My take on the last point is #13 is not to worry about it. All the exceptions are specific to player contract status, except the $1m and the Middle-Class. For player specific contracts, once you sign the contract you've used the exception. So, Middle Class and $1m are the only ones that make sense as exceptions that could go unused. (The traded player exception is a credit, it can only help.) But note, you cannot use them when you could fit the same salary under the cap. So, yes, maybe the interpretation is to say if you are within $2.2 of the cap, you could use the Middle Class, so the league is going to charge you. But think about that...just use the damn thing. What I think the league is saying is the Player's Association was awarded the Middle Class in the new CBA. The Players want to make sure it is used, if it could have been. That prevents teams from using the excuse that can only free up $1.5m for you and they want to save their Middle Class, and telling the player "I'm sure you understand our predicament." So, if you are that close to be charged it, just use it. See what I mean by looking at the Spirit of the Law. Don't focus just on the FAQ. The Players Association was given the Middle Class exception in the latest CBA. They want teams penalized for not using it if they could have. That is my take on the last line of #13.
I don't know what Murray's situation was Murray agreed to sign with SA for their $2.7M medical exception (for Sean Elliott). At the last minute, Cleveland came in with a better offer and he backed out of the Spurs deal and agreed to a sign and trade with the Cavs (for Derek Anderson). San Antonio, was left with nobody and ended up using the exception on Samaki Walker. Do you really think there's a chance in hell he'll leave unless someone flat out outbids us above our cap allowances? Nope, but based on our cap situation this off season, it shouldn't too hard for a team like Chicago or Orlando to price us out of a deal. I'm afraid that the 1st tier (Hill, Duncan) and the 2nd tier (Mercer,McGrady,Jones)free agents will resign with their current teams and Chicago and Orlando will be sitting there with tons of money and begin to throw it at anybody that will take it. That's what happened a couple of years ago and we ended up with guys like Matt Geiger getting $7M/year. If Chicago or Orlando offered Mobley a 3yr/$15M deal, I don't think it's too unrealistic to believe that he might take it. Even though the Rockets have Bird Rights on him in another year, I don't think he'll get much more than that from us. About TMass: Renounced players cannot be signed under any Bird exceptions for a year. To re-sign one, you must use other exceptions or have room under the cap. I was pointing out counting TMass at $0 is not going to happen for the very reason that he will have Full Bird rights. If you wanted to resign him,why not use the $1M or $2M (assuming that you didn't use it on Mobley) to resign him? He only makes $1M right now and he hasn't exactly raised his stock a whole lot this year. That way you could zero out his salary to minimize the cap (assuming you're trying to sign a FA). The problem with using Bird rights on him is that Bird rights just allow you to exceed the cap, the money will still eat up any cap space that you have available. If we plan on resigning him (I personally don't think that we will),it's pretty much a wash. He ties up $2M in cap space until he's renounced or resigned and if you resign him (for say $2M), it will use up available cap space. Either way he's using up $2M in cap space and that puts a big dent in any cap space that we might have for a FA. If we were over the cap, then the Bird rights would be much more valuable, but if that was the case then you just lock up Mobley as a restricted free agent. Am I making any sense or am I just rambling incoherently?
aelliot, about the Mobley thing: I think that is somewhat rambling. If teams can outbid $2.2m, there is nothing we can do about it. Restricting him won't help us. That's my point. So, we may as well zero him out if we need to. about TMass: I just don't see him accepting $1m. But you're right, technically we can zero him as well.
Oh...last thing. I'm targeting TMass for a big-time sign-n-trade with the $4.5m exception. Look at Mo Taylor for instance. How much could the Clippers sign Mo to in a sign-n-trade with Tmass and the $4.5m? You add it up. Also, look at all the other possibilities out there with players who have no intention of re-signing with their teams.
heypartner, M Taylor is probably a bad example to use. He has reiterated that he won't do any sign-and-trade with the Clips. They probably had better offers available recently than one for TMass in the summer. That is why they are still the Clips. Mango
heypartner- You're right. $4.5 mil is a lot of money. Combine that with, say, Walt's $5 mil, and you can pay some big money. It's nice that we've had our first quiet trading deadline in years, but man... this summer could be really something. Not only could we get a great draft pick, but with that huge exception tacked onto someone's salary, we could bring in a big-time baller. Not just a star, a superstar to carry the team with Francis. Let me ask a question with that hypothetical Taylor singn and trade for TMass plus $4.5 mil: would we be 2 or 3 years from having his Bird rights?
Count $0 for Mobley The creative GM's get the prize. In-the-box-thinking capologists lose. I have a way where Mobley's contribution to the salary cap can be kept negligeable throughout August/Sept--thus giving us time to sign free agents before signing him. The impact: don't put $2.2 million down right now. It adds about $1.7m to the cap prematurely. Here's the deal: 1. Assume Mobley wants to sign with us to retain his bird rights, 2. We can renounce him in July, thus he counts $0 to the cap. 3. We sign a free agent before we re-sign Mobley to a Middle-Class exception (note renouncing only prevents us from using Bird exceptions on him till next year), thus effectively giving us roughly $1.7m extra to take off the cap. Note also, that if we go through with restricting him, we get a double whammy. Here's how that works: 1. if we restrict Mobley with a qualifying offer, he now counts 130% of current salary plus the offer sheet's value (double whammy), 2. if a team then makes an offer, we must match it or lose Mobley, we have 15 days to do so. 3. The moment we match it, that converts to a contract, and that is his new value towards the cap. Because the offers sheet counts to the cap well before August 1st, and Mobley only has bird rights with us, it is safe to bet, we will just renounce him and sign him to a Middle-class at our convenience. I guarantee you, because of these options, we will not restrict Mobley. disclaimer: i'm not claiming we can even get under the cap. i'm just saying, don't give Mobley the middle-class exception yet if you are looking to tally our salary cap to determine cap room. NOTE: we can't really renounce TMass in this similar fashion, because then we can't resign him using Bird exception. If we renounce TMass, it will be to lose him. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited February 24, 2000).]
