So if I understand this correctly (according to the news papers). Philly would be willing to give up Iggy, Dalembert and Williams for TMac's expiring contract and Lowry Washington would be willing to trade Caron and Haywood for TMac's expiring contract and Luis Scola As I try to understand those two trades I have to admit the Washington one makes me scratch my head a little. Why would they want that trade when Haywood expires at the end of this season anyway and Butler expires after next season. The two players they should most want to get rid of are Arenas and Crittenton. Crittenton expires after this season and no one will touch Arenas contract period. So what is the allure of getting rid of Caron Butlers contract when he is still a good player with only one season left. If someone could further help me understand Washington's desire to Caron Butler and Brandon Haywood I would love to be enlightened. Regardless I believe where there is smoke there is fire so I am just going to accept it as fact for now. With Philly I completely understand wanting to unload all of that salary. They are stuck with what they have and no room for improvement except through the draft. By getting rid of Iggy and Dalembert they essentially start over with a very attractive core (Thaddeus Young, Speights, Holiday) which are all on very good salaries. Bring a high draft pick this year and they are really looking good, even with Brands enormous salary hanging over their heads for the next several years. So if Daryl Morey and Les Alexander are serious about spending extra money and serious about a putting a championship contender on the floor then why not shoot for the moon by doing both trades. If this sounds crazy, ridiculous or out of the realm of possibility then I say take a look at the deal and its effect on the Salary Cap first and judge for yourself. Before looking at the trade and its impact on the salary cap lets look at some other contenders and championship team’s payroll. Code: [b]Team Total Salary Over Threshold Real Salary[/b] Boston Celtics Salary $84,045,132 $14,125,132 $98,170,264 Los Angeles Lakers $91,341,066 $21,421,066 $112,762,132 Cleveland Cavaliers $82,093,897 $12,173,897 $94,267,794 Orlando Magic $82,087,014 $12,167,014 $94,254,028 Dallas Mavericks $85,495,648 $15,575,648 $101,071,296 Houston Rockets * $76,239,930 $6,319,930 $82,559,860 [b]*Houston Rockets Salary after Proposed Trade[/b] Those teams are all over 82 million with LA at 91 million and that’s before paying the NBA its money for exceeding the Luxury Tax. LA will have to pay an extra 21 million while Orlando and Cleveland will each pay an extra 12+million. That means the title contenders are all paying between 94 and 112 million due to salary this season. So you want to play with the big boys? Then be prepared to pay. This years Luxury Tax Threshold is $69,920,000 with a Salary Cap of $57,700,000. Next Years Salary Cap is said to be between 52 and 55 million. I’m going to be optimistic and use $55,000,000 for this scenario which would mean the Luxury Cap next season would be about $67,400,000. If the Rockets are really prepared to put a team on the floor that can compete for a long time and still cost less than the rest of the contenders then taking both Philly and Washington deals is the way to go. In this scenario Philly would have to take on Shane Battier but the savings is still huge to them and they would get rid of Dalembert's contract. Washington would not get TMac but they would still get Scola which is what the report out of DC said they wanted. Here is the trade: Code: [size=5][b]Proposed Trade[/size] Houston Rockets Philadelphia 76ers Washington Wizards[/b] Andre Iugodala Tracy McGrady Luis Scola Samuel Dalembert Kyle Lowry Brian Cook Lou Williams Shane Battier Chuck Hayes Caron Butler Brandon Haywood This trade would increase the Rockets Salary for this season to $76,239,930 which is $6,319,930 over the Luxury Tax Threshold. In effect Les Alexander would have to pay a total of $82,559,860 which is still substantially lower than any of the other serious contenders. Also notice that the salaries of Caron Butler, Yao Ming and Brandon Haywood all end this summer of after next season. David Anderson