NBA Salary Cap Chat With Larry Coon 2/29/12

1. Jake sutton

   Hey Larry, there’s been reports that the Magic are working a on a big trade. If they aren’t trading Dwight in this trade who do you think they could be making a trade with? Are you hearig anything?

   • Larry Coon

     Wait, you think they’re working on a big trade NOT involving Dwight?

     Dwight is the first big domino the entire league is waiting for. All of the Magic’s future plans are contingent on whether they move Dwight. I don’t think they do anything until they decide exactly where Dwight is going, and know exactly what they’re getting back.

2. Nick

   What will the headline be on March 16 for the Cavs?

   • Larry Coon

     I’m guessing, “Trade deadline passes, Jamison still a Cav.”

3. Nick

   Keep hearing the Cavs and Kings will be used to get rid of players for draft picks since they have cap space? What team and players are looking to doing this?

   • Larry Coon

     No, you have it backward. If a team trades a player for a draft pick, they’re moving downward in salary. ANY team can make a trade in which they move downward. Teams with cap room can take on PLAYERS without having to send salary out. Not to say a team like Cleveland, Sacramento or Indiana would want to do this, but if any of them were willing to take on Shawn Marion, Dallas would try to make it worth their while by throwing in extra assets, cash and/or draft picks.

4. Nick

   What point guard do you think the Lakers would rather have Sessions or Calderon? Which one are they most likely to get?

   • Larry Coon

     Calderon’s having a better season, but he’s also much more expensive — and remember, the Lakers are taxpayers so he really costs double. Calderon also won’t fit into the $8.9 million trade exception they have from the Lamar Odom trade, so they’d have to send players to Toronto — making the deal that much more complicated to execute (who do the Lakers have that Toronto would want?) So I think Sessions is more likely.

5. ori

   do you see any way JR Smith does NOT opt out of his player option?

   • Larry Coon

     Not unless he gets hurt. Smith was looking for a showcase, because he wants a big contract this summer.

6. Brian

   Happy Leap Day! What happens to a non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed year in a player’s contract if the team uses the amnesty or stretch provisions on him? I’m thinking of a scenario like Hedo Turkoglu’s contract, except obviously Orlando already burned their amnesty on Gilbert Arenas.

   • Larry Coon

     When a player is waived, his guaranteed base salary continues to be paid by the team. Bonuses & non-guaranteed salary are lost, as are team option years. Contracts contain paragraphs that say what happens to player option years when the player is waived before the option is picked up.

     The exception is the amnesty provision, but only when the player is claimed by another team — like Chauncey Billups was. The new team takes over all bonuses and non-guaranteed salary when making an anmesty claim. This ensures that the waiving team doesn’t have to pay any more through amnesty than they would have paid had the player cleared waivers.

7. ori

   is the MLE the only funds the knicks can use to re-sign jeremy lin, landry fields and jr smith (if he ops out)?

   • Larry Coon

     Not the only funds, but the biggest source of funds. Bird rights take three years to ramp up. They’ll have just one year under their belts with Lin, which only lets them give him a 20% raise over what he’s making this year — the minimum. Other teams will surely offer more than that this summer when Lin is a restricted free agent. The good news for the Knicks is that the Gilbert Arenas provision protects them — it restricts the offers teams can make to restricted free agents with one or two years in the league. Other teams won’t be able to offer more than the mid-level, and the Knicks will be able to use their mid-level to either match another team’s offer or sign him directly.

     Fields has two years tenure with the Knicks,which gives them the two-year version of Bird rights. They can pay an amount equivalent to the mid-level, without using the mid-level itself.

     They’ll be pretty much out of luck as far as Smith is concerned. He’ll want to get PAID this next contract, and the Knicks won’t have the means to offer him what he’s going to want.

8. Anthony

   HI Larry,

   What’s the statute of limitations or grace period before a team can amnesty a player they’ve traded for? After one full season? Never?

   Just wondering when Lakers would be able to amnesty Turkoglu if they traded for him.

   Also, is it true that a team only gets one amnesty during an entire CBA period?

   Thanks!

   Tony

   • Larry Coon

     Teams can’t amnesty players they trade for. The player must have been on the roster continuously from December 9 to the date he is amnestied.

     And yes, teams have only one shot at amnesty.

9. Vignesh

   i saw this in the comments….please answer this for the sake of laughter.

