...unless it is used on a player with 1 year left on his deal, of course. With the impending acquisition of Maurice Taylor via the $2.25million exception, the Rockets will most likely allow the $4.5million exception to expire. And here's why: If the Rockets want to keep Maurice Taylor after this season (and why wouldn't they after the trouble they took to get him this summer?), they will most likely have to promise him a max deal. They do not own his bird rights, meaning they will have to dig into their own horde of cap space next summer. As of now, it looks like they'll be $7mill under next season. Extra manuevering could get them $2-$4mill more of working space, and land Mo the long-term deal he seeks. However, by using the trade exception this summer on a player (ie: Brad Miller for $3-$5mill/yr) with a multiyear contract, they lose the cap space they will be promising Maurice, and thus will lose Maurice. That gets them nowhere, as they will also not have enough to chase CWebb as a fall-back plan. So it's either sign Brad Miller with the trade exception or sign Taylor (and either keep him or chase CWebb next summer). Obviously, everyone will choose the latter of the two. The only two ways I see the exception now being used: [*]Trade for a player with a one year deal or draft picks. [*]Trade for a multiyear player, and then unload a high contract such as Kelvin Cato. ------------------ "At least I screw sheeps..." - Corey Benjamin of the Clutch BBS. [This message has been edited by thacabbage (edited August 24, 2000).]
But, if Maurice Taylor wants the maximum, then why do we want him? I mean, if he gets the max, then we will be handcuffed on who else we can sign, especially in the 2001 free agent market. ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem. DREAMer's Rocket Page
There are no good free agent classes until 2003, so let's lock up Mo right now and add other key pieces through the draft not free agency. I don't want to wait 3 years. ------------------
thacabbage, If Mo gets a better deal next year, then won't Shandon opt out to get his cut of that available money? He will have done 2 years with a low ball contract while Mo will have only done 1 year. Mango ------------------ 1. Put new topics in the proper forum 2. Use clear wording for new threads 3. No duplicate threads 4. Conduct yourself as an adult The Serious Police are watching Donate Blood or be assimilated!
The Rockets aren't promising Taylor anything. They don't have to. He has no alternatives this year, other than Houston (he already turned down Toronto). The Rockets don't have to promise him a thing. If he didn't want other teams' money now, why would he want it next year? The same thing will happen next year, and Taylor will be forced into a Mobley-style contract.
I've got a question cabbage: What do you think of signing Mo Taylor? I can remember when you were really high on him, and I can remember when you didn't like him at all. A guys entitled to change his opinion. I wanted Mo for awhile (about a year or so ago), then I didn't, but now I'm excited with the possibility of signing him. Just curious what your thoughts are. ------------------
Mango: Wouldn't he rather wait another year when we have his full bird rights? TheFreak: The purpose of my thread was not to take a position on the entire Mo Taylor issue. Rather, it was to only state the fact that if we want to afford to resign Mo to any type of reasonable deal next summer, we cannot afford to use the trade exception this summer. TraJ: I really liked the thought of landing Mo Taylor a long while back, I think the season before last, if I'm not mistaken. I personally don't think he is what we need right now, but there's no point being pessimistic now that Mo is in the bag and the deal is done. One thing's for sure, offensively the Rockets should be the most exciting team to watch in the league as Taylor can throw it down with the best of them. ------------------ "At least I screw sheeps..." - Corey Benjamin of the Clutch BBS.