is the only player who is 29 or older that has a contract beyond next season and even that one is not guaranteed. If the Rockets pulled off this trade they would only be obligated up to $32,928,797 after next summer which is a long way from Salary Cap Hell. If it became obvious that this team was not going to work during the 2010 / 2011 season they would have plenty of expiring contracts (Butler / Dalembert) that would be just as attractive at the trade deadline as TMac’s contract is now. Code: [b]Player 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014[/b] Andre Iguodala $12,200,000 $12,345,250 $13,531,750 $14,718,250 $15,904,750 Yao Ming $16,378,325 $17,686,100 2010 First Round Pick $1,300,000* Trevor Ariza $5,854,000 $6,322,320 $6,790,640 $7,258,960 $7,727,280 Sam Dalembert $12,025,694 $12,912,823 Caron Butler $9,780,970 $10,561,960 Carl Landry $3,000,000 $3,000,000 David Andersen $2,314,815 $2,500,000 $2,685,185 $3,356,481 Brendan Haywood $6,000,000 Will Conroy $82,306 Aaron Brooks $1,118,520 $2,016,692 $2,976,636 Brent Barry * $1,062,800 Louis Williams $4,972,500 $5,000,000 $5,176,000 $5,351,500 Jermaine Taylor $725,000 $780,871 $884,293 $942,293 Chase Budinger $725,000 $780,871 $884,293 $942,293 [b][color=navy]Total Salary $76,239,930 75206887 32928797 32569777 23632030[/color] [color=red]Over Threshold $6,319,930 $7,806,887 [/color] [color=darkred]Real Salary $82,559,860 $83,013,774[/color][/b] * = estimate The other really nice thing about this trade is the age of the talent that would be acquired. Each and everyone one of these players will be in their primes through out the remainder of the contracts and in most instances will have many prime years left at the end of their contracts. Code: [b]Starters Age Bench Age Bench Age[/b] Aaron Brooks 25 Lou Williams 23 Will Conroy 27 Andre Iugodala 26 Trevor Ariza 24 Jermain Taylor 23 Caron Butler 29 Chase Budinger 21 Carl Landry 26 Sam Dalembert 28 Yao Ming 29 Brandon Haywood 30 David Anderson 29 That team would be extremely deep. Size, Athleticism, Scoring, Defense, Shot Blocking and a very deep and very good bench. There are never any guarantees but this team would certainly challenge any in a seven game play-off and may just have too much fire power for any team to stop. I just don’t see an argument against this team being one of the elite in the NBA. This team does not have Kobe or Lebron on it but neither of those two players are going anywhere anytime soon in my opinion. The Bosh dream is all but gone as well since the Raptors are playing much better and appear to be in the thick of things in the East. If nothing else this shows that if the right talent is available then the Rockets must be willing to go beyond the Luxury Tax Threshold in order to have a legit shot at another NBA Championship.
First on why Washington trade Butler. They've specified they want someone else in addition to T-Mac. In which case, they'd basically be giving us Butler's 2010-11 salary for a younger player, plus the ability to tank further. But I agree, the trade as it lines up right now doesn't make sense for Washington. As for your championship caliber lineup, I'm not sure it all fits. Especially because there's no clear #1 in that group. I would say this only goes down if Adelman feels he can handle all the personnel and distribute their shots well. Otherwise it could turn out to be a disaster. Also, I'm not sure Les is willing to pay that much luxury tax(and likely more in the future) for Iggy and Butler. It's not as much a no-brainer as a Lebron/Wade/Bosh.
I was just going by the reports. This deal gives them the same advantage of getting TMac's expiring contract and still gives them Scola as well as Hayes. All are expiring contracts that could be resigned. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4873867
That is the real point of the thread. If Les is not willing to go over the Luxury Tax then we will very likely never get the talent needed to truly complete for an NBA Championship. Look at the rest of the Contenders and last two champs. All would still have higher salaries than the Rockets. DM has said that the Rockets are willing to take on additional salary and years, well here is a contender in anyone's eyes.
