Yeah, cutting Hayes would not be totally surprising but the timing is odd. Our two PFs are still unable to play. And it's not like he's been totally useless. He played more minutes than Harrell since he joined the team. The only possible reason I can think of to release Hayes now is to clear space for an upcoming deal.
I don't think there is necessarily a deal upcoming. Every day that Chuck Hayes is on the roster means he's costing the team money. They are so close to the hard cap that it hurts to keep someone on the roster who isn't going to play. The only reason I think they signed him in the first place was that Dwight, D-Mo, and Jones were all hurt. The only big guys they had were Capela and Harrell. They needed another player temporarily until Jones came back. They have basically 1 week until the next back-to-back that Dwight might have to sit out. That's enough time for Jones to come back.
He's consuming the remaining cap space we have below the hard cap. Every day counts I guess? Plus there are 3 days before the next game the probability that TJ comes back on Wednesday is high.
I am not a capologist. So bear with me. This is a real question. Why does being close to the hard cap hurt the team apart from hurting Les Alexander's purse (which is not that much in the grand scheme of things)? If an opportunity of signing someone useful or a trade is available, THEN Morey can cut him. Why NOW? Did I miss something?
I stated this on page 3 .... but will repost it. (unless you have me on ignore). Its actually $11,548.78 per game. 947/82.
I'm not a capologist either, and don't know a lot about this stuff... but... The Rockets still have cap space. Every day Hayes is on the roster he's eating up X amount of dollars of cap space. The sooner you cut him, the more cap space you save. That space can be used to sign a player later in the season or can be useful in trades later in the season.
I'll add: Once we hit the cap, no more spending is allowed. If someone gets bought out in March and wants to sign with us for the minimum, even pro-rated for the remaining games, we wouldn't be able to sign that person without the space under the hard cap. Even 10-day contracts would be out.
I didn't have you on ignore. I just don't think it is that much of money. $11.5K per game sounds a lot. But compared to the whole roster, it is only a small fraction. Yes, it would be a waste if he is useless. But the point it, he is not useless. He's a better option than Harrell and other non-rotation players. Two of our rotation big men are out and one is not fully healthy... Unless Morey wants to force McHale's hand in developing Harrell and Capela more, which is not inconceivable. Again, why do you have to save the space NOW. Why not cut him WHEN you want to sign a player?
JV, can you tell me why we want to cut him NOW and not WHEN a deal is available? No one has given me a good answer to my question. We need the space under the hard cap ONLY when we want to make a deal, am I right?
good Hayes can't help at all on offense and Montrez offers more hustle on O and D. Straight up D may not be as good as Chuck but he makes up for it on hustle and help D.
its marginal but montrezl at this stage looks lost in small ball. hopefully we dont have to play small ball much
I think the point that didn't become clear enough was that the cap space that Hayes cost the Rockets is gone. It didn't come back after Hayes got cut. Every game during which he was on the roster reduced the amount of money the Rockets can spend on another player this season, no matter the time of the signing. So if Hayes had stayed on the roster for 5 additional games, the Rockets could have given a player they sign in March about $60,000 less. I hope that answered the question.
He may not make a lot compared to the entire roster, but Rockets have very little room left (I believe it is around a million) and he likely feees up more room than they had. That space could be used for trades, minor free agent acquisitions. Not every free agent's minimum is the same and I think the Rockets have a sliver of the MLE left (could be wrong) to sign a go slightly over minimum...every dollar counts for guys making near NBA minimum if Rockets are competing with a team without a portion of MLE left.
Terrence rejoining practice today explains a lot too. Chuck's cost plus the fact he was not as immediately needed make sense from a business standpoint, but it still sucks for him... and me
Thanks for answering my question. You seem to be the only one who understands what I don't understand. I didn't know the cap space "drains" away like that. I've always thought that it is the annual salary that counts against the space. Once a guy gets cut, the space his salary is occupying is also gone and is available for other use.
