Not only does signing James make all the sense in the world from a Rocket's perspective to fill a need we have, it also makes sense to sign him so Dallas doesn't get him. That's all we need is for us to screw up or him pulling a Damon Stoudamire on us then signing with Dallas so we have to stomach him lighting us up next year in addition to whatever Rudy Gay does for our other division rival.
I'm okay with this, as long as two conditions are met: 1. It's not a guaranteed 5 years. 2. His contract has a "negative incentive" structure, where he's fined $50,000 every time he shoots the ball when T-Mac is open or Yao is posted with single-coverage.
Yes, we do. JVG is all about short term and saving his job. The Stars have aligned for Mike James in Houston. If others are willing to pay a bit more, it is time for Les to put up or shut up, too. Mike James will be a shooting guard a lot and I predict he will usually be the point guard, too, when it is crunch time. Sort of like Sam in our last championship replacing Kenny in crunch time. Has everyone forgot that aside form T-Mac or Yao James was the only one who really stepped it up during the Dallas series? Taking T-Mac's magnificent play for granted, James won at least one to two of our three victories.
Not nearly as bad as it sounds. And here is why you have to consider it. In a SnT to Dallas (or a cap space offer, let's say from ATL) they'd probably start James for Yr 1 at $7M. But IMO both would really balk at paying James a fifth year because it would be for over $9.9M. The fifth year is our "equalizer". The difference in total contract value between a 5 year MLE and the 4 year $7M start is just over 500K to the SnT. For that amount of difference, he stays in Houston.
Maybe he would accept a little less for a five year contract that would give him more in the long run. Personally I have no problem giving the guy 5 years. Cassell is 36 and James is in excellent condition and as far as I know he has never had any health issues. He does not look to have lost any of his quickness yet either. If he wants 5 I would give him 5 especially if he is willing to take the MLE or a little less which is probably a little below his market value. My question is would anyone consider trading a 1st rounder and the trade exception for him in a sign a trade deal with max increases over 5 years? 4.2 million this year with max increases over the next 5 years is pretty good although probably below market value.
You bring up an excellent point. A SnT has the advantage that the raises can be 10.5% vs 8% for the MLE. However, here is a total contract value comparison: 5 YR MLE = 31.9M 4 Yr SnT from $7m start = 32.4M 5 yr SnT from $4.2M start = 25.4M In the current market, someone will offer a full MLE. Forgetting what TOR wants to broker the deal, I just don't see James taking that much of a hit ($4.2M) to stay in Houston. UPDATE: Had some bad cells in the spreadsheet and need to update the values. Sorry!
I agree that we need to offer the full 5 year MLE. GATER, after we use the MLE, how much room do we have under the luxury tax threshold to fill out our team? We might be so close that the trade exceptions are moot.
if james is unattainable i'd like to see the rockets go after earl watson. seattle's frontcourt is so weak that a trade for juwan would be an improvement for them.
About time we are making the move for James. And I was wondering, how the hell do these people find out that JVG was at Mike James' house at 11pm last night?
Would like to see your updated figures. Someone else suggested a trade of Juwan (5.9mil) for James in a SnT deal. I don't know if Juwan is really what the Rapts would want but he would give them some very good depth in the front court which they desperatly lack with the trade of Villanueva(sp?).
I'm sure they didn't hear about it from MJ - he's not much of a talker. Seriously, he probably told his agent, and his agent told ESPN and Dallas. The meeting was probably prearranged through the agent?
it's info leaked to the media from the rockets marketing dept. with the unexpected reaction to the rudy gay trade this reported "dedication" from coach jvg will help win rockets fans back over. call me cynical.
JBC - I'm fairly confident of the following... We have the following 9 "committed" contracts for 2006-07: Tracy McGrady / Yao Ming / Juwan Howard / Shane Battier / Rafer Alston / Luther Head / Bob Sura / Dikembe Mutombo / Chuck Hayes / In addition, Ryan Bowen has a player option. This 10th contract by my estimate brings our committed total to just over $55M. I don't see any way around it. If we need 15 roster spots and we use the full MLE, we are in LTax range. The LTax (like the MLE) hasn't been set yet for 06-07 but should be set by mid-July and was ~61.7M for 05-06. NOTE TO ALL: Please skip the Bowen jokes. It's less than $1M.
I updated the salaries. The figure you show for Juwan is probably 2005-06. I have him for $6.4M in 2006-07. If the Raps have any interest in Juwan, there's the answer. And we could probably use a 4 year deal on a Juwan SnT. The danger is that Chuck Hayes is the starting PF. Chuck's a nice player but I'm leery. Also, if TOR wants a 1st rounder to broker the deal (and I'd think they start there) we've got big problems if the injury bug reappears.
You may be onto something there. Signing Mike James may also spell the end for Rafer. They can, of course, both play on the same team, but as a back-up point, well I am kind of more intrigued by Earl. What's more, it'd be great to have Wilcox. Would Seattle do a S&T combo of Watson/Wilcox for Rafer/Juwan? Unlikely, but one could hope.
I am afraid some crappy team will offer James absurd money. While I hope they get James, I am not thrilled about our future 3 years from now. We will have maybe the oldest starting lineup in the NBA history by then. If we can win a championship before that, all is good, otherwise