   Respected Sir, I am going to breakdown the way of Lakers signing both Deron Williams and Dwight Howard as Free agents. As currently constituted the Lakers payroll is at 87 million dollars which is 17 millions over the luxary tax. So here are the steps involved to bring us under the cap and sign both D-12 and D-will as free agents and Pair them alongside Kobe Bryant. 1. Trade Pau gasol for Kevin Garnetts Expiring Contract. Pau makes 19 million and Garnett makes 21 million. We all know that Danny Ainge loves pau so he would jump at the chance of getting Pau without giving up Rondo. 2. Andrew bynum has a Team Option next year which is worth roughly 15 million. Do not pick up the team option. 3. Amnesty Metta World Peace who makes 7 million dollars 4. Matt Barnes makes 2 million and is an expiring contract. Dont offer him any extensions. 5. Troy Murphy and Kopono both make roughly 1 million each and are expiring contracts. Dont offer them any extensions. 6. Derek fisher has a player option for next season which is worth 3.5 million .Give him a job in the sidelines with the lakers and convince him not to take the player option. 7. Devin ebanks, Darius Morris and Andrew goudelock are all restricted free agents by the end of the year. So dont make any qualifying offers for them. 8. So now the team only consists of Kobe, Steve Blake, Walton and Mc roberts who are rougly owed 38 million dollars. 9. So now we have 32 million dollars in cap space to spend. Now we can offer both D-will and Dwight 16 Million dollars each which is less than a max contract similar to what Miami did to both Bosh and Lebron. This is the most likely Scenario. 10. Now In a bit of a stretch we can also send one or both of mc roberts or blake to another teams trade exeption and also hope that Luke Walton retires due to his persistant back problems. If this happens then lakers will have only kobe and will have roughly 40 million dollars in cap space. Now we can offer Both Dwight Howard and Deron Williams Max Contracts. 11. Now the Lakers can have have their own Big three of Kobe , D-12 and D-will which will be unstoppable and will win multiple Championships. Is this Possible?

   • Larry Coon

     My favorite part is where #10 starts with “Now in a bit of a stretch….”

10. david

    do the knicks improve next year or loose some good pieces due to the cap?

    • Larry Coon

      They will have to use their mid-level to keep Lin, and won’t be able to keep Smith. They’re probably about the same or worse — they just won’t have a lot of tools.

11. CoachBo

    Larry, what is the most likely move Danny Ainge will make at the deadline?

    • Larry Coon

      The Celtics are in an interesting situation. Do they try to make one more run with Pierce, KG and Ray Allen, or do they cash in their chips and start the rebuilding process? I don’t think they’re title contenders even if they make a move — they’re not getting past Miami or Chicago — but word is that Boston is thinking they still have enough to make one more deep playoff run.

      If they do decide to blow it up, then Ray Allen is the most logical choice to be moved.

      If they decide to make one more run — in fact, whether or not they decide to make one more run — then I’m hearing that Rajon Rondo isn’t a part of their future plans. I think moving Rondo is their most likely move, and if they move him, that they want to bring in a big man to help them for the playoffs.

12. sbdunks

    How have sign & trades changed in the new CBA, if at all? For instance, if Orlando holds onto Dwight through the trade deadline (or the same with Deron in NJ) would they be able to do a sign & trade in the offseason?

    • Larry Coon

      Sign-and-trades HAVE changed, and it’s not good news for the Magic.

      It used to be that a team could give a player a full Bird contract (max salary, max raises, max years) in a sign-and-trade. This is no longer the case — teams can now give only four years (instead of five) and 4.5% raises (instead of 7.5%), which is the same amount ANY team (with the cap room) can give the player as a free agent. So if Dwight wants to go to, say, New Jersey, he will get the same contract by signing there directly as he would get through a sign-and-trade. In other words, there’s no reason to prefer a sign-and-trade if his destination has the cap room.

      The only time a player needs a sign-and-trade is if the team doesn’t have the cap room to sign him directly. So if he wants to go to, say, LA, then he’d need the Magic to work out a sign-and-trade.

      It used to be that teams with star free agents who wanted to leave had some leverage, because they knew that in order to leave, the player would have to take less, and may have to sign with a team he doesn’t want. But in the case of the Magic this year with Dwight, they can’t offer him a better contract, and two of the three teams on his list will have cap room. It doesn’t make sense for the Magic to keep him if they think they’ll be able to complete a sign-and-trade this summer.

13. Scott

    Larry, I think he meant the Cavs/Kings would take on salary in order to also acquire draft picks.

    • Larry Coon

      The Cavs did last year and it worked out pretty well for them. I think they decide on a case-by-case basis, but I can see either team doing that, yes.

14. David

    There has been a lot of discussion about trading Pau Gasol lately, but the price the Lakers is asking seems pretty high. Shouldn’t teams like Houston consider going after Chris Kaman instead? Maybe not quite as effective, but the price tag isn’t quite as steep either.