There has to be a team out there who wants that daggon exemption. We need to find someway to package Drew and the exemption for either a decent bench guy or someone with only one year left on his contract. ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem. DREAMer's Rocket Page
i say we trade for hersey hawkins.....his contract finishes, we get a lot of space he makes a lot of money.....even though we're packed at the guard positions, he can play some SF and some SG.....as long as he gets us capspace.....enough to keep Mo AND Anderson........ ------------------
I'll be honest and admit I really don't get all this cap stuff (my major was psychology, not finance), and I'm suddenly scared of losing Shandon after next season. Can anyone here please explain (as simply as possible) how we'll be able to keep both Shandon AND Mo AND realistically be in the (big, CW-type) FA hunt next offseason? Please, if someone doesn't do this for me, then I'm going to start having nightmares about Shandon resigning with the Jazz... I'll be forever in debt to whoever helps me out here. That's a really BAD nightmare. ------------------
Hey treeman don't worry! Shandon came to Houston because he wanted too... sure he wants to get his payday, and I'm sure the Rockets want to give it to him, but it's in his best interests to wait another year and take the payout under his bird rights. I don't think that we'll offer Mo the max. I'm hoping that (should he play well) he'll be content to take a 5-6 mill/ year deal which would leave us enough room to upgrade Shandon some anyway.... DREAMer: There's no real point using the exception to get a bench player - that's the point cabbage is making! If we use the exception it puts us further over the cap! As it stands our bench is: Mobley Norris Cato Thomas Langhi Collier Rogers Drew Bullard (anyone I missed?) From my point of view that's a pretty handy bench. The only thing that we're really missing is a center for 2002 to backup Cato. I'm almost certain that we'll be able to find something in the draft next year or that Collier will work out Sane: Hersey Hawkins - play SF ?????? What would you suggest trading for him? I wouldn't give up the wizard if that was what we were recieving in return - I guess Carlos Rogers HAS still got 2 years left at over 2mill per - if we could send him in exchange for Hawkins? Maybe.... ------------------
I agree with thecabbage. I'd be willing to bet they had to promise Falk they would let it expire. Let's just view it like we used it, and got Mo at a huge discount. I'm not going to yell at CD for letting it expire, now that we have Mo. He's got major spending to do next year, $4.5m will come in very handy. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited August 26, 2000).]
How about Drew and the exception for Hershey and a draft pick? Really, it might have worked before all the signings, but the Bulls don't need more cap space now. Next year his salary is gone. Why would the Bulls give up anything to dump his salary now? Actually, who needs cap space now? No FA's of value are left to sign. So the only value of the exception, would be to help other teams complete a trade. Some of the gifted posters here, might be able to spot something I've missed. But I don't see any third party crumbs that will help the Rockets. Our only benefit would come from moving salary, like Walt's, to have more cap space next year. Or, to gain another first round pick. Maybe I'm picky, but, unless we can do the deal for a Hershey Bar/clone(one year contract, valuable asset, not a distraction = sweet)I say "NO". And Rudy always listens to me. Well, he would if I was talking to him. Well he might. It could happen! ------------------ "Never give a sucker an even break. Nor wisen up a chump."
Dr. Nue, As I've said, I think the trade exemption should be packaged. Maybe with Drew, maybe with Walt, maybe with Drew and Walt. To upgrade either our bench, or to get a player with one year left on his contract. I don't see how that affects our cap space in a negative way at all. In fact, if we can get rid of some of these guaranteed contracts then it would help our cap situation. ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem. DREAMer's Rocket Page
1. If anyone can look this up, are there any solid veterans out there with 1 year left on their respective deals? I would look into acquiring one of these guys to come in and try to teach this extremely young team the ropes. Though, I'm sure you can get someone to serve that same purpose for the $1.1mill vet exception. Tony Massenberg would be ideal, but we know how that went. 2. If someone like a Golden State or a Cleveland is trying to assemble a multi-team mega deal, I would look into trading the exception for an(some) unprotected, unconditional draft pick(s) in next year's draft. That would give us more room to manuever in next year's draft. ------------------ save our thunderbears
