Technically neither has to leave. Bird rights gives them some room to maneuver. Looking forward... 2014/15 Cap Dwight - 21.43M Harden - 14.69M Lin - 8.37M TJones - 1.6M Garcia - 1.3M (Early Termination Option) Parsons - 964K (Team option) Canaan - 816K (Rookie contract) Sub-total - ~$50M in guaranteed salaries Greg Smith - 1.16M (QO) Brewer - 1.31M (Non guaranteed) Casspi - 1.03M (Non guaranteed) Beverley - 915k (Non guaranteed) Covington - 816k (Non guaranteed) Sub-total - ~$5M in non-guaranteed salaries Asik - 8.37M So, $55M on the books + Asik. The Projected salary cap is going to be around $62M, with a projected salary tax apron of $75M. http://www.hoopsworld.com/looking-toward-2014s-salary-cap In other words, if Alexander is willing to go into the luxury tax he theoretically has as much room as $12M more on TOP of what he already has on the book, BEFORE trading Asik ($8.3M). That means that you could entirely replace Asik's contract and add around $20M before you start hitting the Apron (which is what you really want to avoid), or another $7M or so in regular salaries before hitting the general luxury tax threshold. In theory that would be enough to pay Parsons and Lin and still have room for another all star or near all star level player, though not necessarily a max contract depending on the player. If you're talking a 3rd true max player, then yeah, you might have to let one of them go or hope that you can cut some sort of deal.
thanks for taking the time out and providing us with this detailed breakdown. Helps me understand a lot better.
Yeah this, couldn't have said it better myself. Asik has proven himself for one season while Dwight has done it for years. He needs to take a step back and be professional on about handling things. Appreciate last year, but how he acts up in these next couple of weeks or months can erase all the good he's done here. Seems to be pulling a TMAC.
Where did all these AOF come from? This punk doesn't deserve an appreciation thread. He played 1 year, and then pouts and demands a trade. Pippen is a better Rocket than Omer. That's right.
Thank you for a great year of service Omer! I still hope things will work out, otherwise best of luck the rest of the way. Good luck, good health, God bless you!
I don't blame Morey one bit for going after Dwight. I also don't blame Asik at all for feeling the way he does. Houston more than likely persuaded Omer to sign here by promising him that he'd be the guy then they turn around and give his job to Dwight. I'd be pissed too. I'm happy we've gotten star power with Dwight but I also feel for Asik, dude worked his ass off for this team only to be pushed aside like he's just some scrub. Omer is good for 10 points and 12+ boards a night every night and is tough as can be. It's a shame that he's gonna get shipped away because he can really help this team. Best of luck to him wherever he ends up, preferably in the Eastern conference.
LMAO. Atleast Pippen had the skills to backup his diva ways. I never had any bad feelings toward Pippen honestly, I wouldn't want to play next to Charles either. Charles was washed up, stopped working on his game, never lifted weights, just wasn't hungry. Pippen was still hungry at that time. Charles is a loser, worst Rocket ever IMO.
He deserves to be a starter in another team for his own sake, good for his own NBA career, not a backup for another two years, probably the best of his years. Good luck to him.
Doesn't EVERY player "deserve" to start "somewhere"... so what? If you are about WINNING, then you make sacrifices. Omer isn't about WINNING, he is only about $$$ ... he put himself above Rockets. AOF put Asik above Rockets.
Do you know that Barkley cut his pay so that the Rockets could get Pippen? I am not a big Barkley fan like some here. But get your facts straight. Where is tinman when you need him?
Asik is one of my favorite Rockets since the guy epitomes the image of a hard-working blue-collar player last year. I hope all of these negative stuffs about him pouting were just media rumours and he wasn't feeling well enough to play, or else that will be severely disappointing. I hope you make it big in the East, Asik, and net us something nice in return.
Barkley cut his pay, wow what a cool dude, I guess that makes up for throwing a midget through a glass window, he was still washed up and lazy, so what? Pippen came in, took around, and said, NO THANKS. Can't blame him. Nonetheless, it is irrelevant because OMER ASIK isn't on anybody's level to be demanding trades and halfassing it on the court. Omer's selfish actions affect the entire team and front office in a negative way. Whatever effort is missing by him, now falls more on Harden and Lin and Howard and crew. All those deals that Morey was working on? Back to the drawing board, because now all the other GM's will try to milk the situation for as much leverage as possible. Now we might have to give up other players as a result of this. Thanks, Omer, I'm sure the Rockets and fans really "appreciate" that.
This is coming from a guy who watches Omer's career since the very beginning in Turkey. He is one of the most shy players I have ever seen. He doesn't even like to talk to reporters. So that makes me think -not Omer- but his agent started all this mess. He can be brainwashed so easily. I am just saying. He also deserves to have a starting job though. Thanks for a great year Omer.
I wouldn't be surprised if the team goes on a winning streak after this, and looking back we find out that all the problems this team has been having was really a result of Asiks poor attitude. Omer Asik, perfect definition of team cancer. Spoiler This thread is now Cancer Apprecication Thread
