Heh, you could be right. It all just depends on how bad Rashard wants to be close to home. It's all speculation. Of course, doesn't Rice's contract free up after next season or is it two seasons? It would be assumed that Lewis would be getting his big contract the next season, much like Maurice Taylor. So as long as Lewis believes he can tough it out for a year with that meager $4.5 million salary (it'll be tough), and if he's willing to take the risk that he won't get a serious injury, I think he'd be willing to do it. He's going to get big money either way. I just haven't seen any indication that Lewis really wants to play in Seattle...but, maybe it's all about the money with him. Mmanal, there's a pretty big difference between signing for one million and 4.5 million. I'm pretty sure Lewis would have signed to the Rockets at that time if they had 4.5 million to offer him. But you're right. Lewis probably wouldn't sign with Houston for the exception, but I don't doubt that he really wants to come home.
I would love to have Lewis on this team but all this Lewis to Houston talk in my opinion is just a negotiating ploy on Lewis' part to make the Sonics nervous. I think Lewis will follow the money (Seattle) versus taking the MCE that Houston has. Lewis is young and I suppose if he wanted to sign for Houston's MCE then he could wait a year (or 2) and then sign a longer deal. I mean the Rockets DO have a history of rewarding players that sign MCE and then get larger contracts (Taylor and Shandon Anderson via the sign and trade). With that history in mind Lewis could use that as an excuse to take less money now and play in his hometown for more money down the road. But these things are risky (if he gets hurt etc). We can hope....but in the end I think he will end up back in Seattle, and NOT for a max contract. Chris
"Mmanal, there's a pretty big difference between signing for one million and 4.5 million." DC, do it over 2 yrs. 1 yr at 1 mil and then the following yr at say 7 mil (or whatever the Rockets would have signed him at) works out to almost the same thing as 2 yrs at 4.5 mil. The reason he didnt go that route is b/c the Seattle deal gave him some FINANCIAL SECURITY. Lets say he had gotten injured, he would still have 3 yrs guaranteed at the mid class exception, whereas in the Houston scenario, he'd be completely beholden to the Rockets. I cant see why he would exhibit any loyalty and trust to the Rockets when he felt they betrayed him on draft night. "So as long as Lewis believes he can tough it out for a year with that meager $4.5 million salary (it'll be tough)" Nope, the Rockets wont have Lewis's full bird rights for 3 yrs. Which means he would have to forego three yrs of huge salary. Like I was saying earlier, if he wanted to come home so badly, he would have just used the plan I outlined. He's basically looking for the best deal out there whether its Houston or elsewhere.
One thing I had completely forgotten about which someone brought to my attention and is outlined in another thread my HP. Even if Seattle decided they were willing to take on some of the Rockets bad contracts (which I dont think they would anyway), the sign and trade would be subject to BYC complications. HP explained BYC pretty throughly in another thread but basically the Rockets could not do a straight sign and trade with the Sonics since both teams are capped out. A third team would have to be involved to facilitate the trade. Basically, the third team would have to have sufficient cap room or a trade exception to make the deal work and would have to be willing to eat a player with about half the salary of what Lewis is going to get. Basically, getting around BYC problems is a pretty dicey situation.
Yes, but I was thinking Rice's contract was going to expire after next season, but come to find out it's not until 2004 (I can't believe we're stuck with him for TWO more years!) Anyways, eventhough Rice is the highest paid player on our team right now, him leaving still won't open up any cap space. So, I'm starting to see now that there's no way the Rockets could sign him for the mid-level...unless he'd be willing to take it for more than one year. Is it true that Lewis will immediately become a BYC player if he signed with the Sonics for a sign-and-trade deal? If that's the case, then I don't understand how sign-and-trades can ever occur unless it's a three-team deal.
Lewis wont come here for one big reason. His mother still doesn't like Rudy T. I got lucky and had a conversation with him his first season and asked him about the Rockets. He said he was upset that he didnt get picked by them but that his Mother was the one that was really upset (her son not playing close to home, etc..) especially after they thought they were promised to be picked by the ROckets. SO unless Rashard is thinking on his own, or his mother had a change of heart then he wont be here as long as Rudy is.
"Is it true that Lewis will immediately become a BYC player if he signed with the Sonics for a sign-and-trade deal? If that's the case, then I don't understand how sign-and-trades can ever occur unless it's a three-team deal." The reason sign and trades can happen in some instances and avoid the BYC complications is b/c one of the teams has a bunch of cap room or a trade exception. For instance, when Orlando signed and traded for McGrady and Hill, they had a ton of cap room. Thus, the players going out (Wallace and Atkins) were not subject to this b/c Orlando was under the cap, and Orlando could take on a BYC salary like Hill for instance b/c they were under the cap. HP explained the intricacies of BYC pretty well in the other thread but basically, if one of the teams has cap space or a large enough trade exception, the problems are avoided. In this instance, Seattle or Houston dont.
<i>If Rashard Lewis really and truly had coming home as his #1 goal, he would have just signed a 1 yr 1 mil contract with whichever team 2 yrs ago and let Seattle match. Last summer then, he would have become an unrestricted free agent at a time when the Rockets had major cap room. Instead, Lewis went with a 2 yr deal with an option for yr 3 on the middle class salary making him still under contract last summer. This really tells me that Rashard Lewis is looking at financial security, stablity, etc before his desire to come home</i> MManal, Offer sheets to other team's restricted free agents have to be for a minimum of 3 years, so he wouldn't have been able to sign another team's offer sheet without being locked up for 3 years. He could have accomplished the same thing as you were suggesting, by simply accepting Seattle's 1 year qualifying offer . He would have taken a lower salary for the next season and then been an unrestricted free agent. Personally, I do think Lewis would love to play in Houston, but I agree with MManal, not at a significant pay cut. Also, one other way to make a deal including a BYC player work is to include enough salaries in the deal so that the 15% difference that you are allowed, is large enough to cover the BYC difference.
So what are you trying to say, DUDE?? That Rashard is a real-life version of Norman Bates??? Great....
Deckard, I was referring to something else. I saw irony to what Windandsea was saying because he responded by saying the coach of the China Basketball Association coach was once the coach of the (Bayi) Rockets and Yao Ming, along with Wang Zhi Zhi of Dallas, didn't like that coach. Ming is on the verge of getting drafted by the (Houston) Rockets.
