Props to Derek Anderson... sort of

Jailblazers will owe him nearly 10 million this upcoming season.

 

Props my a**, thats a nice unemployment check, plus I think he's still getting money from Portland when he was cut under the amnesty rule and what was his buyout from Houston. Getting paid by three teams for not working, sweet.

 

We turned old and busted Derek Anderson into new hotness Kirk Snyder? Brilliant!

Somebody send CD to Vegas while he's still hot.

 

i thought we got snyder for a 2nd rounder?

 

Conditional Second Round. The hornets can choose to swap the 2nd round picks with us..but we are probably getting a lower pick.

 

Yes, and the Rockets also needed the Trade Exception from the Anderson trade because they were over the cap (New Orleans didn't want to take back any salary). But then again, the Rockets are most likely going to let their $4.2 million TE expire (how did they get that one anyways), so I guess the one from Anderson might not have been necessary.

 

That's the TE from the Moochie trade (that got Maciej Lampe), and it will last until next year's trade deadline. Maybe a target will emerge sometime during the season.

 

Wouldn't it be a no brainer for the Nuggets to pick him up on the cheap? DA ain't the best shooter out there, but he'd certainly help.

 

I thought that about him last year for the Rockets, but he certainly proved me wrong.

 

After what happened in Houston and Miami, any team paying DA more than the miniumum is out of their mind. He's barely running on fumes, plus he demands minutes. Maybe someone will pick him up later this year after an injury.

 

This is a myth that needs to be cleared up.

The luxury tax limit for this season is $65.42 million.
(The Knicks -allan houston are going to pay $55 million in luxury tax alone when the season is over )
The Rockets currently have $62.476316 million tied up this year (63.976316 if Charlie Ward still counts...which I'm not sure of). That means they either have $2.943684 million left before hitting the tax or $1.443684 million left before hitting the tax.

There's an article in GARM posted about a week ago quoting Les Alexander will NOT go over the luxury tax limit UNLESS it is for a star player (I interpret this as someone that the staff feels will get them over the hump to win the title). One must remember that ALL teams who DO NOT go over the Luxury Tax limit receive a REFUND of sorts (the luxury tax money that rich teams pay goes to the other teams that are not over). So not only does using the $4.2 TE put the Rockets into LT land for this year, but if you look at their current salaries, it is obvious that they are set up to be able to use their FULL MLE next off-season AND another FULL MLE in 2 years without going over the expected luxury tax levels. That means they are banking on Mutumbo's contract expiring and Sura's contract expiring in 2 years, and even Bowen's contract ending.

If they add salary to their current set up, no only does it possibly screw them this year for the luxury tax, but it screws them next year, and the next year and so on.

So in my opinion, UNLESS they can move some player salaries or UNLESS they're getting a star in return, the Rockets will not use their traded player exception.

 

Thanks for clarifying the Ward thing.

Using that hoopshype page you cite, the Rockets have $58,761,316 committed this year. Subtract Ward's $1.5 mill and you got $57,261,316. Then you have to add $3.1 million for the Novak, JL3, VSpan stuff, so that makes $60,361,316.

Okay, I see what happened. I double counted Bonzi's salary because I was using an old spread sheet that didn't have Bonzi's $ but used the current hoopshype figure.

The Sura thing is all up in the air. If he retired now, would his 1 yr waiting period be met yet for relief? If Sura retires (for medical reasons) AND the Rockets APPLY to get his salary off the books AND the NBA grants the permission....then that would be HUGE!

Because if the Rockets can use their $4.2 this year, it might have to be for an expiring contract because even if they don't go over this year's luxury tax (assuming they don't take on extra salary by signing other players over Sura and Bowen) they will be at around $62 million committed to next year (assuming team options on Head and Snyder are taken, and that Chuckie is re-signed for $1.5 million). A lot depends on how much they re-sign Chuck for, so vary your figures depending on that.

The luxury tax next year is around $69 million estimated (could be higher or lower depending on how much money the league makes this year). With all these variables, it's a fair estimate that the Rockets will have around $7 million to play with next year before going over the luxury tax limit. The Full Mid-Level Exception will be estimated to be about $5.5 million next year.

So if the Rocket's used their TE this year and acquired a contract lasts longer than 1 year, then they wouldn't be able to use their FULL MLE next year to sign someone like re-signing Bonzi Wells or going after MoPete or something.

So all in all, you were correct with the figures. But my point still holds water for next year. There are so many variables, but using the TE makes things much more difficult than planned. IF Sura's last 2 years of his contract can be voided from the cap and Luxtax figures, then that changes the whole picture.

As for now, it does look like the Rockets can add on salary this year (an expiring contract) and not go over the LTax....we'll see what happens.