Luxary Tax???? If we hadn't sugned fatboy taylor, Kelvin Crapo, and Minute Rice to those big contracts we would not have to worry about a LT. Why did the rockets feel the need to sign Taylor? Why was it imperative to spend their under the cap money? Now we're stuck with 3 losers who take up about 20mil. And francis wants a max deal. If we get either Odom or Lewis they'll also want high money. That'll push us or the LT. Didn't rudy and CD think about this? We should have let shandon anderson go, so what if we didn't get anything in return. Same with MO, he's not worth 8mil a season. if he wanted more $ CD should said "goodbye." 2001-2002 TEAM SALARIES NAME SALARY LENGTH TOTAL VALUE GUARANTEED Glen Rice 8,800,000 4 yrs. 35,178,000 2004 Maurice Taylor 6,500,000 6 yrs. 48,750,000 2007 Kelvin Cato 6,048,000 6 yrs. 42,120,000 2006 Cuttino Mobley 4,412,000 5 yrs. 24,513,000 2005 Moochie Norris 3,600,000 7 yrs. 23,173,000 2007 Steve Francis 3,473,000 3 yrs. 9,739,000 2002 Eddie Griffin 2,011,000 3 yrs. 6,486,000 2004 Jason Collier 1,280,000 3 yrs. 3,846,000 2003 Kenny Thomas 946,000 3 yrs. 2,654,000 2002 The only way to unload these bums find another Scott Layden, but who? Pakage our commodities kt, or Mobley with the !5th pick and one or two of the bums. Hell trade Steve if we can unload MO and Cato At the same time. But who???????? Chicago(#2, jamal, frizer) I wish we had an owner like Cube, or the Maloufs who aren't penny pinchers.
The luxury tax is at or around $55 million when it does get implemented, as it appears it will not be in effect this year due to increased revenue. Only a few teams are in danger of exceeding it, and the Rockets are not one of them. However, they are over the salary cap (as are all teams but the Clippers), which precludes ALL teams from outright signing a big free agent. You can't blame the Rockets ownership for any of this. Mo isn't getting $8 a season; more like $5m. Cato isn't that overpaid, and Rice may still come back to be productive. Maybe if you think the Rockets are doomed, it's not worth fighting over? Who knows.
only the knicks, blazers, and mavericks would have had to pay a luxury tax this year... but there will be none, thanks to MJ and the increased revenue he brought to 41 home games in Washington and various arenas around the league. i think cube and paul should buy MJ a nice floral arrangement...
Think of all the incredible players we have picked up out of no where with intelligent moves on draft day and bad as$ scouting of jr. colleges, CanadianBA, etc. Of course we have misses -MoT unlucky injury, not lack of talent, Cato IS getting better- slowly- Rice we'll just have to see how those knees hold up, he does have something to prove so hopefully he'll provide veteran leadership and start drilling 3's. We shouldn't really consider trading Mobley, he is one of our draft day scores and is a foundation player (he'll figure out D and passing one of these days)
I agree with the King. I don't think we are all that bad. I think we are in a position to make a pretty good run for quite a few years. I like where we're at. We have a roster that can be flexible in the offense and we will play better defense when we are competing for a playoff spot. If a team goes 2-20 in the middle of the season, they know they are playing for lottery position and it would be hard to motivate yourself. I think we will see a much improved team next season and that's not including any moves we make to improve in this offseason. I'm ready to see Taylor and Rice back on the floor and shooting it with that shooters touch. I'm ready to see how much Steve and Cat's lanes open up when helping out on defense means an open jumper for these two guys. I'm ready to see how many Rockets make the all-star game. I'm ready.
It is somewhat unfiar though that based on one team's having a billionare owner as opposed to a mere millionare one , the billionare's team has more talent because he doesn't care about the tax. If the NBA is going to have a strict salary cap, they should make it a little bit higher and just not let any team go over it.
george steinbrenner owns a bball team too??? everyone should follow the NFL's lead with a hard cap...
