The Rockets are not trading Parsons in any deal involving Lin and Asik. The Rockets would gladly deal a draft pick or two to get the space needed to S&T or just sign Melo. I don't think you know the Bulls situation well if you think it is more likely he ends up playing there over the Rockets.
#1 The problem isn't the Rockets system, the problem is Jeremy Lin. He is a mediocre rotation player that cannot be trusted to guard the ball. #2 The Rockets are unlikely to use the stretch provision, they will trade him with Jones or a #1 pick and move on.
Thanks Bima for doing this. Morey has a lot of decisions to make during this offseason. I think the one thing that needs to be addressed is the decision on whether they plan on extending Parsons or not. I do understand that he's still under contract for one more year but is Parsons a guy you want to pay $10-11 million a year for? I like Parsons a lot. I do see his value on this team. The offense had troubles when he was out of the lineup. I think you have to look at upgrading this team with using Parsons as chip in my opinion.
This is exactly why it went wrong for the Rockets. When a backup player who is allowed to singledhandedly lose two playoff games it's telling that the team has a roster problem. He had to play because there was nobody else to put on the floor.
Why don't you tell us about the Bulls' situation? How many players do you have to move to be able to look at Melo? You'll have to clear the cap first. Sure, a draft pick or two, why not? We are talking about a max guy. Sure. The Rockets wouldn't gamble on clearing the cap and not getting Melo. This is why next 15-16 makes the most sense - everybody comes off the book, well, except the H & H. I think that he's going to stay though.
Morey's thinking until the end of Junes isn't whether or not they want to pay Parsons. Its most likely does Minnesota or Boston want to pay him now or later? Whether its publicized or not, the option on Parsons contract that has to be either picked up or not plays a role in what Morey is doing right now. If Morey really does not know yet, it means they are seeing if there is a way they can leverage that for a mega trade to bring in an even better player like Kevin Love in a trade for Parsons where then a team like Minnesota would then (if traded before the end of June) have the option to decline Parsons' option, and make him a restricted free agent where they can lock him up for an extended number of years. Same goes with the Celtics in a Rondo deal. I'm in the thinking that its about 95% certain that the Rockets are planning all along for Parsons' option to be picked up and for them to take advantage of the final year on his deal at the league minimum, and let the chips fall where they may the following Summer. However if they can leverage the ability(behind closed doors) to make him a RFA for trades here for the next month, there is still a chance (albeit a small one) that a team jumps at the chance to lock up Parsons long term this July when they know they need to move their stud player at some point here pretty soon.
i'm sure Cuban is looking at the Parson's situation...if he become a RFA, he would throw big bucks thrice...just to screw the Rox...:grin:
Cuban is notoriously overly loyal to his guys. Its always business first when going for the big fish, but if there is a chance to bring back someone he knows and has been with the team before he's going to bring them back. I dont know how much Shawn Marion is going to command in free agency but its safe to say he has a few more years left in him, will command something more than a normal veteran contract, and its going to be tough to justify paying two heavy salary SF's. I could see Cuban making an offer on Chandler but its probably only going to happen if he hits RFA this Summer which is likely NOT to happen if Parsons isn't traded before then. More than likely the Rockets dont make a major deal before the end of June, the Rockets pick up his option and take advantage of the final year of his deal, and Cuban offers Marion a new contract.
Does it mean if CParsons get traded, he will be on < $1M for another year? Poor guy, then. If so, not very motivational to play well, if you ask me.
No. If Parsons DOESN'T get traded by the end of June, and the Rockets haven't already made their big acquisition yet (again.... by the end of June), its almost assured that since they obviously still have deals to be made beyond signing supporting cast members, Parsons will get his option picked up, and the Rockets will keep him at the minimum for next year and make him an UFA next Summer.
If the right of set-off applies there could be a further reduction of cap. I'm not sure if this is correct. 2014-15 set-off = (new salary - minimum) x 50% Example, (3M - 1,063,384) x 50% = 968,308
$926,500K Technically it wasn't the minimum salary the Rockets could have offered him as a 2nd round pick, but it essentially comes out to a minimum rookie level salary either way.
Plus the cost of the roster spot itself......$507,336 added back in to the stretch salary. It's not going to happen.
Why? The Rockets would be capped out for the foreseeable future once they acquire Melo, so it's not like Felton would be taking the place of a much better PG option. Also, if he was truly horrible in Houston, they could always cut him and eat the cap hit if necessary or maybe dump him on another team a year later. If taking on two years of Felton's (not-THAT-bad) contract is the key to getting a third superstar, I don't think the Rockets would balk at it.
There is no chance they would take Felton, because they don't have too. Clearing the cap space should be quite easy, as Morey has already tweeted about. At that point, the only point the SnT serves is opening up the MLE option and squeezing out a few more $$$s for Melo. Neither of those things are worth taking on Felton's deal, especially since the MLE + Parsons deal would put them well into the luxury tax. If NY won't do a SnT, which costs them nothing (assuming Hou has dumped the cap elsewhere), for a second round pick, then they are just operating out of their own self interest.
Don't confuse "having a plan to clear cap room" with such plan being easily carried out without potentially substantial cost. Also, Les will likely be willing to pay the tax for that roster. Felton would not cause tax problems for more than one season (2015-16), regardless.
The Rockets could possibly take on Felton and Smith if they could use the MLE and BAE to sign both guys. If both players would accept a buyout of their player options at next year's salary, then we could sign Smith to the MLE for one year guaranteed and the Felton for the BAE for 2 years. This would essentially make up for Felton and Smith being bought out of their player options and would give us a decent chunk of salary to work with down at the trade deadline or even after next season when Smith's deal would become non-guaranteed and Felton would only be owed around $2 million. The above may be just the incentive PJax needs to do a deal for Melo. If he can clear out Smith's and Felton's contracts and basically wipe his books clean for 2015 with essentially only a lottery pick plus Hardaway Jr., Shumpert, TJones, and DMo on the books for around $10-15 million with Asik and Lin possibly re-signing for reasonable money and still having enough cap space for 2 max contracts to go with the above. Note: Player options are given out by stupid GMs.
