Since everybody is speculating about teams cutting players, I thought I would list the teams that are in luxury tax territory and the players that fit the bill. Remember that the salary cap went up to approx. $51 Mill under the new CBA. 2005-2006 Teams that are currently over the cap Sacramento 58.3M (including salaries of Mobley/Songaila who will both likely opt out) --nobody likely to get cut Houston 55.3M--Norris, Weatherspoon, Howard Miami 61.1M--E. Jones(14.5-18mill), Wang Zhizhi LA Lakers 64.2 M--B. Grant(13-15), Odom(10-15) Ind (no reggie) 68 M --Croshere(8-9), Bender (6-8), O'Neal(15-23, injury) Memphis 56M -- J. Williams(7-9) Orlando 66M --Hill (15-17), Francis (12-17), Christie, Cato, Stevenson Philly 72M --Webber (19-22), Iverson (16-22), McKie, Mashburn(10) Dallas 96M --Van Horn(15), Finley(16-18),Dampier(8-12), Bradley New York 108M-- Houston (20), Penny (16), Taylor (9),T.Thomas(14) Marbury(17-22), Jer Williams (6-7) Detroit 51M --No cuts 2005-2006 Teams that are not over the cap, but that are likely to go over it after the sign new players 05-06 04-05 New Jersey 62M --Kidd(16-21mill) Boston 47M 61M --Pierce(12-16), Lafrentz (10-12) Minnesotta 47M 71M --Sczerbiak(9-13) Portland 50M 79M --Ratliff (11), Anderson (9), Z. Randolph(11-17)Toronto 47M 61M --Rose(16),Alvin Williams(6),Murray(5),Alston(4-5) Chicago 55M --A. Davis(13), E. Robinson(5)
don't forget that in a couple months we are going to give a FAT raise to Yao so don't expect to leave this list by much when those other contracts expire.
Out of all these teams, the only ones that I think will definitely cut a player to save luxury tax are: New York- This exception was made for Allan Houston Indiana- They've been leary of the tax for the past few years. Croshere is gone. Los Angeles- Brian Grant is done for. Dallas- Somebody on that bench will be cut. It might be someone insignificant like Evan Eschmeyer or someone big like Van Horn or Finley, but someone is definitely gone. The maybes: Orlando- They're not going to cut Grant Hill. But if they might cut one of, Cato, Battie or Christie. Heat- Stick Eddie Jones on the maybe section. But he's still useful. Otherwise they might dump Wang in order to save 2.75 million. Memphis- I could see Lorenzon Wright or Jake Tsakalidis get cut. Philly- Actually the Sixer's cap situation isn't nearly as bad as it looks. They will have $16 million in medical injury players coming off the cap in the form of Mashburn and Todd MacCulloch. They might dump a guy like Kevin Ollie, but that's probably it. No way they eat Webber's contract. They're not that far into the LT to make it worth it.
I am showing overpaid players, not high salaried guys. There are plenty of highly paid players on those teams who deserve their contracts. (Garnett, Nowitzki 14M, T-Mac, V. Carter, Cassell, Bibby 13M, Stojakovic, Artest, R.Wallace 10M, Pau Gasol 14M, Jason Terry, Stackhouse, R. Jefferson etc)
So... Not really trying to be a jerk, but isn't this very subject already being discussed, more or less...?
There was wrong information floating around about which teams are over the cap. The teams that are not over the cap can't cut anybody and several players were being proposed from teams that are under the cap. I decided to create a different thread that summarizes which teams will be in luxury tax in 05-06 and which players have a chance to get cut. I created this thread as a reference point rather than an extension of the other thread.
Nice job on your research. I would personally take J. Howard out of the list though, yes he got hurt, but when he wasn't hurt, he was contributing in a good level. Just my opinion though.
You can cut T-Mac's horse from that list. The human pony Shawn Bradley announced his retirement today.
