As stated in my sig, I am no fan of Moneyball. However, Bud is the ultimate Moneyball player -- production vs. a paltry $750,000 contract. Morey will hold onto him for dear life considering the value to money ratio.
Yep. There is no "team option," per se, on Chase's contract for next season. His salary for Years 3 and 4 is not guaranteed if he is waived before August 1, 2011. Since the Rockets are not likely to waive Chase , that means that his Year 3 salary ($884,293) will become fully guaranteed on August 1 (subject to likely non-payment for games lost due to the lockout, as it is for all players). Now, as for Year 4 (the 2012-13 season), his contract is a little screwy. The Rockets have a team option for Year 4, which the team will undoubtedly exercise, because . . . much like for Year 3, his salary is ALSO not guaranteed if he is waived before August 1, 2012. (This essentially allows the team an extra month after picking up the option to decide whether to keep him and also makes him a small financial trade asset.) Assuming that he is not waived, Chase will get his full ($942,293) salary for Year 4. It's actually a pretty neat contract, from the Rockets' perspective. Less so for Chase.
That is a strange contract, 4 years locked in for essentially minimum wage. That seems unusual 2nd round picks. Did Chase act as his own agent?
Chase got paid more than the rookie minimum his first year, and got his second year fully guaranteed up front, in exchange for the concessions on Years 3 and 4. Jermaine Taylor signed the exact same contract. Morey was able to sign these guys for more than two years by using small portions of the MLE. We'll see if this practice will be allowed in the new CBA (assuming that any sort of "MLE-type" exception survives).
So... Is Budinger an unrestricted FA after year 4 (assuming the option is picked up and he's not waive, etc.)? Is there any scenario under which the Rockets can make him enter restricted Free Agency after year 3 instead? (I don't think so... but I could be wrong).
Good question. Yes, Chase will be unrestricted in 2013 if the Rockets pick up all options and don't waive him before August 1, 2012. The Rockets CAN make Chase a restricted free agent if they decline the team option on him by June 30, 2012 (probably WHY there's the team option in there . . . good thinking there, Daryl!). The team would need to decide whether it would be better, long-term, to (a) let Chase become a free agent a year early but have more leverage over him as a restricted free agent or (b) keep him under contract, at dirt-cheap money, for another year and risk losing him to unrestricted free agency. The Rockets actually came close to facing a similar situation with Carl Landry before they traded him to the Kings (who decided to pick up Landry's option, making Carl an unrestricted free agent this summer). Still, I'm pretty sure Morey would have picked up the option on Carl. I also think he'll likely pick up Chase's option. One note of interest: The Cavs decided to take Option (a) above a few years back with Carlos Boozer, with the understanding that they'd work out a reasonable long-term contract. Unfortunately for them, Utah swooped in with a huge contract offer that Cleveland could not afford to match, causing the Cavs to lose Boozer altogether (rather than to be able to keep him for another year for about $700k!).
Thanks. Is it true that the rules are different with the first round picks? Specifically, if the Rockets do not pick up the option for the 4 year for the 2009 lotto busts, they become FAs after next year (year 3) but they are unrestricted unlike Chase would be?
Which is one more reason, among several others, why you'd probably prefer to have the 31st and 32nd pick than the 29th and 30th pick.
Yes . . . under the current CBA. (It appears the student has become . . . the smarter student! :grin: ) If the new CBA completely does away with the MLE (in any form) and/or does not allow teams to sign their second round picks or undrafted free agents using such cap exception(s), then it might possibly swing the preference the other direction (towards picks #29 and 30). Probably not, though, since those picks will still take up slightly more cap room. (Another benefit to second rounders: The cap hold for unsigned second rounders is the same as a roster charge (the rookie minimum), whereas the cap hold for any other minimum salaried free agents is at least the two-year veteran's minimum. The Heat took advantage of this by having three second round picks in the 2010 Draft, allowing them to fill three more roster spots and have zero adverse impact on their ability to sign the Big Three in free agency.)
