No way would the Rockets pay more than $10 million for Josh Smith. I would put a number around $8 million (same as Asik, who is better than Smith).
Exactly. I don't doubt its validity, but it is kinda strange that Feigen, Stein, Woj, etc haven't even mentioned the meeting.
8.4 (Asik's salary in S&T) will not be close to enough to compete with the likes of a Detroit for Smith. Sekou Smith said this morning in a radio interview with 790 that he believes the Hawks would take back both Asik & Lin in a S&T for Smith, but Im just not sure of that. Moving Lin along with Asik would almost certainly be necessary to sign Smith. More than likely the meeting today is letting them know of their plans to sign Dwight Howard, and gauging how interested Smith and his agent would be in helping facilitate a sign and trade to go back to Ferry with that Atlanta would accept. The cost, however, is the tricky part. Smith "reportedly" did not recieve an offer from Dumars last night so there is no number for the Rockets to compete with just yet. My guess- Is that the number the Rockets will "target" will be the combined salaries of Asik & one of the rookie PF's.... probably Jones since he has a slightly higher salary than Motiejunas..... Which gives the Rockets 9.859 million to offer Smith in the first year to sign Smith and Howard with the available cap room they will have if Asik & Jones are going to Atlanta in the S&T. If the Rockets somehow get intel that Atlanta would be open to wanting Jeremy Lin, the Rockets might feel confident enough to go with a higher number, but I would guess that they will not get a strong confirmation back from Atlanta at this time. My guess is the offer with a S&T (if he accepts a salary of around 10 mil a year on average for 3 or 4 years) will be for Smith & his agent to go back to Ferry with this offer, and use Detroit as leverage to walk for nothing if they do not accept... If Smith balks at the Rockets offer, they will be forced to hope that Ferry will be high enough on Lin to entertain a S&T for both players. The Rockets are going to need an enthusiastic Josh Smith, and alot of cooperation from all parties to get him to Houston..... Oh and they are going to need Dwight to agree verbally to sign with Houston.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Josh Smith will meet with Rockets today. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ATLHawks&src=hash">#ATLHawks</a></p>— Chris Vivlamore (@ajchawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/ajchawks/statuses/351754936419229696">July 1, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A simple sign-n-trade would allow the Rockets to trade Asik's $8.4M contract to any player worth up to $12.6M, even if it puts the rocket over the cap. That's how the salary cap works. No need to unload Lin or any of the rookies unless the Rockets intend to pay Smith more than $12.6M.
Are you 100% positive they can go over the cap in a S&T? I can't seem to find it in the Larry Coon FAQ. There is so much on that page now that its hard to find things like this.
Gonna be a tough sell to get Smith at that price, but I'm hoping our guys can convince him. If LeBron, Wade, and Bosh were willing to take a bit of a pay cut to win, hopefully these guys will be too (wishful thinking, perhaps).
I think another team will offer Smith more than the Rockets can/will (unless it is the only way we land Dwight). Smith would have to be willing to take a pay cut to play with Houston--otherwise we have 3-max or near-max contracts which could hamper the rockets down the line depending on health issues etc. I am not all that enamored with overpaying for Smith if we can help it. I still think the difference in salary vs. production between Asik & Smith almost evens the two out. Yes, the fact that D12 and Asik are both centers complicates the matter, but I'd almost rather start out with D12 + Harden + parsons + asik and solid bench players, see where that goes, and hold on to some cap flexibility moving forward. Smith is good on paper but he couldn't lead his team out of a paper bag either--and that with a talented supporting cast. He also wants to get paid and that will force the Rockets to truly KNOW that Harden-Smith-Howard = championship--it might, but then you are all in for the next 3-4 years with that team. (a little jaded after the Yao-McGrady disappointment--but c'est la vie) I just like having some flexibility and not even convinced that this team isn't championship caliber with the current lineup + D12 and some vets looking for a ring at a bargain. Just hope Morey has all his stats in a row.
