I don't mind giving Posey a decent salary but if he makes more than the MCE it better not be a long term deal. You have to wonder about some teams. Why the heck would someone give Jerome James a big deal or take on Vin Baker's salary when everyone and their dog are saying "That is stupid" Then that right before the trading deadline people speculate about dumping these worthless players salaries after only 1/2 a season - well no sh** sherlock.
Duncan Kidd JOneal Brand deserve Max Olowokandi BMiller will get max, but don't deserve it Gilbert Arenas and Rip Hamilton are the sleepers of the FA class this year. Rip Hamilton will keep getting more consistent.
Rockets should sign Richard Hamilton. He is so underrated and would be a perfect fit on this team. He is a great shooter and would be a nice target for Yao to pass to out of the post. If the Rockets are to trade Rice this summer or some how trade Mo Taylor then sign him up for a long term deal. I would give him a contract like 7 years 50 mil. I wuold also re-sign Posey to play back up SF\SG or even PF if he had to.
Under the current CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) between the NBA team owners and the NBA Players Association, the maximum allowable to be paid to a player is dependent upon the number of years that said player has beeen in the league. Consequently, there will be a slight difference in the max salary for Elton Brand who is coming of his rookie contract and Gary Payton who is in his 13th season. I have not seen figures for the 2003-2004 season, but for a player like Brand coming off of his 4th season, it was $10,067,750. For Payton or any other player with 10+ season it was $14,094,850. The salary cap (max total allowable by a team for all signed players) is also a CBA function and is defined as "48.04% of Projected BRI" (BRI = Basketball Related Income). Obviously, this varies from season to season but is currently just over $42m. For the 2004-2005 season, the CBA allows the owners to "opt out" of the cap clause. Both the owners and players association are trying to avoid a lockout season like the one which occurred in 98-99 which is why the players agreed to extending the 1st round to 7 games and the owners agreed reducing the time vets are required in training camp. The MCE (Mid Class Exception also known as MLE or Mid Level Exception) is an exception to the team cap which allows teams to sign a player to a contract of around $4.5m (this also varies yearly) if they are already over the cap max. Teams can not "double dip" by being under the cap, signing players and going over the cap, and then using the excpetion. Comprende amigo?
Duncan & Kidd for sure, then only JO. Don't think Brand deserves MAX but close to it. And those saying we should get Rip are crazy, he's practically the same as Cat if not worse.
.......KARL MALONE?!?!? He's not going to retire? Okay...Tim Duncan...DEFINITELY. Jason Kidd...of course. Elton Brand should be able to make big money... They all could... IF THE ROCKETS COULD GET ONE OF THESE PLAYERS, that would be great. But I don't think they could afford one.
You think so? What do we need more? A guy who can come off a screen and hit a mid range jump shot from anywhere on the floor or a guy who takes the ball at the top of the key and drives on his man?
No, no, no. The Rox need Karl Malone. I don't know how politically incorrect I am about to be but Malone is the black Zeus. There may bigger and badder bballers around but there isn't another who's tougher than Malone is. The Rox occassionally get their asses owned. With Malone everyone s our b**** no questions asked.
If not acquiring Brand in the offseason, I really like James Thomas of University of Texas. He's a brand type player in the sense that he'll grab ya a lot of boards, and play some solid defense. He reminds me a lot of Ben Wallace/ Brand. He also has really long arms. The Rockets don't have a lottery pick this year, but if there's any way to get Thomas for not too much, I think he'd be a steal.
isn't thomas still a junior? and i like him too....i think he would be great for the rockets. doesn't need the ball but is a workhorse and will do dirty work for the team
JT (aka The Predator) would be a good fit except for the fact that his only hope is to play the 4 in the L. The guy is only about 6'7'' and even though he has long arms he is going to have a hard time making the L period. I love the guy's game but he needs to work on his hands BIGTIME this offseason. I cant even count how many of TJ's (aka GOD) passes whistle right through his hands that would be uncontested dunks.
