Norris Cole sounds pretty good right about now. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Don't sleep on Heat sign-and-trades. Among chips to put into play are 2013 76ers first-rounder, Joel Anthony, and perhaps even Norris Cole.</p>— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) <a href="https://twitter.com/IraHeatBeat/status/221599733012103169" data-datetime="2012-07-07T13:41:08+00:00">July 7, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
We're so neck deep in the Howard pursuit, I could see us doing the S&T for the Sixers pick. Holy god, this team will be unsalvageable if Howard goes to LA.
If the Heat kicked in $3m cash and the Philadelphia pick, I'd take Joel Anthony. He's got 3 years, 11.35m left, but at 3 years, 8.35m effectively, he's a pretty reasonably priced backup. He takes up some salary space, but not too bad for a 2nd string center type. I'm not sure they can afford to get rid of him though. Norris Cole has 3 cheap years left as well, so he'd be an interesting pickup who can at least play 20 minutes a game as backup point and maybe evolve into something more. Either of those would be pretty good for Camby, especially considering we picked him up for essentially a 2nd round pick.
1st round pick of 76ers + Norris Cole would be the only player to consider since he fills a voice but other then that, just no to a S&T with Heat.
Answers: 1. Yes, if Miami is willing to give up that Philly first rounder, the Rockets would be open to a S&T of Camby. The problem is that, unlike with a Knicks S&T, Houston would likely have to take back guaranteed salary from Miami, which could further dampen its cap situation and would likely mean that the Rockets would have to renounce their rights to Courtney Lee (at least while the Asik and Lin offer sheets are outstanding). 2. Yes, ... if Lee will wait until after New York matches the Lin offer sheet. (I'm actually hoping that as part of any Camby S&T talks with the Knicks, Morey is stressing that New York better match immediately--and not drag it out the full 3 days--if they want the Rockets to continue to negotiate a Camby S&T with them.) Lee and his agent know that he can likely make more money in a S&T deal than by signing outright with an over-the-cap team. 3. No need. The Lin (and Asik) offer sheet is only poisonous for the Knicks (Bulls), cap-wise. The salary is still paid the same by either team ($5M in Year 1, $5.225M in Year 2, then the balloon payment in Year 3); but FOR THE ROCKETS, the cap hit is spread evenly across the life of the deal. Lin's cap hit would be $7.2M in each season; and Asik's cap hit would be about $8.37M in each season. No "poison cap pill" to the Rockets. 4. Yes. Yes, I am.
No, the Rockets were/are very interested in re-signing Camby. Unfortunately, the size of his cap hold (necessary to retain his Bird rights) and the timing of the free agent market are dictating that Camby will leave for greener pastures. I, too, was hoping that something could be worked out during the July Moratorium between the Rockets and Camby's group to lock him in on a two-year, Room Exception deal. However, those hopes were always pessimistic, as Camby will (deservedly so) receive much better offers from contenders like Miami.
I'd do Camby for a 1st round pick, cash, and Joel Anthony. We could use some cash. We need to pick up Aaron Brooks and Lou Williams.
Bima, thanks for answering my questions. You really are a superhero. On question #3 though, I understand how that works, but what I meant to ask was if there were any options at our disposal to further incentivize the Knicks not to match; be that altering the offer sheet so that it's even more painful for the Knicks, or some other means? Basically, I want to keep Jeremy Lin.
Not without also making it more painful to the Rockets. Essentially, the Asik offer sheet is as painful as it could possibly be to the Bulls in Year 3, as the Rockets literally offered the maximum possible salary to Asik over a three-year deal. I suppose they could offer a similar deal to Lin over four years; but that would require a lot more cap room, would mean that Lee's gone for sure, and would--quite frankly--leave the Rockets "stuck" with a vastly overpaid Lin. No, thanks.
Making the final year guaranteed, or even a player option, would not have resulted in him being vastly overpaid. It would have made NY's decision significantly more difficult though.
Oddly, I'm curious about the reported contract to Lin. By adding the 4th year player option, they haven't really made the cap hit any more difficult on New York as opposed to a 3 year, ~20 million deal. If they had the 3 year deal though, the Rockets would only need cap space for 6.7m, and that would be Lin's annual cap hit. Because of the 4th year team option, his cap hit is ~7.5m. So it "costs" the Rockets an extra million essentially, but it doesn't really make it any more difficult for the Knicks. I suppose it's less than a 1m difference, but this deal only makes sense if you think Lin will likely outplay a 7.5m cap value//~9m player value 4 years from now.
Not sure I understand you. What you are describing makes the Lin contract significantly more painful to Houston. If the Rockets were the least bit willing to do that for Lin, then we wouldn't even be talking about this right now. We'd be too busy talking about the new four-year deal that Goran Dragic just agreed to with the Rockets. Good point. I think it was probably worth it to Houston to take a little larger cap hit in exchange for the "upside" of Lin possibly outperforming his contract. Having a team option is only a good thing; no downside risk (other than the slightly larger cap hit).
Nike, I'm not sure $3M cash is that much of an enticement to take on Joel Anthony since the important thing isn't really paying his salary, but the impact that taking on his cap hit would have on future flexibility. Even if the Rockets get $3M cash, it doesn't reduce his cap hit over the next 3 seasons by $1M each year. Receiving $3M also does not allow the Rockets to send an extra $3M in cash to other teams in a future trade.
Given that no official offer sheet can be signed until July 11, I wonder if the Rockets would float out a lower number first for each of Asik and Lin as a "trial balloon" but then sign them to a higher $ number at the last second if the indication from NY and CHI is that they'd match at the original number.
Maybe but I think NY matches no matter what the final number is...unless its something crazy like a max. Even then I bet your odds are 50/50. Though I think you could jack them for another 10 million to mess with their cap. I think we've already exceeded the Bulls pain threshold.
I know -- I still don't think his contract is awful for a backup center, even without the cash received -- that's just purely to cover the costs. And we have to spend our money somewhere, right? It might be a nuisance to have him in 3 years, but it could be worse. I'd only do it if that Philadelphia pick is involved, though.
