NBA Salary Cap Chat With Larry Coon 3/9/12

1. EMAN

   Hey Larry, Do you think Josh Smith & M. Williams for Pau Gasol could be a reality? Or how about a R. Stuckey, T.Prince,J.Maxiell for Pau Gasol?

   • Larry Coon

     I think it’s a deal that’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility. The Lakers have two holes to fill — PG and SF. With the premise that they have other assets that might land a PG (trade exception & two first round picks), the team would then look to fill the SF hole by trading Pau for a replacement PF and a SF. This trade would fit the bill, although the Lakers would probably look to unload some salary as well, since Pau makes $18.7 million and Smith & Williams add up to $19.9 million.

2. Deven

   If Dwight doesn’t get traded, would this be considered the worst trade deadline ever?

   • Larry Coon

     I remember a few trade deadlines that fizzled at the end. But you’re right in that so many teams are watching to see what will happen with Dwight, the deadline may pass with few moves made if Orlando stands pat. Plus, some teams are pretty nervous about dealing with the new rules.

3. Raf

   Hi Larry!

   A lot of people talking about Josh Smith right now. If the Nets traded now for Smith (perhaps doing something like Lopez and Okur for Smith and McGrady), would they still have the salary cap space in the summer to sign Dwight Howard to a max contract?

   • Larry Coon

     No, under your scenario they’d be at about $48.0 million in the summer, plus cap holds (empty roster spots, draft picks, etc). They wouldn’t be able to give Dwight very much.

4. The JOkeShow

   The Jazz are in a tough spot. They need a point guard but they have a possible of 2 draft picks if warriors fall out of the top 7 only, and if the jazz only miss the playoffs they get theirs. If the Jazz get one or two, do you just draft a potential franchise PG or try to trade one or both draft picks and players to get a PG like a Rondo?

   • Larry Coon

     Way too early to answer a question like that. Too hard to tell where they will be drafting and who might be available at that point. Following the “Bird in the Hand” philosophy, I think if they have a chance to land Rondo at the deadline they give it serious thought.

5. jullia

   HOW MANY DRAFT PICKS THUS THE HORNETS HAVE IN THE 2012 DRAFT?R THEY IN THE TOP 5 IN CAP SPACE FOR NXT SEASON?HOW MUCH…THANKS

   • Larry Coon

     They still have their own second round pick. Their first round pick *may* go to Chicago, but it looks like a cinch that they’ll keep it, since it’d have to be out of the top-12 for it to be conveyed.

     Right now the team has about $43.1 million committed for next season. If the cap stays the same, that equates to about $14.9 million in cap room, but some of that will be taken up by cap holds for things like draft picks, free agents, and empty roster spots.

6. Jason

   Hey Larry,
   What do you think about these two trades between raptors and lakers:
   Trade 1:
   Raptors trade leandro barbosa to LA for trade exception and 2012 first round pick (From LA)
   Trade 2:
   Toronto trades Jerryd Bayless and Amir Johnson to LA for Steve Blake, Josh Mcroberts and a 2012 first round pick (from dallas)
   Lakers get playmaking and bench scoring from barbosa and bayless (both expiring deals) plus a solid big in amir (who they could pair with D12 should LA decide to trade Pau and Bynum for Howard). Toronto gets 2 late first rounders that they could package in another trade or use to move up the draft board for a pg. What do you think?

   • Larry Coon

     So LA trades Steve Blake, Josh McRoberts and two firsts for Barbosa, Bayless and Johnson. For one, I don’t think they want any part of Johnson’s contract. I also think Barbosa is underperforming relative to his salary, and the Lakers probably have better opportunities to land a PG. Bayless is filling it up nicely from three, but the Lakers would be overpaying for players who mostly aren’t earning their salaries.

7. Tony

   Larry, can a player be traded back to the original team that they came from via a previous trade?
   If so is there a waiting period before the exchange can happen?
   In the case of a 1 to 1 player trade, is there a waiting period before the received player can be retraded?

   • Larry Coon

     A re-acquisition isn’t allowed until the following July 1. So, for example, the Lakers can’t trade for Lamar Odom.

     After a team receives a player in trade, they are (mostly) free to trade him again immediately. For example, Rasheed Wallace was traded from Portland to Atlanta, played in maybe one game there, and was dealt to Detroit. But a team over the cap can’t aggregate the player in trade, i.e., combine that player’s salary with another player’s salary in a new trade, for two months.

8. Leon

   Good Afternoon, Larry
   If a player is extended under a contract, that was signed under the old CBA, can that player be amnestied? For example. Let’s say LA picks up their option on Andrew Bynum, then extends him next season at some point. Can they then amnesty Bynum if he underperforms, or gets severely injured?

   • Larry Coon

     You’re talking about two different things — extensions and options. Bynum has a team option, so your example wouldn’t apply to extensions.

     In order to be eligible for amnesty, the player must have been under contract continuously with that team from July 1, 2010, with no amendments (including extensions) to his contract in the meantime. But picking up an option isn’t an example of amending his contract, so the Lakers could amnesty him after picking up the option. But if they signed him to an extension, he would no longer be eligible for amnesty.

