Who are all these grade A scrubs? Can't we recruit decent training camp bodies to bang? We already got rid of two of the biggest NBA scrubs ever in Pap scrub and Dorsey.
What is your problem, dude? The Rockets already have a full roster (14 guys, including Harrell; 15, if you want to include Christian Wood). None of the training camp guys they sign were ever going to have a remote shot at making the Rockets' regular season roster. These are signings for the VIPERS, man! Also, the Rockets are already a couple million dollars over the luxury tax. For every dollar in guaranteed money they give these guys (again, none of whom will make the final roster anyway), the Rockets will likely have to pay between 150% and 175% in luxury taxes (depending on where their final payroll ends up). Why pay the extra money? To get a slightly better player for the Vipers? Hell, if the player is that good, he's more likely to bolt for Europe for more money anyway! I get that you are not afraid of being critical of the Rockets, and I can respect that. But you really hurt your credibility when you complain that the Rockets aren't doing something that would make zero sense for them to do in the first place.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Houston Rockets have waived Remi Yusuf <a href="https://twitter.com/BBallInsiders">@BBallInsiders</a></p>— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricPincus/status/644989822281474048">September 18, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/kpelton">@kpelton</a> either that - or they didn't know for sure they'd have a hard cap - now they do, have to stay within it</p>— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricPincus/status/644990927451222016">September 18, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/kpelton">@kpelton</a> Point is - we can only guess w/o Rockets fessing up their strategy - you could certainly be onto something</p>— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricPincus/status/644995693967360000">September 18, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Could be smart roster maneuvering by <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets">@HoustonRockets</a>, Signing Remy Yusuf to roster spot #14 allowed Rockets to sign camp guys to exhibit 9</p>— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) <a href="https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status/644992246962589696">September 18, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Roster must be filled to 14 spots before Exhibit 9 ($6,000 termination fee if injured) is used on roster spots 15-20.</p>— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) <a href="https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status/644992450860331008">September 18, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I just did some reading about Exhibit 9. Here is what I know now: Exhibit 9 only applies to fully unguaranteed contracts 1 year in length. What is Exhibit 9? Well, it is protection for the team. Exhibit 9 is part of a contract that says if one of these unguaranteed camp guys gets injured, the team only has to pay them $6,000 and can cut them. If a player isn't signed to a contract incorporating Exhibit 9, then the team has to pay them their salary until they are fully recovered from their injury. Here is a real example: So Exhibit 9 protects teams from having to pay the entire contract if a camp body guy gets injured. They pay them $6,000 and cut them and that's it. But in order to take advantage of this, the team MUST have 14 players signed to the roster. So what teams do is sign someone to fill the 14th spot, then sign the other 15-20 spots to unguaranteed 1 year Exhibit 9 contracts, and then cut the original 14th player. The Bulls did this: Here is another example of Exhibit 9 not being utilized and making it very tough for the Miami Heat: