Disagree. Lin can be dumped for Dmo and our pick, or at absolute worst, jones Asik can be given away. That would clear all the space you need to give melo near 20 million.
No, Melo does not have to cost Parsons. Melo will be a FA, if they Rockets dump Asik/Lin (maybe also Dmo or TJones) they are well on their way to sign Melo OUTRIGHT as a FA. I am not sure why this is so hard to understand. Now, if you want to say getting Love will cost the Rockets Parsons, that is fair because Love is under contract and the Wolves still have leverage...unlike the Knicks which have NONE.
if we get melo then you work out another trade with parsons to get a better defensive player here at the 3 or 4
Adding Melo will cost us Parsons. There is no way we can have 3 $20 million players and a $10 million wing without being penalized via taxes.
FWIW, Harden's deal pays him about $16 million per year (on average), not $20 million. Also, the luxury tax threshold is expected to increase to $77 million next season, $81 million in 2015-16 and could potentially increase dramatically after that when the new TV deal(s) kick in for the NBA. While the Rockets probably couldn't add any other "big ticket" players to that core, they certainly could fill it out with vet minimum guys, rookie scale contracts and potentially even a couple of Taxpayer MLE-level guys. For a legit contender, Les Alexander will be willing to pay the tax. (Also note that the Rockets would NOT be subject to the "repeater tax" under the current CBA before the sides inevitably opt out of the deal in 2017.)
Well in that case... Carmelo should be a nice target. Also Im getting at approx 59.5 million for Carmelo, Dwight and Harden's cap numbers for next season. Assuming we take back a bad contract from New York, and still keep Parsons, 77 million just doesnt seem enough. So approximately how much do you envision the Rockets spending??
Les Alexander is a billionaire owner and the Rockets have one of the best revenues among NBA teams. If we had Harden, Howard, Melo (who I don't want) and Parsons. I seriously would doubt he would care how much luxury tax he pays with all the additional revenue a Melo creates.
Is it possible for the rockets to trade parsons at the draft for a high pick in a potential love deal, and then that team makes him a rfa?
.............and therein is the problem with Parsons. We either have to exercise the option to keep him at the minimum...which basically means he's a one-year player going into unrestricted free agency. OR we have to make him restricted and then try to generate a sign-and-trade transaction with him. That can't take place until after the draft. So if we're going to try to trade him for a pick.........just not likely to work. Just one of the reasons I keep saying.......................... we will not trade Parsons.
Harden doesn't make $20M and unless we S&T for Melo he won't either. Also, that isn't really true. In fact, if the Rockets don't use the MLE and just ship out Asik, Lin, and Jones then they would still be under the tax if they gave Parsons $10M a year. Plus Alexander has said he would pay the tax.
Thinking out loud a little bit: 1. Given the relative supply and demand of the C and PG position, it is reasonable to believe that, out of the two "balloon payment" guys, Omer Asik can be easily traded for some future asset and no salary in return while Jeremy Lin's contract will cost the Rockets some assets to find a taker for. If Lin's contract is the one obstacle between the Rockets and an elite free agent like Carmelo Anthony, the potential takers for the contract may have the leverage to force the Rockets to cough up something really valuable. 2. Now, if the Rockets only traded Asik, plus maybe a smaller contract like DMo, for no money in return, and if the salary cap comes out at or above the current projection, then it seems that the Rockets may have $10M+ in cap room at that point. This wouldn't be close to the price range of a max player with many years of service like Melo, Lebron, Bosh, etc. But it would be in Kyle Lowry's price range, maybe even Lance Stephenson's. 3. At that point, you have more leverage in handling Lin's contract. Maybe you can still pay someone to take the contract if there is another $8-10M free agent to be chased. Maybe you just keep his expiring contract to be used in a midseason trade as a part of the contract matching. At least you got one good free agent into the fold (assuming you like Lowry or Stephenson or whoever, of course). 4. If you can get one of Lowry or Stephenson or a perimeter scorer/creator at $10M or $11M or so, via either a regular signing or (preferably, for the purpose of preserving the MLE) a sign and trade, would you then give you the ability to trade Harden for Kevin Love?
To clarify, I am not saying that you give up an asset to trade Asik, just that he, plus maybe a small contract, can be traded for only future picks and no current salary in return if you want to maximize cap space.
who cares about paying the luxury tax? I'm sure Les would be willing to pay it if we can have Beverly Harden Parsons Melo and Howard as our starting 5 with Jones DMo Canaan Daniels & Covington off the bench + a few vet min/rookie wage scale/taxpayer MLE players to round off the roster. That roster easily will be a championship contender.
Bima, Would you please walk us through the math on how you arrived at Parsons' qualifying offer since Nolan Smith did not play 3 years in the league?
if we were to trade either or both of Asik & Lin for a Trade Exception, we could theoretically use the cap space to sign replacements off the street and then trade for additional assets using the TE...correct?
harden and howard make 16-18, not 20. if melo comes here, he's not making 20. we have parson's bird rights. we can exceed the salary cap to resign him