How does adding a top 10 talent make the team worse? How do you propose making the team better without adding top talent? How do you add top talent without paying for it? I don't understand your position at all. Lower 1st round draft picks and value contracts aren't going to measurably help us beat the Warriors in the next 3 - 4 years. Two of the top 10 players in the league now play for the Rockets and we're far more marketable to other top players. How is that bad?
I'll try to explain why GSW can still use a Soft Cap spending, while there is also a Hard Cap in the NBA for certain teams. First, Hard-capped simply means your Team Salary now cannot exceed the Apron (which is $125m). You can no longer benefit from the Soft-Cap World; you are now Hard Capped. The key word is "Capped." Rockets can still add salaries, as normal, up to that capped amount. We don't lose any exceptions by being Hard-capped, rather the use of certain exceptions put the Hard Cap ceiling on us. Anything that you are not allowed to do when over the Apron (like GSW is) hard-caps you for that season. Taxpayers like GSW, CLE, etc cannot use the large Non Taxpayer MLE, the BAE or SnT, (and some Gilbert Arenas provision stuff). Those are now benefits of staying under the Apron. So, once you use one, you are saying to the League (we promise to stay below the Apron), and you are locked in to that promise for the year. You can't go over $125m *for any reason*, once hard-capped. So, in a nutshell, Teams like GSW who are over the Apron, can continue adding salary, because this is a Soft Cap league. They just cannot use the Non Taxpayer MLE, the BAE or do a SnT. GSW can add salary using Bird Exceptions, doing Trades, using the Taxpayer MLE, using minimum exceptions, and some more. Teams under the Apron who use those salary-cap mechanisms listed in #1 that GSW cannot use (like the Rockets now) are binding themselves to a season-long promise to never go over the Apron for that year. We are free to continue using SnTs and whatnot (for Milsap, for instance), but in doing so, we cannot go over our hard-cap ceiling of $125m. Lastly, WE CANNOT EXCEED $125m for *any reason*, once we use an NT MLE, BAE or SnT. No if-ands-or-butts about it. Hard cap is Hard cap. So, don't even ask if we can sign someone with a vet minimum once we hit $125m. We cannot go over $125m. So, the answer is no.
Yes, but every dollar given to Nene counts against the $20 million in room the Rockets now have below the hard cap.
Keep in mind, Bima is saying what we can do with the rest of our $20m of room below the Hard cap. He's not saying we can use those exception to exceed the Hard cap....we can't.
So all 10.99 counts....wow Hmm, we would probably be better off if we could sign NeNe first and then do the Tucker signing if it's not official yet. Wait never mind, I just realized that's wrong because of the fixed tax apron.
The improvement we made isn't large enough to make up for the fact that we are now stuck moving forward.
So basically our problem is : find 5 players with 20 million dollars not one penny more. Well Zeller is about to be waived. When he clears waivers we can give him a vet minimum. Tariq Black too.
Huh? We got a HOF level PG who is a fringe top 10 player. How does that represent a step back? Bev was nice, and at times so was Dekker and Montrezl but Houston had a good record last year despite the talent on the roster and that team was likely at its ceiling. They overachieved and got whipped in the playoffs as a result. Their new roster has a much higher ceiling. Does it make us as good as the Warriors or Cavs? No it doesn't but it's a move that gets us closer and you get there one move at a time. It's not going to happen overnight and it sure as hell wasnt going to happen with a late 1st, Bev(as much as I loved him as a Rocket), Dekker, and Harrell. We are climbing a very steep mountain and to get to the top we have to take many steps, sometimes even walking down a bit to find a better path up but to say Morey failed because we took any steps are the words of someone circling the base of the mountain forever.
Nobody really wanted Asik and Lin with the poison pill contracts as well...... it takes time but eventually Anderson will be moved.
Lol time and time again again at people that think getting Paul for a bunch of role players somehow make us worse than last year. He's a point guard, just like Harden! I'm sorry but if I can get a top 10 player for the pupu platter we just sent out I do it 8 days out of the week, regardless of position. You accumulate talent and you have the envious position of trying to make it work. Morey Harden and D'Antoni squeezed out everything that was possible with the roster last year and anyone that thinks we somehow regressed are probably also the same posters that whined last summer how we were going to be a lottery team going into the 16-17 season. If you want instant gratification and care less about having some long term planning and flexibility, I'm sorry that Billy King isn't around any longer bc he's the type of GM you'd love. If/when Anderson is moved we'll have more flexibility to bring in more talent. Just because things didn't happen the first 36 Hours of free agency doesn't mean we're worse off than last summer. Jesus Christ.
We cant waste away the team in hardens prime. These people on here whining about beating the warriors. We are a better team right now than last year with cp3 and tucker. People just dont understand how good cp3 is at basketball. We closed the gap between us and warriors people. Not a ton, but some. Next offseason we can finish the deal. Now since we are better, we are one GS injury to draymond , durant or curry from being probably the favorite to win the west. You want to keep improving so you have a shot. We cant just sit on out hands wasting away a hall of famers career
