EKG Report 7/18/2017

Drew and Hunter talk about the possible sale of the Rockets and what would happen if the Bulls were sold?

Hunter: Welcome one and all to another offseason edition of the EKG report, this time with real offseason! Summer League is behind us, free agency has dimmed to just a faint whisper and Stan Van Gundy has burrowed against a large oak to hibernate until mid-September. Drew, I thought we’d kick this one off by addressing some news on the business side of the league. Yesterday, the Houston Rockets’ owner Leslie Alexander shocked the NBA Twitterverse by announcing that he was putting the team up for sale. I don’t want to step on your toes, so just jump right in and tell me what your reaction was to such an unexpected development.

Drew: First of all, hello everyone. Secondly, I was pretty shocked, I really didn’t see this one coming. You hear about teams “possibly going to sell” all of the time, but the fact that Alexander is deciding to pull the trigger is surprising. You can look at this from the standpoint of the buyer, or the perspective of the seller, I am going to start from the buyer side of things.

Obviously, the Rockets are one of the best teams in the league, with two of the most offensively gifted players we’ve seen. Chris Paul and James Harden are two cornerstones of your franchise. Granted, we don’t know how long Paul will be around, but Houston is in a very good place. You also have a GM who is extremely confident and under contract. Whoever the new owner is going to be, they won’t have a huge mess on their hands. From a buyer’s viewpoint, this is going to cost A LOT of money, but the chance for success is high. Hunter, if you were Alexander and you were trying to sell, how would you convince me (the buyer) to pull the trigger and spend all of my five dollars?

Hunter: I’ve got five words for you: Ryan Anderson and Ryan Anderson. Seriously though, you can’t really ask for a better run franchise from top to bottom. You mentioned the star players and Daryl Morey, but it doesn’t end with the “above the line” people. Their cap sheet is basically immaculate if you don’t mind Anderson’s deal too much. They’re fully immersed in the analytics movement and multiple front office staffers under Morey have gone on to run their own teams. The Morey GM tree could even rival the Popovich coaching tree in a few years. That’s a pretty great selling point.

To take it even further, Houston is a top 10 TV market, and the Rockets have arguably the biggest Chinese following in the league. I’d charge you six dollars if I was Alexander, and I’d be pretty confident doing so. If you’re Alexander, though, why do you want to sell?

Drew: You always want to sell when value is at its highest? That’s all I got really. I am pretty perplexed by this move. According to my research, Alexander’s net worth is 1.9 billion dollars. It doesn’t seem like he needs the money, unless something is about to collapse underneath him. He has been the owner of the Rockets for 24 years and seems to have a pretty deep connection with the city.

He did mention in his press conference that the team is in great shape. Number one, he is absolutely correct. Number two, it might just be time for him to move on and he wanted to leave the franchise in a good place? I’m sure will come in regards to this story, but right now I have no clue.

I know that the Summer Bulls are dead and gone, but have you been paying attention to what Lonzo Ball is doing? I know, people are tired of hearing about him, but his play has been pretty impressive. It is Summer League, but has Lonzo’s recent play changed your perspective on him? Where does he rank in comparison to other rookie guards heading into the season?

Hunter: I watched the first half of Lakers vs. Mavericks last night because I really wanted to see Lonzo and Dennis Smith Jr. go at it, and I was floored by how good Lonzo looked. That dude is making Kyle Kuzma look like an All-Star, which is the most ridiculous thing I’ve typed today.

I’ll definitely try to watch some Lakers game this season just to see Lonzo run pick-and-pop with Brook Lopez and watch Julius Randle barrel to the hoop with some better spacing. I’ll need some pick-me-ups after watching Cameron Payne 2-of-11 performances twice a week.

Drew: I just threw up everywhere. Thank you for reminding me that Cameron Payne exists. I’m sorry continue…

Hunter: Vomit is the Bulls’ secondary mascot next season. Embrace it. While we’re back on the Bulls, did this Alexander news give you any hope that the Chicago professional basketball franchise might be owned by a non-Reinsdorf anytime in the near future?

Drew: I don’t see the Reinsdorf’s tightening their grip anytime soon. We haven’t heard any rumblings in regards to a sale, and I don’t think we will hear anytime soon. I’m trying to picture what it would look like if the Reinsdorfs actually decided to sell. I think that Hell would freeze over, GarPax would go into hiding, and we would probably get an owner that would be willing to splurge a little bit every once in awhile. Even though the White Sox are Jerry’s first love, there is still a soft spot in his old heart for that other team — the Bulls.

In a perfect world, I buy the Bulls. Unfortunately, that’s not happening and I will continue to type words for fun. What do you think? Is a fire sale coming anytime soon?

Hunter: I’m kind of with you in that I don’t see change as a very Reinsdorfian quality, but I’m going to go ahead and try to paint a realistic picture just to satisfy my own wishful thinking:

The Rockets sell for more than $3 billion and Jerry sees major dollar signs. He thinks to himself, “Chicago is a bigger market than Houston, the Bulls have maybe the most fans on the planet thanks to Michael Jordan, and they’re probably kissing any playoff gate revenue goodbye for a few seasons.” He sees the current TV deal as the high water mark for lucrative partnerships, and maybe he thinks it’s downhill from here on out. He (rightly) views the Bulls as one of if not the most valuable franchise in the NBA, and doesn’t see why it couldn’t sell for $4 billion. He decides to pull the trigger, gets Michael and the gang on board, and rides off into the sunset with more money than a lot of countries.

Did I convince anyone?

Drew: I’m not buying it.

Hunter: *sigh*

Drew: Hey man, you tried. It was a valiant effort. Well guys, that will just about do it for us. As always, thank you for joining us and reading our words. Go ahead and be sure to check out our #BC25 series that we just got underway, follow us on Twitter @BullsConf, and give someone a hug. We will catch ya later.

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