     And I think you’re right that rather than use their amnesty on someone cheaper like Luke Walton or Metta World Peace, the Lakers might be saving it for one of the big guns in 2012 or 2013, just in case one gets hurt or has a significant drop-off.

9. Evan

   Do you think the Celtics move any of their core? Who is the most likely to go? Who is the most likely trade partner?

   • Larry Coon

     The Celtics are at a crossroads. In fact, last weekend at the Sloan conference I told a Celtics exec that I thought his team was one of the two lynchpins of the entire trade season (along with Orlando) and he agreed — so much depends on which direction the Celtics decide to go. If they want to keep their core together for one more run, they may dump Rondo for some size. If they want to start the rebuilding process, then they get something out of guys like Allen & Pierce while they can. In either event, I don’t think they let things stay the way they are now.

10. Jose Salazar

    How about NYK trading Chandler, STAT, Shumpert, and Douglas for Howard, Turk, JRich, and Duhon. Knicks get Howard and Orlando dumps 3 bad contracts along with getting talented Shumpert, good chandler, and Orlando native STAT

    • Larry Coon

      I don’t think that happens. For one, Orlando wants no part of Stat’s uninsured contract.

11. Nick

    I know players that were acquired via trade can be traded again by themselves immediately, but not aggregated with other players. Can an over the cap team team still use the 150% salary cushion when trading a player they just acquired though? e.g. A team trades a $4mil player for a $6mil player & then trades that $6mil player for a $9mil player. If so, I’m surprised teams don’t exploit that loophole more often.

    • Larry Coon

      The league could nix that under the general prohibition against circumvention. It’s a technique called “stepping up the basis.”

12. minimalpablo

    Hi Larry, greetings from Spain

    If you were David Kahn (sorry), would you make the following move this summer? Let Beasley go, then amnesty Brad Miller or Milicic, and use all the cap space (around 10 millions) to get back Garnett and maybe some other upgrade at SG. Thanks.

    • Larry Coon

      I don’t think that has much chance of happening. They’re already right about at the salary cap even without Beasley, so an amnesty wouldn’t free up very much. They’re a young team trying to build for the future, and spending all their money on KG’s last hurrah isn’t the best idea.

13. juan

    Would Orlando be able to swing a trade for an impact player (to complement Dwight) if they added #1 picks to offset the difference in player quality?

    • Larry Coon

      With the idea of persuading Dwight to stay? That’d mean their picks wouldn’t be that great, and they’d have less value. (On the other hand, if the other team knew Dwight was going to leave anyway, they might be very willing to acquire Orlando picks). If you’re Phoenix, and Orlando asks for Nash, I assume you ask for Ryan Anderson and a first or two. Does Orlando do that?

14. Trock

    Andrew Bynum is have a good year but knees is dont get better should lakers consider trading him and while he has vaule?

    • Larry Coon

      Bynum’s injury history is part of the trade dynamic, yes. If they want to buy-low, sell-high, then this is the time to move him — before the other shoe drops. On the other hand, they’ve been managing his knees pretty well lately, and some of his injuries were flukish. If Drew had solid knees, then I don’t think the Lakers move him for anyone (except Dwight). But with the situation the way it is, I think they at least listen to proposals.

15. Cloverleafsam

    There was a couple rumors before the season about kg being dealt to Denver or Atlanta any truth to the rumors? And what are the odds Portland becomes a lottery team this season?

    • Larry Coon

      KG makes $21.2 million this season. I’m not sure why either Atlanta or Denver take that on, unless it’s to dump long-term salary. I don’t think KG makes either of those teams a title contender.

16. Ryan

    How can 3 Clippers 1st rounders be taken away 2years in a row its against the rules because mock drafts say Clippers pick goes to Celtics and the Minesota pick is going to NO.Should the Clippers get their pick back?

    • Larry Coon

      I think you’re thinking of the Stepien rule, which prevents teams from trading first round picks if it leaves them without at least one first round pick in future consecutive years. But that rule only looks at future picks. The Clippers aren’t in that situation. They traded Minnesota’s 2012 pick to New Orleans in the CP3 deal, and they owe a first to Boston — top-10 protected through 2015, unprotected in 2016, so it’ll likely be conveyed this summer. If they do convey their own to Boston this summer, they’ll have their own next summer. They are not in the position of not having a first round pick any two consecutive future years.

      And they check these sorts of things pretty carefully at the time of the trade — they wouldn’t allow a trade to go through if it potentially violated the Stepien rule.

17. Laker's Fan

    In your opinion does the new NBA labor agreement incentivize tanking more than the previous one? It seems clearing cap space in an out year and getting as many high lotto picks as possible is the only way to build under the new system.

    • Larry Coon

      I think it may make it prohibitively expensive for a team to have three stars (eg: Kobe/Pau/Bynum, KG/Pierce/Allen), so teams will be looking more and more to find ways to build contenders with only one or two max players. Young talent on rookie contracts will become much more valuable.