Rockets: How the Tom Thibodeau rumors show game of poker

Effect of creating a market

As Marc Berman reported, Thibodeau is being pursued by the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets, then followed by the Houston Rockets. So Thibs’ agent has every incentive to drive up the urgency on the Knicks/Nets’ behalf by making them believe they’ll lose out on his services because the Rockets are right behind them in the pursuit of the former Coach of the Year.

This will also drive up the asking price of Thibodeau and if the strategy is successful, it’ll get either team to bite and pay Thibodeau more money than they may have initially planned. If this were to result in a bidding war, it’s safe to say the Knicks would be the most likely to pay him the most money, because they have the most desperation and stand to lose the most if he doesn’t end up being their coach.

The Knicks have suffered monumental losses in free agency, as they were believed to have been the favorites to land Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving just 11 months ago, only to see them both travel across the way to the Brooklyn Nets. This only added to the Knicks’ reputation of being the laughing stock of the NBA, and what we’ve heard about their new front office is that they want to put an end to their laughable standing in league circles.

It would be a power move for the Knicks to get Thibodeau, so the Rockets would have to climb the financial ladder to outbid the Knicks, who have deep pockets as a major market team. From the Rockets’ standpoint, there’s no reason to be this desperate, as they’ve already got a playoff roster in a much tougher conference, not to mention already having an MVP duo in the backcourt, with Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

Next: Effect on MDA