NBA Salary Cap Chat With Larry Coon 5/30/12

1. Richard

   If Lamar Odom is waived by Dallas when will he be eligible to re-sign with the Lakers?

   • Larry Coon

     On the one-year anniversary of the trade from the Lakers to the Mavs, in December.

2. Alfonso

   Cap Wise, can the Lakers retain Hill,and acquire Lowry? Are we going to see Gasol in Chicago, for Deng and Noah? Would it mean Bynum stays, or is he also gone for two or three players, shot creation and rebounds?

   • Larry Coon

     I don’t know if Lowry’s recent statements have changed Daryl Morey’s willingness to trade him. Back in February at the trade deadline he wasn’t willing to move him. But it’s no secret that they like Gasol, so perhaps something can be worked out there. Houston would probably want to add Kevin Martin, which wouldn’t be the lakers’ first choice.

     I don’t see Chicago trading Deng & Noah for Gasol.

3. Andrew @bigcatbobcat

   Larry,
   Are the Bobcats in such a horrible situation that their cap number doesn’t matter? As far as big time talent, money doesn’t seem to be the deciding factor as much any more, like, at all.

   • Larry Coon

     Are you saying that they should disregard the cap and spend, spend, spend, because they need to do whatever it takes to get better? I disagree. Good teams aren’t built that way. They have a few pieces to build on, tonight will provide another piece of the puzzle, and they have the summer to work out a plan. This isn’t a time for panic moves.

4. Peter

   Hey Larry,
   How does this sound for a Lakers offseason?
   Trade Bynum(or Pau if theyre willing) to Philly for Iggy+Holiday
   Sign&Trade KG into the trade Trade exception
   Resign hill and sessions
   Their linup then becomes:
   Holiday-Ramon
   Kobe-Ebanks
   Iggy-MWP
   KG-Hill
   Pau

   • Larry Coon

     I don’t think the Lakers move Bynum for anyone other than Howard (unless someone unlikely like LeBron drops into their laps). I don’ think Philly does that deal for Pau.

     You’d have to explain why Boston would want to do that sign-and-trade with KG.

     I can see them keeping Hill. Sessions has an option. Latest I’m hearing is that they’d be fine if he opted-out, and likely wouldn’t break a sweat trying to keep him.

5. Neil Lukov

   Hello Mr. Coon,
   I’m a Knicks fan so obviously I’m very interested in the result of the Union’s arbitration next month.
   Assuming the Union is able to push it’s points through and thereby granting Lin and Novak their Early Bird Rights – what would be the cap hold on these players in respect to the calculation of the Knicks Payroll (in establishing where they stand vis a vis the “apron”).
   And if there isn’t an automatic cap hold, what is the minimum qualifying offer the Knicks can tender to them (again in respect to calculation the total team payroll and its relation to the Apron)?
   What, basically, I’m trying to find out is whether or not the Knicks have flexibility in terms of the qualifying offer (lets say, offering Lin 3 mill and Novak 2 mill, and have these figures count into the team’s payroll) and thereby put the Knicks under the apron and maintain their NT MLE. Once utilizing their MLE they can then either match any offer for Lin and Novak or just decide to increase their own offer and when re-signing them.

   thanks for your time!

   Neil

   • Larry Coon

     A Non-Bird (which is what Lin & Novak are now) free agent’s cap hold is 120$ of his previous salary, and an Early-Bird’s is 130%. However, a restricted free agent (Lin) counts for his qualifying offer amount or his cap hold, whichever is greater. Lin’s qualifying offer amount is about $1.05 million, so that will be his cap hold whether he is Non-Bird or Early Bird. In Novak’s case, it’d add about $85K to the Knicks’ team salary.

     The qualifying offer is a set amount. Teams don’t have any flexibility over the salary in a qualifying offer, but they are free to negotiate a new contract with the player separate from the qualifying offer. The qualifying offer just ensures that the team doesn’t gain the right of first refusal without offering a contract themselves.

6. MUndercoverg

   Does Toronto have any interest in gasol? And what offseason moves do you see them making? Anything to make the m playoff worthy?

   • Larry Coon

     I think they’d be interested in him, but I haven’t heard about anything brewing between them & the Lakers. I’m not sure what they’d offer that would make sense for LA, and they need a lot of work to secure one of the top eight spots in the East.

