Its an easy question to answer-.... and the answer is NO. Even if you trade Asik and Lin for NO SALARY in return, waive all non-guaranteed contracts (about 44 to 45 million guaranteed on 2014/15 salary with salary cap currently at 60 million) you are still about 9 million shy of the cap space you would need to sign Melo in free agency and stay within his salary range he's going to command. Taking less money and restructuring Howard and Harden's contracts is an option, but not a very smart one financially for H&H, and extremely difficult to accomplish with the litigation needed & overcoming CBA rules. Point being.... Melo to the Rockets would have only happened under a trade where you are allowed to take on 150% of the salary going out as long as you are under the lux tax. Melo is not coming to the Rockets in free agency nor does it look like NYK will be open to taking back a boatload of salary as well to accommodate a S&T.
So I have a question on a hypothetical scenario that would help me understand the cap better. Theoretically, could you sign a Carmelo for the league minimum for one year so that he fits under the cap and then once he is on your team could you sign him to a max contract with the only repercussion being the luxury tax?
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/lupica-melo-run-article-1.1616042 http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/sto...ess-money-free-agency-re-sign-new-york-knicks http://sports.yahoo.com/news/anthon...lYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1NNRTM5OV8x ^^^ for those who dont know melo came out and said allstar break he was willing to take less next year from the knicks if thats what it takes to get talent around him by opting out his contract and then resign . He wants them to find him other players who can help him win a ring. Problem is even if he takes less they don’t have room to sign other star players. So basically hes leaving. Love and Bosh will probably want MAX so actually melo is morey’s chance to get a star player on a decent contract. & he just so happens to play PF our weakest spot in the starting lineup. I think melo would be great here he shoots alot in NY but look who he plays with ? bargs, shumpert, felton, amare. He is actually a good rebounder this year and has a big body to hang with most PFs, His D at SF is bad because like harden he doesn’t do good chasing players around but he has solid post defense. 2013-2014 $21,388,953 2014-2015 -$23,333,404 Player option
Melo controls his destiny. If he wants to come here....it will get done.....unless.....somebody else wants to come here also and we want the other player over Melo. We should quit viewing our situation as "not having cap space". While that is true we do have 2 expiring contracts plus young talent, plus picks. That is more than enough to turn the tide and convince a team to sign and trade their superstar player to us that is walking. Why? Well, when push comes to shove we can create the cap room to sign Melo outright. Asik is trade-able. He could have already been moved. That isn't going to change over the next few months. Instead of getting a first round pick for trading Asik to another team we can attach Jeremy Lin, $3.3 million, and a pick or young player to Asik and send him out in that package. That's like $18 million of cap space needed. Hinkie is sitting on $30 million next season and probably no way to lure any max players into that cap space. He can take on Lin's expiring along with the cash and if he wants to flip Lin at the trade deadline himself for possibly a youngster or simply an expiring and a pick. We have a team that is attractive to other players. And all the best players know we want to add a 3rd superstar. Instead of worrying about how we're going to create cap space, we should probably be making a list of players that are free agents that want to come here and which ones do we prefer. Because the odds are MORE THAN ONE max free agent player is going to want to come and play here with James, Dwight, and Chandler next season. Here's the list of pending unrestricted superstar free agents or superstars/stars going into their last seasons who could be sending the signal to their teams that they ain't coming back after next season: 1. Lebron 2. Bosh 3. Love 4. Aldridge 5. Nowitzki 6. Melo 7. Millsap 8. Rondo That's 8 players in their primes with 7 of them being max free agents and one of them (Millsap) still being a great fit. Will all 8 of those guys opt out and leave? Probably not. But isn't it realistic to expect that at least half of them are going to opt out and look around? And isn't it realistic that this list of guys are looking for winning teams, winning cultures, and the opportunity to win a championship or more? And isn't it realistic that when these guys look around at teams that they could become a part of and thrust that team into championship status that the Rockets are going to be on the short, short list at or very close to the top? You can talk about the Lakers and Celtics all day long. But those teams aren't going to be viable for several years. Lakers know it. They know they're dead next year. EVEN if they sign Lebron they won't be able to put together enough ancillary parts to win anything next year. Lebron knows that too. But guys like Lebron, Bosh, Love, Aldridge, etc., can look at our situation and see the possibilities. And those guys realize that once we get our 3rd piece the opportunity to join us on a max deal is gone. They know we're looking for one 3rd big piece. Because we've already got our 4th big piece (Chandler). And we've already got our 5th piece (Beverley). So, it's not about having cap space or being able to attract these guys any longer. It's a matter of waiting until we get the piece we want. The only other factor is what other teams can do. Miami could add a FOURTH piece IF they can get Wade to opt out and accept a 1-yr minimum salary deal or they can get all 3 guys to opt out and accept $14 million per season deals. Could that happen????? I dunno. But Pat Riley is as good as it gets in this game. He might be able to convince them to opt out and take one-year deals at a lower salary to slide another max guy in with them and then re-up all 3 next year for 5 more years. I don't know. But that's the biggest threat I see on the horizon. A championship team with money to burn...adding a 4th max contract. If anybody could do it....Riley could. But being able to fit a guy in next year....not a problem. We've got the assets to move out both Asik and Lin and clear the cap to do that. Those guys I listed above opt out and tell their team they want to come here and we want them...then the old team faces a choice.....Let them walk for nothing or sign-and-trade them. We're playing the free agent game from a position of strength now. We've got all the attractant we need, the ideal situation. Guys are either going to want to join Lebron or they are going to want to team up to beat Lebron...one or the other. That's where the league is at right now.
