NBA Salary Cap Chat With Larry Coon 6/29/12

Larry Coon the noted author of the CBAFAQ, will answer your Salary Cap and Collective Bargaining Agreement questions. Larry will answers your questions about the Salary Cap, NBA trades and the new CBA at 3:00pm

  1. micah

    when is the deadline for mo williams to pick up or decline his player option? if he declines how much cap space do the clippers have?

    • Larry Coon

      His deadline is June 30.

      Right now the Clips are about $1 million over the cap for next season. If Mo opts out, they’ll be about $7.5 million under (with cap holds eating up their actual room).

  2. Alex in Burbank

    I don’t know about you but the Comish was loving the booing yesterday at the podium. Why did the fans keep booing when he clearly enjoyed it? Jokes on the fans since he loved it!!

    • Larry Coon

      I don’t know whether he loved it or not. He at the very least made the best of it, which includes not letting it affect him. So whether he loved it or hated it, his reaction would have been the same.

  3. Hank

    What the the rush to trade Williams for Odom? Why not just wait for the Mavs to buy him out? It doesn’t seem like Odom wants to be anywhere besides L.A. Seems like the Clips hold all the cards and would not benefit from the rumored trade.

    • Larry Coon

      I agree — I don’t understand this deal for the Clippers.

      Lamar (who really is a very likable guy) is owed $8.2 million this season, and right now only $2.4 million of that is guaranteed. The full guarantee kicks in if he’s not waived today, so the clock is ticking.

      There’s no way Dallas wants him at $8.2 million (especially after the disaster of a season he just had with them) because they’re trying to clear cap space for free agents this summer. Their first choice is to trade him, because it takes the entire $8.2 million off their books. Their second choice is waving him (or at least working out a mutual agreement to extend the guarantee date), and being stuck with $2.4 million on their books. Their last choice is to let the full $8.2 million guarantee.

      After this past season, I don’t see many teams biting at the full $8.2 million, and it’s pretty clear he wants to come back to LA — which limits the market to just two teams. So why give the Mavs what they want? Just say no, let them waive him, and then make him a free agent offer for much less money.

      I don’t see any move of Mo Williams affecting their decision on Odom. If they’re going to move Williams, then they can do so whether or not they get Odom in return (unless there’s some detail I don’t know about with the salaries moving around among the various teams to balance everything out).

  4. Nick

    Besides the Knicks and the lakers, do you see any team willing to pay the “extra” tax by going over the tax line four in five years (under new CBA)? I’ve done the math for a team spending $80-90 million under those conditions and the tax bill alone is ridiculous. Also, what do you think the lakers and Knicks have any internal spending limit?

    • Larry Coon

      I haven’t seen any indication that the Lakers are willing to pay an exorbitant tax bill. I expect them to be more financially conservative under the new CBA.

      The Knicks are a different story. Because they’re one big conglomerate, they’re going to be making a lot of money no matter what, and could be in a position to capitalize on other teams’ conservatism by snatching up good, but expensive, players that other teams can’t afford.

  5. micah

    what does it do for a team to release cap hold on one of their free agents? and is there a deadline to do this?

    • Larry Coon

      The process is called “renouncing,” and teams can do it at any time. When a team renounces a player, they give up for one year the ability to use the Bird exception to re-sign the player.

  6. Hugeaux

    If you were the Hornets, who would you be spending free agent money on this summer- or do you keep the wallet in your pocket for next summer?

    • Larry Coon

      if you want to convince future free agents to come to your team, you have to first convince them you’re serious about winning. it’s an incremental process — they need to take steps forward in 2012-13.

  7. John L

    Hey Larry,

    My first question is what on earth was Houston thinking? How can you draft the same players you already have. Also what exception do the Bulls have and can we offer something to OJ? Thanks.

    • Larry Coon

      Houston is clearly trying to swing for the fences. Daryl Morey may have tried to get something done this week and failed to put it together, or it may be a process that takes into the summer. Or both.

      Bulls won’t be able to offer much to anybody. Right now they’re $6 million over the tax line, so all they’d have is the $3 million non-taxpayer mid level exception. They don’t want to be taxpayers, so they clearly want to shed salary.

  8. Deven

    In your mind Larry, what’s the best team for Dwight Howard long-term?

    • Larry Coon

      Assuming they can keep Deron and finish putting a team around him, I’d say Brooklyn. It’s where he wants to go — isn’t that the principal factor in whether he’s going to be happy?

  9. Deven

    Which teams are looking to shed salary this offseason?

    • Larry Coon

      Honestly, with the new CBA and revenue sharing changing the economy of the league, I think pretty much ALL teams are looking to shed salary.

