Question about matching any offers for Carl Landry

1. I don't think any team is going to give Landry the full MLE. That is completely out of the question.

2. Rookie salary does not count against the MLE iirc.

 

We could def use Ray Lewis to provide toughness, inspiration, and defend Dirk.

 

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There is always the minimum which is what Landry got last year and you can then guarantee a second year for more.

 

money for 2nd round picks has to come out from one of the MLE, LLE, or minimun salary. so it shouldn't be a problem to sign corsey as long as he is wiling to accept a minimun or part of LLE.

 

I think the confusion comes from what the Rockets did with Steve Novak.

Second round picks can be signed for the minimum, but their contracts cannot be longer than two years at that salary. However, if a team uses a portion of the MLE or LLE to sign that same player, then the team can offer a contract longer than two years.

The Rockets decided two years ago to sign Novak with a portion of the MLE. This allowed the team to add a third year team option to his contract. Novak still only made the equivalent of the league minimum, but the Rockets had the option (which they have just exercised) to bring him back for a third year on the cheap.

Morey will likely not sign Dorsey until late in the summer, after he knows what Landry will be making. If there is anything left of the MLE, I would imagine that Morey would explore signing Dorsey to a longer contract for minimum salary that would include a team option for a third year, just like Novak's deal.

 

I think with a 2 year contract, though, we WOULD have his bird rights after the second year, at least eliminating the mess we are currently in with Landry.

 

Let's say we don't sign landry, with dorsey coming in and hopefully giving some spot minutes to novak and mike harris, will we still be keeping hayes?

 

That's correct. After 2 years, the Rockets would have "Early Bird" rights on Dorsey. While this is not the same as full "Bird" rights (which requires that a player have been with the team or under his last contract for 3 or more years), "Early Bird" rights mean that the Rockets could pay Dorsey up to the average player salary (equal to the MLE) without having to use the MLE and without regard to the salary cap. Of course, the Rockets would still be subject to luxury tax on every penny.

Also, I want to correct my earlier post. A team cannot use the LLE to sign a second rounder to a longer-term deal, since the maximum LLE contract is only for two years. However, I team could conceivably sign a second rounder to a higher salary for those two years by using the LLE.