So if you throw in Anderson or Miles, you have now added approximately $15m to our payroll (and higher in subsequent years) while getting zero cap relief in exchange. Once you re-sign Yao to a max contract (and that's what it's going to take), we'd be in New York Knicks land. Les isn't going to agree to that, and he shouldn't.
Whoa, I missed that part! So after we take on $15 million in additional contracts and sign Yao to the max, we're going to spend our MLE on a player at the end of his career? Sign me up for Cat Financial Advisors!
The MLE is for 6-7 mill. Turkoglu, Fisher and Foyle signed 6 year/40mill deals for the Magic and Warriors. That was the mid level exception for all three.
macfan - I meant a starting salary of that. I should have clarified. imo, Miles would only be included if we are high on him and think he has a future. Otherwise, you're right; his contract is too long. Anderson, however, is a different story. The prevailing thought has long been if we can trade for Rahim, we can use the MLE on a wing player. But if you include Anderson in the Rahim package, perhaps we don't use the MLE at all. Perhaps Anderson becomes that wing we were looking for in players like Sprewell so we don't spend the MLE. For this year, Anderson's salary would be irrelevant as the total sum of players we'd give to Portland would have to be comparable to what we receive. Also, Yao's max extension won't kick in until the following year so we won't be in substantial luxury tax territory. After that? Anderson has one year remaining at about 9.5 mil. If you sign a wing player this summer (as most have suggested) to pair with Rahim, he'll be making about 5.5 mil in the second year of his MLE for a difference of about $4 million. This only applies for one year as Anderson's contract expires after the 06-07 season. If I'm Les Alexander, and Rahim is the guy I want (which we don't know, this is a hypothetical) and I think he can push me over the top, I don't think it's unrealistic to hope for him to spend $4 million more in one season to make that happen. I said in that post that this would only happen if Les is still willing to spend it. I do recognize, however, that this is unlikely given his history. Also, you can bet that any Sprewell deal would be extremely short-term.
Actually, I believe Yao would still resign even if he is offered something less than Max. We just need to look back at the Nike VS Reebok incident. Yao is always willing to give preference to his old organization/partner and accept less money, as long as both parties show sincerity in the negotiation. But, a classy franchise like Rockets will acknowledge the intangibles and commercial value of Yao and still offer him the max even if his stats haven't reach 20/10 by then.
I don't like Abdur-Rahim and (fortunately) I don't think VG does either. If POR is so wanting to "cleanse" itself and is as enamored with our picks for expiring contracts as has been expressed in the thread, I have a better idea. Since the Bucks are going to max Redd and they have no big men to speak of, have POR SnT Abdur-Rahim for $7m and send him to the Bucks. Have them send us Desmond Mason and we'll agree to accept Ruben Patterson for #24 and Spoon. 1) Sura / James / (IL- Mooch) 2) Mason / Wesley / Barry 3) TMac / Patterson / Bowen 4) Howard / Padgett / (IL - Baker) 5) Yao / Deke An athletic team team with a balance of young and old that can play half-court or uptempo, has a chip on it's shoulder and expiring contracts and a full MLE. Give Donyell Marshall (or Swift) the full MLE and forget you ever saw the letters S-A-R. EDIT: OOOOPS....Doesn't work capwise unless we can figure out how to send out 1 more expiring contract to MIL. The Bucks have cap space so it shouldn't be hard. We may have to mortgage part of the future but at least you know what you're getting with Mason and Patterson. #20+ picks? Not so easy to predict.
GATER, as a Rocket fan I love your moves. I think adding Mason/Patterson and then perhaps Marshall or Swift would be huge for this team! But I dont see the Bucks moving Mason in a SAR deal because the Bucks already have Joe Smith so the upgrade isnt too large there. And Mason is their starting SF. Other than Mason who do they have at SF? I dont see them moving him. But I would love to have him!
Desmond Mason is good. But we also need to get that SAR or Donyell or Swift too if we want to be better. Mason isn't the best shooter either..but much better defender. How old is he? And yeah I don't think Bucks want to trade him. Why don't you like Shareef?
The ONLY way I would take back a bad contract, or contracts, to land one player is if that one player is good enough to make us an elite team for years to come. Rahim doesn't fit the bill. He is a nice player but he doesn't make us a championship contender now or for the future. And, frankly, he doesn't give us much more than Howard does unless you talk about a few less years in age. JVG has been right all along saying we need a 'Charles Oakley' type of PF to compliment Yao – a banger, aggressive rebounder, someone with a little attitude. Rahim gives us none of that.
It is not inconceivable that SAR accepts a maxed out mid-level exception deal simmilar to Juwon Howard's contract in exchange for playing on a championship contender. That would not be an outrageous contract for a solid rebounder and third scoring option. We don't need him to be Tim Duncan. Pursuing SAR is worth a shot.
Problem is, I don't know what 4s are available that fit that description besides maybe Kurt Thomas. Denver ain't cutting loose KMart or Nene. Utah ain't gonna give us Boozer. Who is left in the Oakley/Maurice Lucas tradition?
I'd do that GATER deal eight days a week. Would add another pick to get it done. Des Mason = Our Josh Howard without the punk a$$ b*tchiness. Ruben Patterson is an accused felon. He'd rattle Bruce Bowen's pins then break his nose. Turn the MLE into Big Droopy... er Donyell Marshall. That's 3/8ths of a contending rotation.
I don't like the pt guard postion and JVG doesn't either. He has already stress the importance of improving the 1 position.
Patterson forced his babysitter to suck his dick. He pleaded down to a lesser sentence, but it's in the police reports. I would have a hard time being a Rockets fan if they had him. If you want a Blazer, see my sig.
