To be fair, im not well versed on the rules of buying a player out, but it's a simple question. If the Rockets wanted max cap space for next season, and because we were unable to trade either, why couldn't the Rockets buy out Lin and/or Asik, bite the bullet now, and sign a free agent?
We can. Do you have any money Les can borrow?. Here's the deal, Asik would love a buyout. Probably Lin too. They both get to go to one of our competitors on a team would probably guarantee them more minutes. The problem is it is the worse possible move we could make. It benefits the Rockets almost zilch. With the exception of creating a roster spot or 2 so we can see Camby and Mullens, We get nothing for Asik and Lin and we are still stuck with their salaries on the cap. That's right it helps us zilch with cap space this summer. If we want to trade for a player like Rondo we need to add Asik either directly or in a 3 party deal to match salaries. So trading Asik and Lin hurts more than helps for the future and finally whether you like them or not they are still helping the team.
Has a player ever been bought out with 1.5 years left on their current contract? I can't remember one of recent years but their is a less than 0% chance of it happening.
Why do you think the Knicks haven't bought out Amare Stoudemire and every other contract they don't want in order to create cap room yet?
When I saw this, I thought it was a joke thread, then I realized you are really clueless. Lin and Asik would most likely be starters on most teams. You want to buy out their final year balloon payments and let them walk for NOTHING??!!
I'm not sure if those of you ridiculing the OP realize this yourselves, but bought-out players still count against the cap.
Guys. overreact much? Maybe the OP was confused by the Luis Scola waiver under the amnesty clause provision, and did not realize amnesty was a one time thing. He mentioned he did not know the rules. Is it really necessary to crucify him like this?
Buyout is never a good solution unless the player refuses to play for the team or is just not serviceable. Neither Lin or Asik fit those criteria.
The real question is why did Ray Felton's arrest take place after the trade deadline? The Knicks would have really sweetened the deal to get Lin and/or Asik. Actually, with Morey's awareness of how this offense operates, the question should be: What part of Jeremy Lin's game did Morey think would translate well to the Moreyball offense? To a degree to offer a contract that was deemed too prohibitive by Lin's existing team? Lin's three point shot wasn't good enough to perform well in this offense (and it still isn't), and he only made layups because the defenders also had to worry about his midrange game (which is muzzled under Moreyball).......... Asik is a good fit for the defense.... But apparently, and defense-only big is not enough...... I personally think it would be a mistake for the Rox to dump Asik. He seems to have finally gotten over his demotion to the bench.
It has been discussed lots. In summary, cos Morey offered him 3 years and Dragic wanted a 4th player option year. Plus, Dragic was playing nowhere near as good as he is now. Of course, in hindsight, I should have put the house on the Seahawks.