Tilman Fertitta Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets Tried To Trade For DeAndre Jordan

February 8th, 2020 at 6:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets attempted to add the Nets to their four-team trade this week, hoping to acquire center DeAndre Jordan, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reveals in an Instagram video.

Brooklyn turned down the offer and elected to hold onto the veteran center, but Wojnarowski’s report indicates two things about the Rockets. The team may not have intended to fully commit to the small-ball approach it has used since trading away Clint Capela, and owner Tilman Fertitta was apparently willing to back up his statement that moves won’t be determined by the luxury tax.

Jordan makes $9.88MM this year and is signed for the next three seasons at a total cost of about $30MM. He’s coming off the bench for the Nets and averaging 7.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per night.

Because of how the trade was structured, the Rockets had the flexibility to add up to $12MM in salary before it was finalized. Fertitta gave general manager Daryl Morey the freedom to expand the deal, Wojnarowski adds, even though it would have cemented Houston as a taxpaying team.

Woj doesn’t say what the Rockets were offering the Nets in terms of players and draft picks.

Rockets Not Motivated By Luxury Tax Concerns?

February 4th, 2020 at 2:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

FEBRUARY 4: Contradicting his original report, Young tweets that he’s been told that Fertitta has given Morey the go-ahead to make deadline deals without financial restrictions. The Rockets’ owner isn’t satisfied with the team’s place in the standings so far and wants to upgrade the roster, Young adds.

While that may be true, Houston is close enough to the tax line that it still wouldn’t be a surprise if the club ducks below it in the coming days.

FEBRUARY 3: The Rockets are looking to shave enough salary off their payroll to avoid the luxury tax, Jabari Young of CNBC.com reports.

The Rockets have been actively engaged in trade talks, most notably dangling center Clint Capela, who is in the early stages of a five-year, $90MM contract. Moving Nene, who has a non-guaranteed $10MM salary for next season, would also contribute greatly toward that goal. The Rockets have approximately $139.9MM in contractual obligations and owner Tilman Fertitta wants to get below the $132MM tax line.

Some league executives believes Rockets GM Daryl Morey is being pressured by Fertitta to decrease salary while simultaneously trying to keep the franchise in championship contention, according to Young.

Fertitta has denied in the past that he’s motivated by luxury tax concerns but the team’s moves the past two years have the look of a franchise trying to dodge the tax, Dan Feldman of NBC Sports notes. The way Houston’s 2018 offseason played out, and the curious moves it make prior to last year’s trade deadline, had the appearance of a team with tax concerns, Feldman continues.

Players like Gerald Green, Thabo Sefolosha and Tyson Chandler making the veteran’s minimum could be traded and replaced by players making partial-season minimums, Feldman notes. By tossing in assets to move contracts, the Rockets will hinder their chances of upgrading the team, Feldman adds.

Latest On NBA/China Controversy

November 12th, 2019 at 11:13am CST by Luke Adams

The storyline that dominated NBA headlines during the preseason has fallen off the radar to some extent with the regular season underway, but that doesn’t mean league and team executives aren’t still concerned about the NBA’s relationship with China.

League sources tell Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com that NBA leadership is monitoring the trade negotiations between the United States and China in the hopes that a resolution on that front will help thaw the league’s relationships in its “most profitable foreign market.” Those relationships have been frosty since Rockets general manager Daryl Morey published a tweet supporting pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong.

Tencent – the NBA’s streaming partner in China – has resumed broadcasting games, but still isn’t showing Rockets contests, as Arnovitz details. Meanwhile, China’s state-run network CCTV hasn’t shown any regular season games at all. While the NBA has remained in contact with CCTV officials, there’s no sense of when the impasse may be resolved.

