Rockets Press Conference Scheduled for 2/21/15 at 5 pm
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IamQuailman
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Re: Rockets Press Conference Scheduled for 2/21/15 at 5 pm
Will Maukie: Are you going to squash the rumors of trading for Shandon Anderson?
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Re: Rockets Press Conference Scheduled for 2/21/15 at 5 pm
5 o clock he saidIamQuailman wrote:Will Maukie: Are you going to squash the rumors of trading for Box of Big Black Dildos Anderson?
Kings declined, fwiw
Re: Rockets Press Conference Scheduled for 2/21/15 at 5 pm
Lowell Ramos, Owner of the Rockets.
I want to thank everyone for joining us today. I'll get straight to the point. The reason we are holding this press conference is to address speculation regarding the team on the court and off the court as well as address plans for the future. Lots of rumors are floating around about relocation and moving our franchise player because he's not happy. I am here to address those rumors and much more as well as take questions.
Trade with Hornets
1) First, I want to discuss our trade today with the Charlotte Hornets. We moved Aaron McKie and 10 points to the Hornets for Laphonso Ellis, Kenny Smith, and Greg Graham.
2) We signed Aaron McKie before the start of last season in restricted free agency to a four year contract. We felt he would be a long-term leader on this team and very productive player.
3) Plenty of reasons for this trade. After restricted free agency last season, we installed an analytics department and they developed the Russell-McKie Theorem for evaluating a players value over the course of the season. The theorem should help us avoid poor judgment in long-term contracts that have plagued this franchise. The department noticed that Mckie's contract was too much especially over a course of 3-4 seasons despite his upside and current talent.
4)Also, the same offseason we signed Wesley Person who's minutes have been decreased due to having McKie on the roster. Frankly, we didn't have room for both McKie and Person's contracts. One of them had to be moved. Now we get to start Person full-time at SG.
5) Also, we pick up 3 guys who should help our team in the second half. All 3 will get plenty of minutes the rest of the season. Ellis could get plenty of minutes at PF and SF. Proven starter on an expiring contract. Kenny Smith is a veteran PG who will get plenty of minutes backing up Darrell Armstrong and is on an expiring contract. Greg Graham has been productive this season off the bench and is signed to a reasonable 3 year contract for his production. Outstanding defender on the wing.
Relocation Rumors
1)We also want to discuss the rumors of relocation. We are not relocating. We haven't discussed relocation with any other city in this planet. We placed a bid with the city for a new arena, but it was turned down.
2) Frankly, we just haven't made enough money in our current arena to justify spending a ton of money on our own for a new arena. Our current arena lacks club seats and has only 20 luxury seats. Plus, with the spending into the luxury tax, we just haven't made enough profit the last 10 years to justify paying for an entire arena, or frankly, even half of it.
3) So we're still working on getting a new arena in Houston and definitely no where else. As the salary cap keeps growing, its important that we have the ability to compete with the rest of the league in acquiring free agents. We want to return to our winning ways and we want to do it in Houston and not anywhere else.
Plans for Current Team
1) This season has been very disappointing. We're 15-26 at the halfway point and frankly came off a very terrible sim going 1-6. Playoff chances are very dim at this point. Time to be realistic regarding this current roster and the future.
2) We posted our trade block this morning and talks have been active already including the current Aaron Mckie trade. Posting the trade block doesn't mean we are just giving up on the team, but instead we are assessing the current value of the roster in case teams are interested. We feel we have a good collection of players who could help a number of teams so we want to let those teams know what they are worth.
3) We felt this team could compete in the West when assembled during the offseason. We brought in good veteran players to go around the veterans we had and our franchise player. However, the team started off terribly and has not recovered since. Numerous changes to the gameplan have not resulted in long stretches of consistent winning. Very tough each sim to see the this team struggle. Just no cohesion on the floor and very frustrating for our staff and and our fans to watch.
4) We are now currently listening to offers for everyone on our team including our franchise player in Shaq.
