Rockets match Nets offer for Donuts (Updte Pg 17: Offer Pulled, DMo UFA)

[Alonzo_Morning]

Dontas sounds nothing like Donuts

[spaceballer]

what make him think Rockets won't match?
Morey told him they want him back
if he doesn't want to stay in Houston but still want to play in NBA
best option is sign one year qualify offer and be unrestricted free agent next year

I think it was Dantoni that said he wanted DMO back.

The deal is structured such that DMO can't be traded for 2 seasons. This forces the Rockets to drop someone else if they need to clear space for the 2017 summer free agency. DMO might have gambled that Morey would not match to retain cap flexibility and he would get out of Houston this season.

I'm not saying this is a smart move and I don't know if DMO would still have pulled this had he known it would go this way, but this is the only reason I can think of other than they're both insane.

in his interview after he signed Nets offer sheet
he mentioned he can be playing for either Houston or Brooklyn
then this happened
i just feel this is his agent playing game

I think that was back when DMo thought Morey would be matching all the terms of the Nets offer, and he would have no problems playing for the Rockets under those terms. But now that Morey is refusing to match all of the Nets offer, he and his agent are balking and trying to apply pressure to get Morey to fully match the Nets offer.

The sticking point seems to be the bonus incentives. Technically, the Rockets are only required to match the principal terms of the offer sheet. Bonuses based on generally recognized league honors like MVP, Allstar, etc. are considered principal terms. But aside from those, you then have other "likely"/"unlikely" bonuses. Bonuses can be "likely" for one team and "unlikely" for another, such as making the playoffs. Technically, Morey is only required to match bonuses that are "likely" for both teams. A bonus such as making the playoffs would be "unlikely" for the Nets but "likely" for the Rockets, and Morey wouldn't want to match that, since it would pay DMo more money if the Rockets made the playoffs.

DMo and his agent may believe that this is what they mean by "rights" even though it's not required by the CBA. They signed a contract with those bonuses, and they want Morey to match them. Morey says no, because he's not required to.

So that causes a difference in money dropping from $37M to $31M because Morey doesn't want to fully match the Nets offer sheet, only the bare minimum he's required to.

The sticking point are the bonuses. DMo thinks it's his right to have the bonuses in the contract offer he signed matched. Morey is refusing to fully match the Nets offer sheet, only the bare minimum principal terms and not all the bonuses that would give DMo more money.

So DMo seemed fine playing for the Rockets under the $37M deal he signed with the Nets, but not for the $31M deal the Rockets are asking him to sign, without some of the additional bonuses. Perhaps it's because his agent didn't explain it fully to DMo (or his agent is a moron in the first place) and they feel that the Rockets are not acting in good faith with them by not fully matching the Nets offer sheet (which his agent should have explained was a possibility before DMo signed with the Nets, since the CBA mentions only having to match the principal terms and not all bonuses). But this standoff would be resolved if Morey was willing to fully match the Nets offer sheet (with all the bonuses), even though he's not required to do so beyond the principal terms.

I think the bonuses are the sticking point. Those are the "rights" that DMo is talking about, he wants the bonuses that he signed on for. Morey says he's not required to match all the bonuses.

I wonder if the new CBA addresses any change in the matching rules with respect to these "unlikely"/"likely" bonuses.

[spaceballer]

Another reason DMo might not be happy: The offer shrank. While it was a 4-36 deal with the Nets, for some reason, the contract didnt translate to the Rockets and now its essentially 4-31

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/rockets/2016/12/05/donatas-motiejunas-rockets-contract/95017568/

Not sure about the exact terms of the deal, but according to this article, it's 4 years $31 million with $5 million fully guaranteed, but D-Mo can earn an additional $7.9 million if the 2017-2018 team option is picked up by March 1st (a.k.a. shows he's healthy). So almost $10 million a year if he performs.