7. Jeff

   Larry, if the union succeeds in getting Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak their early Bird rights, how will that benefit the Knicks. I’d assume that they keep the MLE and BAE, but will still have to stay under the $74 million apron to utilize them. Seeing that they are going to be very close anyway, will they receive any significant benefit or can they go over, resign Fields, and then have the mini-MLE at $3 million?

   • Larry Coon

     They will not be capped at the apron ($74 million) unless they spend the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level or the Bi-Annual. So if Lin is declared an Early-Bird free agent they can use the Early-Bird to keep him, keep Fields (who is already Early-Bird), spend up to $3 million of their Mid-Level, not use the Bi-Annual, and not have a hard cap to deal with.

8. Keith

   Lots of speculation that the draft lottery is a big night for Brooklyn in their quest to get Dwight Howard. Just considering the draft pick aspect of a possible deal, is their any indication that Brooklyn would trade the #1 pick if they got it, and/or that Orlando places a high value on the #2 or #3 pick in this draft? Thanks as always for your expertise.

   • Larry Coon

     I think they give up the #1 pick for Howard, and have leverage to get the deal done.

     They’d have the same plan with the #2 or #3 pick, but less leverage.

     Big night for the Nets, obviously.

9. Joaquin, West Covina

   Can the Wolves
   sign and trade M. Beasley?

   • Larry Coon

     Yes.

     Will they? That remains a possibility. One obvious deal that comes to mind is trying to package him for Pau Gasol.

10. Ben

    How do you think the Bulls offseason goes?

    • Larry Coon

      One obvious thing is to try to move Boozer (owed $47 million over three years). Let’s see if they can pull that off.

11. Joshua

    The Magic released Gilbert Arenas off their cap books. Even though he doesnt count against the cap. But he had 3 yrs remaining in salary and we are paying that. Can we still do that same process again this year and maybe cut a Jason Richardson or Glenn Baby Davis. Cutting Hedo would make no sense since the last year of his contract is non-guaranteed.

    • Larry Coon

      No, amnesty was a one-shot deal.

12. eLone

    Confusion on the new CBA: Can a restricted free agent be Sign & Traded to another team if no team has put an offer sheet on him?

    • Larry Coon

      Yes.

13. Etzko

    Could Jameer Nelson possibly make $8.6 million on the open market?

    • Larry Coon

      That seems high for him given the re-shaping of the league’s economy and his injury history. But is it worth it to him to take less money in 2012-13 in exchange for locking up more money in a long-term contract?

14. Andy

    I know Odom if released can not sign with the Lakers until December, but why can’t they trade for him? That is not taking advantage of the system you are giving something up for him.

    • Larry Coon

      They can trade for him after July 1. There’s a no-reacquisition rule that says teams can’t re-acquire traded players in the same salary cap year.

15. Vince

    Can you see a package around this : Gasol for Batum + first round pick ?

    • Larry Coon

      No.

      The one very important factor people seem to overlook when it comes to potential Laker trades is the urgency factor. The Lakers are hoping to contend for as long as Kobe Bryant is still productive. They have several holes to fill right now, and Gasol is one of their only chips to get that done. They need to get back multiple assets for him, and equally important, they need to get back assets that can help right now. Unless they can somehow land an impact player in this year’s draft, it’s far more likely the Lakers will move him for players who can help right away, and not for draft picks.

16. Rocky

    Is there any provision in the CBA that precludes a team from absorbing a large contract via trade if they have the requisite cap space? For instance, could CLeveland just send a future 2nd rounder to Memphis for Rudy Gay?

    • Larry Coon

      A team can make trades as they please as long as they don’t end up more than $100,000 above the cap as the result of a trade. So a team $10 million under the cap can trade a 2nd round pick for someone making up to $10.1 million. They can trade a player making $1 million for one making $11.1 million, etc.

17. JM

    Are there any “Moneyball” type of basketball books out there? Or books that show what its like to be in an NBA front office?

    • Larry Coon

      Look for “Basketball on Paper,” by Dean Oliver. In fact, here’s a link:

      I’m not sure about books that talk about working in an NBA front office.

18. Gary C

    Why do you think Knicks won’t sign Landry Fields?

    • Larry Coon

      Assuming Lin remains a Non-Bird free agent (which I think is likely), and assuming Lin receives a large offer from another team (which I think is likely), the Knicks will have to use their Mid-Level to match the offer and keep him. If they go above $3 million (which I think is likely) then by definition they will have used the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level, and not the Taxpayer Mid-Level. If they use the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level, then they will be hard-capped at the Apron (about $74 million).

