the reasons players don't want to get with the team, and it's an important one, imo.

 

Unfortunately it isn't a destination where superstars want to go. Superstars want to either stay with their current teams, or be in the lime light of the big market cities (Miami, LA, New York). Dwight Howard was the lone exception.If you take a look at the players the Rockets have been able to get (Tracy McGrady, James Harden, Steve Francis, etc) they got there in a trade. The other Rocket stars were drafted (Hakeem, Parsons, Yao,etc). Realistically, trades are what they do best to acquire talent.

 

The reason top FAs dont like to come here? 3M - mchale, morey, money

 

Actually, I think it has to do with Morey treating the players as assets, instead of family. Example the Spurs!!!

 

Because none of them have signed anywhere yet, unless you include Lowry, who stayed in Canada for the money.

 

Care to guess how Spurs players who played in all playoff games for the Spurs 3 years ago, also played in all the playoff games this past year?

I'll give a hint. It's lower than 4.

 

2 years ago we traded for harden and got him to sign an extension.

1 year ago we signed dwight.

this year is tougher because most top free agents will probably end up staying where they are. if they really wanted to move they may have considered us, but melo and lowry will make way more staying put, and the superfriends in miami will stay together.

also, the first round exit didn't help any. if we made the second round or the WCF and had max money, those guys would look at us differently.

 

people still believe everyone here wears cowboy hats and boots all day..

 

The reason is simple. Money does matter.