I don't think the Rockets are promising Taylor anything. There may have been some sort of agreement as to the Rockets at least having the capability to pay Taylor the max, if the situation called for it. I doubt that as well. Taylor/Falk simply didn't have a lot of bargaining power. Houston was the only team left that was going to have any cap room left next year, that was even an option. There was an article on the front page that said the Rockets were still trying to land Brad Miller. I really don't think the Rockets were going to allow Falk to dictate what they did. I think it was more of a "if you have the space available next year, then fine, if not, we'll go somewhere else". In other words, I don't think Taylor's signing necessarily means the trade exception will or will not be used. We could still deal Walt next year if we wanted (just an example), and free up space to get Taylor more money. ------------------ "I am NOT ****ing Kip Winger, okay? You want to talk about rock & roll, I'll sit there all day, as long as someone's buying the drinks. But don't expect me to be like everybody else. If you want an amusing anecdote, talk to Mark Slaughter. I'm sure he'll say something like, 'Yeah, we had a couple of lite beers and ran down the hall in our underwear. Whoooooo!'" - Chris Robinson, Black Crowes, Rolling Stone, January 24, 1991 Metal Sludge
thacabbage, Boston Celtics Chris Carr Adrian Griffin Greg Minor Robert Pack Eric Williams John Williams Miami Bruce Bowen Anthony Carter Dale Ellis Dan Majerle Anthony Mason Nets Kendall Gill Elliot Perry Knicks Patrick Ewing Erick Strickland Orlando Dee Brown Don Reid Monty Williams Philly Mark Karcher Jermaine Jackson Washington Wizards Obinna Ekezie Cherokee Parks Dennis Scott Michael Smith Hawks Anthony Johnson Jim Jackson Dikembe Mutombo Hornets Rodney Buford Darrin Hancock Lee Nailon Jamal Mashburn Eddie Robinson Otis Thorpe Bulls Hersey Hawkins Dragan Tarlac Cleveland Cavaliers Mark Bryant Detroit Pistons Torraye Braggs Christian Laettner Indiana Pacers Chris Mullin Sam Perkins Zan Tabak Milwaukee Bucks Rafer Alston Maceo Baston Scott Williams Toronto Raptors Alvin Williams Dallas Mavericks Dana Barros Shawn Bradley Cedric Ceballos Bill Curley Michael Finley Eric Murdock Gary Trent Denver Nuggets Dan Clintock Popeye Jones Mark Strickland Minnesota Timberwolves Sam Mitchell Joe Smith San Antonio Spurs Derek Anderson Raja Bell Danny Ferry Avery Johnson Ira Newble Shawnelle Scott Utah Jazz John Crotty Danny Manning Olden Polynice John Stockton Bruno Sundov Vancouver Grizzlies Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Isaac Austin Doug West Golden State Warriors Terry Cummings Adam Keefe Chris Porter Los Angeles Clippers Etdrick Bohannon Los Angeles Lakers Ron Harper Nate Johnson Andy Panko Isaiah Rider Phoenix Suns Corie Blount Ruben Garces Randy Livingston Justin Love Portland Trailblazers Greg Anthony Rodrick Rhodes Arvydas Sabonis Detlef Schrempf Sacramento Kings Nick Anderson Darrick Martin Jabari Smith Chris Webber Seattle Sonics Lazero Borrell Emanual Davis Horace Grant Jelani McCoy Shammond Williams Gary Grant, Gatling and Corliss were not included on the list above. Ideally, the Rockets would want a veteran 4 or 5 that wouldn't cost too much. A veteran 1, 2 or 3 would either ride the bench or steal minutes from players better than him. The FA class of 2001 is really poor and I don't see anything that would be available for the Rockets that would serve your intended purpose (that would be available for a reasonable amount). Mango ------------------ 1. Put new topics in the proper forum Things happening in the rest of the NBA 2. Use clear wording for new threads 3. No duplicate threads 4. Conduct yourself as an adult The Serious Police are watching Donate Blood or be assimilated! [This message has been edited by Mango (edited August 27, 2000).] [This message has been edited by Mango (edited August 27, 2000).]
"So who does Detroit then focus on? None other than the hometown hero, Mo Taylor. And believe me, Taylor would take the max in Detroit rather than stay in Houston for $5-$6million (if we use the trade exception)." -tcab Not quite so. The Falk Factor works for and against you. Allegedly, Falk has said he won't send any of his clients to Detroit if they didn't accept the deal. Mo Taylor would be included, if that were the case. BTW, Laettner's salary expired after the season anyway. ------------------ The Serious Police are watching. Follow the rules or be assimilated. Shandon is underrated.
cabby, all that may be true, and I'm not missing your point. I was merely commenting on this sentence: I don't believe they have promised Taylor anything at this point. The quote above implies that the Rockets said to Taylor "sign with us now, and we'll pay you the max next year". I don't think that happened. Just my opinion. ------------------ "I am NOT ****ing Kip Winger, okay? You want to talk about rock & roll, I'll sit there all day, as long as someone's buying the drinks. But don't expect me to be like everybody else. If you want an amusing anecdote, talk to Mark Slaughter. I'm sure he'll say something like, 'Yeah, we had a couple of lite beers and ran down the hall in our underwear. Whoooooo!'" - Chris Robinson, Black Crowes, Rolling Stone, January 24, 1991 Metal Sludge [This message has been edited by TheFreak (edited August 27, 2000).]
Pimp: Agreed. Houston would be the ideal situation for Maurice Taylor. A young team that is the same age as him, and top-flight guards to get him open looks. NIKE: 1. Midseason, David Falk boldly proclaimed that if the Clippers did not trade Maurice Taylor, he would not let them get anything in return for his client in a sign-trade. What happened a few months later? Falk and Taylor came back to Sterling begging for a sign&trade. 2. You're telling me that if the Pistons offered Mo the maximum to go play there, he wouldn't because of some personal vendetta his agent holds against the club? Let's not forget that the agent works for the player here. Taylor would fire Falk before he turned that deal down because of Falk. Freak: Ok, I see what you're saying. ------------------ Mo money, Mo problems...