The new contract between the NBA and TNT may push the Luxury Tax out a few years and raise the level were it kicks in. The LT was supposed to kick in if the BRI dropped below a certain %. The new TNT contract appears to be adding some cushion to the BRI. I don't think the Rockets have much to worry about for awhile.
I'm not buying the scoop that the Rockets may want to dump the #15 pick because of the luxury tax. I would be very surprised if we will be at the cap threshold, even after we max Francis. I don't see how another rookie making $1.5 million or so will make a difference. Maybe Aelliot or somebody can run the numbers, and dispel this rumor.
Thank you! Mo being "fat" and "worthless" has surpassed the Odom as drug addict posts as the most annoying thing about this board. If I was Clutch, rezdawg's post would be quoted on the home page. It's amazing to me the abuse Mo takes here. Before his injury all the buzz was about how hard he was working in the offseason and how we should look for a breakout year from him. Does anyone remember his consistent 15 point first quarters the season before? Mo is a good guy, he loves Houston and the team and management love him. Remember how he wouldn't talk to anyone else til he talked to us? If you do, you also remember we really made him wait while we were waiting on Dream. The revisionist historians say no one else was interested and that is just flat out wrong. He was a top five free agent who took a big chance on us, signing for less than value originally, who paid off and by all accounts was getting ready to pay off more. The constant Mo bashing is a lowlight of this bbs and I wish it would stop. Give the guy half a season to play without injury before you start treating him like Shawn Kemp. He deserves that much at least.
I think the issue on this BBS is simple. We want you long term . . but CHEAP. Mo got the big payday. . ..some people kewled on him. KT emerge with similar numbers to MoT. . . Superior in some cases and at less money. MoT is now seen as over paid. At the reports of weight problems and the drug suspension . . . There u have it. Rocket River
I get that, Rocket River. I just think it's an insane over reaction. If Mo's healthy, he's getting market value. He's not making Juwan Howard money and he could have gotten the same or a little more from another team. And by the way, getting injured while working hard in the offseason does not make you a bust. KT got similar numbers, yes. And I love KT. He's making a lot less because he's still in his rookie contract. He will get a raise, but likely not as much as Mo. KT is a special, hardnosed, hardworking player, but Mo's good for instant offense and has room to improve. Bottom line, he should be more valuable in the long run, though I'd love to keep them both. (Doc Rocket's recent posts make me worry for Mo's future with us, though.) The weight gain and the pot thing are virtual non-issues IMO. All players that size gain weight when injured. We have no confirmation of the amount he gained, only speculation, and he seems to have lost the bulk of it already. I agree it's stupid to get busted for smoking because it can (and will in Mo's case) harm the team. But if people have that big of a problem with pot smoking athletes, they should find a new sport to follow. A LOT of basketball players smoke pot. There's a reason the penalties are not very severe for pot smoking. In fact there are two: First it's not a big deal (less harmful than alcohol), and second too many players smoke to inflict serious penalties. All that said, it's not that I don't understand the concerns. I do. I'm just sick of hearing about it. I repeat, Mo Taylor is not Juwan Howard and he is not Shawn Kemp. He deserves a chance to show what he can do when he is not injured and the bashing is out of control. BTW, Cato's pretty much getting market value for his contributions too these days. I'm not crazy about Moochie's contract, but really the only place we're terribly screwed is with Rice. And even with him I understand why the Rockets did what they did. I don't think they'd do it again, knowing what they know now, but none of this warrants Matt Maloney style management bashing.
I am sick of the bashing myself. Personally, I am willing to give Taylor and Rice some slack. I want to see them when they are healthy and see what they bring to the team this year. If they stink up the join then let the bashing begin , but until then I am going to take a wait and see attitude. Now, Cato is another issue. He HASN'T been injured. For the money he makes he needs to step up his game but I don't see his committment in doing so. Chris
It makes so much sense (esp. for baseball) it will never happen. The hard cap isn't good. Every year there is a new champion. I'd rather see a team win consistently than go from worst to first (happens every year now, its not a coincidence no longer).