I pulled my info direct from Woj, but there seems to be conflicting reports about it everywhere:

The Nets signed Motiejunas to a partially guaranteed four-year deal that could’ve been worth $35 million. The $4 million-plus in attainable bonus clauses in the Nets’ offer sheet weren’t applicable in the Rockets’ match. Ultimately, the base deal that Motiejunas would have had with Houston was worth $31 million if the Rockets picked up every option over the course of the four-year deal.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/donatas-motiejunas-refuses-to-report-to-rockets-184000511.html

In the article you linked it says what I'm saying too though, that the Rockets only had to match the base of the deal which was 4-31. So those things seem to line up

That seems to be a better take on it than the conspiracy theories of tampering (which would open up whichever other team wanted to sign DMo after Morey releases him back to RFA to penalties of the league removing their draft picks or something).

It's about the money tied up in the bonuses. The "rights" they want is for the Rockets to fully match the Nets offer sheet, including the bonuses that Morey says he doesn't have to match since he's not required to.

[K_chile22]

Morey deals fairly with his players and are willing to work with his players as long as Morey doesn't have to screw himself backwards to do it. Just listen to what the Morris twins say about the guy's willingness to work with agents to find favorable solutions.



I don't see how any of this is Morey's fault.

1) The injury concerns have made D-Mo a low-value player. That much ought to be obvious by this point of the fiasco. How is it Morey's fault for not screwing himself by offering a bad contract for than what the player is worth that nobody else is offering? D-Mo was held hostage by his agent's conceit, nothing else. He was free to sign for his market value at any time.

2) Of the three confirmed contracts offered, Morey was the one who coughed up the two most favorable to D-Mo. How is it Morey's fault that B.J. Armstrong's gets D-Mo to sign the least favorable contract of the three? Low-balling D-Mo? Huh? The only contract the only other team offered was less favorable to D-Mo than the two Morey offered.



3) Are GMs suddenly supposed to just release their assets for nothing at the whims of the players not happy with their contracts or playing time? I'm pretty sure that none of the GMs got that memo.

Most of the people who make arguments like this would be the absolute worst GMs

Actually, most of the people who thinks most of the people who make arguments like this would be the absolute worst GMs would make the absolute worst GMs: GMs who don't reason things through logically and bid against themselves are the absolute worst GMs.

Hmm? I was agreeing with you. Meant those who think GMs should just keep everyone happy at the expense of getting better

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using RealGM mobile app

[Teckon]

I also believe the issue is about the $6 million bonus gap between the Nets' offer and what Rockets need to match.

It is the agent's job to ensure such issue does not happen. BJ does not seem to understand CBA well. DMo should be angry with his agent instead of Rockets. He should sue his agent for doing a poor job that cause him to lose the $6 million bonus. By standing with his agent and taking a hard stand, he made another bad decision. No organization will want to be seen to pay out more due to pressure. DMo should be asking Rockets nicely to be kind to match these bonuses. All the cards are with Rockets now. DMo needs to come to his senses and make the right decision.

Nets' GM is partly to blame as he came up with an offer that make it "easier" for Rockets to match for just the base terms. It seem Nets' GM does not know the CBA well too.

[Bruteque]

Yes, this is why Morey's one of the more respected GMs in the league in terms of likability and why free agents flock to Houston. So proof is in the pudding, is it not?

1) He is a low value player. However when the value of said player and his perceived value are very, very far apart, and you as a GM want to keep the asset, you have to work a deal. And if there's no deal to be worked, you cut bait. Sullinger was let go by the Celtics. Bayless by the Raptors. Not because of a pending FA deal, because 2 of the best GMs in the league decided that it was better to let them get paid without worry than to try and squeeze value out of someone at their expense.

2) Entirely irrelevant. DMo took an offer he thought would likely land him more playing time as evidenced by the conditions that no longer apply in the Rockets deal. It might be that playing, and being wanted, was more important to DMo than they money. Or that if he was going to be riding pine in Houston, he'd want to be better paid for it.

3) Better GMs than Morey have released better players than DMo because of this. They embraced the human element and, unsurprisingly, retain most of the free agents they want and are rebuilding consistently successful teams.

4) (I wanted to be in on it)

The proof certainly is not in the pudding. It saddens me what people will accept as proof these days. I hate to tell you, but that's not chocolate pudding you've been slurping if you think that players don't want to sign with the Rockets because Morey is the GM or want to sign with the Lakers because Kupchak is the "embrace" GM is a factor at all, let alone a major one. That's simply not supported by facts beyond maybe confirmation bias. I doubt that's one of the players' top ten considerations, if it's a consideration at all.

