Can we afford to pay luxury tax? Rox 5th most profitable team in the NBA (article)

It doesn't work that way, Ehsan. You can't just sign anyone you want because you have the money...there's this thing called a salary cap. All we get is a $5 million mid-level exception every year, and a $2 million lower level exception every other year. Neither of those is going to land you a top-notch player. As far as this year is concerned anyway, our MLE is already pretty much gone (that's what we used to sign Spanoulis and Lucas).

If you want a superstar and you're over the salary cap, you have to trade.

 

I don't think it's an issue of profit.

It's value.

 

Les will not go over the salary cap. He has said it plenty of times so forget about it...

 

Assuming that the incredibly improbable sequence of trades you are proposing was even plausible.

Why in the hell would you want to start shuffling out key members of your rotation mid-season at a point where you've just finished the toughest part of your schedule on a strong note and are poised to make a deep run in the playoffs? The NBA isn't some kind of plug-and-play board game, you know.

 

i always wondered how the knicks do it????
besides stupidity, but how can it be legal for them to be so far over the cap

 

that's forbes' valuation of the franchise, nothing to do with profitability.

 

They do it by stupid trades. You know ... bunch of #1 picks and an expiring contract for Eddy Curry, Penny's expiring contract for Francis, etc. etc.

And also, Allan Houston is *STILL* one of the highest paid players in the NBA.

 

Rockets will be top 3 after we win the championship this year

 

Les has said that he'd be willing to go into Lux tax territory if the right player came along (probably a star/all-star caliber player).

 

You guys arent giving management enough credit, theyve done the best job possible with the assets available to them, BUT where theyve struggled is in the draft department, countless mistakes have cost them assets. Thats on scouting not Business expenses.

 

They signed their own players to large contracts based on the Larry Bird rule. Allan Houston is still on their payroll. He was waived, when the luxury tax relief rule allowed you to waive one player but keep paying them.

That's why they call it the Allan Houston rule.

 

Actually they called it the Allan Houston rule but it was never actually used to wave Allan Houston. The Knicks released Junkyard Dog, and Allan Houston eventually retired, hell come off the books after 2 years of inactivity

 

You mean the luxury tax.

 

Who cares what the payroll is?

I can't think of one disgruntled vet who the Rockets could get that would be feasible to attain and be a good fit for the team.

I wish we could just sign Kobe to any deal he wants as a FA. Unfortunately, we can't. So what more do you want?

 

Luxary Tax is affordable but not necessary nor easy to get to. Trades and everything aren't just going to put you into that. You can overpay a player you have (Like Dallas with Josh Howard and a bunch of guys), but there are alot of regulations to get over the salary cap. The Rockets are JUST FINE leave it alone. Obviously if we can trade for a quality PG then do it, but no need to go crazy and go after someone really expensive like JKidd, just so we can inflate our payroll.

 

Unlike the NFL, the NBA's salary cap is a soft cap. That means that it isn't a hard and fast line that can't ever be exceeded. The NBA allows "exceptions" which makes it possible for teams to exceed the usual cap rules.

A simple example is the previously mentioned Larry Bird rule. That rule says that if a player hasn't been waived or signed as a free agent for three seasons, then when his contract expires his team can resign him for any amount allowed, regardless of whether or not the team is over the cap.

 

It is a myth that somehow luxury tax is taboo.

Frankly the CBA is at limits playe salary to 53%. IF you compare that to a typical service oriented consulting business for example- you will be thrilled to have such a cost structure.

Sure you pay dollar for dollar tax- meaning if you are over by say 5 million, you end up shelling out 10 Million.

If you are in a large enough Market ( TV)- and you build a winning track record with a loyal fan base and get to the conference finals- you will more than make up for that money.

And most "losses" are tax write off. You really think Dolan and Cuban are nuts to be so much over the cap consistently!