If cut to save the Lux Tax which player would you pick for MLE?

No, actually, Antonio's the only A. Davis in the NBA.

Only a few of those guys are realistic options (in fact, Allan Houston may be the only one, and I don't really think he's worth signing, at this point)

 

If cut the Lux Tax which player would you pick for MLE?

Jalen can still score but he can't defend the quick and younger two's. I see him more of a 3 than a 2 who probably wouldn't be able to get many minutes with T-Mac. I do think he would be an upgrade over Sura and Barry as a scorer even if he does play as a shooting guard.
If he is cut and desires to play for us I would give him a look.
Allan Houston would be a great shooter but I would stay away from him because of his injuries.

 

To be perfectly honest, I'm not particularly interested in any of them. And, I don't have a huge aversion to any of them either. My reaction to us signing any one of them would pretty much be "eh."

I suppose LaFrentz might fit, Ratliff might be nice for post-Deke, Jones can do a little bit of everything... but yeah, meh.

 

After a little analysis I can mark some players off the list above as the team will most likely not be in Luxury tax area or the player is too productive to cut. Even if you assume no raise in the Lux Tax threashold, estimated by Dan Rosenbaum to be between 56M & 60M for this year, only 11 (+ adding a MLE player at 5M) only 11 teams are potentially over 60M.

They are (add 5M for the MLE):

1. New York Knicks $108,481,857
2. Dallas Mavericks $95,682,887
3. Indiana Pacers $74,060,285
4. Philadelphia 76ers $72,027,150
5. Orlando Magic $65,656,610
6. Los Angeles Lakers $64,268,242
7. Toronto Raptors $61,301,540
8. Miami Heat $61,187,738
9. Sacramento Kings $57,634,804
10. Memphis Grizzlies $56,121,932
11. Houston Rockets $55,354,005

Some teams could move up by resigning their own free agents.

Now ask yourself would a team cut a player to save a few million? I think not. Will they cut a productive player? I think not.

Ratliff - Portland is under the Lux Tax next year.
Webber - Philly is over the Lux Tax but can you really cut a player still owed 61M and productive? No.
LaFrentz - Boston is under the Lux Tax next year.
A. Davis - Chicago is under the Lux Tax next year.
A. Croshere - Indy is over the Lux Tax but J Bender is a better canidate since he is a scrub.
G. Hill - Orlando might be over a little but Hill is way to productive to cut.
W. Szczerbiak - Minn is under the Lux Tax next year.
J. Rose - Toronto is marginally over but they won't cut such a productive player.
A.Houston - NY way over and Houston is a prime canadite as the articles are reporting.
E. Jones - Miami is marginally over and Jones is a productive player.

Others

Van Horn - Dallas is way over and cutting KVH could savey 15M+ but he is a productive player.

In sum:

1. Houston is as good as gone saving NY possibly 40M over two years. (Assuming he still can't play)
2. Bender is the next best candidate saving Indy 7.1M (possibly)
3. Van Horn is possible but unlikely and could save Dallas 15.6M next year.


PS. I'm not a capologist but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

I missed two guys for Philly - Jamal Mashburn & Todd MacCulloch are two good canidates. Mash makes 21M over next two seasons & MacCulloch makes 13.1M (but I think he was already bought out). Mashburn is an obvious cut.

 

These guys don't need to be cut. They will both be coming off the cap as permanantly injured players.

Here's the list I put in the other thread about who might be cut:

 

i would rather trade these players than cut them. Like webber, i bet you NY will take him in a trade, and wally has trade value, Grant Hill has trade value. No way they will just let them go and still pay them the salaries.

 

Speaking of Mashburn.... is there anyway we can sign this guy for the MLE or something if he gets cut?

This guy was instant offense and was averaging a solid 20 ppg and 6 boards before going out with the injury. I do not expect him to put up anywhere near those numbers but I can see a solid 12-15 with 4 boards or so a game.

I liken Mashburn to what Jerry Stackhouse was for the Mavericks this year. A consistent instant offensive option with "skills" we dearly missed this year whether it be that 3rd option or coming off the bench Mashburn sounds good to me. On the same note Allan Houston would also be a good option.

 

T. Ratliff, he would give us what we need to be a well rounded team.. Grant and Allen are too close to the same type of player that Tracy is..

 

I think Grant Hill could be the sixth man of the year if he joins the Rockets. He could provide relief at point, SG and SF. He's almost as versatile as T-Mac.
He SECRETLY wishes he would get cut. He gets the best of both worlds: 1)He gets paid the remainder of the contract 2)He can pick and choose what contender he wants to sign with (hopefully the Rox since he is good friends with T-Mac and gets a chance of playing with Tracy, something they could never do in Orlando)
This much is a fact: 1)Grant is at a point in his career where he just wants to win and 2)He's tired of Francis's attitude and antics

Grant also hinted to wanting to play for another team next season when he was a guest on ABC when Bill Walton was asking him which team he was going to play next season. G. Hill laughed it off and said that he's signed by the Magic, but he was very unconvincing.

Everybody in Orlando has a sense that either Hill and Francis will not be back with the team next year. The new coach doesn't want Francis to play PG and Francis resisted the notion of playing SG last year.

 

Mashburn? That guy is done. He's pretty much retired with injuries. Philly is just counting down the days until they can lift him off their cap.

 

I'd be very happy to bring in a waived Brian Grant for a mill. I've always liked his game, and he'd be a solid bench guy.

I wouldn't be surprised if Derek Anderson ends up cut - Portland may jump up in salary again via S&T deals. No way they'd waive Ratliff over Anderson.

Like m_cable said, this rule was designed for Allan Houston, and I belive it must have been a compromise in the length-of-max-deals issue. Houston was the premier example in that argument.

I really wonder if Bradely retired to avoid getting waived. The timing is at least curious.

I agree that Indian is more likely to waive Croshere than Bender. For whatever reason, their people keep insisting that they haven't given up on him and don't want to trade him.

Evan

 

It seems like Artest should have been on the list? He would be awesome if he wasnt a head-case