When a player is a restricted free agent, you certainly don't have to work a deal just because a player's agent convinces him that he's worth "very very far apart" more than his market value and you are interested in keeping him at the right price. That's the point of RFA. You sit here and talk about D-Mo's "value" vs. his "perceived value" as if they are "very very far apart." They're not. He has the potential to have value "very very far apart" from his risk-adjusted value. If you think D-Mo's risk-adjusted value is "very very far apart" from his perceived/market value around the league, then you are as misguides as B.J. Armstrong is.

Also don't be ridiculous. What reason did D-Mo have to believe that the Rockets were "likely" not to match? The Rockets have already offered him two even more favorable to D-Mo deals. The Rockets are suddenly going to be scared off by a deal even more favorable to the Rockets than ones they have already offered? That's absurd. Donatas Motiejunas himself says after he signs the deal that he will not be disappointed if the Rockets match the Nets offer sheet to keep him: "No, definitely not. It's been four beautiful years in Houston. I'm happy with the people I was working with. I'm happy with the city. This is a business. Whichever jersey I'm going to wear, I'm going to play as hard as I can for that team."

This smells entirely of B.J. Armstrong putting his own interest ahead of his client's.

Don't try to feed me what you think is chocolate pudding about "embracing the human element" and how "great" GMs who do it are. That's bull. Far more GMs fall flat on their faces and completely screw over their franchises for years and years signing players to bad contracts to "embracing the human element" than succeed.

It's telling that there is not even one of those failfish "embrace the human element" GMs around to offer D-Mo the "value very very far apart from perceived value" "embrace the human element" contract B.J. Armstrong wants in order to validate his "agent skill."

[BallerTalk]

I also believe the issue is about the $6 million bonus gap between the Nets' offer and what Rockets need to match.

It is the agent's job to ensure such issue does not happen. BJ does not seem to understand CBA well. DMo should be angry with his agent instead of Rockets. He should sue his agent for doing a poor job that cause him to lose the $6 million bonus. By standing with his agent and taking a hard stand, he made another bad decision. No organization will want to be seen to pay out more due to pressure. DMo should be asking Rockets nicely to be kind to match these bonuses. All the cards are with Rockets now. DMo needs to come to his senses and make the right decision.

Nets' GM is partly to blame as he came up with an offer that make it "easier" for Rockets to match for just the base terms. It seem Nets' GM does not know the CBA well too.

I agree that, if what's being reported is true, D-Mo should be upset with his agent, not anyone else.
However I disagree that Sean Marks (Nets GM) should be blamed for anything here. He made an offer that he thought was fair and good for his team, so he did his job.

Sean Marks did his job looking out for the interests of the Nets.
Daryl Morey is doing his job looking out for the interests of the Rockets.
It appears BJ Armstrong has failed miserably at looking out for the interests of Motiejunas.

I think it's most telling that what D-Mo actually said himself on Friday doesn't match what BJ is now saying for him.

[Teckon]

I also believe the issue is about the $6 million bonus gap between the Nets' offer and what Rockets need to match.

It is the agent's job to ensure such issue does not happen. BJ does not seem to understand CBA well. DMo should be angry with his agent instead of Rockets. He should sue his agent for doing a poor job that cause him to lose the $6 million bonus. By standing with his agent and taking a hard stand, he made another bad decision. No organization will want to be seen to pay out more due to pressure. DMo should be asking Rockets nicely to be kind to match these bonuses. All the cards are with Rockets now. DMo needs to come to his senses and make the right decision.

Nets' GM is partly to blame as he came up with an offer that make it "easier" for Rockets to match for just the base terms. It seem Nets' GM does not know the CBA well too.

I agree that, if what's being reported is true, D-Mo should be upset with his agent, not anyone else.
However I disagree that Sean Marks (Nets GM) should be blamed for anything here. He made an offer that he thought was fair and good for his team, so he did his job.

Sean Marks did his job looking out for the interests of the Nets.
Daryl Morey is doing his job looking out for the interests of the Rockets.
It appears BJ Armstrong has failed miserably at looking out for the interests of Motiejunas.

I think it's most telling that what D-Mo actually said himself on Friday doesn't match what BJ is now saying for him.

