You're misunderstanding Bynum's contract. Bynum's contract has multiple points at which you can waive his salary. The Jan. 7 deadline AND a deadline in July (to extend into next year). Given that the off season trade deadline isn't until the end of the summer, the Rox can waive him ANY time up to the July deadline and there will be NO cap hold. This is separate than the February trade deadline. Additionally, getting Bynum's contract in trade would require matching salaries of $8M+, which means you're already trading either Asik or Lin. This means at the end you're holding the Bynum contract and either Asik or Lin. You can at that point *still* trade the remaining contract. The assumption of trading for Bynum's contract would be that you don't already have a favorable trade that you think you can institute that would require Asik + Lin (a $20M+ trade). Any trade up to approximately $15M would be achievable with either Asik or Lin + Filler, so there's very limited value to trading for Bynum's contract then buying him out. As noted above, there IS no impact on 2014 cap space as Bynum can be waived for 2014 at any point up to July should the cap space be needed. It can also be held in reserve as a larger trade chip for a trade package that could exceed $20M when combined with other contracts. This is different than trading Asik and/or Lin for other players, which would not help us in terms of cap due to salary matching as Asik and Lin are already expiring contracts next year. So, unless you're trading for a contract that is expiring THIS year, you gain no traction in terms of cap space outside of a handful of millions. This is completely different than the Bynum contract which can be used as a pure salary purge of $12M to another team, or the base value of the contracts we send out to acquire the Bynum contract. In terms of the "max" cap space argument, right now there's a total of $56M in guaranteed salaries on the books for 2014/15. Moving Asik alone for Bynum's contract could get that total down to $48M potentially if you waive Bynum, or room for $14M IF you were signing that player in free agency since the estimated salary cap for 2014 will be $62M. http://www.hoopsworld.com/houston-rockets-team-salary Given the nature of salary matching, the most you could probably free on a Lin trade would be $3M or so (150% match rule on $8.3M cap hit IF you moved Lin to a team with cap space). So what you're talking about is the difference between $14M and $17M for a free agent. That difference is not likely to net you any single free agent of significant impact given the list of who is actually going to become available in 2014. http://www.hoopsworld.com/2014-nba-free-agents As for your TPE idea, you can't combine TPE's with ANYTHING, whether it's cap space or another TPE. If you sent out Lin and got a TPE of $8.374M, then you have to acquire a player within 1 year, but they can NOT make more than $8.374M regardless of your cap space. I refer you to this ESPN article on TPE's... So at that point, sending out Lin for a TPE doesn't help you at all in terms of acquiring that $20M player. Having the Bynum contract + Lin is infinitely more useful in terms of a sign and trade scenario or straight up trade scenario than pure cap space in terms of salary matching, while the actual offset on the cap space difference due to salary matching ($3M or so) wouldn't really help you get that $20M player at all. Just some stuff to keep in mind...
Here's the link for the ESPN article by the way... http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7360566/nba-trade-exceptions-expiring
I say let's take our time. Who cares if we lose in the first round? There's a trade deadline EVERY year. Yeah, our highest paid player is past his prime, but Morey is THE Mr. February now that Mack Brown has resigned. Why play in June when you can make a splash in Feb?
Ok, so are you arguing for a trade for Hedo's contract? He would have to be waived by Jan. 7. Anything after that would cost the Rockets $7M or so out of pocket. So then you have NO sizable trade assets unless you're talking about keeping Hedo as an expiring for This season? And to what end? That would also leave us for a full month with only Brooks and Canaan as the PG's for the entire month of January. And Sergio Llull? Really? The guy hasn't played 1 minute in the NBA, and yet you've been campaigning to have him be the starting PG since June of last year. What is your obsession with this guy? http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=240422 You do realize that McCalebb is on a 3 year contract with Fenerbahçe? It would cost a fortune to buy out his contract. And for what? Another guy that's never played a minute in the NBA? Bobby Brown? The guy has washed out of the NBA 2x and even in the Euroleague was only shooting .411 FG% and 34.4% from 3. That's playing against European competition.... I mean seriously, what exactly is the end game here? The whole purpose for clearing cap space last season was a clear play at Dwight and/or Chris Paul. We got Dwight. Who exactly is on the radar for the 2014 FA season that's worth trading Lin for cap space mid season when Beverley is out until February with hand surgery? You've posted a lot about trading Lin to clear cap space... but you have yet to indicate WHO you're clearing that cap space for... It's one thing to argue that Asik and Lin should be traded for an impact player upgrade. Asik needs to be traded regardless. However why exactly is it so imperative to trade Lin mid-season for cap space that you can't even use until 2014? I'd really like to know....
No, I'm not arguing for trading for Hedo. But it is a possibility. 2014 free agency targets should be obvious. Lebron? Bosh? Do I believe we will get one of those guys right now? Nope. But it's a possibility and you've got to leave the door open for the possibility. There's nothing more valuable right now than 2014 cap space followed by 2015 cap space. That's why I'm saying Morey is going to move heaven and earth to trade Lin by the deadline. Not obsessed with any single European player. But the point guards plays are obvious. I do feel Llull is a better player than Lin. I've seen enough of him playing to have formed a good opinion on him. McCalebb is an NBA player. Whether or not he is better than Lin is debatable but he needs the right contract to bring him over. I'm not as sold on Brown but he's an NBA player too if he can get the right contract situation. Cap space would allow us to go after one of those guys with around $5 million front-loaded deal (bonus) plus decreasing salary going forward that would get them over here. Then the next year (14-15) would be a non-guaranteed deal that could be essentially dropped or traded, etc., in the same fashion as what you are advocating using Bynum for. If they perform they are an asset. We can either keep them if we haven't been able to bring in another premier player by then, or drop them in lieu of a free agent signing, or trade them in a package for a player coming up on free agency (Love/Aldridge). So, no obsession with any particular player. It's about maximizing our options going forward and considering ALL the possibilities.