If Morey's numbers are certain the Rockets becomes at least the 2nd best team in the west with that trade, Les would probably think about it. But Morey and Adelman would both have to be damn sure it will be that good. Star players may pay for themselves a bit due to fandom. But borderline all-stars? Not so much. Iggy/Butler is not going to bring in dough nearly as well as Kobe/Lebron/KG.
No but winning will sure bring in the fans. Also, Yao Ming is still a big name if thats what you want. I guess the bottom line as far as I'm concerned is this... are the Rockets willing to pay the cost to have a chance to win a championship? An 80 million plus salary is not out of the question if a championship is the goal. And don't forget... the team would have the rest of this year and next season to judge if this team could bring a championship. After that enough salaries fall off of the books that they would be well below the salary cap.
Nice post. Your point is well taken, but I do have to express doubt about giving up Scola, Battier, Hayes, and Lowry in your proposed deal. That's one too many players from the current core team, I think. It's tough to even give up one of those guys, because they are such reliable team players. But your point about payroll seems fair and I suspect, though I don't know, that the team is profitable enough to allow for a higher payroll. Maybe Les Alexander is just waiting until the Rockets seem within striking distance of a championship before he decides to spend that much. If the Rockets go deep into the playoffs next season, maybe he'll open the coffers for 2011-2012.
Remember, four of those teams are proven championship calibur teams. Morey and the team needs to convince Les that an Iggy or Butler addition puts the Rockets on the same level as the Lakers, Cavs, Magic, etc.
we can also try to tank in the off season by not trading TMac, and people on this board keep thinking that this is a better option. either way we do it, i don't care, because we're going over LT anyways if we want to be a contender. what would be nice is to do a S&T after picking up diamonds in the rough in 2010 FA. then, come trade deadlines for NBA in february of 2011, we might be able to nab a superstar. i don't think DM is type of a guy who does cheap moves, such as offering 23 mil/year to Lebron and hope that he'd come. his ways are little unconventional. so i have no idea what to expect.
I'm probably missing something but can you explain how the Rockets trade roughly $9 million to Washington and take back roughly $16 million?
Why do so many people take rumors as God's gospel as to what GMs are REALLY offering us in terms of the McGrady situation? Hell, half of the viable trades being thrown out there, usually have us absorbing someone's trash for a "star" level player that has been inconsistent for most of their career and discarding a actual contributor to the team. Honestly don't we already have more then enough inconsistent stars?
It's a three team trade, that is the only way it works but it does work... at least according to the ESPN Trade Machine.
Excellant post. If we always wait for the perfect trade, we won't make a lot mistakes but it may never happen. These trades together can put us in the same league as Lakers. Forget about those so called formulas for championship. History is bound to be made, instead of copied from past. If we can compete with Lakers, Dallas, Spurs with our current squd, why shouldn't we beat them with so many good additions? The best part is no long term obligation here at all.
Great post. I don't know about the trades, but I like how you seem to be the first that notices that If we want to play with the "big boys", we better do something MAJOR. We need MAJOR changes to this squad and Les needs to break the bank...
I think our stars were more injury prone than inconsistent, albeit the latter was also a factor. Therefore, no Kevin Martin, thanks.
A lot of people act like they are the GM and 'reluctant' to pay money unless championship is a 'sure thing'. Remember we are the fans first! That being said, who would have thought a few years ago that Boston putting together a 'big old three with no roleplayers' team would be contenders in years to come？Who would have thought Rasheed Lewis's 20 million annual salary would be much more acceptable than non-performing TMAC/AI? Who would have thought Cleveland acqiring old expensive Shaq would propell them beating LA, Magic so effortlessly at least in regular season? You calculate the risks, but you act boldly on excellant deals instead of waiting for perfect one.
OK, thats easy enough. Subtract Scola from the deal and insert Landry. If that's all they want and I can include the Philly deal for Iggy, Dalembert and Williams then I am all over it.