Yeah you are right Nets' GM is just doing his job for Nets. The agent, BJ, did not explain the full story about the bonus part to DMo (when asking DMo to sign the offer) or BJ did not understand that portion too which seem to the more probable case.

[TMU]

Don't know much about BJ's track record, but this makes me wonder why it's ever a good idea to hire a former basketball player as your agent.

[jackwindham]

Wouldn't Armstrong's best interest be the best interest of his clients? That ensures long tear earning, no?

[ElectricMayhem]

Anyone else get the feeling that BJ is furiously scrolling through this thread so he can learn about how the CBA applies to DMo's situation?

[pr0wler]

Anyone else get the feeling that BJ is furiously scrolling through this thread so he can learn about how the CBA applies to DMo's situation?

lol. Post of the thread. What a clown of an agent. Pretty sure half the people in this thread could do better job than BJ.

[quatin]

I think that was back when DMo thought Morey would be matching all the terms of the Nets offer, and he would have no problems playing for the Rockets under those terms. But now that Morey is refusing to match all of the Nets offer, he and his agent are balking and trying to apply pressure to get Morey to fully match the Nets offer.

The sticking point seems to be the bonus incentives. Technically, the Rockets are only required to match the principal terms of the offer sheet. Bonuses based on generally recognized league honors like MVP, Allstar, etc. are considered principal terms. But aside from those, you then have other "likely"/"unlikely" bonuses. Bonuses can be "likely" for one team and "unlikely" for another, such as making the playoffs. Technically, Morey is only required to match bonuses that are "likely" for both teams. A bonus such as making the playoffs would be "unlikely" for the Nets but "likely" for the Rockets, and Morey wouldn't want to match that, since it would pay DMo more money if the Rockets made the playoffs.

DMo and his agent may believe that this is what they mean by "rights" even though it's not required by the CBA. They signed a contract with those bonuses, and they want Morey to match them. Morey says no, because he's not required to.

So that causes a difference in money dropping from $37M to $31M because Morey doesn't want to fully match the Nets offer sheet, only the bare minimum he's required to.

The sticking point are the bonuses. DMo thinks it's his right to have the bonuses in the contract offer he signed matched. Morey is refusing to fully match the Nets offer sheet, only the bare minimum principal terms and not all the bonuses that would give DMo more money.

So DMo seemed fine playing for the Rockets under the $37M deal he signed with the Nets, but not for the $31M deal the Rockets are asking him to sign, without some of the additional bonuses. Perhaps it's because his agent didn't explain it fully to DMo (or his agent is a moron in the first place) and they feel that the Rockets are not acting in good faith with them by not fully matching the Nets offer sheet (which his agent should have explained was a possibility before DMo signed with the Nets, since the CBA mentions only having to match the principal terms and not all bonuses). But this standoff would be resolved if Morey was willing to fully match the Nets offer sheet (with all the bonuses), even though he's not required to do so beyond the principal terms.

I think the bonuses are the sticking point. Those are the "rights" that DMo is talking about, he wants the bonuses that he signed on for. Morey says he's not required to match all the bonuses.

I wonder if the new CBA addresses any change in the matching rules with respect to these "unlikely"/"likely" bonuses.

Great points. I think the bonuses mentioned are $1 million every year in likely bonuses ($4 million) and $500,000 in unlikely bonuses ($2 million), adding to $6 million total. The $500k in unlikely bonus might be qualifying for the playoffs, but the $1 million can't be. It might be something like must play X number of games, which really might turn out to be an unlikely bonus in Houston, because DMO is now behind Harrel and Dekker. Morey is really sticking it to DMO over $1.5 million per year.

[HurricaneKid]

Yes, this is why Morey's one of the more respected GMs in the league in terms of likability and why free agents flock to Houston. So proof is in the pudding, is it not?

1) He is a low value player. However when the value of said player and his perceived value are very, very far apart, and you as a GM want to keep the asset, you have to work a deal. And if there's no deal to be worked, you cut bait. Sullinger was let go by the Celtics. Bayless by the Raptors. Not because of a pending FA deal, because 2 of the best GMs in the league decided that it was better to let them get paid without worry than to try and squeeze value out of someone at their expense.

