Avery Johnson Believes We Have A Great Chance For LeBron

Lowry's $2.9 qualifying offer doesn't count towards total team salary. He has a 6.1mil cap hold. There's another 800k for Budinger, so you got $40.5 mil. There is another roster charge of about $400k, since the signed roster is 11 players. That's $47 mil in team salary and roster charges. That leaves $10 million.

 

Yes, but also remember by opting out Yao becomes a FA also. The guy is loyal and has been loyal, I don't see the Rockets screwing him telling him to opt out for more cap space then lowballing him...after all they do that they don't resign Yao and Lebron wouldn't sign either.

The purpose of Yao opting out is to resign him and give him a better shot at winning. Yao really wants a ring just as much as anyone in the NBA and Yao even doubts publicly how much time he has left on his career.

 

I wonder why it is so difficult for many people on this board to fathom the idea of someone, like Lebron James, to take less money to play somewhere next year. Moreover, whatever he ends up making to play basketball will not compare to what he will make in endorsements and whatnot. Additionally, I think that becoming the first "billionnaire" anything will be less about what one does (work wise) and more about what they do with their money (in terms of investments). There are lots of ways to make money.

 

Who in their right mind really believes LeBron will really go to whatever team has the best chance of winning consistently?

LeBron hates Houston. LeBron won't go to a team where he is not the primary option.

Essentially that means the following teams are immediately ruled out:
LA
Boston
San Antonio
Dallas
Houston
Portland

That doesn't factor in location, cap, or anything else. Most likely LeBron will stay in Cleveland. He's not lying when he says he doesn't need a max contract, but LeBron coming to Houston is as likely as Michael Jordan coming to Houston after his contracts lapsed with Chicago. True, MJ had rings with the bulls, but still.

A better thread would be can Chris Bosh come to the rox?

 

Wait...What?

You're saying if Lebron came here he WOULDN'T be the first option?

Who is? Brooks or Yao? Who on this team is better than Lebron?

 

LeBron would make a killing joining the Rockets because of the Chinese market. Would only help him to his billionaire goal.

 

Not to mention why people can't comprehend that money is the last thing on his mind right now. He could very well sign here for cheap a season or two, then decide it's time for a max offer in another season if winning is more important as he claims. Making statement like becoming the first sports billionaire is pretty nieve.

 

There is always resigning Tmac for less and Yao for less and giving one last go with an extremely deep team that could rest them and play them only 29 minutes each. Landry, Budinger, and Ariza could all develop into go to players along with yet another chance for Morey to strike another first rounder or trade up for the top picks. Some of you are so negative in tone you sound hopeless to your own team yet there are alot of options for the Rockets to be Champions as early as next year. You know winning organizations fans always say they can get someone and keep repeating it until others beleive it to. The Lakers are saying right now. Their fans that they can get Lebron for peanuts. The Patriots and Cowboys always say hey can get people or that people should go there to win a Championship. We should too from now on. Bosh should come here to win a Championship. He can win one here. See how easy that was?

 

Well I agree with you totally that most likely we should go after Bosh as he is the likeliest to come here. On that one point that is. Lebron already stated Championships is his biggest concern and not money. He would make money here too eventually after he signs a 1 year deal then reups for the Max after winning his Championship with us that he will next year.

 

James is a better player than Wade, but I prefer to take Wade to build the team simply because Wade has a tougher mindset, which is why he get one ring.

 

Wade is older and also has more injuries...but i'd settle for Wade

Lebron is apparently built like Wolverine. He's only missed 20 games his career.

 

Rockets4279, I think we are saying two different things.

If the Rockets could TRADE all of those players for Lebron James, I would do it in a heartbeat.

But to have to first dump all of those players, only for the CHANCE at Lebron (which would not even be that great a chance), I don't make those moves. The risk (VERY high) is not worth the reward (high but highly unlikely).

 

We don't have the money for him or L.James. I do agree that Wade is mentally stronger than him.

 

If you were to get rid of Lowry, Scola, Brooks, Pops, Cook, T-Mac, and Brent Barry, that leaves you with a roster of 10 people. There's still 2 roster charges for have only 10 players before signing Lebron. Roster charges are equal to rookie minimum 473,604.

