The only reason that Brian Cook is on the Rockets' roster is that he was the "cost of doing business" for the Rockets to get Kyle Lowry. No other reason. None whatsoever. If the Rockets had to PAY another team (and give up a high draft pick) to take Steve Francis's $2.6M expiring contract, then what makes you think that Brian Cook (a player with less skill and a larger salary) has more trade value. Sure, Francis was injured, but he still had more to offer a team than Cook. He's that bad. In a twist of irony, it is Cook's bloated contract that is the very reason that he is still on the Rockets' roster. If they waive him, it will potentially cost the Rockets up to $10M next year: His $3.5M salary that the team would have to eat, another $3.5M in luxury tax, and another up to ~$3M in lost luxury tax revenues by being a tax-paying team. However, if the Rockets keep Cook on the roster until February and then trade him to a team under the salary cap (along with enough cash to cover the remaining ~$1.7M of salary owed to him, plus additional funds to compensate the other team for taking him off the Rockets' hands), it will potentially save Les Alexander several million dollars. We're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one, CriscoKidd. But I'm right.
I am with Crisco. Cook has the potential to be fairly valuable in a package near the deadline. And we have no reason to force a trade to relieve the cap hit because insurance is practically paying for half the payroll. Unlike you guys the 14-15th roster slots aren't a big deal to me. I don't have the high expectations of James White or Mike Harris or whatever they put in those slots.
It seemed to me like he was just saying that Cook could be used in combination with other expirings/talent to get a player who might be useful to us (obviously on a longer contract) or for a pick. Seems pretty simple. It has happened plenty of times, even this offseason. The cash swap to prevent paying the luxury tax (as the nuggets have done here) is for teams unwilling or incapable of packaging other players in a larger deal.
Steve Francis was an expiring contract last year and the Rockets had to throw in a high second rounder to make his contract go away.
So Cook is useful on a big trade where its "We wouldnt have gotten [5 time All-Star] had it not been for Cook's expiring added in". So having to wait for another overspending team going nowhere and losing cash to become desperate enough to get rid of a decent player is Cook's worth. We absolutely KNOW that deal is gonna come Houston's way....a man can hope, cant he?
Well I think we should trade Cook for Hunter. At least Hunter can play C. It's a lateral move in all ways except that Hunter is a C and Cook is a PF.