Lebron can declare for FA this year. He can also declare for FA next year. LBJ has TWO player options. One for 2014/15, and one for 2015/16. And IF Lebron declares FA this year, then he will most likely be moved in FA versus walking ala Dwight for nothing. When Lebron left Cleveland, he *still* did a Sign and Trade to go to Miami. If all you have is cap space, you just locked yourself out of a sign and trade scenario. http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/trade_100710.html And *if* you had the Bynum contract ($12M), you could *still* get Lebron using the 125% rule with the Bynum contract + filler and still move Lin as an expiring if absolutely necessary. And Bosh? REALLY? Sorry, but I just am NOT sold on Bosh at $20M+ per year. You can get guys that give similar production will be younger and demand less money. And 2015 cap space is *not* an issue. Lin's contract expires next year. And no, I'm not convinced that Llull is a NBA caliber player let alone a starter from what I've seen of his Euro games. As for even touching Lin, uh, No, no and NO. Don't confuse mediocre performance in the Euro league for being an NBA caliber player. This guy is NOT Ricky Rubio. And McCalebb? Debatable? REALLY? I'm sorry, but you're advocating trading our Best PG at the mid-season deadline for a long shot at LBJ, who may not even declare FA this year. You realize that that would tank our play off seeding? I just find the whole concept and justifications illogical and extremely high risk with minimal upside.
Sign and trades no longer work that way under the new cab. There is no advantage to the player to do a sign and trade anymore. He can't get his total max deal in a sign and trade. Lebrun is not leaving Miami. He'd be walking away from money, a great team and messing with his legacy all at once. . .
The change in sign and trade is that you can't do a sign and trade for 5 years. Given that we already have Harden for 5 years and Dwight for 4 years, there is no impact in terms of a sign and trade in terms of contract length. The restrictions in terms of going $4M over the luxury tax also has no impact since we wouldn't be going that far over in a sign and trade for Lebron. And given that the alternative is signing LBJ in FA outright, the changes to annual raises using the current Sign and Trade has no impact to Lebron's annual salary increases. And I agree, LBJ is a really, really long shot. Clearing cap space to get LBJ in free agency gives us no real advantage versus retaining assets for a potential sign and trade since I believe that on the remote chance that Lebron *did* leave Miami he would still do it in a Sign and Trade so that Miami got something back for him.
The assets are draft picks and young players on rookie contracts. A team like minnesota would much rather trade Love for picks, young players, and the least amount of incoming salary possible. They'd rather have cap space than an expiring contact to go with the picks, young talent. Moving Lin out gives us more cap flexibility. I like Lin a lot. But I like cap flexibility more. I'm pretty sure Morey feels likewise.
The question is are we still planing on competing for a title this season? We need a trade to improve our roster or as you suggest to trade for pick and young asset if we need to wait for 2014-2015 free agency in the hope of getting another piece to the championship puzzle. I think we just need to get a decent back up center and add a good defender then we would be good enough to compete for a title.
See this "4year" mistake a lot, he has a player option his 4th year, so he could be here only one more year after Lin & asik contract is up
I'm aware of the player options. However, that doesn't impact the CBA from restricting the team from signing more than one player to a 5 year contract, player option or not. The only way we get LBJ is either he takes 4 years next year, or waits for Harden to exercise his player option then we give the 5 year to LBJ.
I believe the answer to your question is no....we aren't competing this year. When asked, the Rockets have been clear about their goal for 2014....home court advantage. They haven't said "a championship" because they know we lack the right pieces. Morey said in an interview that teams tend to make mistakes where the Rockets are by overrating their talent and committing salary to complimentary players too early in the building phase. That tells me that the Rockets are going to be patient. They will try to add another significant player, AND THEN they will build the supporting cast. Either way, I agree with bbaholic that Lin and Asik will probably be gone at the trade deadline. Don't know if it will be for cap room in 2014 or 2015, but the goal will be to speed up the process of contending. In my ideal (but still realistic) world: 1) Lin and Asik are traded for Millsap and a pick at the 2014 trade deadline. 2) Using cap room, Papanikolaou is signed to a Parsons-like 4 year deal. 3) Parsons option is picked up, delaying his free agency until 2015. 4) Millsap, pick acquired in Asik/Lin trade, rockets own picks, and TJones are traded for Love at the 2015 trade deadline. 5) Parsons and Beverley are resigned using their Bird rights in 2015 6) Llull is signed using the MLE Beverley / Canaan Harden / Llull Parsons / Papanikolaou Love / Vet min (2Pat) Howard / Vet min
As far as Papanikolaou is concerned , he will not take the minimum.... Llull ... His team is 25-0 and they have good possibilities to win everything in Europe BUT i am not so sure that he will come for the MLE even if they win Euroleague. They are two of the best players in Europe and they don't seem so keen on leaving. P.S. I am sorry if i came off topic.
Who cares if we lose in the 1st round? That would make this season a failure. You don't make all these moves, just to be one and done. It won't be the end of the world, but definitely a failure of a season.
He is sarcastic. But This team as it is constructed , will not win anything. There are deficiencies which will be addressed but they will not be ready this season. I believe that Rockets will try this year but they will fall short.
