Cap Situation Going Forward

Relax...Breathe...We still have a good team. We got unlucky with Bosh, some higher than expected deals given out this summer (Parsons, Heyward, Bradley. etc.), and a very difficult overall offseason to navigate. But, Morey and the Rockets FO kept this from being a complete disaster.

Here's my calculation of Cap going forward (I'll let BimaThug verify as he is the Clutchfans expert on all this):

Assuming:
1. Capela signs for rookie scale deal (this will vary based on buyout/negotiations, but should be close enough)
2. Daniels signs for $1 million/yr deal (this is probably on the optimistic/cheap side, but I think he should get $1-1.5 million)
3. Johnson signs for minimum deal (again, this # could change, but not by much)
4. Waive NG contracts acquired in trade

2014-2015:

Spoiler

Player 2014-2015
Dwight Howard----------21,436,271
James Harden----------14,728,844
Trevor Ariza----------8,600,000
Terrence Jones----------1,618,680
Donatas Motiejunas----------1,483,920
Troy Daniels----------1,000,000
Clint Capela----------991,000
Patrick Beverley----------915,243
Isaiah Canaan----------816,482
Robert Covington----------816,482
Nick Johnson----------507,336
OPEN----------507,336
-
Net Salaries----------53,421,594
Salary Cap Space----------9,643,406
Amount Over(-)/Under(+) Tax Level----------23,407,406
Amount Over(-)/Under(+) Apron----------27,407,406

Assets/Exceptions:

Spoiler

-Lin TPE ~ $8,370,000 million (unless use cap room to sign FA)
-Asik TPE ~ $5,370,000 million (unless use cap room to sign FA)
-NOP 2015 pick (4-19 only)
-NYK, MIN/DEN, & our own 2nd rounders in 2015
-ALL our own picks in future drafts
-International prospects (Alessandro Gentile, Marko Todorović, Kostas Papanikolaou, Sergio Llull)
-Full NTP MLE (5,305,000) (unless use cap room to sign FA)
-Full BAE (2,077,000) (unless use cap room to sign FA)

I like the position we are in considering all that has unfortunately happened to us. Ariza is a terrific pick up; what he lacks in offensive productivity from dropoff from losing Parsons, he makes up for in defensive ability, something we desperately need and at half the price! Also, Ariza has had his two best seasons on good teams in a complementary role ('09 champion Lakers and a playoff Wizards team that made it to the second round last year). This team fits him perfectly.

Here are some players we could add using TPEs + international prospects/draft picks as needed (all salaries under 8,370,000):

Spoiler

-Goran Dragic PG (2yrs/PO)
-Brandon Bass PF (1yr)
-Wilson Chandler G/F (2yr)
-Glen Davis PF (1yr)
-Chuck Hayes PF (1yr)
-Courtney Lee SG (2yrs)
-Jamal Crawford SG (2yrs)
-JJ Hickson PF/C (2yrs)
-Zaza Pachulia C (2yrs)
-Chase Budinger G/F (2yrs/PO)
-Corey Brewer G/F (2yrs/PO)
-Timofey Mozgov C (2yrs/TO)
-Cody Zeller C (3yrs/2 TOs)

All these are friendly deals at only 1-2yrs that could help us now and in the future. Personally I would love to get Timofey Mozgov (using Asik TPE) to back up Howard and lessen Howard's minutes in the regular season. Nuggets just drafted two true centers in 2014 draft (Nurkic in 1st; Jokic in 2nd) and have two other centers (McGee and Hickson), so they might be willing to give up Mozgov for some picks and/or international prospects. We can also still go after a FA like Shawn Marion using MLE, who I think would be a great addition to help on defense at SF/PF; this too would probably be a 2 year deal with a TO, therefore not hurting the future.

Beverly/Canaan
Harden/Ariza/Johnson
Ariza/Marion/Covington
Jones/Marion/DMo
Howard/Mozgov
Use vet mins and Lin TPE to add more PG/PF depth, and thats still a great team next year, with flexibility to re-adjust in 2015 if needed. This is just one scenario, but it is just to show the options we still have to make this a competitive team this coming year and beyond too.

Lin and Asik weren't going to fit on this team going forward and Parsons leaving is just unfortunate, BUT we will be fine, the next few years are still looking very good. We have TWO All-Stars and they will ultimately be the ones who carry us to a championship.

 

You play with the cards you were dealt. Bosh not signing & Parsons taking a max deal were out of the Rockets control. Yes, in hindsight some mistakes may have been made and things might have been done differently, but we will not truly know if this offseason was a success or failure until next year and even the year after that.

 

Note: I am not sure if we have an Asik TPE, but we do still have Lin TPE from what I've gathered from BimaThugs' tweets.

 

100% Agree! Morey managed to come out w/ good resources to work with going forward out of all of this mess. It'll be hard work, but winning championships requires that.

 

I meant all future draft picks beginning with 2016 draft. You are correct, we don't have our own 2015 1st anymore to my knowledge.

 

Better than just pouting about what could have been..

 

Yeah, I'll let Bima confirm, but I think we only have Lin's TPE (& not Asik's TPE like I originally thought) of $8,370,000. We can use this to trade for a player while still maintaining our full MLE and BAE to work with OR do S&T to acquire a player and still keep full MLE and BAE to work with (but there aren't too many great options left).

 

Not at all what I meant, I'm just being a fan, man. Analytically, I honestly think, with a couple more minor moves, we will have a very competitive team; as competitive, if not more so, than last year. Just my opinion though, like yours

 

Shawn Marion. Haven't heard anything, just think he could be a good fit to help this team.