Once or IF the Rockets get a 3rd max salary on their books like Melo, they will be judging the amount they can afford to give Parsons in free agency next Summer based on where the luxury tax is. (81 million in 2015/16 projected) If you factor in Melo, Harden & Howard's salary + Jones, D-Mo, Canaan, and about 5 to 7 million in additional salary for incoming rookies, vet min players, empty roster charges etc. you are looking to be somewhere between 70 and 72 million dollars in salary going into that Summer. The luxury tax line is projected to be 81 million that 2015/16 season. My guess is Morey & the front office guys are thinking that if they can get a max type of player this Summer than they have a good shot at offering Parsons a contract that fits in their budget of staying under the lux tax in 2015/16 and have a good chance at Parsons agreeing to stay at that rate as well. If he leaves for more than the Rockets can afford than so be it. You got a bargain rate for a solid player for 4 seasons. If Parsons was to leave, they have their full MLE to offer a replacement player. If Parsons gets an offer he can't refuse, maybe you see a Ron Artest for Ariza type of deal that gets the Rockets back a solid replacement. Where does that leave Parsons???..... it leaves him playing for the Rockets one last year on the final year of his rookie deal going into the Summer hoping to get a nice pay day from probably another team. If the Rockets have a comparable offer who knows.... maybe he stays to be part of something special for 7 to 10 million a year, or whatever the Rockets can afford to stay under the luxury tax.
He would also put pressure on more traditional bigs to play a higher level of D, especially in the West with the likes of Griffin, Aldridge, and Duncan. His quickness and stretch shooting will definitely help counter the lack of defense he provides at that position.
The new tv deal is about this time isn't it? That'll send the cap and tax lines way north as they tend to be front loaded.
1. 150% rule only applies on outgoing salary up to $9.8 million for teams under the luxury tax. 2. +$5 million rule apples for teams under the luxury tax cap (after the trade) for outgoing salaries of $9.8 to $19.6 million. 3. 125% rule apples for outgoing salary amounts totaling over $19.6 million or for teams who will be in the luxury tax after a trade. ========================= While technically we could execute 2 separate trades of Lin and Asik using the 150% rule.....it is going to be virtually impossible to do that way with the Knicks because of the way their salaries are structured. You cannot combine 2 separate 150% salaries into one 150% salary to trade for Melo and someone else. To trade for Melo in a sign-and-trade, if he signs a contract starting at say $21 million, we will most likely use the +$5 million rule using Asik/Lin's contracts. That would then leave us with Jones, Casspi, Powell, and possibly some combination of DMo/Covington, etc. plus our MLE to take back salary. Once again.....if we have to take back salary to get PJax to do a S&T then PJax is most likely going to want to get rid of J.R. Smith. We could cobble together enough salary using the guys I listed above to do that but that would be foolish on our part. Because if we can find takers for Lin, Asik, DMo, Jones, #25 in trades, then we can carve out a little over $20 million of salary cap space to sign Melo outright without having to take on any other salary. So why would we trade all those guys for Smith's crap contract if we can move out Asik/Lin/DMo/Jones and sign Melo outright? That's when the give and take comes out. We send them a prospect (Jones) and possibly the #25 pick....in exchange for them buying out Smith and us signing him to the MLE. They buy out Smith, he releases them from the 2015-16 option, we sign him to the MLE and now the only bad contract they've got on the books for 15-16 is Felton. We give Smith the MLE for one season 14-15 guaranteed with non-guaranteed season (or small minimum salary guarantee to make him whole in 15-16) after that. You split the difference. We help PJax clean up the Knicks cap for 15-16. He's now got a bunch of youngsters, plus a possible lottery pick for 15-16 plus Asik/Lin's birds rghts if he wants them (or he could flip them at the trade deadline for more picks)....plus cap space to bring in a headliner (or possibly 2 headliners) in 2015-16. ***** I believe the following will unfold with the minor parts possibly being scrambled differently if: 1. Melo opts out and states clearly he wants Houston and Morey wants Melo. 2. PJax can see that we are going to be able to find a taker for Lin's contract. <--------------(This is the whole key to our off season superstar acquisition possibilities.) 3. Love doesn't state he wants Houston either before or during this process. Because if Love says he wants Houston I'm pretty sure Morey will work like a dog to acquire him (without giving up Parsons), even if it means giving away #25, 2016 first, 2018 first, and first round pick swap rights in 2015, 2017, 2019.
Melo is a beast in the thick of his prime. He's hungry to win (we'll see how much) and has shown that he can adapt his game. He will be a good fit in Houston.
Thanks for clearing that up. The trade I had in mind when thinking about this was the Joe Johnson to Brooklyn deal. I was thinking that would have been similar financially but I guess I was wrong about where Brooklyns cap was at.
Which is another reason for Morey to take the gamble that they could work out a deal with Parsons next Summer and still stay around or right under the lux tax. However, Larry Coon has already presumed the number to be 81 for 2015/16, and he could very well already be considering raises due to a new TV deal in his estimate.
Melo is an undersized Power Forward. Morey's favorite build. LoveMelo2Houston Trade Parsons Asik and Lin. Let's have a big 5. Beverly Harden Anthony Love Howard SCORING MACHINE.
This just in: Dwight Howard and Patrick Beverley die of heart attacks after trying to compensate for Harden, Anthony and Love's defensive mistakes.
Howard, Harden and Melo will never work. They all need and want the ball. My money will be Melo and Howard gets majority of touches and Harden is a spot up shooter.
When you watch Melo in an all star game or Olympics, it's easy to see that he is capable of being a leading scorers without dominating the ball.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=omYzzzaPv18 We don't have that type of player on this tea, I'm all for it. Also he is stupidly clutch.
Agree on everything except Smith. We will have gapping holes at backup center and point guard, plus I imagine Morey wants to bring Kostas Papanikolaou over this summer. We can't afford to use up our MLE (even for one year) on bench wing scoring. I'd rather see us throw in another asset or just eat one of their salaries (Smith or Felton). Something like... Melo + Smith for Asik + Lin + TJones + DMo + Casspi + Powell or Melo + Felton for Asik + Lin + TJones + Casspi + Powell or Melo for Asik + Lin + TJones + 2014 Pick
man, i really hope we keep parsons. if carmelo can have the same role as he did in the olympics (spot up shooter), we would be so amazing on offense. just have harden/dwight post or go inside, and dish it out to an actually reliable shooter, what more can i say?