5) Speculations arose of Shaq's future when he refused to resign and announced he would test the free agency market. Some people have stated that he is currently unhappy at this time and is looking to get out. This is far from truth. Shaq has not expressed any unhappiness or any desire to be traded. He just wants to test the market. We've had a good relationship with him since we drafted him and we are also disappointed we have not produced a relevant team around him since our 58 and 57 win seasons in 1993 and 1994 and are also disappointed in not fielding a playoff team since 1996.
6) We feel a player of his magnitude and status deserves the best and unfortunately that has not occurred the last few seasons. I'm sure it must be hard on him not have a chance for a championship. Its been very hard for us since we have always hoped to win a championship.
7) Though we are listening for offers, we are not willing to give him away easily. He's an elite talent. A top 5 player. Maybe the best defensive presence in the league. So we're not just gonna give him away just for the sake of trading him. We're always happy to keep him and we still feel we have the best chance to resign him in the offseason with the super max. Some say our price is too much. I say to them their arrogance is too much for thinking we will just hand him away for less than fair value. Nothing is too much for a player of this caliber even with him expiring. In order to trade him, we need to be able to gain a sound foundation for a long-term rebuild. Otherwise, it will be just another wasted attempt at building a winner.
8) So don't listen to those rumors. The facts are right here. Trading McKie was not a sign of blowing things up. The guys we brought in will help this team now. We are not relocating. Shaq is not unhappy and is not demanding a trade. No one here is unhappy. Everyone is available for a trade and the trade block has been listed. We intend to trade for fair value and still intend to win as many games we can with whoever is on the roster whether this is now or long-term.
Now we will be accepting questions.
I want to thank everyone for joining us today. I'll get straight to the point. The reason we are holding this press conference is to address speculation regarding the team on the court and off the court as well as address plans for the future. Lots of rumors are floating around about relocation and moving our franchise player because he's not happy. I am here to address those rumors and much more as well as take questions.
Trade with Hornets
1) First, I want to discuss our trade today with the Charlotte Hornets. We moved Aaron McKie and 10 points to the Hornets for Laphonso Ellis, Kenny Smith, and Greg Graham.
2) We signed Aaron McKie before the start of last season in restricted free agency to a four year contract. We felt he would be a long-term leader on this team and very productive player.
3) Plenty of reasons for this trade. After restricted free agency last season, we installed an analytics department and they developed the Russell-McKie Theorem for evaluating a players value over the course of the season. The theorem should help us avoid poor judgment in long-term contracts that have plagued this franchise. The department noticed that Mckie's contract was too much especially over a course of 3-4 seasons despite his upside and current talent.
4)Also, the same offseason we signed Wesley Person who's minutes have been decreased due to having McKie on the roster. Frankly, we didn't have room for both McKie and Person's contracts. One of them had to be moved. Now we get to start Person full-time at SG.
5) Also, we pick up 3 guys who should help our team in the second half. All 3 will get plenty of minutes the rest of the season. Ellis could get plenty of minutes at PF and SF. Proven starter on an expiring contract. Kenny Smith is a veteran PG who will get plenty of minutes backing up Darrell Armstrong and is on an expiring contract. Greg Graham has been productive this season off the bench and is signed to a reasonable 3 year contract for his production. Outstanding defender on the wing.
Relocation Rumors
1)We also want to discuss the rumors of relocation. We are not relocating. We haven't discussed relocation with any other city in this planet. We placed a bid with the city for a new arena, but it was turned down.
2) Frankly, we just haven't made enough money in our current arena to justify spending a ton of money on our own for a new arena. Our current arena lacks club seats and has only 20 luxury seats. Plus, with the spending into the luxury tax, we just haven't made enough profit the last 10 years to justify paying for an entire arena, or frankly, even half of it.
3) So we're still working on getting a new arena in Houston and definitely no where else. As the salary cap keeps growing, its important that we have the ability to compete with the rest of the league in acquiring free agents. We want to return to our winning ways and we want to do it in Houston and not anywhere else.
