I'm not that upset if he joins the Kings. My concern is that he'll join a contender. Would prefer to have Smith back over Jones, but for that to happen we have to trade for a PG. Morey could surprise us by trading K-Pap, Jones, Prigioni and maybe a pick or two for a PG. Then we re-sign Smith to one year full MLE, landing us his bird rights next summer. To be honest, even if we just bring Smith back and sign Stuckey, this is a better roster than we had all of last season: Howard/Capela D-Mo/Smith/Jones Ariza/K-Pap/Dekker Harden/Brewer/Nick Johnson Beverley/Stuckey/Terry/Prigioni That's a really really deep team, better than last season. The only problem with this team is that it needs a guy off the bench who can create points for himself and others for 20-30 minutes a game and maybe Stuckey can be that guy if things fall into place perfectly. Maybe if we have a stroke of luck and don't face any major injuries, it's enough to win the title.
Him going to the Kings wouldn't surprise me one bit. Last time in free agency he went to a terrible situation because they offered the most money. I will never blame a guy for taking the most money, but he will have no room to complain when it becomes Detroit 2.0. I would still like him back, but losing him would be no big deal either. Just too inconsistent. He is either awesome or abysmal, and it seems like there were a few more abysmals than awesomes.
If smoove leaves, I wish him all the best. I want him back, but if he heads to the kings, we should seriously look at signing David West. He's already stated he wants to play for a contender, he would be an excellent addition. Sign West and Stuckey or trade for Lawson/Collison and that's a team you can go to war with.
West opted out of a 11 mil deal. I doubt he would play for the MLE. When players state contender they still want to get paid somewhat. He's talking to the CAvs now. Even if he goes for vet minimum I think he would choose the east over the west.
Exactly. He opted out of 12 million. Which shows money is not the be all end all for him right now. He also stated initially he was interested in signing with the warriors. I'm no Bimathug but I don't see how Cleveland can offer West anymore than we can. Please correct me if I am wrong about that. Bottom line is the dude wants to win a ring, money isn't his first priority.
I am under the impression that signing Smith to the full MLE will cut into his stretch Detroit money. Is this correct? If not, he could end up with a fairly significant amount of 10 M plus.
These are the important numbers regarding Josh's salary: If Sacramento offers him $7 million a season: Detroit - $5.4 million League Minimum - $1,499,187 Example Sacramento offer - $7 million Offset equals $7,000,000 - 1,499,187 / 2 or $2,649,593 Detroit owes $5,400,000 - $2,649,593 or $2,750,407 So his salary after the offset: Detroit - $2,750,407 Sacramento - $7,000,000 Total - $9,750,407 Houston's offer of $2.49 million this season: Detroit - $5.4 million League Minimum - $1,499,187 Example Sacramento offer - $2.49 million Offset equals $2,490,000 - 1,499,187 / 2 or $$495,407 Detroit owes $5,400,000 - $495,407 or $4904,593 Salary after offset: Detroit - $4,904,593 Houston - $2,490,000 Total Salary - $7,394,593 So in that scenario Josh would leave about 2.4 million on the table to stay with Houston.
I've never been confident he would come back and leave any money on the table. really hope houston fans don't boo him when we play him if he goes to sac town, he was willing to come off the bench last year and share the ball more.
How much money can Sacramento even offer him after spending $17 million+ on Rondo and Koufus? They can't have that much cap room left, and I wouldn't think it would be much more than the Rockets full MLE they can offer. I'm worried Morey will play hardball with Smoove and end up losing him because he won't offer the full MLE. Smoove leaving would make Houston's PF rotation a hell of a lot less attractive. And David West is already receiving offers from San Antonio, Cleveland and Washington, so I doubt he's a realistic option at this point.
More money + opportunity to play with another of his friends, Rondo - fully expect him to be a King. I believe they will have the cap room once they complete the Landry/Thompson trade to sign Smith outright to basically any # he's looking for (<$13-15 MM which he wouldn't get anywhere). I'd be willing to dip into the MLE to keep Smoove, especially if it looks like Stuckey will sign elsewhere. With Stuckey we'd have nice balance between the 1 & 4 spots, and with Smoove we'd have the flexibility to make trades for a backup guard upgrade. Personally, I wish we would have grabbed Watson with the MLE before the Magic scooped him up.
