I was thinking the same thing a couple days ago, I think the Rockets should atleast bring in SAR or Marshall just for a look. Just to put a little pressure on Swift. But I guess the Rockets want Swift to know that he is their guy and they are willing to show him their dedication. Hopefully, it won't backfire like the Beltran incident.
The contract we can offer (5/28is) and NJ can offer (6/37ish) via the TE are practically insignficant when you consider state taxes. If Swift thought he could make around only 5 mil the year after a 5 year deal with us he already would be even with the NJ 6 year TE deal. If it comes down to NJ via the TE or use via the MLE, money is a pretty small factor. Location, team outlook, and faith in the organization as perceived by Swift would make the difference.
New Jersey?!? C'mon. If this was 2001 and the Nets didn't have Kenyon Martin, then it'd be a no brainer to go to NJ. But this is 2005 and Kidd's legs are basically shot. He's not going to be lobbing alley oops for any longer and 1st in line to receive those passes is Vince and then Jefferson. Swift uses athleticism as a strength just like those guys do and I don't see how NJ is better than playing in Houston with salaries the same. Swift is coming here. Plain and simple.
I think so too, unless a big contract (much bigger than NJ's TE 6/37mil) comes out of nowhere. I think it will take 5/40 mil or 6/45(S&T) type offer. Could happen, but it is looking good right now.
We don't have a smoke screen because we don't need a smoke screen. We have a magnet instead. If we miss on Swift, we move on, but we can afford to focus on our #1 and throw everything we've got at him, and if we fail, then move on to #2. Why you would think we need a smoke screen because the Nets have a smoke screen is beyond me. The Nets decide they want to slash payroll and let KMart go...only to then decide that was a bad idea and re-expand their payroll for Vince Carter. They gave Deke a ridiculous contract and then pay him a ton of money to go play elsewhere, but that was only a warmup. The Elden Campbell fiasco is perhaps one of the most illogical GM moves I have ever seen. They split up a huge trading chip, a $10 million dollar trade exception, to prevent Detroit from being able to resign Campbell. Then, they waive him, and Detroit gets him anyway. Meanwhile, their trade exception went from $10 million to $5 million - in other words, the difference between a ~max player and a mid level exception player. If they still had that whole $10 mill, they could set up deals to start off SAR or Swift at $7 mill - and a $7 mill trade exception is significantly more attractive in a sign and trade simply because it's a significant step up from the MLE. As it is now, their trade exception is basically the MLE. All because Thorn had to try and act like a big man - and not even follow through with it. Meanwhile, Carroll Dawson has had a virtually flawless year, with his only mistakes being a speedbump that is Charlie Ward and perhaps Rod Strickland (though, there weren't other options really). CD's tactics have worked a lot better than Thorn's, and I suspect they will do so in this case as well.
NIKE, if CD did what Thorn did with his 10M TE in breaking it up, the Rockets fans would have lynched CD by now considering what is available in the market these days. I was floored when Thorn did that move and it is even more assinine as we sit here today. SAR, Swift, whoever would probably be signed by now with that full TE. Ridiculous! BTW, who can help me out here with "state tax" info? If the Rockets offer a MLE 5/28 deal and the Nets can only offer a 6/37 S&T deal with their T.E. taking into account Swift would have to pay state income tax on the NJ deal, how close in reality is the Rockets to the NJ deal? Basically, Swift gets around 10M more with the NJ deal and an extra year, but with the income tax, how much of that gets sliced off?
Deuce, about 9% upper limit in New York, about 8% upper limit in New Jersey. http://www.investinginbonds.com/learnmore.asp?catid=3&id=61 So in the first 5 years of the contract Swift would make more (net) with Houston deal than NJ deal. The state tax is more than enough to make up the 10.5% (NJ) raises versus 8% raises (Hou). So you figure the difference between the 5/28mil and 6/37 mil in total is about 5-6 million. If Swift thinks he can make more than 5-6 mil in year 6 (better than 50/50% I would think from his perspective), the Rockets deal is better. In truth if Swift is real confident in himself and the new organization, a 3 year MLE with a player option is best. He can opt out after year 2 for a new 6 year contract starting at over 9 mil (up to 6 years 10.5% raises). He could even do this two years (like 9.3 mil in year 3, 10.3 in year 4)) and then sign a max deal (full Bird Rights). So: Initial 3 year MLE with player option year 1: 4.9 mil year 2: 5.3 mil (opt out) Three year Early Bird with player option year 3: 9.3mil year 4: 10.3mil (opt out) years 5-11: max x 6 years with 10.5% raises. I am not saying this would happen, but it shows he can make a lot money real quickly nad has a lot of control (player options) if he "blows up". The first 5 years in this scenario would generate up to 42.5 mil (8.5 mil average), and that is just when he starts his max.