Plans for Current Team
1) This season has been very disappointing. We're 15-26 at the halfway point and frankly came off a very terrible sim going 1-6. Playoff chances are very dim at this point. Time to be realistic regarding this current roster and the future.
2) We posted our trade block this morning and talks have been active already including the current Aaron Mckie trade. Posting the trade block doesn't mean we are just giving up on the team, but instead we are assessing the current value of the roster in case teams are interested. We feel we have a good collection of players who could help a number of teams so we want to let those teams know what they are worth.
3) We felt this team could compete in the West when assembled during the offseason. We brought in good veteran players to go around the veterans we had and our franchise player. However, the team started off terribly and has not recovered since. Numerous changes to the gameplan have not resulted in long stretches of consistent winning. Very tough each sim to see the this team struggle. Just no cohesion on the floor and very frustrating for our staff and and our fans to watch.
4) We are now currently listening to offers for everyone on our team including our franchise player in Shaq.
5) Speculations arose of Shaq's future when he refused to resign and announced he would test the free agency market. Some people have stated that he is currently unhappy at this time and is looking to get out. This is far from truth. Shaq has not expressed any unhappiness or any desire to be traded. He just wants to test the market. We've had a good relationship with him since we drafted him and we are also disappointed we have not produced a relevant team around him since our 58 and 57 win seasons in 1993 and 1994 and are also disappointed in not fielding a playoff team since 1996.
6) We feel a player of his magnitude and status deserves the best and unfortunately that has not occurred the last few seasons. I'm sure it must be hard on him not have a chance for a championship. Its been very hard for us since we have always hoped to win a championship.
7) Though we are listening for offers, we are not willing to give him away easily. He's an elite talent. A top 5 player. Maybe the best defensive presence in the league. So we're not just gonna give him away just for the sake of trading him. We're always happy to keep him and we still feel we have the best chance to resign him in the offseason with the super max. Some say our price is too much. I say to them their arrogance is too much for thinking we will just hand him away for less than fair value. Nothing is too much for a player of this caliber even with him expiring. In order to trade him, we need to be able to gain a sound foundation for a long-term rebuild. Otherwise, it will be just another wasted attempt at building a winner.
8) So don't listen to those rumors. The facts are right here. Trading McKie was not a sign of blowing things up. The guys we brought in will help this team now. We are not relocating. Shaq is not unhappy and is not demanding a trade. No one here is unhappy. Everyone is available for a trade and the trade block has been listed. We intend to trade for fair value and still intend to win as many games we can with whoever is on the roster whether this is now or long-term.
Now we will be accepting questions.
Re: Rockets Press Conference Scheduled for 2/21/15 at 5 pm
Jean Baptiste Étienne of La Révolution de Vancouver (Memphis Branch): You claim that Shaq is perfectly happy despite choosing not to re-sign. You also state that you would re-sign him with a Supermax deal. It can be assumed that he also knows this. Then what exactly is Shaq "testing the market" for?
Sent via carrier pigeon named Robbie
Re: Rockets Press Conference Scheduled for 2/21/15 at 5 pm
1) First, we never stated he was perfectly happy. Instead he has never stated he's unhappy or demanded a trade or stated he was not going to resign.LoCo89 wrote:Jean Baptiste Étienne of La Révolution de Vancouver (Memphis Branch): You claim that Shaq is perfectly happy despite choosing not to re-sign. You also state that you would re-sign him with a Supermax deal. It can be assumed that he also knows this. Then what exactly is Shaq "testing the market" for?
2) We also never stated he was going to resign. We are going to offer the Supermax and we expect him to resign.
3) Several reasons why he hasn't resigned. Though he wants to make as much money as possible, he also wants to win. So he's not going to committ to resigning at this point. Also, he can make more money resigning with the super max instead of resigning now. The max will be higher next season and he will get an additional 5th year at a higher salary if he waits till the offseason.
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IamQuailman
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- Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 8:25 am
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Re: Rockets Press Conference Scheduled for 2/21/15 at 5 pm
AWARDED 2 POINTS (Team-level article)! THANKS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!
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