http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/news/story?id=6715519 So, just curious because i am far from a numbers cruncher where we are on this list?? i thought we had a good amount of cap space or at least something to sign a good FA??
This is the first part in our two-part series on NBA teams' cap situations heading into the 2011 offseason. Today, we are looking at the teams with the most room to maneuver. Editor's note: The numbers here were compiled and organized completely by ESPN Insider. The cap is complicated. Just consider all the factors that actually determine a "team salary" for each year. It's no wonder teams have to hire resident capologists to keep it all square. You can't simply add it all up. And dissecting a cap situation can feel like being handed a complex dish and asked to peg the ingredients, and amounts used. Consider some variables: • The total includes salaries to veteran players on the current roster and money owed to players who have been waived. • There are cap holds used to replace veteran free agents until they are signed or renounced; there are unsigned past and current first-round picks. • A rookie minimum cap hold is also included when a roster falls below a combination of 12 players that are under contract and those that have cap holds. For example: A team with just nine players counting against the cap will get three rookie minimum salary cap holds. Those will be eliminated each time a player is signed and the roster gets back to 12. • Then there's an offer sheet. A team's salary total also will include an offer sheet that has been signed by a restricted free agent. Easy, right? The new CBA is bound to have new rules moving forward and will partly determine who will have the most salary cap room. But for now, we'll use the old rules, meaning the same salary cap number ($58,044,000) for 2011-12 that was used for 2010-11. The new collective bargaining agreement will have new criteria for determining salary cap room. However, these teams should have the most to spend regardless of the rules. Listed are the likeliest scenarios for each team. Note that free agents that could be renounced by each team are not listed. Sacramento Kings Nine players under contract: Omri Casspi, DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans, Francisco Garcia, Donte Greene, Pooh Jeter, John Salmons, Jason Thompson and Hassan Whiteside Total Payroll: $29.68 million 1 Free-Agent Cap Hold: Marcus Thornton Total: $1,059,293 1 First-Round Cap Hold: Jimmer Fredette (No. 10) Total: $1,923,600 1 Minimum Roster Charge Total: $490,180 Estimated Cap Room: $24.89 million Notes: The Kings will have the most cap room of any team, regardless of the new collective bargaining agreement, after they renounce the rest of their free agents, including Samuel Dalembert, who under the 2010-11 maximum salary slot would have a cap hold of $16,324,500. The Kings have said they'd like to retain Dalembert, however the free-agent center is expected to sign with a playoff contender. Will the team make big moves? Given the ownership situation, it all appears to be up in the air for the Kings. Indiana Pacers 11 Players under contract: Darren Collison, Paul George, Danny Granger, Tyler Hansbrough, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, Dahntay Jones, James Posey, A.J. Price, Brandon Rush and Lance Stephenson Total Payroll: $37.09 million 1 Free-Agent Cap Hold: Josh McRoberts Total: $884,293 Estimated Cap Room: $20.06 million Notes: The Pacers finally have cycled out of all their bad high-end contracts and will enter the 2011-12 year with the second-most cap room. Jeff Foster could be re-signed, but his cap hold of $9,982,500 will need to be renounced for the Pacers to open free agency with just over $20 million in cap room. This is a team that can be active, but it also has some nice young pieces, and might be content with the addition of Hill. New Jersey Nets Seven players under contract: Jordan Farmar, Damion James, Brook Lopez, Anthony Morrow, Travis Outlaw, Johan Petro and Deron Williams Total Payroll: $39.81 million 1 Waived Player: Stephen Graham Total: $100,000 1 First-Round Cap Hold: Marshon Brooks (No. 25) Total: $954,000 4 Minimum Roster Charges Total: $1,960,720 Estimated Cap Room: $16.09 million Notes: Stephen Graham only has a partial guarantee for 2011-12 and is expected to be waived, so his minimum contract doesn't become fully guaranteed. Sundiata Gaines is currently under contract for next season, however his minimum salary is not guaranteed and he, under