    • Larry Coon

      The Lakers are asking — and are going to get — more for Pau because he’s a better player and has a much greater trade value. Kaman would probably work out for a few clubs, but remember New Orleans already tried to move him once this year and didn’t find any takers.

15. Shahin O.

    Couple of Laker trades I’d love to get your thoughts on:

    TRADE A:
    * Lakers get: Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry
    * Rockets get: Pau Gasol, Jose Calderon
    * Raptors get: Kevin Martin

    The Lakers save money AND get a quality PG AND PF, the Rockets get Gasol AND Spanish-team partner Calderon, and the Raptors get the scoring punch they need in Kevin Martin!

    TRADE B:
    * Lakers get: Deron Williams
    * Rockets get: Pau Gasol
    * Nets get: Kevin Martin, Luis Scola

    The Lakers finally get the star PG they want, the Rockets get Gasol who they covet, and the Nets get a solid scoring/power duo in Martin & Scola.

    TRADE C:
    * Lakers get: Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Ramon Sessions, Ryan Anderson
    * Magic get: Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Matt Barnes
    * Cavs get: $8.9 mil Odom exception

    The Lakers get Dwight, a solid PG, and even outside shooting, the Magic get both bigs for Dwight and even a defensive pitbull they’ve had before but now for cheaper, and the Cavs get some cap relief and picks while freeing up Kyrie Irving to keep flourishing.

    • Larry Coon

      Two players I think DON’T get moved in March are Lowry and Williams, and I don’t think the Raps want to exchange Calderon for an even MORE expensive contract. For your trade C, I don’t think the Magic move Anderson, and they don’t really want the players you name.

16. juan

    Do you see any way Howard goes to Lakers? Is it possible the fact Howard “doesn’t wish to resign with them” is a ploy to keep his new teams from giving up too much?

    • Larry Coon

      That’s called “special pleading,” inventing a reason to discount the evidence against your position. I think it’s far more likely that Dwight told them he intends to explore the free agent market if he’s traded to LA because he intends to explore the free agent market if he’s traded to LA.

      I think it’s possible that Dwight goes to LA, but I think there are too many obstacles for it to have much of a chance. They’re not crazy about Bynum, LA’ doesn’t want to trade both Bynum & Pau, LA is leery about trading for Dwight unless they have a commitment from him, Dwight is leery about LA, the Magic are leery about trading Dwight to LA, and both Dwight and the Magic seem to prefer New Jersey.

17. Evan

    Is there any way the celtics could get Monta Ellis without giving up Rondo?

    • Larry Coon

      I can’t think of a trade that would make sense for both teams.

18. James

    Regards to the new sign-and-trade. So the Lakers can still acquire both Deron Williams and Dwight Howard in the off-season through sign-and-trades? Would they have to give up equal salary or just draft picks?

    • Larry Coon

      First the rule part: For any trade, including a sign-and-trade, teams can only take back a certain amount of salary more than they bring in. In the Lakers’ case, they can only bring in 25% more salary, so if they wanted to do a sign-and-trade for Dwight at $19 million, they’d have to send out at least $15.12 million.

      Now for the practical part: While it’s remotely possible that the Lakers & Magic could work out a sign-and-trade this summer for Dwight, the chances of them doing the same for Deron are virtually nil.

19. Mark

    What about Jared Jeffries? Is he considered an Early Bird free agent?

    • Larry Coon

      Yes.

20. Dean

    Knowing Dwight wouldn’t resign, would the Lakers take a chance on that trade, considering how much of a gambler the Lakers had been? I wouldn’t, if it were me.

    • Larry Coon

      Dwight didn’t say he wouldn’t re-sign. He said he’d definitely test the free agent market. Given that, I don’t think the Lakers mortgage their future for the sake of half a season and one playoff run with him.

21. Ro

    Why would celtics consider trading rondo w their rival lakers and especially for gasol? If they at least add Darius Morris it would make some sense. He has potential.

    • Larry Coon

      Personally I think it’d make more sense as a three-way deal, but I’ll take a shot at justifying it as a two-way:

      This thing about them being rivals with the Lakers is overblown. The Lakers and Celtics have traded several times in the past, for example, they sent Chris Mihm, Chucky Atkins and Jumaine Jones to LA a few years ago for Gary Payton, Rick Fox (who retired), and coincidentally picks, one of which became Rondo.

      Rondo is said to be on the outs with Rivers and Ainge, and they feel they can go with Avery Bradley. They want to make one more run with KG, Pierce and Ray Allen, and feel that a big like Gasol would fit in well and give them their best chances. And they could also ask for a PG with potential such as Morris as part of the deal.