Houston Rockets "Unprotected Players" Expansion List

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them take MoT. He's the only low-block guy I see on the list who requires a double-team, which should help a team with no other great individual talent to get open shots.

He could also be picked as part of a strategy to get a few players together whose contracts will expire in the same year. Then you have the potential to have a high draft pick and be a big player in the free-agent market in the same year, which could vault you much higher in the NBA echelon in one shot.

 

Absolutely agree. Lo Wright has more shooting range, better hands, a better low post game and nearly as much athleticism as Cato. Wright is also ~$1.8m cheaper for the next 2 years. Another cheaper option on the list is Jahidi White (1 year @ $5.9m). But I think a few GM's will notice them as well.

My best guess is a combination of the first significant injury of his career (severe ankle sprain which lingered) and the fact that (pressure wise) hoisting up 3's for the Clipps and hoisting 3's for a JVG Rockets team is probably as different as 3's in a pre-season game and 3's in a playoff game 7.

No. The Rice/Amaechi TE can not be combined with an E-draft TE for the same player. But they can be used independently with the same team. For example, the Rox send Player A and the $6.99m TE to Team X for 1 or more players and then send player B and the E-draft TE to Team X for 1 or more other players not involved the $6.99m part of the trade. You could also do a version of this in a 3 team trade where you needed to match salaries.

 

Yep. He'll ALWAYS be injured...

 

Not a bad core of young players. They can't draft Dooling and Drobnjak, though...only one player from each team.

Why does Gerald Wallace not get any love in SAC?

 

Use this nifty spreadsheet I created to try to pick your favorite expansion team:

Click here for the spreadsheet

 

If I were the Bobcats, I'd choose 1 star off that list. I'd go Jamal Mashburn, personally, but would also consider either Jalen Rose or Jerry Stackhouse.

Then I'd spend the rest on drafting restricted free agents, based on who'll give me what kinda 2nd round draft pick. OR maybe even threaten to draft a RFA unless someone gives me a 2nd rounder.

2nd round draft picks aren't guaranteed contracts, so you can sign a bunch of guys to short-term deals and build the next year when you have a little more cap room.

 

they should pick up antoine walker, cause with one year left in his contract, they could easily shop him around for younger/cheaper player or additional picks....

...ryan humphrey would be a nice pick-up too...

 

Thanks for the handy-dandy spreadsheet TexanJohn. It inspired me to choose up a team. I took a stab at it, but it is a hard thing for the Bobcats to do, I'm seeing. I stayed under the cap with the current values (which probably are not accurate for the RFAs at least), but I was unclear what the best strategy to use would be.

I took Stackhouse because we'll need someone to score in the first year and he's the cheapest of the big-name scorers available. After that, I took a good portion of cheap RFAs, knowing that I can exceed the cap with Bird or Early Bird contracts later. But, also knowing I may lose them, I made sure I had guys who were under contract too that could hold each position. And, I pretty much spent all that available to me, even though there may be FAs I'd want to sign instead. And, I didn't even worry about who I might draft for trade.

I drafted with the assumption that the cap is essentially a hard one for purposes of the draft. That cap is very restricting, and will probably be even worse for the real X-draft.

One thing that the exercise made clear to me is that no Rocket will be drafted. While quality PFs are lacking in this draft, Taylor makes too much money to take. My star, Stackhouse will make 7 and Taylor makes 7.8. I'm hoping I can re-sign Fizer to a reasonable contract. Pike was on my list for awhile, but got bumped off because there is other SG talent for cheaper. I couldn't afford to spend money on a specialist like him. And, Griffin wasn't taken either because there is some good SF talent (Stackhouse and Wallace) that will get the minutes and he's always injured anyway.

So, here's my team:

Centers
Tsakalidas (RFA)
Skinner
Trybanski

Power Forwards
Fizer (RFA)
Brandon Hunter

Small Forwards
Stackhouse
Wallace

Shooting Guards
Q. Woods
Alexander (RFA)
Dooling (RFA)
Pavlovic

Point Guards
Ward
Bremer (RFA)
Brewer (RFA)
Reece Gaines

 

Looking at it from a Bobcat standpoint, it makes no sense to go overboard and pick all RFA or players with personal options (such as Derek Fisher), since they do have to assemble their roster to some degree with this draft. They'll get 2 to 5 rookies, depending on trades, will sign 3 guys to the minimum I'm sure, but aren't going to be a hot free agent destination. They won't have money or a prayer of winning any more than 30 games max.

So they likely need to find 8 players they honestly want to keep in the E-draft.

Something I'm going to note: I've been reading and re-reading the draft rules for a few months, and I've not seen anything that suggests that the Bobcats must be at or under their salary cap before the season starts. No one else has a hard cap in the NBA, and I'm not sure that they do either. They obviously have Bird rights to players selected (if applicable), so why can't they select and keep players that would send them over the ~ $33 million salary cap mark? It would impact their spending flexibility and hurt their financial end a little (which they've made clear is a top priority), but other than that, has anyone seen anything that precludes them from selecting and keeping players that make too much? Serious question.