this scenario, will be waived to give the Nets a little more cap room. For now he will be listed as a renounced free agent. The Nets are expected to re-sign Kris Humphries, but the Nets will need to renounce his $6.4 million cap hold to have the $16.09 million cap room. Their cap room will be reduced if and when Humphries signs his new contract. Long term, it's obviously all about whether they can keep Williams around. Washington Wizards Seven players under contract: Andray Blatche, Trevor Booker, Jordan Crawford, Rashard Lewis, JaVale McGee, Kevin Seraphin and John Wall Total Payroll: $39.66 million 1 Waived Player: Mike Bibby Total: $1,125,874 2 First-Round Cap Holds: Jan Vesely (No. 6) and Chris Singleton (No. 18) Total: $3,910,000 3 Minimum Roster Charges Total: $1,470,540 Estimated Cap Room: $11.87 million Notes: The Wizards have tendered qualifying offers to Othyus Jeffers, Hamady Ndiaye, Larry Owens and Nick Young. All four players will need to be renounced to give the Wizards the $11.87 million cap room. It will decrease by $7,891,509 while Young remains on the salary cap. Given the youthful pieces on this roster, we don't expect the Wiz to be too aggressive. Los Angeles Clippers 10 Players under contract: Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Bledsoe, Brian Cook, Randy Foye, Ryan Gomes, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin, Chris Kaman, Willie Warren and Mo Williams Total Payroll: $44.91 million 1 Free-Agent Cap Hold: DeAndre Jordan Total: $1,091,100 1 Minimum Roster Charge Total: $490,180 Estimated Cap Room: $11.54 million Notes: The Clippers could gain a little more room if they waive Warren and his nonguaranteed contract, however, it won't increase their cap room that much if they do. They will have more cap room than Washington and will move up to fourth if Nick Young and the other three free agents are not renounced by the Wizards. They could also move up to third if the Nets do not renounce Sundiata Gaines and Kris Humphries. The hole on this team is clear, and we don't expect the trade talk surrounding a fix at the 3 to subside. Oklahoma City Thunder 13 Players under contract: Cole Aldrich, Nick Collison, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Royal Ivey, Eric Maynor, Byron Mullens, Kendrick Perkins, Nate Robinson, Thabo Sefolosha, Russell Westbrook and Robert Vaden Total Payroll: $49.85 million 1 First-Round Cap Hold: Reggie Jackson (No. 24) Total: $993,700 Estimated Cap Room: $7.19 million Notes: The Thunder can increase their cap room to $9.18 million if they waive Ivey by Sept. 16, when his contract becomes fully guaranteed, and Vaden, who does not have any salary protection. They won't have that much room and won't make this list if they don't renounce Daequan Cook. While trade talk seems constant around this team, this was still the NBA's youngest team in 2010-11. Toronto Raptors 10 Players under contract: Solomon Alabi, Leandro Barbosa, Andrea Bargnani, Jerryd Bayless, Jose Calderon, Ed Davis, DeMar DeRozan, Amir Johnson, James Johnson and Linas Kleiza Total Payroll: $47.18 million 1 First-Round Cap Hold: Jonas Valanciunas (No. 5) Total: $2,900,100 1 Minimum Roster Charge Total: $490,180 Estimated Cap Room: $7.47 million Notes: The Raptors will end up in the top five if the Wizards don't renounce Nick Young and the Thunder don't renounce Daequan Cook and waive Royal Ivey and Robert Vaden. Chris Sprow is a senior editor for ESPN The Magazine and Insider. He reports and edits across many sports, with an emphasis on the NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball; he also works year-round with Mel Kiper on NFL draft coverage. He also oversees all sports in ESPN's Rumor Central and has been a regular guest on ESPN networks in that role. You can find his ESPN archives here, and reach him on Twitter here.
the Kings have 24 mill in space and the pacers have 20 mill???? i'm lost on how we get rid of tmac and yao and we don't crack the top 6 or 7?? like i said though i'm not a numbers cruncher and have zero clue if these are flawed numbers
We were way over the cap with Yao and Tmac, and now with them off the books (have to renounce Yao), it barely brings us under the cap. Check out the difference in team salary by year on this chart. Rockets will only have 32 mil in contracts in 2012 if they decline all options on our 09 lottery picks (Thabeet, Flynn, Hill, Williams). That would leave about 33 mil in cap room if the cap is 65 mil, without signing anymore players. Add about 4 mil for the 3 rookies we got this year.
