Any amount that we can give him. He is exactly what this team needs. I just wish we could get 5 of him.
I hope you're kidding. James Posey IS and WILL BE a role player for the rest of his career no matter how good he's played for the last 2 months or how much he improved in the summer. Rockets managment MUST remember it when they discuss contract with him. Overpaying role players will get you nowhere at the end of the day, especially in these days of salary cap and luxury tax.
Of course we won't be "officially talking" to him before July 1. I am just saying James should be informally assured he can get a contract at like 200K per year over the MCE with us whenever he wants it this offseason--and yes the "official talking" and "contract signing" will take place when most appropriate for the Rockets this offseason. Posey is our 4th best all-round player. He can be a serviceable starter at the 2 or 3, and a great 6th man backing up both spots if the situation dictates. In other words I have a really hard time imagining offseason moves where we still wouldn't want James Posey to resign with us. BTW Posey his first year shot 37% from the 3 point line (he had McDyes, Lafrenz, NVE and a few other good players creating open shots for him). This year with us he ended up at 33%--though I am pretty sure it was more like 40% over the last month. What I am getting at is with him getting more comfortable with the offense and Yao getting more stamina and better at creating open shots there is no reason Posey can't be a high 30s 3 point shooter and mid 40s for us from the field--and if he reaches these reasonable offensive efficiency levels to go with his athleticism, solid defense, good foul shooting (he also averaged the 4th most FTs), reasonable rebounding numbers--that is a pretty darned good relatively young player, and well worth 5 mil per year over 5 or 6 years to have.
DS, Fully agree on all points. Also, I really like how Posey can play effectively with only about 8 shots per game. In addition, he moves real well w/o the ball to get easy looks from Yao. As far as the contract terms go... Assuming you start at 4.6 mil for the first year which is a little bit over the mid level exception as you are suggesting, that would equal out to a 4 yr 22 mil deal or a 5 yr 29 mil with the 12.5% increases, both of which I think are very fair. Also, depending on the other offseason moves, the Rockets could probably do this w/o crossing the luxury tax threshold.