Arnovitz’s full story at ESPN.com provides an exhaustive, in-depth look at where things stand between the NBA and China, and is worth reading in full. Here are a few more highlights from the report:

Terminated sponsorships with Chinese companies have affected teams around the NBA, not just the league itself, according to Arnovitz, who hears that one club immediately reduced its 2019/20 projections for revenue derived from Chinese sponsorships to zero. The Rockets have been hit particularly hard, having lost $7MM+ in cancelled sponsorship agreements for this season, and $20MM overall once multiyear deals are taken into account.
Beyond the financial ramifications, some NBA front offices have been “shaken by the turmoil” caused by the drama with China, league sources tell ESPN. As Arnovitz explains, the league has enjoyed increasing revenues and positive media coverage for years, but the China controversy has tested the idea that any issue can be managed.
Many team executives would like the league to establish guidelines for dealing with potentially sensitive political topics, since teams and players will likely have to answer those questions in the future — especially on trips to China and India, among other countries. League sources have acknowledged the need for those guidelines, Arnovitz says.
Rival executives don’t expect this controversy will impact Morey’s ability to do his job. However, sources close to the Rockets view the marriage of Morey and team owner Tilman Fertitta as a “tenuous fit,” according to Arnovitz. Fertitta has been more averse to paying the tax than his predecessor Leslie Alexander was, and quickly denounced Morey’s tweet last month, announcing that the GM’s views didn’t reflect that of the organization.

Tilman Fertitta Never Considered Discipline For Daryl Morey

October 24th, 2019 at 9:58pm CST by clarkcrum

In the latest news on the NBA’s ongoing controversy with China, Sopan Deb of The New York Times writes that Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, despite publicly distancing himself and his franchise from the now-famous tweet by general manager Daryl Morey, never considered firing or even punishing Morey.

Interestingly, however, there was no explanation as to why Fertitta began liking posts on Instagram supportive of Morey’s firing then, but Fertitta did explain why he was – and still is – not okay with Morey’s tweet.

In a written explanation, Fertitta said that he needed to initially distance the Rockets from Morey because he “felt it was important to make the distinction between Daryl speaking as a private citizen and Daryl as a representative of the Houston Rockets… (and the Rockets) have never commented on another country’s foreign policy.”

Deb notes, however, that Fertitta himself has been willing to speak on politics before without distancing the Rockets from his views. Accordingly, Fertitta was asked whether he’d be comfortable with his employees publicly voicing their political views in the future. He declined to comment.

China Suspends Ties With Rockets After Daryl Morey Tweet

October 6th, 2019 at 1:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

A tweet by Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has pushed the team into an international incident, explains an ESPN story.

The Chinese Basketball Association announced this morning that it will suspend cooperation with the Rockets after Morey expressed his support for protesters in Hong Kong who are demanding democratic reforms. Morey’s now-deleted tweet read, “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”

On its Weibo account today, the CBA blasted Morey for “improper remarks regarding Hong Kong” and expressed “strong opposition” to his statement. The controversy comes as the Rockets are in Japan for a pair of games with the Raptors.

China has maintained a close relationship with the Rockets ever since current CBA Chairman Yao Ming was drafted by Houston in 2002. The Rockets wear an alternate jersey that features Chinese lettering, and James Harden conducted a promotional tour of the nation this summer.

China is also an extremely important market for the NBA as it expands its overseas popularity. It has become the nation’s most popular foreign sports league, with China playing host to the World Cup last month.

Among those reacting to Morey’s tweet when it appeared Friday was Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who stressed that the franchise should not serve as a platform for political views.

“Listen….@dmorey does NOT speak for the Houston Rockets,” Fertitta tweeted. “Our presence in Tokyo is all about the promotion of the NBA internationally and we are NOT a political organization.”

Fertitta stressed to ESPN that he still has full confidence in Morey as a GM and the incident won’t affect his job security.

“I have the best general manager in the league,” Fertitta said. “Everything is fine with Daryl and me. We got a huge backlash, and I wanted to make clear that the organization has no political position. We’re here to play basketball and not to offend anybody.”

Rockets Notes: Westbrook, Harden, Anthony, Mbah a Moute

September 23rd, 2019 at 8:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Scouts and assistant coaches from rival teams are skeptical that the Rockets‘ Russell Westbrook–James Harden backcourt pairing will work, Sean Deveney of Heavy.com reports. There is widespread doubt that the two stars will blend their games offensively since Westbrook is poor 3-point shooter and prefers to play at a different pace than Harden. Many of those interviewed also predicted the Rockets’ perimeter defense will decline.