I confused when you say "If teams can outbid $2.2m, there is nothing we can do about it. Restricting him won't help us". Why can't we do anything about it? All we have to do is make him a restricted free agent and then we can't possibly lose him next year. Restricting him helps enormously, it allows us to lock up Mobley until next year when we have Bird rights and all it costs us is a little cap space this year (when we're most likely not going to have enough money to go after a FA anyway) How much could the Clippers sign Mo to in a sign-n-trade with Tmass and the $4.5 Are you even allowed to do a trade that involves two "sign and trade" players? I can't recall ever seeing a deal like that done. Regardless, I don't think Massenburg will command too much salary. The new CBA has wiped out the middle class salaries. You end up with a bunch of guys making the max and the rest making near minimum. That's why guys like Lorenzen Wright, Rick Fox and Jim Jackson ended up signing for exceptions. Look at Oakley's situation last year, Toronto was able to low ball him because nobody else would/could pay him any more.Teams just can't afford to tie up $4M to $6M on a middle of the road player anymore. If somebody is going to pay above the exception range, then it's most likely going to be to a younger player with potential instead of an 8 yr journeyman type.
Nolen, Let me ask a question with that hypothetical Taylor singn and trade for TMass lus $4.5 mil: would we be 2 or 3 years from having his Bird rights? Well, if you were able to do a sign and trade for Mo Taylor, then you'd have his Bird rights immediately. My question is would you want to trade for Mo Taylor when he and David Faulk are looking for the maximum salary allowed? He's simply not worth that kind of money. Detroit or NY either one could have had him for very little in return, but neither one wanted to pay him the max.
heypartner, Chill man - sorry if I didn't take your word first time but as you say, I usually like to see something for myself- i wasn't aware of your history with lmcoon and I was just commenting on how I read the CBA FAQ. Next time if you say you've done the leg work I'll believe you. I disagree with your comment "I don't see the rockets taking the double wammy" on Mobley's salary. Next year, that double wammy would be offer sheet + 130% of previous salary, lets say $2.2 mil + $400k = $2.6 mil. This year that is not an issue for us, as we are nowhere near being under the cap. However, it would be an issue the following year when we MAY be near the cap and in the FA hunt. Question: With our ability to match another teams offer on Mobley after restricted free agency, can we match it with anything? That is, if the Bulls offer Mobley $4mil can we match it even if we don't have the cap space, sufficient bird rights or a suitable exception? I think aelliot has already answered "yes" above but I just wanted to confirm. If that is the case, it is bad for the rockets and I don't think we will restrict Mobley. That puts us in the position of having to match another teams offer (including years of contract) or lose him. Matching a $4mil multi-year contract offer would eat up a chunk of our possible cap space in 2001 (when Hakeem retires). I see that as a more likely reason not to restrict mobley than taking the "double wammy". I see the rockets madly negotiating with mobley to sign an early bird contract. Finally, I make no apology for "overcomplicating" the cap. Reading long winded and detailed dialogue about the vagaries of the CBA, capology, contracts and trades is what I enjoy and helps me understand it.
That puts us in the position of having to match another teams offer (including years of contract) or lose him. Matching a $4mil multi-year contract offer would eat up a chunk of our possible cap space in 2001 (when Hakeem retires). I see that as a more likely reason not to restrict mobley than taking the "double wammy". I see the rockets madly negotiating with mobley to sign an early bird contract. davo, I just don't see the Rockets taking a chance on losing Mobley just because he might end up costing $4M against the cap. Why take a chance on losing Mobley just to free up $4M in cap space next year when there's not that many high profile free agents available. You run the risk of losing Mobley AND not getting an impact free agent. I do agree that the Rockets would love to sign Mobley to an early-Bird deal, but I don't see Mobley wanting to wait an extra year for his big payday.
aelliot: no..no...a restricted free agent does not "lock him up"; he is STILL a free agent afterall. You're missing the spirit of free agency. Restriction only sets a qualifying offer. Other teams are allowed to submit other offers, and we get first right of refusal to match them. Someone could offer him $9m, and we couldn't match it. Thus we would lose him. About TMass: yes that is a wrench I don't know the answer to. I guess you could sign TMass Aug 1st, then go after others. Someone mentined Walt + $4.5: Does anyone want Walt? At least TMass is a big body with a better year for Vanc last year than Othella is having. Only a few years older than Othella. The main attraction for TMass is he will probably accept $2m-$3m, making him attractive to other teams. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited February 25, 2000).]
Sorry Davo...I'm chilled. I enjoy the complexities, too. About Mobley, and you question can we pay him over the cap. Let's keep this one simple. No FA contracts can be signed when your salary exceeds the cap, unless you use an exception. We can all agree on that. Given that: We can pay Mobley league minimum, $1m exception, Early Bird exception, or Middle-Class. Middle Class is top dollar at $2.2. Other teams might outbid that. We can't stop it except to remind Mobley that when he gets Full Bird status we can pay him much more. That's why I say that restricting him gains us nothing if someone will tender an offer sheet past $2.2. And if no one does offer more, then Mobley loses a lot by leaving the Rockets and his Full Bird status. So, renouncing him to me is no gamble at all, unless Mobley gets stupid on us...Cuttin-no!!!