      If they’re hard-capped at the Apron, then they will have about $8 million to spend, and will have to sign five-or-so players. I can’t see them giving Fields a big chunk of that $8 million. I think it’s likely that another team will recognize the situation, and swoop in with an offer sheet that the Knicks won’t want to match. That’s why I think they won’t keep him.

      In other words, I think a hard cap and Landry Fields are incompatible.

19. hvino

    Hey I know you get asked about the Lin situation all the time, but I’ve never seen you answer this question: If the union wins the early bird rights case, then what’s the max NY can offer Lin? I know under the Arenas provision the first two years have to be the league average, but the next two years can be much larger.

    So if the union wins, does NY have to wait for another team to sign Jeremy to an offer sheet for the contract to be larger than the MLE (like they’d have if they don’t have his early bird rights)?

    • Larry Coon

      Correct. With Early-Bird rights they have the ability to offer an Early-Bird contract (four years, starting at the average, with 7.5% raises). The Gilbert Arenas provision allows teams to offer the big 3rd-year jump, but the Arenas provision is for teams trying to sign him away, not for the team that had him. But the rules allow teams to use Early-Bird to match an Arenas offer sheet.

      So the Knicks could match an Arenas offer, but they couldn’t sign him to one directly.

20. Ben

    Do you think the Lakers would trade Pau and Bynum (in a 3-way, obviously) for Dwight and Boozer?

    • Larry Coon

      Do you mean the only way they get Dwight is if they also take on Boozer? Maybe. I don’t think the Lakers have any interest in Pau for Boozer, so it’d take some major coercing.

21. John

    Hey Larry, you think the Sixers will choose to use their amnesty clause on Elton Brand this summer? What would be their options if they do?

    • Larry Coon

      I think it’s possible. He’s owed $18.2 million next season, so they could have up to $20 million in cap room if they amnesty him. They could make a play at pretty much anybody.

22. Justin

    Any possible chance this happens?

    Lakers send: Gasol, Blake, 2013 1st round pick.
    Houston send: Lowry, Scola, Martin, 16th pick.
    Nets send: D-Will (sign-and-trade)

    Lakers get: D-Will, Scola
    Houston get: Gasol, Blake, 2013 1st round pick.
    Nets get: Lowry, Martin, 16th pick.

    This is to assume Nets don’t get the top 3 pick and cannot persue Dwight Howard, which can possibly make D-Will think twice about staying.

    • Larry Coon

      If the Nets miss out on Dwight Howard and consequently lose Deron Williams, I think they blow it up and look to acquire picks and young, cheap assets. I don’t think they’d be all that interested in Martin, and Lowry wouldn’t be their first choice either. They’d look for a deal with lots of picks and guys on rookie contracts coming their way.

23. Q

    How does Miami match up w the Spurs in your opinion. I think very well actually. We have two guards who can chase T.P. and not have to worry about wasting energy needed for offense (unlike westbrook) THEN you can put LBJ on him. Also we have better offense and overall defense than OKC. What say you?

    • Larry Coon

      I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it yet, but I think this is San Antonio’s year.

24. Juan

    Most of the luxury tax penalties are for teams that pay for multiple years right? Theoretically OKC could extend Harden & Ibaka, keep them for a couple years before being forced who to trade from their core? Am I wrong?

    • Larry Coon

      You’re right that the tax is no longer simply dollar-for-dollar. However, there are two kinds of escalators — one is for being a repeat offender, but the other is simply based on the dollar amount the team is over the tax level. The tax goes up for every $5 million the team is over the cap. For example, a team $12 million over the tax level in 2013-14 pays a tax of $21.25 million. I cover the details here:

25. Mike

    Have you heard anything regarding the Knicks trading for Howard? There was a rumor earlier in the year of Amare/Chandler for Howard/Turk. Is there any chance this trade could happen?

    • Larry Coon

      No.

26. ed

    What sort of things stop the Magic from signing deron williams?

    • Larry Coon

      The salary cap.

27. Rob

    Considering their issue with the cap, wouldn’t it be best for L.A. to amnesty Kobe?

    • Larry Coon

      No. Their issue of him being an icon and the face of the franchise outweigh the issues with the cap. The only way the Lakers amnesty Kobe is if he blows out a knee or something, a la Brandon Roy.

      The real question is whether they use their amnesty this year on someone like Metta, or hang on to it for another year in case Kobe does suffer a career-ending injury.