We've gone from $70M in 2010-2011 to $47M in 2011-2012 (assuming Cousin or Blakely are cut and we don't sign any free agents). Next summer is when we will really have a ton of space. If we don't pick up the options on Hill, Thabeet, TWill, and Flynn, we will only have a payroll of $30M, with only Lee, Budinger, and Dragic to resign. If we assume those cost us around $10 million, we should have $20-25 million to work with.
wow Thabeet gets 8 mill if we pick up his option?? umm yea i'll pass on that… Thabeet isn't worth the league Min..
these numbers are meaningless with the CBA expiring. we don't know if the new CBA will have a $62M 'flex cap' or a $45M hard cap. free agency won't start until the new CBA is agreed upon, and all of these numbers are based on the old CBA.
their contracts will remain under the new CBA though… if it goes to 62 mill flex cap, thats a increase of 4 mill, so teams like sactown would have 30 million to play with?? geez.. if it goes to 45 mill hard cap then every team but like a handful would screwed because almost everyone has at least 45 million in contracts going into next year for sure.. whats best for Houston? a 45 mil hard cap or 62 mill flex cap?
I don't think anyone is taking the threat of the $45 million hard cap seriously. Exhibit A: David West became opted out of $7.5 million to become a FA. Exhibit B: The Clippers talking about having about $12 million in cap room to work with. Exhibit C: Aaron Gray and James Jones also opted out. Pretty much everyone-- and his agent -- is behaving like he is asssuming the cap numbers, at least next year, will be where it was.
In fairness to James Jones, his CURRENT contract (the one he opted out of) was only paying him the league minimum. His PRIOR contract with the Miami Heat was already paid to him in a large lump sum pursuant to a buyout agreement he had with Miami last summer that allowed the Heat to get more cap room.
Cap space isn't particularly valuable this summer, since it's going to be tough to convince M Gasol or Chandler to switch teams. There's more opportunity in 2012, when we'll have a lot of room.
Have the Raptors or Kings Ever LANDED a big time free agent.... Kings got Webber in the mitch richmond deal Kings got Bibby for white chocolate and drafter Peja Raptors drafted McGrady and Vince....When I think contraction, these 2 teams pop up in my head
Artest wasn't a free agent bud....we dealt Donte Greene and a couple picks but we havent landed superstars via free agency recently but in the past we've gotten some fairly decent names who wanted to play for the rockets like Kevin willis shandon anderson(coming off big seasons in utah) Trevor Ariza Dikembe just saying houston is a somewhat liked destination due to our team and tax situation as a resident.....sacramento is a cow town and Toronto albeit gorgeous, the athletes don't seem to like it. We're in a much better situation trust me
good point, but what else are they supposed to do? you can't prepare for the unknown. you can only prepare by employing the best information you have, which right now is the old CBA. west, the clippers, gray and jones have to follow that thinking, but that doesn't mean they will have made the correct choice.
You are right. So, the bottom line is you have to choose one way or another. You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice. If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill. I believe the Rockets will choose a path that's clear. They will choose free will.
Cap space or not, Houston still has one of the more flexible rosters for the next three years. The 09 lottery class are pretty much auditioning for a 2012 and beyond contract. Morey is not obligated to sign any of them if they don't pan out and have plenty of cap space next summer. However the philosophy of the front office for the past five years is to trade for quality players and not risk the bidding wars that typically happen in free agency that causes teams to overpay and put a chokehold of the flexibility for the future. From the players perspective... Look at history, players have always loved playing in Houston and often stay into retirement. The tax benefits are being overlooked as well. The state tax in California last year was around 8% for a household. Take 8% out of 15 million dollars for a year..... You just saw the difference in playing for Houston rather than playing in Sacramento. Brown water beaches aside.... No one will not want to play in Texas or Florida. Why do you think the super friends decided on Miami? It wasn't cause of the beaches and nightclubs,..... Well maybe it was a bit, but they could say they were taking less money when really they are making it up in tax benefits anyway. My point is, it's not that All Star players don't want to be here, it's just that there haven't been any that have been available to trade for. If one got traded Houston they would be more than happy to be here.