2) Entirely irrelevant. DMo took an offer he thought would likely land him more playing time as evidenced by the conditions that no longer apply in the Rockets deal. It might be that playing, and being wanted, was more important to DMo than they money. Or that if he was going to be riding pine in Houston, he'd want to be better paid for it.

3) Better GMs than Morey have released better players than DMo because of this. They embraced the human element and, unsurprisingly, retain most of the free agents they want and are rebuilding consistently successful teams.

4) (I wanted to be in on it)

The proof certainly is not in the pudding. It saddens me what people will accept as proof these days. I hate to tell you, but that's not chocolate pudding you've been slurping if you think that players don't want to sign with the Rockets because Morey is the GM or want to sign with the Lakers because Kupchak is the "embrace" GM is a factor at all, let alone a major one. That's simply not supported by facts beyond maybe confirmation bias. I doubt that's one of the players' top ten considerations, if it's a consideration at all.

When a player is a restricted free agent, you certainly don't have to work a deal just because a player's agent convinces him that he's worth "very very far apart" more than his market value and you are interested in keeping him at the right price. That's the point of RFA. You sit here and talk about D-Mo's "value" vs. his "perceived value" as if they are "very very far apart." They're not. He has the potential to have value "very very far apart" from his risk-adjusted value. If you think D-Mo's risk-adjusted value is "very very far apart" from his perceived/market value around the league, then you are as misguides as B.J. Armstrong is.

Also don't be ridiculous. What reason did D-Mo have to believe that the Rockets were "likely" not to match? The Rockets have already offered him two even more favorable to D-Mo deals. The Rockets are suddenly going to be scared off by a deal even more favorable to the Rockets than ones they have already offered? That's absurd. Donatas Motiejunas himself says after he signs the deal that he will not be disappointed if the Rockets match the Nets offer sheet to keep him: "No, definitely not. It's been four beautiful years in Houston. I'm happy with the people I was working with. I'm happy with the city. This is a business. Whichever jersey I'm going to wear, I'm going to play as hard as I can for that team."

This smells entirely of B.J. Armstrong putting his own interest ahead of his client's.

Don't try to feed me what you think is chocolate pudding about "embracing the human element" and how "great" GMs who do it are. That's bull. Far more GMs fall flat on their faces and completely screw over their franchises for years and years signing players to bad contracts to "embracing the human element" than succeed.

It's telling that there is not even one of those failfish "embrace the human element" GMs around to offer D-Mo the "value very very far apart from perceived value" "embrace the human element" contract B.J. Armstrong wants in order to validate his "agent skill."

It was pretty evident to me right away that this was going to be the issue. The problem for BJ is that he is a fool. He tried to put poison pills into the contract to make it more likely the DeMo got to NJ. The problem is that he didn't know the rules and was completely outmaneuvered by Morey. Considering he is the one responsible for the contract he would be lucky to not be sued for malpractice and maintain his license. I am shocked that he was unaware of how the RFA process functioned. I mean at a basic level, THATS HIS JOB. If I were DeMo I would be IRATE (and litigious).

[FNQ]

The proof certainly is not in the pudding. It saddens me what people will accept as proof these days. I hate to tell you, but that's not chocolate pudding you've been slurping if you think that players don't want to sign with the Rockets because Morey is the GM or want to sign with the Lakers because Kupchak is the "embrace" GM is a factor at all, let alone a major one. That's simply not supported by facts beyond maybe confirmation bias. I doubt that's one of the players' top ten considerations, if it's a consideration at all.

When a player is a restricted free agent, you certainly don't have to work a deal just because a player's agent convinces him that he's worth "very very far apart" more than his market value and you are interested in keeping him at the right price. That's the point of RFA. You sit here and talk about D-Mo's "value" vs. his "perceived value" as if they are "very very far apart." They're not. He has the potential to have value "very very far apart" from his risk-adjusted value. If you think D-Mo's risk-adjusted value is "very very far apart" from his perceived/market value around the league, then you are as misguides as B.J. Armstrong is.