“They’re both hardheaded guys and we know Harden’s history with other players there,” one scout told Deveney.

We have more on the Rockets:

Owner Tilman Fertitta said he never met Carmelo Anthony and was surprised that his staff decided to part ways with the longtime All-Star after just 10 games last season, he told Ian Begley of SNY. “Basketball ops decided to make a decision and, you know, it kind of surprised me too, as a fan of the Houston Rockets. But I know what I know and I know what I don’t know. And if my basketball ops thought that we should move on, then I sure wasn’t going to tell them not to, even though I thought that Melo’s one the greatest players to ever play the game.”
It isn’t out of the question that Luc Mbah a Moute will eventually sign with the Rockets, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Currently a free agent, Mbah a Moute decided not to attend a team mini-camp for veteran free agents in Las Vegas. The team had conversations with him over the summer about a possible return but there was lingering doubt about the health, Iko continues. Though the team subsequently signed Thabo Sefolosha, adding Mbah a Moute to shore up wing depth would be ideal, Iko adds.
The addition of Sefolosha became official on Monday. Get all the details here.

And-Ones: All-2020s Team, Tampering, Ball, Fertitta

September 22nd, 2019 at 3:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

With a new decade just a few months away, Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated identifies the players most likely to dominate the 2020s, with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo at the top of the list. Only 24 years old and coming off his first MVP award, Antetokounmpo is an obvious choice. Woo expects him to contend for the award for the rest of his prime years, and notes that he could upend the league when he hits free agency in 2021.

Woo’s other selections are Kawhi Leonard (age 28), Anthony Davis (26), Joel Embiid (25) and Luka Doncic (20). Doncic’s accomplishments at such a young age and his role as the cornerstone of the Mavericks‘ franchise place him ahead of more established stars, Woo adds.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

The NBA’s latest attempt to stop tampering will only be effective if the league follows through on enforcement, states Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Teams are likely to keep testing the limits of the new regulations to see what they can get away with. “Let’s see if they catch someone,” an unidentified league executive said. “Until then, teams will keep pushing the envelope. They didn’t enforce the old rules—why would anyone think they will do more with new ones?”
LaMelo Ball is exceeding expectations in the Australian NBL, according to Tommy Beer of Forbes. The youngest brother of Lonzo Ball has a chance to be a top-five pick in the 2020 draft, Beer adds. He is averaging 16.5 points, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game and impressing scouts with his passing as well as scoring.
Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta tells Ian Begley of SNY.tv that owners have an underrated role in the success of NBA teams. ” I think the owner has as much influence as any star player because it’s still the culture that you set,” Fertitta said. “And the culture that I’ve set with my team, the Houston Rockets, and to my management team is that we are going to do whatever it takes to put as good a team out there as you can. And we’re gonna try to set ourselves up every year to be one of the top five or six teams in the NBA.”

And-Ones: Felder, Yao Ming, China

September 13th, 2019 at 8:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kay Felder is a potential target for China’s Xinjiang Flying Tigers, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reports. The team is expected to sign either Felder or Ty Lawson to replace another former NBA player, Ian Clark, who is sidelined by a finger injury.

A second-round pick by the Cavaliers in 2016, Felder was waived by the Raptors’ G League team in December after a domestic violence allegation. Felder, who appeared in 58 NBA games for Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit, played for Xinjiang last season after he was waived. The Flying Tigers’ interest in Lawson was previously reported.

We have more from the basketball world:

There doesn’t seem to be a star on the level of Yao Ming coming from China in the near future, Marc Spears of ESPN writes. Currently, there are no Chinese players who could make a sure-fire impact in the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver hopes that will change. “It frustrates me that there are no Chinese players in the NBA,” he said. “There’s probably more basketball being played in China than anywhere else in the world. And more NBA basketball is being watched in China than anywhere else in the world.”
An Atlantic City, NJ casino owned by Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta can now accept bets on NBA games, according to Wayne Parry of the Associated Press. New Jersey governor Phil Murphy has signed a bill allowing Atlantic City’s Golden Nugget casino, owned by Fertitta, to handle NBA bets that don’t involve the Rockets.
Former Hawks guard Malcolm Delaney will play in Spain this season. Get the details here.

