It feels really weird, I always hated the guy, but he actually came across as really likeable in this press conference. I'm almost ready to jump on the bandwagon
How many times did Les pay the luxury tax during his time as an owner? Because the FIRST time Tilman pays the luxury tax it would equal the number of times Les did.
Not saying he doesn’t make them. Even still mostly of those highlights were from years ago. I’ve seen more Dwight Howard in that highlight reel than he played all last year. And I’m not hating on Harden, he’s converted me into a fan. I fully believe we have beat player in NBA on our roster, but if you watch enough Rockets games you know what I’m talking about. He basically stands in place when ball is inbounded and then could get called for an offensive foul if he even goes to get it all. It happens a lot. It’s one thing I never understood about him.
It's been confirmed by multiple sources (including @Clutch I believe) that we had a deal in place for JaMychal Green and Garrett Temple last year. That would have put us over the tax line, and neither of those guys is a big name. But, things happen, and teams back out of agreements. Look around the league at the various trades that have occurred, and tell me how the Rockets could have provided a competitive offer for the players that we would want. I'm all for improving the team by any means necessary, but I also understand how much of a hindrance the tax will be if we have to pay it for a player that doesn't move the needle.
I love James but have you SEEN his turnover numbers? Chandler Bing impersonation aside, there WILL be growing pains this year. It'll take time for both players to mesh together again. I don't care what it looks like in the regular season and I don't care how long it'll take as long as the team is ready come playoff time.
So far, luxury tax savings have trumped us making this team better. We can pretend that we've tried, but I don't think Tilman will be going over the line unless it's a big name. I don't doubt that Morey is trying, but I am willing to bet that the owner is restricting him from completing any trade that doesn't make a splash. We are all keeping an eye on the Iman Shumpert situation because we all know that he is the only asset that we have to improve our team. I pretty much feel that that the resolution from that situation will let us know how serious Tilman is about exceeding the tax. Gordon and Capela are assets, but trading them away, would likely be a lateral move or make us worst and possibly shorten the rotation.
Holic: "Russ, surely you see the value of dumping Capela and signing Cody Zeller, then playing nonstop 5-out ball all the time. I mean, I realize Capela has great stats and is on a value contract for another few years, but any idiot can see that we'll never get past the Warriors with him as our center and if we don't start—" Russ: "Do you have an actual question?"
I agree, growing pains are bound to happen. I'm glad that they have a solid friendship to help work through those pains, knowing that they can trust one another. The turnovers, inefficient shots of his own and setting up his teammates in inefficient spots is what bothers me most. The worst is when he drives coast to coast only to jump in the air, get caught at the rim and then try a bail out pass that's either a turnover or gives the ball to a teammate at an awkward spot on the court or the ball isn't caught in an optimal position for shooting (ie, at the feet, etc). Hopefully D'Antoni can help Russ eliminate the most egregious of these types of errors.
it has but we already knew they were ducking it a year ago. like I posted earlier if they are ducking it over and over while continuing to pass up on quality players and every single FA they met with in LA bc they offered only mins, then yeah Tilman is an idiot
I believed that report when it came out, but this summer it appears the Rockets were just BSing. Look at how the Danuel House situation was handled. We had a portion of our MLE remaining last season and we could of paid Danuel what we paid him this summer. Paying him then would of meant we had our full NT-MLE or T-MLE available to spend on another player this summer. Instead, the organization waited till the last possible day to sign him to avoid being over the luxury tax line. They signed a bunch of 10-day players in order to help them stay within the roster minimum limits and this strategy allowed them to duck the tax. Do you know how valuable it would of been to have our full MLE this summer to give to another player? It would of been extremely helpful!! Other examples include giving up FRPs to shed contracts. We could of really used the Ryno expiring contract this season, but instead we traded him along with an FRP to get Brandon and Chriss. Then we traded another 1st to get rid of Brandon. We've given up cash considerations to give players away (like Melo and MCW) in order to stay below the tax line. In years past, Morey has used cash considerations to get us SRPs. I get that some of you want to remain optimistic about ownership, but there is clear evidence of what they been doing thus far. Sure, he paid to get past the luxury tax line to build our team last year, only to see that they signed nothing but trash, then we attached assets to all that trash to get rid of it. We could of just ate up the salaries and had FRPs still plus cash considerations to buy SRPs and we could of had some valuable expiring contracts to trade away. As much as I disliked James Ennis, they even gave him away unnecessarily. Most of Clutchfans hated him, but I'm sure most would of been alright having him on the playoff roster. His last few weeks with the team he played alright and wasn't nearly as bad as we all made him out to be. I am sure they could of expanded the Westbrook trade as well, but since they couldn't land a big name (like Iguodala) our owner held back.
healed by now, he had surgery on it. i believe you man. I also believe the article you showed me. But what’s also true is 1. There are almost no good FA left on the market 2. He would be a minimum signing, and if that shoulder continues to be a problem you cut him. I have no idea why you wouldn’t take a risk on one of our best players during our 65 win run. I get that there are injury risk, you aren’t wrong. But if it’s for the minimum yeah I’m gonna do it.
I agree with you, but at least Les wasn't trading away assets all the time. We traded a lot of assets away in the last two years just to duck the tax.
you DO realize that the chain of events that led to Morey having to use 1st Rounders to get rid of bad contracts all happened under Les right? People want to blame Tilman for ducking the tax when, in fact, he was also trying to clean up the mess Les/Morey made with that Anderson contract.
