NBA Salary Cap Chat With Larry Coon 11/2/12

1. Dennis

   Scott Skiles, Monte Ellis, Brandon Jennings. Who will still be with the Bucks organization at the end of the year? And in your opinion, which one is most likely to leave.

   • Larry Coon

     Coaches are fungible, for the most part. Players are less so.

2. ethan

   Meeks is only averaging 9 minutes a game and Antwon Jamison is struggling. Will lakers try to improve bench if so how and who? And why did they pass on barbosa

   • Larry Coon

     Naah, give this team some time to click. With everything that’s happened with this team — Nash, Howard, Meeks & Jamison are new, Dwight is coming off a major surgery, the assistant coaches are new and they’re installing a new offense which they’re learning on the fly — it’s going to take some time to clock. I think Meeks and Jamison are going to do fine at their roles, but I wouldn’t want to see Jamison defending threes very often.

     They passed on Barbosa because they already have about fifty point guards on their roster. Is he better than all of them, save Nash? Probably. But the other point guards were already on the roster.

3. Xavier

   With James Harden’s extension, what type of cap flexibility does that leave the Rockets with?

   • Larry Coon

     As of right now the Rockets have $45.8 million committed for next season. Harden’s extension will kick-in at $13.689 million, and Lin & Asik wil both be on the books for about $8.375 million. However, no one else is signed for more than about $3.1 million. They should have some flexibility to do some things.

4. Avi Saini

   Hey Larry. Thanks for taking my question. My understanding of the CBA is that if a team is over the luxury, they cannot be involved in a sign and trade in the offseason. My question though is, does that mean they cannot be in the tax at all within the past year? For example, the Lakers are in the tax this year. If by some miracle they cleared out of it this offseason before the sign and trade, would they be able to complete a sign and trade for a player?

   • Larry Coon

     Starting next season, if a team is over the apron (the point $4 million over the luxury tax line), they can’t RECEIVE a player in a sign-and-trade transaction. The determination is made at the time of the trade, and as a result of the trade. For example, if a team is $3 million over the apron and they trade their $10 million player for another team’s $5 million player who is signed-and-traded, the trade is legal because they finish $2 million under the apron.

5. Chris

   Hi Larry:

   How much “sellers remorse” do you think OKC has with the Harden trade? I know one monster game by the Beard doesn’t tell the story, but with what we can see Harden can do, it probably would have been wiser for Presti to give him his max, then turn around after the season and traded Westbrook for useful pieces, including a more traditional PG…your thoughts?

   • Larry Coon

     I don’t think there’s any remorse at all. They knew what Harden was capable of doing, and they knew that by trading him they were trading a very good player with a lot of upside. I also think they looked at it from every conceivable angle, and that included whether to keep Harden and move other player(s) instead. I think if there was any remorse it might have been for agreeing to a CBA that didn’t protect them better.

6. Robert Lamb

   With the serious lack of legitimate backup (even starting!) size on the Spurs roster, are there any possibilities for them to upgrade in that area? Seems that they’re absolutely loaded on the wing now, and even potentially the point, but the 4/5 spots are true concerns. (Pop & RC clearly were/are aware of this, so it’s hard to imagine how much they were actually offering Lorbek to ultimately be outbid by Real Madrid! Yikes…)

   • Larry Coon

     Pop & R.C. Buford should get on the phone to Pat Riley. Not because the Heat have a solution to their problem — just because it’d be good to commiserate with someone who feels their pain.

7. Matthew

   I know its terrible to predict injuries, but some are more prone than others. Of these players, which ones are you most skeptical can last the entire 82 game season: Brandon Roy, Luis Scola, Jermaine O’Neal, Amare Stoudemire, Steph Curry, and Andrew Bogut. Anyone else to add to the list?

   • Larry Coon

     You missed Andrew Bynum.

     Of the players you mention, I think I’d be the most skeptical of Stoudemire. Ironically, I think Roy — who originally retired because of his injury — could wind up as the last man standing among this group.

8. Randy

   What is your take on the whole Eric Gordan’s saga. Is the knee injury legit? How long should he be out. And what does his future look like in New Orleans.

   • Larry Coon

     Legit? I’m not sure what a non-legit knee injury would look like, nor why someone would want to propagate a non-legit knee injury.

     How long should he be out? I’m not an orthopedist, so the best I can answer is “until he’s healthy.”

     As for the future in New Orleans, I’ll only comment that this is one of the reasons the Clippers traded him. They knew his knee wouldn’t hold up, and it could be a disaster for them if they gave him the max extension he was seeking. New Orleans didn’t exercise the same caution, and it’s now coming back to bite them.

