Also David aldrige reported that Adonal Foyle is resigning with the Warriors for a 5 year deal. Looks like the backup center market is getting thinner.
I don't care. just give me Etan Thomas to protect Yao and then trade Taylor for Booth + Daniels and we're set. Yao Ming, Booth Thomas, Howard Jackson, Nachbar McGrady, Pike BB/Fish, Daniels
Don't get Booth! He has three years left on his contract. You have to get Jerome James or Vitaly Potepenko, who have two years left. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Rockets need that contract to expire when Yao gets his extension - in two years. Otherwise - sure Daniels is a nice fit. I think Seattle wants to keep him, though.
Here's what I think this means for the Rockets : Okur /Tags? Kirlienko/ Collins Harpring / Giricek/ Bell Arroyo/Lopez Jazz spent 7 to 8 mil on Okur. They have enough cap room for one more big free agent - they are running at Kmart or Boozer. Kmart is possible, Boozer is probably not. Jazz have talked about moving Kirilenko down to the 3 spot. This makes Harpring expendable. Jazz sometimes did not like that Arroyo could go shot happy and play outside the system. That may make him expendable. If the Jazz fail to sign another big free agent, we should try to trade Mo T or the TE for these guys. Jazz could use the TE to pick up a Kurt Thomas or whatever else. Right now, Jazz do not have anyone they can trade, unless it's a sign-and-trade with Arroyo or Tags. Low-level option for Rockets - sign and trade Tags and Arroyo for Mo T. We get backup center and point guard. Problem - new contracts will extend beyond two years, creating problem freeing money for Yao's extension. Just a thought.
Why? The Rockets will have Yao's Bird Rights. It doesn't matter what their payroll is they can offer him a max contract regardless. If the Rox SnT for Barry, it would not surprise me to see a Booth for Spoon swap go along with it since SEA drafted a 7'0" HS kid and now have 4 Centers with no true PF.
Maybe he meant that Yao's max deal might propel the Rockets salary beyond the luxury tax if no other contracts expire by then, thus limiting the Rockets' desire to sign FAs with the MLE cash.
Luxury tax - it was a problem last year with Steve and Rice, remember? When we didn't re-sign Posey, that was trotted out, and when the Rice deal for the TE came down, lux-tax avoidance again came out in the papers. I have to think it's an issue. I don't have the Rox salaries here. Can you add up what the payroll will be when Yao maxes in two years? Yao - 10 mil first year of max Taylor - 9 mil - last year of contract, Howard - 5.5 mil, Spoon 6 mil JJ - 3 mil , Boki -? TMac - 14 mil, Barry - 6 mil et al , etc? I'm leaving some people out. We're over 55 mil , right? Anyway, I think it'd be nice to have the ability to get Yao's backup on a cheaper contract sooner rather than later.
If you can't see the difference between paying McGrady and Yao max money vs paying Glen Rice and Francis max money we will have to agree to disagree. Further, it's been in print from reliable sources that the LT is not likely to kick in every season and especially since there was a slow ramp up of TV revenue on the latest contract with ESPN/ABC. Not to mention, there is the possibility that the LT may get written out of a newer CBA which is due before Yao needs to be extended. Last and by no means least, Yao's first extension season would be 2006-07. Currently only Mo Taylor (last year of contract), Juwan Howard, whatever PG the Rox use the MLE or TE on and McGrady extended have 2006-07 contracts. For the Rox to win, they need a backup C and I seriously doubt Les Alexander is going to worry about the 2006-07 LT more than his concern for championships in the meantime. Again, if you don't see the difference between maxing Yao-TMac vs paying max $ to Francis and Rice, we have 180 degrees of difference in opinion.
James and Potapenko are on their final year. James exercised his player option, and I believe Potapenko is ateam option next year @ 5M+! We need to swap Juwan Howard with Booth and a future first. Then sign Barry and McDyess.
I absolutely understand what you are saying, but I still think there's a problem when total salaries go above 60 million. That's pretty steep. I don't think we have a revenue stream to support that kind of payroll. I don't think Booth is significantly better than James, anyway. That's perhaps a more useful as a talking point. Yeah, we do need a backup center. I've gone through several posts exploring trade options where we rent one for a while and exit Taylor. I think it would be unwise, though, to extend the term of that rental for a backup talent. We could just sign Rebraca or something, instead, keep Mo and trade him in his final year as an expiring contract. Sure, Les is going to extend Yao max like any smart person would. Tmac is easy to sign off on even at 14 mil. It's the rest of the contracts that add up. I guess 1 year of Taylor's deal pushing total payroll to crazy levels is ok - but its not my money. I don't think you are going to see Les lock up crazy total payroll numbers for a really long term, though.
Not sure where you got that info. Not trying to argue with you about it but I just have no clue how you came to that conclusion. Regardless of our revenue stream the Rox will give Yao a max contract because of all the extra revenue he makes the team. Yao Ming is a cash cow for the Rox.
Of Seattle's overpaid, underproducing centers, James is by far the best. Like Cato, he's extremely athletic. Like Cato of a few years ago, he never shows up in shape and just doesn't work very hard on the whole. But he can rebound, block shots, and his a big, 7'1, 272lbs blob we can throw in the paint. He'd be a good 15mpg backup center... Only problem is, Tinman would complain because he wears #13. Booth is horrible. Just horrrrrible. White collar shotblocker who shoots 15 footers but couldn't grab a rebound or defend the post to save his life. A homeless man's Eddie Griffin, only with a $6mil/yr price tag.