Also don't be ridiculous. What reason did D-Mo have to believe that the Rockets were "likely" not to match? The Rockets have already offered him two even more favorable to D-Mo deals. The Rockets are suddenly going to be scared off by a deal even more favorable to the Rockets than ones they have already offered? That's absurd. Donatas Motiejunas himself says after he signs the deal that he will not be disappointed if the Rockets match the Nets offer sheet to keep him: "No, definitely not. It's been four beautiful years in Houston. I'm happy with the people I was working with. I'm happy with the city. This is a business. Whichever jersey I'm going to wear, I'm going to play as hard as I can for that team."

This smells entirely of B.J. Armstrong putting his own interest ahead of his client's.

Don't try to feed me what you think is chocolate pudding about "embracing the human element" and how "great" GMs who do it are. That's bull. Far more GMs fall flat on their faces and completely screw over their franchises for years and years signing players to bad contracts to "embracing the human element" than succeed.

It's telling that there is not even one of those failfish "embrace the human element" GMs around to offer D-Mo the "value very very far apart from perceived value" "embrace the human element" contract B.J. Armstrong wants in order to validate his "agent skill."

I'm sure Danny Ainge and Masai Ujiri could learn a thing or two from you and your pals. But in the real world, letting someone go because you can't strike a deal and dont need the distraction - not the absolutely ridiculous assumption that I said sign him to whatever contract he wants - is often times the right thing to do. Because a staring contest between a GM and a 8th/9th man isn't exactly good for PR, is it? And what do you think players talk about in free agency? We have NFL guys in the clinic all the time, you'd better believe they talk about culture and who they can trust.

Let's go down the list of your inaccuracies and strawmen:

- who mentioned the Lakers?
- of course its a consideration. What's the first thing out of Bogut's mouth in every interview with about why he chose the Mavs? Culture. Mark Cuban has created that. It wasn't about winning. Quit trying to de-humanize athletes, I work with them. They absolutely care about who their boss is, just like any employee would.
- that paragraph about value was so useless. DMo had a price in his head. Morey didn't come close enough to it to come to an agreement. At a certain point, have to ask if the juice is worth the squeeze. Is it Morey? Because now you've dragged this out to December and earned absolutely nothing but bad PR. But hey, at least he didnt let a minor asset walk!
- once again, you spun my words around to make something incorrect. Seems to be a trend. Anyways, I said DMo signed a deal that signified he was done in Houston - a deal with kickers that were unique to BKN. And seemingly without even telling him, Morey matched. This too is something a good GM wouldn't do.

[FNQ]

Yes, this is why Morey's one of the more respected GMs in the league in terms of likability and why free agents flock to Houston. So proof is in the pudding, is it not?

1) He is a low value player. However when the value of said player and his perceived value are very, very far apart, and you as a GM want to keep the asset, you have to work a deal. And if there's no deal to be worked, you cut bait. Sullinger was let go by the Celtics. Bayless by the Raptors. Not because of a pending FA deal, because 2 of the best GMs in the league decided that it was better to let them get paid without worry than to try and squeeze value out of someone at their expense.

2) Entirely irrelevant. DMo took an offer he thought would likely land him more playing time as evidenced by the conditions that no longer apply in the Rockets deal. It might be that playing, and being wanted, was more important to DMo than they money. Or that if he was going to be riding pine in Houston, he'd want to be better paid for it.

3) Better GMs than Morey have released better players than DMo because of this. They embraced the human element and, unsurprisingly, retain most of the free agents they want and are rebuilding consistently successful teams.

4) (I wanted to be in on it)

The proof certainly is not in the pudding. It saddens me what people will accept as proof these days. I hate to tell you, but that's not chocolate pudding you've been slurping if you think that players don't want to sign with the Rockets because Morey is the GM or want to sign with the Lakers because Kupchak is the "embrace" GM is a factor at all, let alone a major one. That's simply not supported by facts beyond maybe confirmation bias. I doubt that's one of the players' top ten considerations, if it's a consideration at all.

When a player is a restricted free agent, you certainly don't have to work a deal just because a player's agent convinces him that he's worth "very very far apart" more than his market value and you are interested in keeping him at the right price. That's the point of RFA. You sit here and talk about D-Mo's "value" vs. his "perceived value" as if they are "very very far apart." They're not. He has the potential to have value "very very far apart" from his risk-adjusted value. If you think D-Mo's risk-adjusted value is "very very far apart" from his perceived/market value around the league, then you are as misguides as B.J. Armstrong is.