9. Jonathan

   Under the CBA, if a player retires due to injury, does his contract count against the cap for the duration of its term? Thinking of STAT, who may become another Allan Houston.

   • Larry Coon

     If a player retires due to a career-ending injury or illness, the team can waive the player and apply for an exclusion after one year following the player’s last game. If the exclusion is granted, the player’s salary is removed from the team’s cap. If the player returns, however, his salary goes back on his old team’s cap. This happened with Portland and Darius Miles.

10. Joey

    What are your thoughts on Antawn Jamison? Do you feel he will eventually become the player we expected of him? (More scoring)

    • Larry Coon

      Yes — I think that once this team settles in, he will provide plenty of points off the bench.

11. dan

    With news of CP3 and D12 wanting to play together breaking again today is there a way Dallas w/ Dirk or Atl w/ Horford could realistically sign both to max deals this summer

    • Larry Coon

      There’s news of players wanting to play together breaking all the time. I don’t put much stock in it. Does it happen from time to time? Yes — LeBron and Bosh joining Wade in Miami is one example. But don’t just count the hits — you also have to count the misses. How many times have you heard about players wanting to play together where it DIDN’T eventually happen?

      But supposing one team DID want to sign both this summer — CP3 can get about $18.7 million this summer and Dwight can get about $20.5 million. That adds up to about $39.2 million, unless one/both are willing to take a discount. With a cap around $60 million this summer, a team can’t have more than about $20.8 million on its roster, which includes active contracts, unsigned first round draft picks, and cap holds. Dirk all by himself will be about $22.7 million next season, so Dallas is out. Atlanta right now is committed to about $21.5 million for next season, so they can at least be discussed rationally. They’d have to further gut their roster to get it done, similar to what Miami did in 2010.

12. Philip

    There is so much talk about okc being a small market and not being able to retain 3-4 (near-)max guys. Even though its oklahoma city do you really think they would not make enough money in the next 5-10 years with a roster that had a chance to become the next dynasty?

    • Larry Coon

      Had they kept Harden they would have a payroll around $100 million. That equates to a non-repeater tax of about $78 million. But they would also be in danger of being repeaters, which would increase their tax to about $106 million. No — that’s not affordable, and it’s not sustainable, no matter how well the team is playing. Their local TV revenue is miniscule compared to some other team, much of the playoff revenue is funneled to the league office, and they are projected to be payers in the revenue sharing system.

13. Dan

    Some of the 4th yr player extensions seemed quite high this week but with so many teams set to have cap space next summer and so few free agents do you think they all were likely to get more as RFAs?

    • Larry Coon

      I think extending most of the players who got extensions (Gibson, Lawson, Curry, Harden, Griffin, Ibaka, Holliday, DeRozan) was a no-brainer. Remember, free agency is big-market friendly, so if you’re a team like Toronto, you have to weigh the risk of signing the player (DeRozan) now against the risk of allowing him to become a free agent and potentially paying him more (or even losing him). And yes, supply & demand enters into the analysis — if there are more buyers than sellers it will drive prices up.

14. Nod

    Should the lakers trade pau to atl for josh…

    • Larry Coon

      You could make an argument that Josh Smith is younger, cheaper, Dwight’s buddy (remember, Howard is only signed through this season and still needs to be convinced to re-sign) and arguably a better fit in the Lakers’ offense than Pau, yes.

15. Jeremy Lamb

    I had a chance for some playing time in Houston, but now at OKC, will I get the chance to step on the court for some significant minutes?

    • Larry Coon

      Lamb will be developed more slowly in OKC than he would have in Houston, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

16. Kevin

    How much will the Clippers have invested in for next season? and if they resign Chris Paul

    • Larry Coon

      Right now they’re at $44.8 million for 2013-14. Add about $18.7 million to that if they re-sign Paul.

17. Jamie

    Given the shortage of superstar level Shooting Guards in the League, what do you think of Toronto’s decision to extend DeRozan?

    • Larry Coon

      A flat $9.5 million/year for four years to avoid a seller’s market isn’t a bad decision for a team that’s anything but a free agent magnet.

18. Shawn Bronald

    Hi Larry, hypothetically, under the current CBA, would the Phoenix Suns be able to trade for Eric Gordon under his current contract with the Hornets (if so, I’m assuming it would be starting next season)?

    • Larry Coon

      Given the status of Gordon’s knee, would they even want to?

19. Shawn

    If a restricted free agent signs an offer sheet with Team B and their original team, Team A, matches that offer, when (if ever) can said player be traded to Team B? Thanks!

    • Larry Coon

      After a year.