Saying that's so (which it may or may not be), I'll make my selections as if I were Bickerstaff. I'll assume the Charlotte people will stand by their declaration of not taking high-priced mistakes (with the possible exception of tradable final year players such as Antoine Walker). I'll also assume that bigs and reliable PGs are a priority, sice they're tough to find in free agency.

Assumption: The Bobcats keep the #4 pick and intend to use it on either Josh Childress (SF) or Luol Deng (SF).



1. Either A Walker or D Fortson, DAL. Walker's getting all the buzz, but Fortson's a legit PF in the West and would be a starter at either the 4 or 5 on this team, and at a reasonable rate. If there is a legit deal pre-made for Walker, okay, but it would need to net 2 or 3 solid contributers.

2. Gerald Wallace, SAC. He really looks like a guy that's just a victim of a minutes crunch. He's less than a mill, young, and is exciting. Jump on him.

3. Jahdi White, PHO. This pick will be more about a deal than the player. The Suns want a little more room under the cap, and shaving White or Eisley is the ticket. They make similar money, but White's going into his final year. Phoenix will toss in their 3 million and perhaps even their #7 if the CHA brass works them over right (a future 1st rounder is more likely).

4. Chucky Atkins or Jumaine Jones, BOS. Atkins makes close to 4 mill, but he's a more or less established point. Jones is a nicely valued athletic SF at 1.5 mill.

5. Predrag Drobnjak, LAC Dooling would be great, but as a RFA (that would lose the R by being selected), it would be tough to keep him. The Clips would likely push enticement for the selection, a la the Suns.

6. Troy Bell or Bo Outlaw, MEM. Bell is cheap and could become a reliable PG. Outlaw has always been an underrated player at the 4, hampered here because of age and over $5 mill in salary. However, 2005 is his final year, and (again) Memphis could chip in $3 mill to help cover his cost.

7. Aaron McKie, PHI. Slightly expensive at $5.5 million next yr and 4 years remaining, but he's a class act, winner, defends and facilitates the offense.

8. Scott Pollard, IND. Anthony Johnson would be a good pick for a PG, but his player option likely makes it a dead end. At most, Pollard would be a mistake for only two years, and IND (AGAIN) would probably toss in $3 mill and their #30 slection (or a future).

9. Juan Dixon, WAS. Stack being on the list immediately tells me his knee is shot, and the Wiz have given up hope. Dixon is more likely on the list because he can't get time behind Arenas. He's the perfect pick though, still in his rookie contract and fairly athletic.

10. Dan Dickau, POR. Same as Dixon as far as the pluses, with an additional one - a team option that the Bobcats can use to decide whether or not he's worth holding on to. A bolder pick would be Woods (also has a team option), but character concerns could come into play.

11. Maurice Taylor or Eric Piatkowski, HOU. Mo T is a good enough player to give CHA pause, but his contract is simply a chunk to swallow. Pike lost his place mostly due to injury and an inability to play JVG defense. He could do a good-enough Dell Curry impression to be worth a two-year risk.

12. Corliss Williamson, DET. It's a good PR move to grab a contributer from an NBA champion, and that's likely what he's going to be. Dumars will likely send cash along, but a draft pick is less likely. Detroit has been too good in using them to toss one away.

13. and 14. 2 RFAs, any team (CLE, CHI, MIA, SEA, GSW, NOH, DEN, NJN, ORL). Malik Rose might be worth a look, the Lakers may expose Fox and Fisher or Payton, and the T-Wolves could expose Olowakandi, but all make around $5 million and don't offer quite as much in return. Roster spaces are going to be needed for the rookie draft and the free agent market, and it would be a waste of money to waive players if you know in advance that you don't have a place for them. Rose is the most likely to be selected, if the Spurs want more cap space and offer cash and the #28 or a future.

Bobcats Roster

5 - Danny Fortson / Scott Pollard / Jahdi White

4 - Drobnjak / Bo Outlaw

3 - [Deng or Childress] / Corliss Williamson / Gerald Wallace

2 - Aaron McKie / Juan Dixon / Eric Piatkowski

1 - Chucky Atkins / Dan Dickau

Total Team Salary: $45.4 million.
If White and Outlaw are waived (less than $6 million remaining on contracts and teams will have likely sent Cha $3 mill for the respective selections) and Dickau's option is not taken, team salary would be $33.3 million, dead on the cap (not taking into account rookie salaries, likely adding up to ~ $5 mill).

......with 2 more roster spots available (additional draft picks/free agency), and more available if players are waived or their team options declined.

Evan

 

Double post. Sorry.

 

Evan, I was wondering about that too. The way it looks to me, their cap obviously is a soft one and they can exceed it by signing guys to Bird contracts. But, I bet that they can't exceed it during this expansion draft. If that's the case, your draft is too rich.

