[ClutchFans] Houston Rockets Salary Cap Update: 2013 Training Camp Edition

Kobe made 30 on his own last yr.

 

Another seminal post Bima. You are the man.

 

FIFY.

 

So camby makes 1.4 mil this year while Brewer will be paid a mere 100K?

I'm confused...

 

Thanks for posting. Interesting read and clarifying on the confusion of the salary cap.

 

One is tall and the other isn't.

 

Great post! thanks

 

Those used to be funny until you
'd
them to death.

 

I never fathomed we could turn a what 12th pick(Toronto's), a future Dallas pick(We got in Fisher deal), plus Martin and Lamb into Harden.

Then deal White to PHI, sure we got nothing, but they got him, and we dont have a cap hit for him this year.

All the years of trading guys like Lowry, Brooks, waiving Scola, and now we have Howard too.

BTW, awesome stuff Bima. Excited for the season to begin.

 

Mr. Weiner, assuming there are no trades this month, who do you expect to be the four guys who get cut? My prediction is Jordan Henriques, B.J. Young, Reggie Williams, and either Omri Casspi or Ronnie Brewer. My hunch is that Casspi gets cut and Brewer stays.

I do think that the dark horse to make the roster is B.J. Young, although he will have to impress this month. If he is looking like a future rotation guy, he should be kept.

I also think that either Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas, or Greg Smith may get flipped for a draft pick. However, Smith appears grossly undervalued, and the team may need him if/when Omer Asik gets moved before the February trade deadline. If you can't swap him for a decent draft pick (i.e., nothing lower than, say, a projected high second round pick) then you may as well keep the guy. I think you can get a lottery-protected first round pick for Motiejunas, though, which makes him a candidate to get traded if Jones and Smith are deemed capable of holding down the fort at PF.

 

My two cents are that either guy of Terrence, Donatas, Greg or Covington are going to have a much easier time playing alongside Dwight Howard and Omer in the second unit.
I am expecting more from those guys this season.

 

I expect GS to be traded for a decent 2nd rounder (expected) or a conditional 1st. I also would not be overly surprised to see the man remain as a b/u 4/5 (with an eye on a future Asik ta-ta'ing).

BT - - thanks for your efforting!

 

I'm not BimaThug, but I do have my own take on these questions.

Keep in mind the Rockets currently have 19 players locked in. Meaning 4 guys have to go one way or another. Not just 3.

Henriquez & Young seem like obvious first cuts & most likely resigned to the Vipers.

Of the next two, its not just Brewer, Casspi & Williams who are in danger. You also have to include Brooks, and Covington.

Even though its unlikely, I wouldn't throw out the possibility that much like Greg Smith a couple of years ago, the Rockets cut Covington only to be signed immediately to the Vipers, and let him & his agent know that ASAP they will resign him back to the Rockets.

If other teams begin to take notice of his play in the D-League, then they can make moves at that point to resign him. However, I'm not sure if like before, Morey could stash him in a dark corner and get away with it again. Teams are probably going to take notice this time around and make a strong push to claim him off waivers.

Covington has guaranteed money this year and next which if this was to happen could actually make it an incentive to play along with the Rockets, and spend some time in the Valley to earn a little more cash.

In the end its going to come down to the game-play in preseason games and who isn't earning playing time and who isn't meshing well with the core group on the court. As good as someone like Brewer might be, if someone like Brooks(or vice/versa) is getting minutes in the preseason over him for various reasons, it would make the decisions much easier.

I personally think that with 8 preseason games, we will have a much better indication after the first 5 or 6 games when McHale starts to settle on a rotation going into the start of the regular season. You'll know after a while who just isn't meshing on the court, and isn't getting playing time over the other guy.

With the hole at the PF spot, and the lack of available options on the market right now, I don't see too many better options than giving these three guys at least the entire first half of the season to battle for the gaping hole that is the PF position. All three guys have the talent... they just have to put it all together.

IMO the upside to what one of these three guys might be able to give you if they work out and flourish as the starting PF is much higher than what you would get in trade for a 2nd round pick, or keeping a known vet at the end of the bench like Aaron Brooks, or Corey Brewer instead.

I think you got to keep these guys and see what they can be for the time being until they can work out a trade for a long-term starting PF. If one of them work out in the meantime, then that would be best case scenario because then the Rockets might be willing to keep Asik then entire season and have an embarrassment of riches at the center position.

(I do think that eventually Asik is gone FIY, but if you can get a season with him as a backup you do it)

 

Thought the room exception bit was interesting. If we do a big trade deadline deal (likely enough given Morey, the looming Asik and Lin and power forward issues) that causes a hole in the roster, we could patch it with a waived veteran. There's always some vet who manages to get a buy-out after the trade deadline. Being able to offer $2.6m and a role on a contender has to beat most other offers available.

 

I would add Camby. If it looks like Asik will stay a Rocket, he becomes expendable. I see 17 players who have a decent chance of being able to help Rockets this year. Something's gotta give.

 

Correct. I wouldn't rule him out, but mostly I would think the logic would come down to health, and impact in the first half of the season.

I'm not sure if the league allows for un-signed veterans to train and rehab at a teams facility during the season, but I would assume the Rockets would allow him to do that if they can, and then resign him later in the season when they might need depth for the playoffs.

 

If I believed the Rockets would openly try to circumvent the CBA, I would guess they would make him a coach.

 

Yeah, the room exception could actually be used to help us get a trade done like it was last year.

 

Nice, I especially like the extra tidbit you included in the Brooks and Garcia entries about them having veto power over trades. That should help to stem the random trade thread suggestions.