Western Notes: Green, D’Antoni, Wallace, Livingston

September 13th, 2019 at 5:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

In the wake of Team USA’s flop in the FIBA World Cup, Warriors forward Draymond Green wants to play in next year’s Olympics, he said in a CNBC interview relayed by NBC Sports Bay Area’s Brian Witt. Green anticipates that many other stars who skipped this year’s event will also want to wear the Team USA uniform in Tokyo.

“I do hope to play, and I think a lot of guys will want to play,” the Warriors’ three-time All-Star said. “The schedule this year was a little treacherous with the games that were in America, and also the travel to Australia, which is why I think a lot of guys dropped out. You know, a long ways to China.”

We have more from around the Western Conference:

Despite failing to reach an agreement in extension talks, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta believes Mike D’Antoni will remain head coach of the team beyond this season, as he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. D’Antoni is entering the final year of his four-year contract. Extension talks were a hot topic in May and June but nothing got done. Fertitta remains undeterred. “I think Mike D’Antoni’s going to be coaching here for a long time,” he said.
Unlike last season, Timberwolves guard Tyrone Wallace does not have any guaranteed money in his contract, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets. Wallace had a $300K partial guarantee if he remained on the roster through September 12 a year ago. Wallace’s $1,588,231 salary this season won’t become fully guaranteed unless he’s on the roster through January 10. Wallace, who came off the bench in 62 games with the Clippers last season, is the No. 3 point guard on the roster behind Jeff Teague and Shabazz Napier, and may ultimately be the odd man out on opening night, since Minnesota has 15 other players on fully guaranteed deals.
Warriors GM Bob Myers called Shaun Livingston’s story “one of the most inspirational in the history of professional sports” in a statement released by the club. Livingston announced his retirement on Friday. “What he accomplished after suffering so many trials and tribulations early in his career is a true testament to who he is as a person, which has always been characterized by tremendous class, grace and professionalism,” the statement read in part.

Fertitta: Rockets’ Championship Window Is Now

September 13th, 2019 at 8:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets traded multiple future first-round picks in the 2019 offseason and will enter the ’19/20 season with a group of core players who are nearly all in their 30s. While the team has made deep playoff runs in recent years, the clock is ticking on the opportunity to win a championship with the current roster, as owner Tilman Fertitta acknowledged in a conversation with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

“I think we put ourselves in the position that if we don’t win it in the next three or four years, we probably aren’t going to win [a title] in the next 10 years,” Fertitta said. “This is our window, and we need to seize the opportunity.”

Houston surrendered its 2024 first-round pick (top-four protected), and 2026 first-rounder (top-four protected), along with two potential pick swaps, to acquire Russell Westbrook this summer, which will limit the team’s flexibility to make blockbuster trades going forward — and will reduce the club’s ability to add young talent down the road. However, Fertitta sounds ready to go all-in with the current group over the next couple years.

“This is the time,” Fertitta told Haynes. “I just re-signed Eric Gordon who is 30 and I’ve got Russell and James [Harden] and Eric and Clint Capela for the next four years. P.J. [Tucker] is 34 and our two stars are 30. So this is their window. Let’s seize the opportunity.”

In the wake of Gordon’s extension, all five of the players Fertitta mentioned are under contract for at least the next two years, with Westbrook and Harden locked up through at least 2021/22 and Capela’s and Gordon’s deals extending even further. Additionally, the Warriors team that eliminated Houston from the postseason in each of the last two springs is no longer quite so loaded, with Kevin Durant now in Brooklyn and Andre Iguodala in Memphis.

The Rockets’ championship upside may ultimately come down to the backcourt fit between Westbrook and Harden, and Fertitta sounds confident that the pairing will succeed, given Westbrook’s “superior” athleticism and the former MVPs’ existing relationship.

“It’s so important to have the right chemistry,” Fertitta said. “These are two guys that grew up in L.A. together and have known each other most of their lives. And they can talk to each other. You can say things to each other and the other would not get offended because you’re lifelong buddies. And so I think the chemistry’s going to be great this year.”