If you go to Hoopshype's Rockets salary page, you see that they have Rockets at $64,187,905. However, they haven't counted the contracts of Scola and Francis yet. If you factor them in, that will put the payroll to about $70 million. The luxury tax threshold for this year is set to be $67,865,000. We will be clearly over the threshold, and we haven't counted Deke's possible signing yet. With salary matching in trades, I don't see how Les can avoid paying the luxury tax this year. He's been avoiding paying the tax for years, and he even traded Glen Rice and draft picks for that purpose. Unless Les is reallying paying the tax this year, I think some sort of payroll cutting moves are coming up. Deke won't be signed, and some players will be traded to under-the-cap teams like the Bucks, the Bobcats or the Grizzlies for nothing. I just hope we don't have to package future draft picks or sell out like the Spurs did.
Sura's contract can be completely taken off via a medical retirement. He qualified for that nearly 2 years ago. Novak & Lucas have minimum salaries which can be moved to any team without taking anything back using the minimum salary exception (no trade exceptions are generated) Landry is unsigned and his draft right scould be packaged in a trade. There are possible scenarios where Alston's contract can be packaged or not to take back significantly less salary. Ideally the Bobcats would want him. That'd make things a whole lot easier. GSW have a TE and still need more frontcourt help. Maybe Reed could be dangled their way.
(League officials said the tax level for the upcoming season will be $67.9 million, meaning any team whose salary exceeds that figure will have to pay a so-called luxury tax. Teams whose salary exceeds $67.9 million will pay a $1 tax for each $1 it goes over the amount.) http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=f78b9dbd-fcd8-4c7e-b9f8-aff71f34c1d5&k=87055
I heard we are $9M over the cap right now and that's without Deke, Hayes, Landry or Jake signed. Sura gets us 3.8 but we have a long way to go after that - especially if we sign any of the 4 aformentioned. Seems unless we trade at least 1 relatively large salary for a TE we will be hard pressed to get under it.
The cap is not the problem, only the luxury tax would be (for Les). If we were 9 M over the cap, we would actually be under the luxury tax level.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Luxery Tax isn't calculated until the END of the season ...not the beginning ...because it's based on revenues from the season itself. So we still have the rest of the summer, fall, winter and spring before any of the aformentioned moves need to occur to get us below the luxery cap. Given that we've got like 20 guys under contract, we obviously are going to make more moves. So it's premature to speculate about our luxery tax situation.
The tax level is actually determined BEFORE the season, but I believe you are correct insofar as whether a team has to pay the luxury tax or not depends on the team's salary level on the last day of the season. So, yes, I think we would have all season to get under the (already fixed) level.
That's completely not true. Sura's contract can be taken off the cap next yea only because its partially guaranteed. Any medical reason forcing a player to retire does not nullify it from the cap. If they were able to do that, then the magic would have forced grant hill to retire.
You are wrong. How do retired players count against the cap? Any money paid to a player is included in team salary, even if the player has retired. For example, James Worthy retired in 1994, two years before his contract ended. He continued to receive his salary for the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons, so his salary was included in the Lakers' team salary in those seasons. It is at the team's discretion (or as the result of an agreement between the team and player) whether to continue to pay the player after he has retired. There is one exception whereby a player can continue to receive his salary, but the salary is not included in the team's team salary. This is when a player is forced to retire for medical reasons and a league-appointed physician confirms that he is medically unfit to continue playing. There is a waiting period of one year following the injury or illness before a team can apply for this salary cap relief. If the waiting period expires mid-season (on any date prior to the last day of the regular season), then the player's entire salary for that season is removed from the team's team salary. For example, in March 2003 the Knicks were allowed to remove Luc Longley's entire 2002-03 salary from their books (and since the luxury tax is based on the team salary as of the last day of the regular season, the Knicks avoided paying any tax on Longley's salary). This provision can also be used when a player dies while under contract. Teams are not allowed to trade for disabled players and then apply for this salary cap relief. Only the team for which the player was playing when he was disabled may request this relief. If a player retires, even for medical reasons, his team does not receive a salary cap exception to acquire a replacement player. http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#16
IIRC, only $1 million of Sura's contract is guaranteed. So only $1 mil of the approx. $4 mil would be counted if he is waived. I was thinking yesterday that that might be enough to bring us below the LT, but I'm not sure. I wonder how much we would resign Chucky for? I think our only options are (1) sign him to 175% of last year's salary using the Early Bird exception, or (2) sign him using the bi-annual exception which I think is about $1.8 mil. Any thoughts?
No way is cheap azzzz Les paying luxury tax..wait till all the trades and waivers are over and you'll see with Moreyball...that the tax issue will be a non issue.