The team salary is $44.7, unless you get rid of Chuck Hayes and Dorsey also. That only frees up $2.3 mill, because the roster size is down to 8 players and the salary to $43.4 mil with a salary cap of $53.6mil(best case scenario). That's still only $10mil for Lebron to sign with a gutted team with Yao and Landry playing 48 min/game, unless Yao gets in foul trouble. Then you have Andersen and Landry playing. If Landry is in foul trouble or is being manhandled. It's Battier at PF. LOL.

Code:

Roster Count	Player  	2010-11  	running total
0	Tracy McGrady 	  	$0.00
1	Yao Ming 	$17,686,100.00	$17,686,100.00
2	Shane Battier 	$7,354,500.00	$25,040,600.00
3	Trevor Ariza 	$6,322,320.00	$31,362,920.00
0	Brian Cook 	$0.00	$31,362,920.00
0	Luis Scola 	$0.00	$31,362,920.00
4	Carl Landry 	$3,000,000.00	$34,362,920.00
5	David Andersen 	$2,500,000.00	$36,862,920.00
6	Chuck Hayes 	$2,301,250.00	$39,164,170.00
0	Brent Barry* 	$0.00	$39,164,170.00
0	Kyle Lowry 	$0.00	$39,164,170.00
7	Aaron Brooks 	$2,016,692.00	$41,180,862.00
8	Joey Dorsey 	$947,140.00	$42,128,002.00
0	Pops Mensah-Bonsu 	$0.00	$42,128,002.00
9	Jermaine Taylor 	$810,000.00	$42,938,002.00
10	Chase Budinger 	$783,000.00	$43,721,002.00
11	Rookie Minimum	$473,604.00	$44,194,606.00
12	Rookie Minimum	$473,604.00	$44,668,210.00
	TOTAL 	$44,668,210.00	$44,668,210.00

This is the team Lebron wants to play for to get a championship? It literally has no backup PF/C to speak off. Yao and Landry play 40 minutes a game with 16 minutes for Andersen.

Code:

1st team 2nd team
C Yao Andersen
PF Landry none
SF Lebron Battier
SG Ariza    Budinger
PG Brooks  Lebron

 

You definitely do the signing for Lebron if you want irreplaceable talent.

But would Lebron still consider the team contender, with Yao and Landry as PF/C and Brooks as the sole players at their positions. There is no allowing for foul trouble with an 8 man roster and no backup PF/C/PG. If Yao gets into foul trouble, it's a 7 man team with less talent than the Cavaliers. Hell it has less talent than the lottery teams. Would Lebron still want to sign with us? Could we make it with Landry at C and Battier at PF for 48 minutes a game, if Yao misses 2-3 months to injury?

 

i am sure if there is any realistic chance morey will find a way, i mean he is the biggest name out there so i can see us putting an offer out there just to see, but i wouldn't count on it, he wants a title, but he wants a contract too, no matter what you hear, no one is going to turn away 30 mil for 10 mil

 

This post makes me believe you are not a Rockets fan. Has no backup center? We havent been watching Chuck Hayes have we to go with Anderson? You go over the salary cap to resign Lowry or the guy we had in preseason at point behind them or draft one. Nobody said we would have to go over the cap to field a contender like the Magic has. Some of you are even not taking us going over the cap into account as well to resign our backups or one or two of them.

 

Wait... why would money be the last thing on his mind?

 

Hoopshyp does not include Lowry's cap hold and Chuck's team option in the calculations. You mentioned $39.66 mil, so I assumed you were getting rid of them.

If you add the $6.1 cap hold for Lowry and $2.3 mil salary for chuck. That brings your team salary up to $48 mil team salary with a $53.6 salary cap. That's only 5.6 mil to sign Lebron James.

 

Ok get rid of them and then bring in the Vets minum players to replace them after you sign Lebron and go over the cap to get them here. You would only be sacrificing a few million over the cap if you let them go and replaced them with stiff X and stiff 0 to replace them which is ok to field a team with Lebron to sacrifice our backups for stiffs. Thats would still leave you the drafted player unless you also traded him away to make room. Then Yao, Andersen, Landry, his stiff minumum backup, Lebron, Battier, Ariza, Budinger, Brooks, and Brooks stiff minum over the luxury tax backup. You have a contender better than the team you have today sacrificing quality backups, one starter, one hurt player for Lebron and stiff backups to replace the losses and that team would still be better no matter who X was that replaced scola for minimum and who 0 was who replaced Lowry and we never play Tmac for a full year so that is a plus anyways.