Josh Smith Meeting With Rockets Today

http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterocke...h-smith-who-played-with-dwight-howard-in-aau/

Actually it is to pair them up. But first they have to sign Howard outright! Then trade Lin, Asik, and DMo or Jones or White to ATL for Smith! At this point I'd rather just go get Rondo! The salaries match better and we could get Bass too!

 

No

Morey wanted CP3 or/and Howard. Looks like he is going to wait till next years FA's if no Howard. Morey get Howard though and able to get Smith then the Rockets are Championship Caliber. He is going all in here.

 

"Smith earned $13.2 million last season. The Rockets would not seem to have the means to match that without including both center Omer Asik and guard Jeremy Lin (whose combined salaries would count as $16.7 million against the cap) in a sign-and-trade."

Feigan's lack of understanding of the cba worries me.

 

Why

They can go over by 50% I believe but Asik and that amount would not be bringing Smith in. Has to be both Asik and Lin. Atlanta wants Asik but no Lin.

 

Do you guys know how bad a Dwight Howard and Josh Smith pairing would be?

 

(Asik + White) x 1.5 = $15.14 million
(Asik + Jones) x1.5 = $14.78 million

Smith will command around 5 years, $85 million. That is a little over $13 million in his first year. We could do Asik + D-Mo for him as well.

Fixed. It would be awesome. They would easily fix the Rockets defensive problems. I can see them averaging over 5 blocks together. He is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, while Dwight is one of the best post defenders. On offense, you can't leave J-Smoove wide open. He will knock it down. Playing for a contender he will have to practice his shot.

Smith can guard any PF in the league, including small forwards and stretch fours.

 

Bad-ass you mean

 

no

No one will touch White but if Howard comes I am sure he will take around that amount. All up to Howard.

 

Asik, Jones, and White's contract would be $17.46M. I don't see Smith getting that anywhere. However, even if he did, enter the income tax piece of the equation and the difference between $18.8M in a state with state income tax similar to GA (6%) and the Rockets offer in that scenario drops to less than $1M. Of course, adding any other player the Rockets have rights to (other than just the cap hold of Canaan) and you could S&T him for the max and more money with consideration of state income tax.

 

Putting that kind of athleticism next to Dwight in the front court, the Rockets would be one of the best rebounding teams and nobody would get an easy layup/dunk on the Rockets.

 

White would simply be cap filler that the Hawks could buyout or be loose of him in one year. They aren't going to approach the cap anyway if they don't re-sign Smith.

 

Howard and Smith in the same front court would be so offensively anemic and so, so, so, so, so, stupid.. they're literally like two of the dumbest players in the league. You'd go from one of them pounding the ball into the ground going nowhere to the other guy pounding the ball into the ground going nowhere.

Then when that doesn't work.. you'd have to watch Josh Smith shooting 28 footers and then Howard clanking free throw after free throw.

And when the going gets rough things will get rough for Mchale.. they'll get him canned in a heartbeat.

Bad combination.. one or the other.. not both.

 

If the rockets offer to pay whites 1.7 million, the hawks can waive him without suffering any cap hit after the season ends. They dont have to deal with his bull****. Its a simple part of the deal to get the salaries to work.

 

Lol

Very true. Hope they want Asik bad enough. Asik and move Horford to PF and they have a good team.

I had heard early that he was going to be a Rocket whether Howard came or not.

 

You're being extremely hyperbolic.

 

Do it. Make it happen Morey.

 

All they look at is negatives. The point of getting howard is to start contending. We cant get a star next year because who will want lin or asik making $15 million for one season when they can sign them in free agency. Combine that with the fact that everyones salary will increase and parsons will be looking to get paid and we are stuck with a roster that may not be good enough to win in the next 5 years.

Love is not coming here. He already signed an extension. I would ask who you guys want, but all i get is impossible acquisitions like bosh, rondo, or aldridge.

 

The one spot on the team last year that was missing was the 4. You can grab one now at a good price. He is a beast. I seen him play. If Howard says no then next year we go again after the best. Asik is a big asset though.

 

The one thing I can't understand is so many here not understanding what it would mean if Howard and Smith come. Just thinking of that Line up stuns me.

 

And actually I had the wrong math for Smith. His average in a non-S&T would be $18.5 and not his starting salary. His starting (either way) would be $17.35M.

That means that even before tax consideration he could get the max from the Rockets in that deal with the 7.5% raises and make considerably more there than anywhere (expect Dallas) else.

So if you do the math without White (lets say teams balk at dealing with that despite it being quite easy) in the equation, it is still quite close for Smith even if all the Rockets could offer was $14.88M just from Asik and Jones being in the deal.

Let's apply the GA state income tax rate (6%) even though it is slightly lower than the average for NBA team states.

For the Rockets, lets say he plays 55% of his games in no income tax states, and 45% at that average. For everyone else (save the Mavs), let's call that 10% and 90%.

Rockets: $14.88M*.55=$8.18M; ($14.88M*.45)/1.06=$6.32M. Total=$14.5M
MAX, but no S&T: $17.35M*.1=$1.735M; ($17.35M*.9)/1.06=$14.73M Total=$16.46M

Basically any other team, in that scenario, he makes about $2M more to start, but Rockets would have higher raises and 5th year through S&T. And he gets to play with his buddy on a championship contender. Obviously though, the Rockets could scrap that with White added in and without Lin still give Smith the max and more real dollars than any other team.

Probably all moot because it seems pretty unlikely anyone offers him the max, including Houston. A $14.88M salary to start seems like it is likely as high as he would get from anyone.