Not entirely true. Read my entire post please.... its extremely difficult to do, and highly unlikely to do so within CBA rules such as being under the cap, etc. Also I believe Howard's contract couldn't be restructured because of some rule I believe about having to be on that contract for a certain amount of years, but I'd have to go look up Larry Coon's notes to find out exactly. The CBA rules around this are designed pretty strategically to prevent situations like this from happening. Long story short... It ain't happening either way, but technically its not impossible to re-negotiate an NBA contract.
Yes please. 3 years 60 million Sign and Trade to Houston for Lin/Asik/#1 pick Great rebounder, great post up player, great 3 point shooter, low turnovers.
Walk through a way where you can "restructure" an existing NBA contract where it actually changes the number on the cap. I don't care how difficult it is, I want to see you lay out the scenario even if it won't work in this situation.
Changing the cap figure is why its not allowed for a team over the cap in the first place along with many other reasons. Shawn Kemp had a case where him and the Sonics restructured his contract back in I think it was 2002. Since the Sonics were over the cap, they traded him to Cleveland who then restructured his deal to give him more money than Seattle was giving him. Again.. its not possible in the Rockets scenario for trying to create max cap space this Summer... its just not happening. However technically yes NBA contracts can be restructured.
Lebron, Bosh, Wade opt out June 30th. They all accept $10-14 million for 1 season deals. Cap goes to $63 million. They bring in Melo on a 4-year max deal with an opt out after 3. Melo signs 4-year deal starting at $22 million (35% of cap). Fill out roster with minimum salary guys. 2015 the cap goes to $70 million. Lebron and Bosh sign fresh 5-yr deals starting at $24.5 million. Wade gets 3 year deal with non-guaranteed 4th season (he'll be 36). Lebron and Bosh essentially lose no money in this scenario over signing fresh 5-yr deals this coming off season.....as long as the 2015 cap goes up to around $70 million. Check out the numbers. Realistically Wade doesn't lose anything either and is a lifelong Heat. This is going to be Miami's play...whether it happens this off season or next off season. They're going to try to get another guy to add to their big 3. Wade is most likely to take a significant paycut and it is most likely made up to him on the back end. He's the oldest and the one most likely to break down...hence the last season non-guaranteed....(so they can turn around and trade him while he retires). Miami is going to go after Melo this off season and if they don't get him they're gonna go after one of Love/Aldridge/Hibbert next off season.
^LOL. BHollic I love your ambitious ideas but you must be drinking some crazy juice if you think that not only will the big 3 take less again but THAT much less, and risk 1 year deals when injury and age could make a 5 year deal at the max turn into a 3 year veteran mid level deal with a significant decline or injury (Lebron is the only of the 3 whose past ability keeps his value with a injury plagued season with significant decline). Especially when you look at Bosh who has the ability to make the max on the open market (the real max) and doesn't have the endorsement revenue to make up the portion that Lebron and Wade make. 10 to 14 million a year for 1 years deals just aint gonna happen with the big 3. As their unofficial career and financial adviser I will make sure to tell them this is NOT a good financial decision and runs a very high risks not just a couple million but potentially ten's of millions if you have an unlucky year. Now whether they opt in or out this year is a real interesting conversation. When looking at their own personal interests here's what I see happening- -Lebron is going to get a max extension or new contract from Miami this year or next. I think he opts in this Summer for another year, and signs an extension next year. -Wade has the most to lose by testing free agency anytime after this year, so I think what serves Wade best is to Opt out, and sign a brand new deal for 5 years at a lower per number figure. What he loses on the front end, he gains on the back end with long term security and knowing he will retire with the Heat. -Bosh on the other hand is the wild card. I do think that this Summer teams will give him a max offer if that's available to give which it should (watch out for Phoenix & maybe Dallas everyone). Unlike Wade, Bosh can find a max deal for 20+ mil a year for 4 or 5 seasons and should NOT risk losing that type of financial gain in order to risk it by either signing a similar deal with Miami like Wade will probably take, or opting in only to leave the next year in free agency when his value might not be as high (also will be the Summer of Love & Aldridge). As for the team interests and their interests in competing for titles long term- Maybe they go crazy risking tons of money to compete for ages, but I doubt it. There is a chance they 3 pete this year, and maybe they think there is a chance of getting another ring or two in the future and stick together for the long term, but I don't think 1 year deals are even something they should think twice about.
I like Melo. But he got fame hungry and left a good team & coach in Denver, for the bright lights of NY. There was zero basketball reasoning for going to NY other than his wife getting a stupid reality show. He deserves every bit of what the Knicks are going through right now. Lala is the only one who benifitted from being in New York
Guy does nothing but score and does not make his teammates better; pass, which is something he does not do
