http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/24560117/ranking-most-miserable-fan-bases-nba The rankings run from Sacramento and Phoenix at the top to Golden State and San Antonio at the bottom. I would argue that Spurs fans are pretty miserable at the moment because Timmy/Kawhi/Manu/Parker (as well as Green/Anderson) are all gone and they have no idea what kind of team they'll have this year. As for us... That last line gets me. "Questionable offseason moves"? 1. We didn't let Trevor go, he signed with another team the moment the signing period began; we had no chance to keep him so it can't be considered a move on our part. 2. Luc was likely considered damaged goods considering his shoulder injuries (especially at his age) and the Clips grabbed him at a bumped-up salary. Again, good move by the Rox. You never overpay for a role player with big question marks. 3. Dumping Ryno's contract can't be seen as anything other than a positive. Sure, it would have been nice to get more in return, but we did land two guys with possible upside while dumping a suddenly useless player with a giant-ass contract. 4. Signing Melo and getting him comfortable with the idea of "doing whatever it takes to win" would be a win regardless, but for vet min? That's highway robbery against the rest of the league's teams. 5. Signing the other FAs (Ennis, MCW, Caboclo, etc.) aren't "questionable moves," they're bringing in guys who will hopefully contribute something somewhere. Other than Ennis, complete failures by any of the others can be shrugged off as merely taking a shot that didn't work. /obligatorymediaconspiracy (@Os Trigonum)
How in the world are the Rockets' fans "more miserable" than the Atlanta Hawks? Who have never won a championship, have only been to the ECF once (when they were swept) and are currently terrible?
Is there one for the TEXANS? We would be #2 right behind CLE. But we may have overtaken the #1 with Mayfield coming alive. LOL
Perhaps they mean we are more miserable because we HAVE tasted that sweet nectar. The Hawks on the other hand, have zero idea how that feels and therefore there is a much lower basement of misery?
I would say that Detroit fans are worse off than us. Texans have never gone win-less the entire season... yet.
I dont understand your contention here... everything i've read or heard was that we declined to match the offer - due to the added lux tax costs that his 15M would have included. It was a cost cutting move - and i think it was a sensible one - Phoenix overpaid... Are you saying Trev straight up bailed on the Rox and didn't offer a price matching opportunity?
Look at the "Heartbreaks" rankings. Hawks fans are less miserable because there team never even gets close.
To be honest, I'm unsure whether Trevor's agent allowed the Rox to make a counter-offer after the Suns made theirs. However, these two things make me think NOT: 1. Trev's signing was one of the very first reported after the FA signing period began. 2. He's on record as saying that he didn't like that Rox superstars got preferential treatment. If someone can find any mention of the Rox making an offer after the Suns' offer, I'll stand corrected. Keep in mind that Trev was unrestricted and it would be up to him whether to ask Morey if the Rox wanted to match.
Didn't the author state this was actually not something Ariza said, but what he fantasized a basketball purist like Ariza would think?
It came from one of Zach Lowe's podcasts (around the 17:00 mark). And you're right that it wasn't a quote from Trevor. It was "a lot of people" who told Lowe that when he was doing a profile on Trev. Lowe's own words: "He was compared frequently by members of the Rockets to a Gasol brother. So I asked, what does that mean? And they said, one of the things that irritates Trevor in Houston and elsewhere, is that we’re all going out to dinner, and even though it’s a team and it’s a family, there are different rules for superstars than there are for everybody else. Superstars get stuff that we don’t get." Anyway, the point is that things weren't perfect with Trevor in Houston, and I've seen nothing at all indicating that the Rockets were even given an opportunity to match the Suns' offer. Maybe @Clutch or @Codman or @CXbby or @cyberx can verify one way or the other.
your assessment may be right... DM might have also told him how high he was willing to go - and if he got a better offer to take it... and he did... Might've also been a 'we'll have to see what it costs us to retain CP3 and CC - and then see what we can spend... but if u get a deal you can't pass up take it...' scenario... idk... just wondering if you had heard something else definitive...
Regardless of whether we declined to match or let it be known at some point that $15M was higher than we were willing to pay, I still don't think it qualifies as a :questionable move." To me, even if we did decline to match, that's a prudent decision based on the fact that Trevor is getting older and Morey was confident he could find someone cheaper to replace MOST of what Trevor brought to the table.
Honestly surprised this wasn't the actual post: "Houston fans who are 30 and older got to see their team win back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995 behind Michael Jordan retiring and giving this little town a chance"
Yup, 40 minutes into free agency... I get the feeling Trevor never needed to ask for a match; seemed rather content with the offer/situation. Play the video in the tweet below to hear Trevor's account of how it happened...
I thought I'd heard he signed in the first minute or two. Good find, @craguin (and @J.R.) Sounds like Trev had a foot out the door early in the summer. This doesn't mesh with the idea that the Rockets didn't bother to make him an offer because they were okay with him walking. More like he was gone before they even had a chance to gauge the market for him.