You get what you pay for (or, the sky is NOT falling)

CDrex · Jan 26, 2010

Invisible Fan said:

Rick who?
Click to expand...

Okay, that's fair. I am thankful for a GM making more out of less, our players working for every win, AND our coach maximizing the assets he is given.

guangzu · Jan 26, 2010

yes, you get what you pay for

no, we get more than what we paid for so far :grin:

ryano2009 · Jan 26, 2010

J.Will.Xu said:

That's what surprises me, NJN is the worst team in the league in terms of their record, and we're just financially almost 4 mil above them, hmmm, take a look at our record thus far, I felt a bit pleased at this point, yep, you get what you pay for.

Nice work OP, great read.
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not to mention we have played 23 games on the ROAD already.

LifeisButaDream · Jan 26, 2010

Or You get what you dont pay for(talent).<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PaYTyqWtFw8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PaYTyqWtFw8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

caneks · Jan 26, 2010

Awful thread.

The bottom line is that the team is spending more than 73 Million this season on player salary.

Did the injuries happen in last years? Yes.

Did Morey try to avoid what is happening this year? I'd say no, at most a failure if he tried. The only thing Morey did right is that he got a great coach in Adelman.

HouSportsScene · Jan 26, 2010

CDrex said:
Okay...I know that not everyone on this board is knee jerking at our slump lately. In fact, I think the majority have it in perspective. But, for anyone who has nightmares about giant tanks, is devastated we're not a 55-win team, or is ready to trade the whole team for Anthony Randolph and a used tampon, consider the following basic economic principle:

You get what you pay for.

This should be common sense, whether it's relating to basketball or any other aspect of life. The best plumber, IT guy, or pro wrestler makes more money doing their job than one that sucks. Although NBA general managers do their best to field a quality team without breaking the bank, there are thirty guys competing to put together the best team, and that means that winning very, very rarely comes without a big payroll.

I know that no one on this board is any stranger to the "hey, look how much money we have sitting in street clothes right now" concept, but as a refresher, the combined salaries of Yao and McGrady are $38.86 million this year. Ignoring for a moment the can he/can't he debate on whether McGrady should be getting minutes, let's just say that's $38.86 million in sunk costs, as far as picking up victories THIS year is concerned. That doesn't leave much under the ~$57.5 million salary cap to put together a respectable team; even under the $70 million luxury tap cap that gives you a bit of a scramble just trying to field a professional starting lineup unless you are a genius.

Enter:

Now, basically every team in the league that is considered a legitimate contender (and by that I mean, the Lakers, Celtics, Magic, Cavs...and throw in Nuggets, Mavs and Spurs just to prove my point) is a winning team because they have shelled out the bucks to pay their veteran stars. All of those teams I mentioned, in fact, have a starting lineup that gets payed at least $55 million this year (running up to $63 million for the Spurs). Now, while the Rockets may be paying $38 million for two players who are supposed to be starters, that isn't happening this year and you can hardly blame management for that. That gives the team under $32 million under the luxury tax to assemble a complete 12-man roster...half of what all those contenders are paying just for their starting lineups.

Looking deeper, the starting fives of each NBA team, using my best judgment on teams like Sacramento and Milwaukee that have played with a lot of lineups, looks something like this financially speaking:
Code:
SAS	62978350
LAL	62915363
BOS	61834538
ORL	61436622
DEN	59521974
DAL	57376282
CLE	56257798
WAS	53744701
MIA	53242084
NOH	52558238
PHO	47826657
PHI	46448566
ATL	43802011
TOR	41830653
UTA	41261561
GSW	38465160
LAC	36869880
MIL	34808520
IND	33262639
CHA	31663496
MEM	31144197
CHI	28534960
POR	26191683
DET	25518463
MIN	25086440
NYK	23842880
OKC	20085511
HOU	19337553
SAC	19202970
NJN	15850720
Now, as I mentioned, all the elite teams are up there at the very top of the salary rankings. All the good teams are too, in fact, except for a few select exceptions like Portland and Oklahoma City, who are loaded with rookie contracts and both have legit megastars who are getting paid sub-$5 million.

That leaves the Rockets third from the cheapest starting five in the league; they are surpassed only by New Jersey, who is a disaster of nuclear proportions, and Sacramento, currently riding a seven-game losing streak and falling closer and closer to the bottom of the West. Now, that kind of company would make our horrible losing season a bit more bearable -- if we were having one. Instead, we are four games over .500 and in the thick of a West playoff race that is just as brutal as any of the last five years. Our entire nine-man rotation, by the way? $27.4 million, cheaper than three-quarters of the league's starting fives.

In conclusion, I'm thankful for a GM that can find bargains better than anyone in a business that's ALL about finding bargains, and I'm thankful for a team that gives it everything to be one of the most overachieving teams in the league. For this squad to come down to earth shouldn't be a surprise, and CERTAINLY shouldn't be considered a failure.
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Okay, I will give you 3 of the starters are good deals: Scola, Battier and Brooks. But Ariza is pathetic and he should not be a starter on any team and Chuck Hayes is not a starter, he's just filling in for one. With that being said, I have to admit that my reply is completely self-serving because I really want someone to argue that Ariza is not terrible and then go check out this post on my blog about how bad Ariza really is:

http://houstonsportsscene.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/2010-arizabattier-2/

Also, if you feel that it is worthy, feel free to begin a thread with it. I would apprewciate it.

sephiroth.hk · Jan 26, 2010

HouSportsScene said:

Okay, I will give you 3 of the starters are good deals: Scola, Battier and Brooks. But Ariza is pathetic and he should not be a starter on any team and Chuck Hayes is not a starter, he's just filling in for one. With that being said, I have to admit that my reply is completely self-serving because I really want someone to argue that Ariza is not terrible and then go check out this post on my blog about how bad Ariza really is:

http://houstonsportsscene.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/2010-arizabattier-2/

Also, if you feel that it is worthy, feel free to begin a thread with it. I would apprewciate it.
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Agree. Ariza is overrated even on defense...
He is only worth 3M a year but I think he can be a starter in some teams.
There are many starter in nba take less than 3M.

Morey like to do some low-risk operation and bet some will work well.
This one does not work again like m.Jame, b.jackson but ariza has a long contract.
Even he want to move Ariza now, it may be more difficult than moving tmac or battier...

Rockets4279 · Jan 26, 2010

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You get what you pay for (or, the sky is NOT falling)

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