[Chron] Rockets going after Howard AND Paul

Haha so complicated to answer this question. Multi-layered. Short answer is no, we cannot sign them first then figure out who to send where after. Must clear cap room before or simultaneously (in a SnT).

To sign D12, we need to send out both TRob and White (assuming we keep GSmith), or just send out TRob (for nothing of course) and waive and stretch White. Either way will land us D12 for almost his max of $20.5M. That will get us to the salary cap of $58.5M.

We could then move Lin and Asik for free ($16.7M together) to somewhere else and sign CP3 for a greatly reduced salary of $16.2M ($490k roster charge). If we moved one of DMo or TJones for free as well, we could offer CP3 another million on top for $17.2M. I don't think he'll go for this, and this is quite a lot of moves. It is much easier for me to type "Move Lin and Asik and TJones/DMo for free" than for it to actually happen, not to mention we would have already given TRob away for free.

Life would be easier if both CP3 and D12 both agreed to take a 10% paycut, or in just some way agreed to take around $3.5M less combined. We could then waive and stretch White, move Lin, Asik and TRob for free and sign them both to the lower salary deals. This is if they REALLY want to be together.

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Another alternative is to do the same moves to sign Dwight, but then try to do a SnT w/ LAC for CP3, where we give Lin and Asik away. I don't know why in the world LAC would agree to this because we would have lost our leverage. We would be capped out -- realistic options of where CP3 would leave LAC for at that point would be virtually non-existent. LAC won't help us give away their star. We could dangle Parsons in that trade to sweeten the pot, but even then they might not bite as Lin/Asik somewhat redundant as they have Bledsoe and DJordan already. Maybe a 3rd team? Gets very complicated, and sort of a Catch 22.

Same argument could be made for LAL and a SnT for Dwight, assuming we signed CP3 first. I don't know why LAL would agree to a SnT. If we signed CP3, we can't sign Howard outright, so Howard can't say, SnT me LAL or else I am walking to Houston...because he can't. He isn't going to go to other teams w/ cap space alone; his best bet would be to stay w/ LAL at that point, and LAL knows it. Obviously we can't SnT for Dwight first THEN sign CP3, even if LAL agreed (they wouldn't) as we would most likely be sending too little salary back in return for the trade to clear the $18.7M CP3 demands for a max.

 

No it wouldnt ...several teams do not even have an average PG. Plus many cash strapped teams would love the marketing potential from lin.

It wouldnt be hard to move lin no matter how much you guys want to pretend that that is the case.

 

No one's pretending. Unlike w/ Asik, the question of Lin's moveability is very much in the air. The notion that he could be moved to a team, and moved QUICKLY in July is very much undecided. Unless you know the inner workings of nba teams, I don't see how it is that easy to call this one way or another. Those expressing doubts about how easily Lin's K might be moved, I believe, are raising valid concerns.

Asik is universally lauded as a sought after center. Good centers are rare in the league, and 'underpaid' ones are even rarer. Virtually everyone would agree that he'd be relatively easy to move. Not that my next statement is dispositive, but we've often heard throughout last season teams calling to see if Parsons or Asik were available...never heard those rumors about Lin.

 

Which actually makes me want to ask cyberx what his take is on Lin's desirability/moveability in this current market, particularly in the month of July. hmm

 

One team I can see taking Lin would be the jazz. They got the caproom, no one wants to go there, and they def wont pay Williams. Possibly another could be the kings.

 

Rockets fined for tampering!

Per Marc Stein ESPN twitter.

 

Agreed. The Jazz are the first team I think of in a hypothetical move for Lin. They have the need, they have the cap room. Don't know if they'd do it, but who knows. I'm sure the Jazz are envious of the Nuggets and wish they could be more like them, given the last few yrs and how they played out.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Ugh. Thought our FO would be smarter than that lol.

 

Good job.

 

WOW i really appreciate the knowledge.
now i think CP3 is just smoke and mirrors for what Morey really wants to pull off. if i were him i would just make the necessary move to sign Howard and then wait a year (Lin Asik and parsons for LeBron?? ahah a i kno, fantasy.)

 

If that's the case he'd better watch his rocketcast too.

 

It has to be more to it. They did the same type of preview last year, I don't recall being fined.

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/free_agency_preview_part_iv_s_2012_06_01.html

 

You can't lock up one and then negotiate for the second. You have to take the 10-day negotiation period and talk to both about building a big-3 and then going to the teams as a united front. The leverage is one team gets assets back in a S&T and the other does not. Meanwhile, Rockets ability to sign one outright and the possibility of other suitors, like teaming up with Nowitzki, keeps the LA teams at the table. It's still a long-shot, of course, but the Rockets are not in a Catch-22 so long as they can negotiate without cementing their transaction for either of them yet. If it doesn't work, you take just one and you've still got Asik and Lin for a pretty strong team.

And, I think the S&T is vital. Trading guys for cap space to sign 2 max FAs outright is theoretically possible, but practically difficult. And, more costly than a S&T in which you can take back $5m more than you trade out (as I understand it). So, if we spent our cap space on Chris Paul, we can make salaries work for Howard's $20.5m by sending out only $15.5m -- which Asik and Lin cover by themselves. To just trade those players for cap space to sign Howard, you'd have to also throw away just about everyone else on the roster too to cover the final $5m.

 

Well technically they COULD sign one then negotiate for the other right? It would just be dumber to do so, if this is what the Rockets plan to do. I think you're right that it would have to be a united front -- us vs. them, and then hope for it all to work out. Almost like a prisoner's dilemma, except even if they both rebuff us, one actually does get screwed (if you assume we'll be spiteful).

LAL will then crumble, knowing Dwight in this case is probably gone regardless. Then LAC will lose Paul for free. Yeah, this might work. Only real problem is we're dealing w/ LAL. They could just say thanks but no thanks early on and say they'd rather just roll the dice w/ a clear cap (almost) in 2014. Who knows. Like you said, still a long shot, but doable.

 

Bench would take a big hit for sure but CP3 on top of being the best PG in the league is also one of the best clutch time players in the league.

CP3 / Beverly
The Beard
CP25
Terrence Jones / DMo
D12 / Greg Smith

I'm assuming the Rockets would offer Cisco the room exception. I would think 2.5 mil would be pretty tempting for him playing on a team like that. We would not have a back up 2 but aside from that I think we would be in really good shape. I'm sure DM has a list of players he could sign on the cheap, I would think there might even be a decent to good chance that James Anderson could be resigned.

 

Only possible if either LAL or LAC agree to a SnT involving pretty much only Lin and Asik.