As I read the rules only 04-05 contracted players are considered. The Rockets have 10 signed players thru 05 Protected 1 Yao Ming 2 Steve Francis 3 Cuttino Mobley 4 Kelvin Cato 5 Eric Piatkowski 6 Jim Jackson 7 Adrian Griffin 8 Bostjan Nachbar Unprotected 9 Mo Taylor 10 Moochie Norris I really believe this will not be the roster as of the trade deadline.
I can't wait until Mo starts to light it up, and show that he is worth all that MONEY. otherwise Moochie and Mo are gone.
So the Bobcats are allowed 30M, and that includes their draft picks, whoever they decide to snatch from teams, and FA signings? Could they, for example, sign someone to the MAX? Could they be at 30M, then at midseason trade for more contracts? The most telling question is: when they pick someone off another team, does THAT player's contract come off THAT team's cap? For example, if they take MoT from us, does that mean our cap situation goes down 9M?
I really could see Mo Taylor ending up on the Bobcats roster next year by ways of the expansion draft. For a new team he would be a starter and provide them with some scoring. Hopefully they would take him off our hands.
if there is a team out there willing to take moT's contract, and give up a couple of usefull players...we would be more likely to make that trade well before th bobcats ever get their chance.
A.Griffin protected and Mo Taylor unprotected??? C'mon guys, Mo is a great player, and if we left him unprotected he can say goodbye. For me, Mourice, Stevie and Yao are my favourite players of this team. Mo is a super- talented player. Dallas, for example, would love have Mourice Taylor. He's an inside scorer and that's very important for a team. Here you create the rest of the game.
There are so many players on the bubble. Any guess of the "8" now is just a guess. Players are going to work themselves on or off that list. I'm not sure anyone is completely safe except Yao and Steve. I think they would trade Mobely before they just let him go, after that there is a competition for the final 5
Can't we cut deals like the Texans did with the Jets & Jags in the expansion draft? Can we negotiate with the Bobcats to make them pick up somebody with a fat contract like Mooch, but we have to also leave somebody like Nachbar and/or EG (that's cheap and have potential) unprotected?
Sane - Some quick answers for you... I have never seen it in print but feel that the Bobcats do not have a "hard" cap of $30m. I am assuming they will allowed the same exceptions as the other teams. IOW, near or over the cap teams will be allowed to sign their own draft picks and use the vet minimum and MLE to sign FA's. (Remember that draft picks do not count toward the salary cap until they are signed). BTW - the Bobcats will pick fourth in the 2004 draft but will be eligible for the first overall pick in 2005. The Bobcats' payroll will be limited to two-thirds of the salary cap in 2004-05 but three-quarters of the cap in '05-06. Here is the sequence of events as I understand it: * Regular Draft * Expansion Draft * FA & pick signings, and trades allowed IMO, the only way for the Bobcats to be in position to bid for a Max player would be to populate their roster (from the expansion draft) with 10-12 very low $ players totaling ~ $20m. That will be a difficult though not impossible feat. (The draftees from the Regular Draft do not have to be signed until the FA's are all handled). Again, I have never seen it in print but would have to assume once the season begins, the Bobcats have the same salary cap restrictions as the other teams (115% + 100k for a trade). IOW, it's not the number of contracts but the $ amount which determines their roster (as long as they maintain at least 12 during the season). Yes. The contract is transferred from the Rockets to the Bobcats and that player no longer counts against the Rox cap. However...... Before you or anyone else tries to clear some enormous cap space for the 2004-05 Rox cap, keep one important thing in mind....if we fall below the cap, we lose some portion of the trade exception!
I don't watch/follow pro football at all. Are you asking if it would be possible to do something leave Moochie and Nachbar unprotected and tell Charlotte we would send them a future 1st if they took Norris and left Nachbar untouched?
No, he is saying you work out a deal beforehand. You leave something good unprotected (eg Nachbar) and they have to take a crappy contract (eg Moochie) along with the good player. There are no draft picks involved.
If the Rockets don't make the playoffs this year heres what I'd do. Since Im a giver and believe in giving and have witnessed the inevitable good karma that is mysteriously created by giving, I would put Steve Francis and Yao Mings name on the expansion list. Just for the hell of it. Just cause Im a good guy. I'd be the St. Nick of the NBA, spreading the joy around. Then all you have to do is just sit back and wait for that good karma to come back to the Houston Rockets.
What StupidMoniker said So basically we will only leave someone like Boki unprotected for them to pick up IF AND ONLY IF they pick up Mooch's contract too. Kind of like a two for one pick deal.
is it next year that they are also mixing up the divisions? or are they just thinking about doing that?
Whats the name of that hospital Eddie is in... I need to call Eddie and tell him Texas Stoke is smoking his stash!!!
IMO, David Stern will not allow it...but I'm not 100% sure. The following Stern quote indicates that he expects more of my scenario to occur than what ChenZen or you have described: "NBA Commissioner David Stern sees other opportunities. Under league rules, teams can offer the Bobcats a draft pick and up to $3 million as inducement to take or not take a particular veteran left unprotected." So IMHO, the key is offering a draft pick to either take or not take any combination of players. BTW, in researching this I have observed something about the way Eddie Griffin would be handled in the expansion draft if he is not extended but left unprotected. There is a special rule about restricted 2004 FA's but I will wait until after the decision has been made before posting. IOW, if extended it's a moot point.
Protected 1 Yao Ming 2 Steve Francis 3 Cuttino Mobley 4 Kelvin Cato 5 Eric Piatkowski 6 Jim Jackson 7 Bostjan Nachbar 8 Mo Taylor I think Mo Taylor will play himself onto this list - he is a big man with a talent for putting the ball in the basket. If you leave him off of it, I think he would almost definitely be picked up. Someone had an interesting idea with the $20 million - I wonder if Kobe might end up in Charlotte? He would have a chance to have a team be his own from the get-go. I wonder if it would be illegal for Charlotte's owners to basically talk to Kobe and ask him who he wants for teammates out of the draft.
