Quote:
Originally Posted by tap2390
Vegas sees Houston as clear front runner for LeBron. We should draft BPA but if that's not a center we better pursue Capela. DSJ/ Wes/ Barnes/ Porter/ Capela sounds great.
|
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2017/12...salary-cap-how
TLDR version:
1) Rockets dump everyone but Harden, Gordon, and Capela. Paul and Harden share 47mill - both can earn 35.4mill each. LeBron has basically said with Paul's support in the NBPA association that he wants to earn big bucks to set precedent for older stars to earn the big bucks so it seems unlikely that one or both of them will take a big discount. It also seems unlikely that the Rockets could jettison all of their minor contracts without getting anything back. They'd have to overpay under-the-cap teams for the privilege (cha-ching) of taking their salary. It also means that they'd hit the cap with Capela counting toward 7mill. If we offered 25mill, Rockets could match, taking their salary up to 117-119mill-- just under the luxury tax.
Harden - 30.4m
LeBron/Paul - 47m
Capela 25.2m
Gordon 13.5m
---------------
116.1m. Luxury tax at 119m. They'd also have to pay to dump Anderson (20m) and Tucker (8m) without recieving salary back. They also may want to dump Nene (3.6m)
They end up just shy of the luxury tax threshold and way over the cap with 5-6 players on contract.
2) Rockets trade away Gordon or Capela and get no salary back - Gets rid of some of the appeal and they have to take back zero salary. Since they can't take back ANY salary for Gordon, it means that they are both limited to trading him to teams under the cap AND since they can't take back salary, it means that the team under the cap can pressure the Rockets for a good deal. That will bring the value down on Gordon/Capela-- maybe to the point that the Rockets will have to pay a team just to dump quality talent. Rockets end up with Harden, LeBron, Paul, and not much else.
3) Cavs trade LeBron for Anderson, Capela, and some late firsts - Maybe? Cavs would get some value in first rounders and Capela is solid, but Anderson is overpaid and who are they as a team after that trade? Mavs could mess this whole thing up by making a fat offer on Capela unless he agrees to an extension before hitting RFA. Lots of moving parts. If they trade Capela's contract prior to FA, then we could poach him from the Cavs. If it's after the free agency period, the RFA rules could introduce a lot of complication.
4) SnT for James - The BYE makes sign and trades near impossible without a third team. That third team needs to be able to absorb salary, which means they are going to get assets for facilitating. Cavs would want assets too, making this unlikely. Rockets have to provide something to sweeten the deal for both the Cavs and the facilitating team and still can't end up more than 6mill over the cap, which means retaining Capela could be hard. Mavs can either fleece the Rockets to make this happen and/or steal Capela while they're in the process.