Also don't be ridiculous. What reason did D-Mo have to believe that the Rockets were "likely" not to match? The Rockets have already offered him two even more favorable to D-Mo deals. The Rockets are suddenly going to be scared off by a deal even more favorable to the Rockets than ones they have already offered? That's absurd. Donatas Motiejunas himself says after he signs the deal that he will not be disappointed if the Rockets match the Nets offer sheet to keep him: "No, definitely not. It's been four beautiful years in Houston. I'm happy with the people I was working with. I'm happy with the city. This is a business. Whichever jersey I'm going to wear, I'm going to play as hard as I can for that team."

This smells entirely of B.J. Armstrong putting his own interest ahead of his client's.

Don't try to feed me what you think is chocolate pudding about "embracing the human element" and how "great" GMs who do it are. That's bull. Far more GMs fall flat on their faces and completely screw over their franchises for years and years signing players to bad contracts to "embracing the human element" than succeed.

It's telling that there is not even one of those failfish "embrace the human element" GMs around to offer D-Mo the "value very very far apart from perceived value" "embrace the human element" contract B.J. Armstrong wants in order to validate his "agent skill."

It was pretty evident to me right away that this was going to be the issue. The problem for BJ is that he is a fool. He tried to put poison pills into the contract to make it more likely the DeMo got to NJ. The problem is that he didn't know the rules and was completely outmaneuvered by Morey. Considering he is the one responsible for the contract he would be lucky to not be sued for malpractice and maintain his license. I am shocked that he was unaware of how the RFA process functioned. I mean at a basic level, THATS HIS JOB. If I were DeMo I would be IRATE (and litigious).

We don't know that he didn't know those kickers wouldn't transfer. He might have been of the belief that the Rockets were not interested. Or he might have straight told them that DMo wasn't going to play for the Rockets under any circumstances, and Morey refused to blink.

Either way, he didnt do a good job, and Morey either matched knowing that DMo sitting out was a possibility, or matched without talking to the player or agent at all. Why people can consider that doing a good job, while this circus is going on around the Rockets, is stunning

[Black Jack]

Looks like Morey won this one on rules but he should be careful. I wonder what Houston's reputation is among players at this point. Not good is my guess.

[FNQ]

Looks like Morey won this one on rules but he should be careful. I wonder what Houston's reputation is among players at this point. Not good is my guess.

Asik, Dwight, and Parsons have all felt disrespected or lied to at some point. Definitely a trend.

[K_chile22]

Looks like Morey won this one on rules but he should be careful. I wonder what Houston's reputation is among players at this point. Not good is my guess.

Asik, Dwight, and Parsons have all felt disrespected or lied to at some point. Definitely a trend.

Parsons felt he was a superstar and the Rockets didn't. Wow the Rockets suck tbh. Dwight is Dwight. I think more nba players dislike Dwight than any organization. And Asik got mad they acquired a superstar at his position. So what.

[FNQ]

Looks like Morey won this one on rules but he should be careful. I wonder what Houston's reputation is among players at this point. Not good is my guess.

Asik, Dwight, and Parsons have all felt disrespected or lied to at some point. Definitely a trend.

Parsons felt he was a superstar and the Rockets didn't. Wow the Rockets suck tbh. Dwight is Dwight. I think more nba players dislike Dwight than any organization. And Asik got mad they acquired a superstar at his position. So what.

Why does no other organization have these issues? The Rockets had a good player in Parsons, maybe not a star, but don't go out and publicly say you're looking for another star. That's bush league.

Dwight is a pain in the ass but teams still want to sign him, and the fact that the FO tried to meddle with rotations when they realized they werent going to bring him back is an issue. Or maybe that it went public is the issue. Either way, its now public knowledge.

Asik got mad that a promise was broken. And he had a right to be angry, because if you promise someone something to sign them and then dont honor it, that's a huge breach of trust.

So what? So Morey has a bad reputation for being robotic and untrustworthy. And if you guys are happy with your haul of Eric Gordon for 52m and Ryan Anderson for 80m, cool. But the Rockets don't seem to be the destination that they were touted to be after landing Dwight, and their GM sure isn't helping that perception.