Pickled Prunes wrote:BallerTalk wrote:Pickled Prunes wrote:
They are structuring the contact in such a way that the ownership gets a pay cut if one of the two players you mentioned misses the playoffs due to injury... or if the front office tries (once again) to fill out the roster with G-League call-ups and mid-season buyouts... or if they just feel he's underachieving with whatever roster is left after their salary cuts. It's ludicrous to me that fans wanted HOU to float Ariza a $15M check that would have cost them $30M after tax... but they support low balling their HOF coach when it has no cap repercussions. HOU fans deserve a few seasons with Tyronne Lue! I believe Vinny Del Negro is available as well!
And to be clear... D'Antoni will be in the HOF. Very few coaches change the game the way he has. He has success when players buy in. Kobe, Dwight and Melo did not... and where are those guys now?
Firstly, you are severely misinformed if you think Rockets fans wanted to pay Ariza $15M. Most of that chatter came from outside.
Informed fans knew it was a serious overpay.
Secondly, I'm not sure I would call a pay raise "low balling". D'Antoni would earn more than his current contract just by making the playoffs. That's a reasonable bar given the make up of the team. Then he would earn additional bonuses for advancing in the post season.
The injury argument is a bit of a red herring considering even if they lose CP3 for a notable amount of time (as they have the last 2 seasons) history suggests having Harden alone virtually guarantees them a 50 win season and a playoff spot.
Granted if they lost Harden for a significant stretch thing would be decidedly more challenging but history suggests that would be unlikely as well since Harden has shown to be one of the most durable superstars in the league.
Again, I understand both sides of the negotiations. It's fair that D'Antoni wants guaranteed money but it's also not unreasonable that the Rockets want incentives in place as the proverbial carrot.
Also, it's easy to say D'Antoni is a virtual lock for the HOF now, but that certainly wasn't the case three years ago when his legacy was in shambles after NY and LA. Like I said, the Rockets were openly mocked by many fans and media members alike when the decided on D'Antoni. His time with the Rockets has done wonders to resurrect his career.
He's a phenomenal forward-thinking coach but he has also benefited greatly from have a superstar like Harden who has bought in completely and from have an aggressive GM like Morey who is just as committed to exercising their joint vision.
D'Antoni deserves to get paid like a HOF coach. He came in on a discount because of a few bumpy years, but he has now prooven to be as advertised. He and the Rockets have exceeded expectations since his arrival and if he leaves HOU will slowly regress to the mean. That roster is weak. Harden and CP3 are HOF players but CP3 is getting old. Gordon is a good player and everyone else, including Capella, are journeyman level players benefiting from the attention and play making that Harden and CP3 create. The roster is a victim of a new owner cutting costs and cost cutting will be the only reason D'Antoni walks. It certainly won't be for basketball reasons.
And on his legacy... nobody that knows basketball questioned his legacy or the impact he's had on the game, and it's not just in the NBA. The guy across the street from me is a college coach. When he was in college his coaches ran "11 seconds or less." D'Antoni had universal respect from his peers long before this Rockets stint and was HOF bound, even if the Rockets stint went poorly. He changed the game, and that is something very few coaches have done. It doesn't really matter that most folk in here don't understand his contribution. The folks in here aren't HOF voters.
But to be informed about this issue you should look up coaches salaries.
$5M after bonuses would put him in the bottom half of the league. He's a two-time coach of the year; he deserves more respect. If HOU won't give it to him somebody else will.
The $5 Million is before playoff bonuses (which would accrue for every round advanced). Essentially all he'd have to do is finish the season and make the playoffs.
That hardly seems an unreasonable standard for one of the best teams in the league.
Also, I'm not sure where you are getting your info but $5 Million per season is on the high end of the mean for current NBA coaches.
Only championship coaches like Greg Popovich ($11M), Doc Rivers ($10M), and Rick Carlisle ($7M) earn significantly more with Scott Brooks' $7 Million from Washington being the lone outlier.
Five million is exactly what Steve Kerr earns and is notably more than guys like Brad Stevens and Eric Spoelstra.
Anyway, like it or not perception matters when it comes to coaching careers. Unfortunately for D'Antoni his two high profile disappointments is major markets had long overshadowed his success with the Suns. Especially given they were never able to get over the hump in Phoenix anyway.
His legacy for the 5 years he spent coaching the Suns had been reduced to, at best lightning in a bottle, at worst a straight up fluke of that era. D'Antoni's name was not in demand in NBA circles and he had become a bit of a forgotten man on Philly's bench during one of their 10 win "
The Process" seasons.
I think you are suffering from a bit of revisionist history when it comes to D'Antoni's perception prior to arriving in Houston.
After his recent failures he came to the Rockets with legitimate question marks about his ability to succeed at a high level, his willingness to adapt to the roster, and his commitment to the defensive end.
That's part of the reason the Rockets insisted on independently hiring his associate head coach and some of the assistants on his staff.
Considering Houston was already one of the better teams in the West and had been to the WCF just two seasons prior, It's not a stretch to say that had D'Antoni bombed with the Rockets it may well have been the end of his career as an NBA head coach.
To my original point, it has been a mutually beneficial relationship. The Rockets have done as much, if not more, for D'Antoni's career as he has done for them. D'Antoni himself has acknowledged that his success in Houston has legitimized his time in Phoenix.
These are (were) negotiations and as expected both sides are trying to take advantage of any leverage, real or perceived. Suggesting the Rockets aren't dealing fairly with D'Antoni just isn't supported by the facts.