 

Unless you waive the players I mentioned (allowable under the rules). I hedged my bets and went both ways.

I really would like to get a firm answer on this. It honestly reads to me that their salary cap is no different than any other team's except that it is lower. Otherwise, why not have the rules state: The Bobcat's total team salary for the 2004-5 season must be at or below 66% of the NBA salary cap?

Evan

 

Awesome spreadsheet, TexanJohn.

The Bobcats will pick 13 nobodys and 1 "name" player (probably someone like Stackhouse). But I love the idea of Gerald Wallace getting his own team. He could be a lotta fun.

 

My list:

4/5
Lorenzen Wright (27, Memphis, $6.6)
Brian Skinner (28, Milwaukee, $1.5)
Curtis Borchardt (23, Utah, $1.3)

3
Jerry Stackhouse (30, Washington, $7.0)
Gerald Wallace (21, Sacramento, $0.7)

2
Courtney Alexander (27,New Orleans, $2.2)
Qyntel Woods (23, Portland, $1.1)

1
Kevin Ollie (31, Cleveland, $2.7)
Reece Gaines (23, Orlando, $1.2)

These salaries eat $24.3 million in cap space

Picking Stackhouse is questionable. He would give them a number scorer, which might be imperative for the first season. If they don't mind going over the cap, they could pick Allan Houston instead of Stackhouse.

The rest of their expansion picks are restricted FAs who they do not sign (or maybe do a sign and trade with).

 

Don't say I don't try to get answers!

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=5415

So there you have it. The Bobcats can go over the cap with their selections in the Expansion Draft if they so choose.

I'm not posting this as a rebuttle or an "I told you so." Merely because it clarifies something that's been misunderstood by most on this board (including me!).

This certainly jumps up the possibility of Antoine Walker being selected, in the least.

Evan

 

Thanks, Evan, for finding the answers. I'm a little skeptical of Jack Ramsey -- especially because his answer seems to be more concerned with what the Bobcats would do instead of what they could do -- but I'll go with that. Of course, it means I'd have to rework my expansion draft.

 

Heh. I live in Charlotte & was a bit suprised to find this topic floating around here ... though in hindsight I shouldn't have been.

The local paper has a full list of unprotected players. It's a bit different than the one here & the ESPN Insider one. (And yes you will have to register ... I hate that papers do that now) http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/basketball/nba/charlotte_bobcats/8924771.htm

Anyway here is my mock draft.

Player | Position | Team | Salary in millions.

Reece Gaines | PG | Orlando Magic | $1.2
Troy Bell | PG | Memphis Grizzlies | $1.4
Eric Piatkowski | SG | Houston Rockets | $3.0
Qyntel Woods | SG/SF | Portland Trailblazers | $1.2
Tamar Slay | SG/SF | New Jersey Nets | $0.5
Aleksander Pavlovic | SG/SF | Utah Jazz | $1.1
Gerald Wallace | SF | Sacramento Kings | $1.4
Brandon Hunter | PF | Boston Celtics | $0.6
Brian Skinner | PF/C | Milwaukee | $1.6
Primoz Brezec | C | Indiana Pacers | $1.6
Jerome James | C | Seattle Sonics | $5.4


Would draft these guys too, but they are all free agents of one sort or another so all I would really be doing here is signaling interest & hoping to actually sign one or two of them.

Jeff Trepagnier | SG | Denver Nuggets | $0.0
Ronald Dupree | SF | Chicago Bulls | $0.0
Jason Kapono | SF | Cleveland Cavaliers | $0.0
Keyon Dooling | PG | Los Angeles Clippers | $0.0


That gives a total cap hit of exactly $19 mil. Add in $2 mil for the #4 pick and that puts the total so far at $21 mil out of a $29 mil cap. That leaves me room to draft other players if good deals are on the table.


These are the guys that I might draft if a nice trade offer was on made. Note that I would pass on drafting Jerome James & possibly Piatkowski if the Walker deal were made in order to save money and stay near the cap.

Antoine Walker | SF/PF | Dallas Mavericks | $14.6 | Trade to Orlando for #1 Draft Pick & Grant Hill
Elden Cambpell | C | Detroit Pistons | $4.4 | Future First Round Pick
Jerry Stackhouse | SG | Washington Wizards | $7.0 | #5 Draft Pick
Jahidi White | C | Phoenix Suns | $5.9 | #7 Draft Pick
Christian Laettner | PF | Washington Wizards | $6.1 | #5 or Future First Round Pick


There are other guys out there that I would like to have on the team, but I doubt that I would pick for one reason or another.

David Wesley | SG | New Orleans Hornets | $5.0
Moochie Norris | PG | New York Knicks | $3.8
Juan Dixon | PG/SG | Washington Wizards | $1.1


Wes was the most difficult choice. Piatkowski fill the same mentor role for $2 mil a year cheaper and IMO still has more game left in him to boot.