[The Athletic] Leroux: Rockets’ Repeater Tax fear more excuse than reality

Aren't there super teams now that'll just step into the Warriors's shoes, even without counting on what'll happen this summer? Philly, for one. I just don't think Harden can have this great a season next year, and it's more of a risk to think he will, than this team competing with a year-younger Chris Paul, and a Capela that's starting to really dominate at an all-star level

 

I think there are three of us who have been making this point , me , you and @snowconeman22 …. others have overlooked that tidbit thinking we have greater "flexibility" minus the contract …. just because we escape the tax this year.

Really , the best year to avoid that tax is the 4th year when we are without CP3 and his anchor of a contract.

That tax situation is very confusing to most people , they think being in the tax is some terrible thing when really its just the 3rd year in the last 4 that's punitive. That 3rd year could be the unraveling of GSW.

 

And also all the draft picks the Rockets lost which will make future moves even harder.

 

Pooooor pooor tilmen

Spare change for the sad little man anyone ?

 

This.

Also what proof does this guy have who made it that the Rockets didn't try to trade for a big name? Just because you want someone doesn't mean you will get it. Did you see what Pelicans wanted for AD? You think no team was interested in AD? Not everything works out just because a team wants it to. As far as clearing space, who do you think was vital for the team that we got rid of? Chriss, Knight, or Ennis?

Pretty sure they are getting the flexibility for buy out market. If you think Ariza is a 14 million dollar man then that's on you.

 

I've been watching this league for more than 50 years …. They are the only team in that was head and shoulders better than everyone else. Sure there were dynasties but they had their equals in the opposing conference , there isn't a team in sports that rivals the amount of talent they have been able to retain …

That team had already won a championship , then they added a league MVP to it and lost …. nothing of consequence.

Two league MVP's , 6 All-stars …. and Illinois Mr. Basketball 2004.

I don't think we'll see another team like that … we have to remember it was a glitch in the CBA that allowed them to sign Durant in the first place. If not for that cap spike - it doesn't happen. They had talked about spreading that cap spike over several seasons rather than all at once as it ended up , I think if it happens again , they'll do it incrementally because the potential for the owners is one winner and 29 losers. Hindsight is 20/20 ….

 

Agreed. The guys on clutch fans had the chance to buy the team when Les was selling. They didn't and now they are salty.

 

This summer we could still be able to trade for Butler or another player making around 20M by moving Gordon and Nene, adding Tucker give us the chance to take back basically any sort of max contract. Now i'm not saying we should trade Gordon and PJ for an Otto kind of player/contract of course, but if the right deal/player is available you just trade both at this point, especially if that player plays in the 3/4 spot. And like you said, on paper we can still resign one player to a big one year deal to have a good contract to move during the season. I mean, we're definitely limited, but if there's one big deal worth to make, we can still make it.

 

Since it's behind a paywall, it means that Tilman will never read it.

 

Can't someone just post the article? Didn't we use to do that for insider articles all the time?

 

It's this. People saying this stuff just don't understand that we only have vet mins and the TP MLE to use. How many of Rivers, Faried, etc can we keep on vet mins. The goal is to have the best 8 players. Harden, CP3, Capela, Gordon, Tucker, and... From here on out we are churning the rest of that roster with all but Harden and Capela that are old players or GLeaguers. Butler was the great difference maker and equalizer to balance that out that we missed in a PG13 trade because we refused to pay the price at the time for Anderson. We could have had some positive assets to flip repeatedly. Morey's ego got in the way on this one and when Tilman took over Morey was compromised. I will come back to it that more than the cost of Anderson in picks was the opportunity. Morey would have had 2 YEARS to recycle assets if he just swallowed his pride. There were deals for Anderson at 2 1sts but he didn't want to pay, instead the Rockets paid for that anchor as it rotted. This was his greatest mistake, far more so than not getting a 1st out of Dwert because he wanted 2.

Where do we begin this offseason using those TPEs to get expirings for free so that we can cobble together enough salary to get one of those players to package with picks? It's just not happening. Butler is not opting in and agreeing to a trade to us like CP3 with Gordon and multiple 1sts. Look at the Hinkie Sixers. They pissed away all of his assets but they got Harris and Butler even if they cannot keep Butler. We did nothing in the era of superteams. Perspective is everything. We have greatness in Harden and we are pissing it away. I still have hope for this season but I would be lying and stupid if I acted like I didn't know what this means. This deadline and the decisions of the last two years were monumental and driven by ego. The Rockets reward is TF.

 

No, Tilman. Why don't you spend some of that Luxury Tax Savings on an account?

 

How would we trade for butler in the offseason? Any free agent would need to be a sign and trade which would hard cap us

 

I agree with the logistics of this but Butler will opt in because he wants his 5 year now as his last contract likely. He wanted to get paid this year and left for that very reason. I doubt he will CP3 it regardless of max guarantees or fit. I think he is a mercenary now. SNT is not possible for us so it would have to be an opt in decision.

 

You are right. Those rivers and faried have to take minimum salary, absolutely no choice.
It’s so easy to arrive at tax land.

 

The way Rivers has played it would take the large portion of the MLE if not all to keep him unless he is willing to take a large pay cut with the promise of playing time. He has been a great addition.

Faried I think will take a discount to stay as his opportunities elsewhere are limited. Plus playing with Harden and Paul can only enhance his in court play. He seems to be loving it here anyway.

 

How much for rivers and fariied, estimate?

I’d give house and green 6 million.

 

House is a must to retain. Dude was giving us 15 a night with fabulous defense and great switching ability on the perimeter am not even going to mention the countless run down blocks he got. He was always the first one back on transition Defense to stop the fast break points. If we had him last night no way the Thunder would have had so many second half transition buckets.

Is Green a free agent? As streaky as he is my priority would be Rivers and House.

 

More likely keep two players house and green. Let others walk.

First hour in July let go Shumpert. He has a cap hold 17 million.

 

Rivers hasn't played that well, I doubt he gets a better offer than a BAE.

He's averaging 10 points, 3 assists in 34 mpg shooting 40/33/54. That's pretty mediocre.

Faried I'd be more worried about, he's averaging 16 points, 10 rebounds, in 30 mpg on 63% shooting. I could see him being offered a full taxpayer MLE or more if he does well in the playoffs.

This year we will have our BAE and most likely the taxpayer MLE to work with. I think we could likely re-sign both if we wanted. The question will be if we want to sign them over other available free agents.

Guys like Dedmon, Ariza, Carroll, Noel, Gibson, Beverley, Ed Davis, Tyreke Evans, McGee, Jeff Green, Holmes etc could be available within the taxpayer MLE range, and by the end of the year we might want to look at one of them over Rivers/Faried. I'd take Bev over Rivers, and Dedmon with his size and 3PT shooting might be a better option then Faried, Noel's a defensive beast, or maybe we might want to fill the whole at our SF spot and add Ariza, Carrol or Evans.

House could also throw a wrench into all of this if we can't get him locked down for next season. I'm hoping we can lock him up with our current MLE for next year.