Grizzles Sell Team: Why Can't ASG

[Superiorblogman]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... obert_Pera

Man, seriously WTF can we as a franchise do right? The Grizz and the Hornets have both been sold since the ASG tried to sale. They are both southern based teams and NO really with its whole city rebuilding thing can't be in a better spot than we are to pull fans if we had a better ownership. Memphis is right up against the luxury needing to re-sign key players or possibly taking a step back just like us. What gives here?

We need to sale to someone interested in winning a championship.

[theatlfan]

Yeah, I thought the same when I saw that. Especially the point about the new owner being in Taiwan and San Jose, but didn't want to move the Grizzlies out of Memphis. Maybe he doesn't like the airport here?

[HMFFL]

I just searched what the team sold for on google and it said between $300-$350 million.

[MaceCase]

But but but, I thought being a perennial second round team in a large market would make the Hawks more attractive to buyers? Guess guys are foolishly not lining up to pay the young and exciting Joe Johnson 90 million dollars.

Sad that billionaires Josh Harris, Tom Benson, and now this guy purchased the Sixers, Hornets and Grizzlies yet the Hawks were soliciting some ho hum millionaire with a local pizza chain in southern California.....

The franchise must be a toxic asset well beyond the norm for sports franchises.

[Superiorblogman]

Unfortunately, maybe the franchise should have been moved when Ted Turner could not see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[evildallas]

Ted had been there done that and is at a different stage in his life. Atlanta should be too vital of a market to abandon. It just cries out for a team that can be well run. But hey, the Knicks have been run like crap for a long time and their okay.

My theory is that the ASG either doesn't hang in the right circles to meet proper ownership or just aren't very competent. The sad truth determined in court is that they never should have been sold the team. Someday that error will be remedied. I just hope to live long enough to see it and actually have hope for a championship coming to my city in my favorite sport.

[azuresou1]

If I weren't a fan I'd rather buy the Grizzlies than the Hawks too.

Let's see, younger cheaper talent with financial flexibility, or the opportunity to pay an above-average aging SG legitimate prime superstar money? Hm....

[Yungsta404]

Yea i dont get it. Both are very are not very profitable. Both dont have as much market potiential as the hawks. The grizz have a very high payroll. The hornets are in a very rough transitional period.

maybe the ASG have a very high asking price. which would be dumb cause this team is losing value and money really fast

[Superiorblogman]

If I weren't a fan I'd rather buy the Grizzlies than the Hawks too.

Let's see, younger cheaper talent with financial flexibility, or the opportunity to pay an above-average aging SG legitimate prime superstar money? Hm....

Grizzles don't have cheaper contracts. Gasol, Randolph, and Gay are all getting paid very handsomely. Joe is our only bad contract. I am not saying the Grizz have any but Gay gets more than Josh and Al and so does Randolph.

[evildallas]

^^^ Got to agree. Memphis might be in a worse contract position because they have a 60M core tied up for another 3 years. This year they are at 64M on 10 players (counting 1st rounder), but that doesn't include Mayo, Speights, or Arthur. Those are all RFAs, but matching offers could put them in luxury tax hell.

The one advantage over the Hawks that the Grizzlies have is that they are the only game in town. They don't have Football and Baseball teams to find for entertainment dollars with. Not sure how much that factors into the decision, but it might matter.

[MaceCase]

Grizzlies are also at 56% debt/value whereas the Hawks are at 90% according to Forbes. That's a much bigger difference than the amount of revenue each team makes (109 to 99 million). New Orleans was a charity case but Atlanta has no natural disasters to blame.....maybe the Falcons can get embroiled in a bounty scandal and Blank tries to distract away.

[NekiEcko]

One of the two biggest reason why ASG cant get the Hawks sold: Their Debts and who wants them.

Like Memphis, NO, Charlotte, Philly and Brooklyn (NJ) debts doesnt even compare to what the Hawks have. It is very toxic when you deal with stuff like that. Also, most of the people that is wants to buy the team is the same ones that would move the team in a heartbeat to somewhere else (St. Louis, Anaheim, Las Vegas), We dont have any local billionaire that wants this team, Mr. Blank would be a good choice but he is working a new stadium for the Falcons. At the end of the day, until somebody steps up and buy this team and keep this team here, the team isnt going to be sold.

[epfou1]

After the failed Merulo deal. Didn't the owners put a statement saying the team was no longer on the market?

[HMFFL]

After the failed Merulo deal. Didn't the owners put a statement saying the team was no longer on the market?

Yes, but do you actually believe them?

[MaceCase]

After the failed Merulo deal. Didn't the owners put a statement saying the team was no longer on the market?

Yes, but do you actually believe them?

Yes.....in a sense. The ASG clearly want some type of return on their sale of the Hawks but clearly nobody in their right mind outside of another overeager "small-time" millionaire who didn't have the proper funds to purchase the team in the first place was meeting the price sooooooo they pulled the team off the market. I see the same a lot when people are trying to sell apartments here in NYC. Bought it for 600k want to flip it a few years later for a "modest" 685k but market/renovation costs put the actual value at 575k so it sits for weeks on end with no serious takers willing to meet the owners price so then they say they aren't selling anymore really as a matter of pride rather than a recommitment to living in the place.

[HMFFL]

The sale appears to be in trouble for the time being. Robert J. Pera has had a bad two weeks in the stock market and his companies stock has took a huge hit.

Communications magnate Robert J. Pera just agreed a fee to buy the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this week, but already his bid looks to be in trouble. A rough week at the market for Pera’s communications technology firm Ubiquiti networks is to blame, according to a report from the New York Daily News.

Ubiquiti’s stock has fallen precipitously over the last two weeks, a drop that affects not just the company but also Pera’s personal net worth. Valued at nearly $1 billion just two weeks ago, Pera is now believed to sit closer to $200 million, less than the $350 million he bid for the Grizzlies. If Pera’s bid does fall apart, current owner Michael Heisley will retain control of the team. http://tracking.si.com/2012/06/17/memph ... e-trouble/

[evildallas]

^^^ I was going to post the same thing. Maybe we were too hard on them.

[Superiorblogman]

Damn, looks like they may have ran into the same situation the ASG did.