On his support for Yao and McGrady:
After 25 games of injuries, rapidly changing lineups and wildly inconsistent results on the court, the thinking of the Rockets’ owner has remained constant.
Determined after last season and heading into this season to build around the Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady foundation, owner Leslie Alexander said Wednesday he remains committed to the plan.
“I am committed to them being healthy and building a team around Yao and Tracy,” Alexander said. “Nothing’s changed.”
On trade talks:
Alexander said there have been no efforts to even test the market to consider a trade involving one of his stars and that the Rockets have received no inquiries.
“Nobody’s called,” he said. “I’m trying to think — no, nobody’s called.”
On D.M.M.M.J.J.W.:
He said the Rockets would still like to bring back Dikembe Mutombo but will not unless they can first move enough salary to avoid paying a luxury tax.
Alexander said the luxury tax threshold of $71.15 million is in effect a hard cap for the Rockets, with the exception of any opportunity to land “a great, great player.”
“I love Dikembe. I love him as a player and as a person,” he said. “He’s a terrific guy and a good player, but he’s not a great, great player anymore.”
Though the Rockets would only have to pay Mutombo about $536,000 (a prorated portion of his veteran’s minimum salary), if signing Mutombo triggered the luxury tax, he would likely cost between $5 million and $7 million in salary, tax and lost shared revenue.
