# Rocket payroll at $67 million, decision time tomorrow



## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3310450



> Facing the deadline to cut a player to take advantage of the NBA's new, one-time luxury-tax amnesty offer, the Rockets will weigh today whom they could cut to gain an extra roster spot and the tax savings.
> 
> If the Rockets do create a roster spot, they could jump back into that market, especially if Michael Finley is cut by Dallas and would be interested in the Rockets' $1.67 million salary-cap exception. More likely, if they release a power forward, they could reach out to summer-league star Lonny Baxter.
> 
> But first, they must decide how and if to maneuver today.


I bet it's Moochie.


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## bellary (Aug 12, 2005)

I bet Ward


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

baker


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

You can't go wrong either way.

If it is Ward, I think Les should start deducting money from CD and Jeff's paychecks to cover what he lost on the Ward signing. I know Les is rich but, he shouldn't have to pay that contract.

I think CD should sign every poster to this Rockets board to a one year deal at the league minimum and cut all of us. I could sure use a little extra cash.


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## McGrady (May 17, 2005)

We are not cutting Ward, he will serve as a mentor to Luther Head.

I'd say it will be Moochie or Vin Baker. Bet on it.


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## Blazer Freak (Jul 11, 2004)

Howard. Just a guess.. I'm probably gonna get flamed, but he isn't need with Swift now. And he still has like 4 more years left on his contract.


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## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

1, spoon

2, norris

norris is more tradable.


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

Blazer Freak said:


> Howard. Just a guess.. I'm probably gonna get flamed, but he isn't need with Swift now. And he still has like 4 more years left on his contract.


i didnt even think about that i think thats prob less likely though,


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## Blazer Freak (Jul 11, 2004)

Ballscientist said:


> 1, spoon
> 
> 2, norris
> 
> norris is more tradable.


How so? Spoon's contract is expiring while, I believe Norris has 2-3 more years.


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## maxrider (May 9, 2005)

Norris got 2 years left
2nd year is team option
count as good as expiring


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## Pasha The Great (Apr 9, 2005)

> Howard. Just a guess.. I'm probably gonna get flamed, but he isn't need with Swift now. And he still has like 4 more years left on his contract.


I actually like that idea. I'd like the extra money the rockets will have due to his cut.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

I'd love for Baxter to get on a team somewhere.


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## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

if it were up to me, I would cut howard. Everyone else expires, we'll have a ton of cap space next year to sign players. With Yao and TMac bringing so much revenue (Im sure swift will, too) paying the rest of howard's contract is a small loss when considering the large potential gain of having a championship team next year.


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

TManiAC said:


> if it were up to me, I would cut howard. Everyone else expires, we'll have a ton of cap space next year to sign players. With Yao and TMac bringing so much revenue (Im sure swift will, too) paying the rest of howard's contract is a small loss when considering the large potential gain of having a championship team next year.


if we cut howard this yr couldnt the cap help us right away? sign a good pg and a nice back up pf and save some money next yr


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## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

TheRoc5 said:


> if we cut howard this yr couldnt the cap help us right away? sign a good pg and a nice back up pf and save some money next yr


No, we would still be over the salary cap by about 10-13 million dollars

We only get one MLE, so were still left with the $1.7 mill LLE to work with.

If we release Howard, next year we'll have about 5-8 million to work with, the MLE, and the LLE. We could absorb contracts via trade or just use our cap space to sign a free agent. You could do alot with 12-15 million dollars.


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## TheRoc5 (Mar 1, 2005)

TManiAC said:


> No, we would still be over the salary cap by about 10-13 million dollars
> 
> We only get one MLE, so were still left with the $1.7 mill LLE to work with.
> 
> If we release Howard, next year we'll have about 5-8 million to work with, the MLE, and the LLE. We could absorb contracts via trade or just use our cap space to sign a free agent. You could do alot with 12-15 million dollars.


ic then i wouldnt be for it, i say we get rid of baker ward or weatherspoon


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

TManiAC said:


> No, we would still be over the salary cap by about 10-13 million dollars
> 
> We only get one MLE, so were still left with the $1.7 mill LLE to work with.
> 
> If we release Howard, next year we'll have about 5-8 million to work with, the MLE, and the LLE. We could absorb contracts via trade or just use our cap space to sign a free agent. You could do alot with 12-15 million dollars.


Even if we release Howard, his salary still counts against our cap... the only person who benefits is Leslie Alexander. Don't forget Yao's extension kicks in next year as well, so even if we do manage to stay under the cap it will only be by about $2 million or so... I would prefer to get something out of our expiring contracts instead.


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## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

Mr. Roger's Cardigan said:


> Even if we release Howard, his salary still counts against our cap... the only person who benefits is Leslie Alexander. Don't forget Yao's extension kicks in next year as well, so even if we do manage to stay under the cap it will only be by about $2 million or so... I would prefer to get something out of our expiring contracts instead.



No, with the amnesty rule his salary wouldn't count towards our cap. We would still be paying him, but the salary paid to Juwan Howard is considered a seperate expenditure and not included in the team salary sum. 

I already took into account Yao's resigning. I figure he'll make 10-12 million in the first year of his new contract. Im sure he would also be willing to take a pay cut considering most of his money comes from endorsement anyhow (he pays a percentage of his salary to his Chinese team).

We would also be losing more than just our expirings. We lose all our current expirings next year AND we free up about 6 million for dropping Howard as our amnesty "victim."


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## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

TheRoc5 said:


> ic then i wouldnt be for it, i say we get rid of baker ward or weatherspoon


That still doesnt pull us under the cap. We would still be more than 10 mill over and would pay that much in luxury tax this season.

Thats why I would drop Howard so that we free up an extra 6 mill included with our expirings like Spoon.

I would rather keep Spoon because he'll be good trade bait around deadline time. If not, then he expires after this season anyway.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

amnest


TManiAC said:


> No, with the amnesty rule his salary wouldn't count towards our cap. We would still be paying him, but the salary paid to Juwan Howard is considered a seperate expenditure and not included in the team salary sum.


Howard _is_ included in the team salary sum... the only thing difference is that we would only have to start paying luxury tax at $67 million instead of $61 million if we cut Howard. It counts towards the hard cap ($50 million), not the luxury cap ($61 million). 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2113328



> Amnesty moves, you see, provide zero salary-cap relief.
> 
> We repeat: No cap space is gained by waiving an amnesty player.


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## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

my mistake.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

I don't mind the money Howard is making as long as he can consistently knock down that elbow jump shot and play with a decent back to the basket game. Right now he can hit that with his eyes closed, we'll see how long that lasts. We don't know how long Mutombo can hold up, so it's possible Howard will play alongside Swift in the paint when Yao is on the bench.


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