Hello Clutch fan, I usually post in ESPN but I want to share this Dwight saga and Houston’s salary cap situation next year with you guys. It seems like I can not create the thread in Rockets forum so I will post here and hope it will get moved to Rockets forum.I wrote this response to Lakers fans wondering how Houston can make cap space next year. According to the HoopsWorld, Houston is tied with 39,338,522 next year. Players not on guaranteed contract but Houston needs to bring back : 1. Chandler Parson ( no explanation needed) 2. Greg Smith ( starting PF) 3. James Anders( good contract and solid backup sg) 4. Patrick Beverley (good backup pg) Which means they decline : Garcia, Brooks, Tim Ohlbrecht. If Houston brings back those players, the total payroll would be 42,854,286. I took out Delfino but he might be back. For now I am going to take him out or add it later if needed. Houston has the option(3M) Salary cap next year would be 58M (most likely or bit more). So Houston cap space would be 15,145,714 – minus your second round pick since Houston does not have a first rounder this year(assuming you guys make play-off) In order to sign Howard without S&T, Houston needs at least 20,324,178 of cap space( that is his salary for next year) so Houston has to clear out about 5 or 6M before you guys can sign him. Most obvious choice is to trade away one of guaranteed contracts as salary dump. Currently Houston is under the cap therefore they can trade any salary without any restriction. And if Howard is coming to Houston, Asik got a go because you just cannot pay back-center 8M per year. Let’s say Houston deal Asik to ATL ( since they wanted him during the trade deadline and they are under the cap) for future second round pick. With Asik’s contract off the book, Houston’ salary becomes 34,479,640 which will give Houston 23,520,360 cap space. It is enough to sign Howard and bring back Delfino. If Houston signs Howard and brings back Delfino, Houston’s salary would be 57,803,818 + second round pick’s salary. Houston has mid-level exception + some vet minimum contracts to add players if they want. Josh Smith’s Cases Josh smith is quite tricky just because He is PF and I just do not think he is worth 20M player. If Houston decides to give Josh Smith then they must trade T-Rob and D-Mo or T-Jones along with it to make it happen since no-one is going to take a chance on White. If Houston trades T-Rob and D-Mo for future draft picks, you guys have a max contract to offers player (it would be very close to the cap )And they can bring back Delfino using Mid-Level if they choose to. I believe all numbers pretty accurate although you guys might have different ideas on which players to bring back among all non-guaranteed contracts. Let me know if you guys find any incorrect information and good luck in PO and rest of the season.