      Some more than others, of course. Any team near the tax line has to worry about the “apron” ($4 million over the tax line) becoming a hard cap if they’re not careful, and any team over the tax line has to worry about the new progressive tax. We’re already seeing this in the moves teams are making.

  10. mark norman

    Hi Larry, I’ve heard the amnesty for example a Carlos Boozer could be spread out over seven years by the Bulls and minus the amount bid on him, could end up being around $5 Mil a year, true?

    • Larry Coon

      Yes, the Bulls would have two new rules working in their favor. One is that with the amnesty clause, teams are allowed to put in bids (like the Clippers did last season with Chauncey Billups), and the bid amount is spread-out over the life of the contract and reduces the amount the waiving team has to pay. In addition, the new “spread” provision makes it so waived players are paid over two times the number of seasons left on the contract, plus one.

      Boozer is owed about $47 million over the next three seasons. With the spread provision, they’d pay it over seven seasons (and he’d come off their cap right away). If some team bids, say, $10 million for him, then the Bulls would be paying $37 million over seven seasons, which is in the range you specified.

      Would the Bulls do that? Would they pay Boozer that much NOT to play for them? It seems unlikely, but they also seem pretty desperate to avoid becoming taxpayers, and it may take a sacrifice to do that.

  11. JB

    Larry, because Jeff Green was technically not on the Celtics’ roster last season, are they unable to sign-and-trade him?

    • Larry Coon

      Correct. One of the new rules is that teams can only do a sign-and-trade with a player that was on their roster the previous season.

      By the way, the same thing goes for Phoenix with Aaron Brooks, and Utah for AK-47.

  12. Rob

    with the sixers draft has iggs played his last game for the sixers and what can you get for him

    • Larry Coon

      For the last two seasons I’ve been pretty sure the Sixers were going to move Iguodala, and so far I’ve been proven wrong twice. But yes — I still think he’s going to be moves. Interestingly, of all the speculative trades with the Lakers for Gasol, I think something built around Iguodala is one that makes some sense.

  13. Vinnie

    What can the Hawks get for Josh Smith? I don’t see him playing for the Hawks this year.

    • Larry Coon

      There were persistent rumors about something with the Lakers for Pau Gasol, but I wasn’t buying it — it didn’t seem to make sense for either team.

      For the Lakers, a swap of Gasol for Smith doesn’t seem like it would make the team any better. It would save some money, but there’d likely be other Atlanta salary coming back anyway, so it’d be a wash (or close to it). Plus I don’t see any additional players who would realistically be added that would make the team better.

      For the Hawks, I thought the whole point of trying to move Smith was financial. So they move Smith, with one year left at $13.2 million for Gasol, with two years left at $19 million and $19.3 million? As I said, at best it’s a wash, and the Hawks didn’t accomplish what they needed to accomplish.

  14. Daniel

    I guess it’s understandable if Allen just wants to play in Miami, but if teams like Phoenix are said to be in the running, why aren’t the Clippers making a push to get him? They are thin at the 2 spot, and could definitely use another shooter seeing that some combination of Mo/Billups/Foye/Young will be likely gone next season…

    • Larry Coon

      The Clippers have liked Allen for a while, and I assume they ARE going to be on the phone with him on July 1.

  15. Justin

    Hi Larry,

    What’s with Dirk overtly tampering for Deron Williams? Is he allowed to be courting him over the phone and in the media? Dirk is not trying to hide that he is tampering.

    • Larry Coon

      If he was doing that and the Nets complain, then yes, he could be disciplined for tampering.

  16. Beza Fekade

    What do you think of the Celtics picking Sullinger and Fab Melo in the draft? Good move or gamble?

    • Larry Coon

      Gambles, obviously, but where they were drafting, you take gambles. If Sullinger isn’t walking around like Fred Sanford in a couple years, he could turn into the steal of the draft.

  17. adiedanny

    Who or what did the Clippers get in exchange for their draft pick theey traded?

    • Larry Coon

      They sent their own pick to OKC last year for Eric Blesdoe. They sent Minnesota’s pick to New Orleans for Chris Paul.

      Those two picks, by the way, turned into Austin Rivers and Fab Melo.

  18. Ben R

    What do you make of the rumors that LA may still go after Howard, once free agency has begun?

    • Larry Coon

      I’m hearing that’s still pretty unlikely.

      Granted, both Howard and Bynum are on the last years of their contracts, but the Lakers are more likely to keep Byunum long-term than Howard. They don’t want a one-year rental, and Dwight doesn’t particularly want to go to Los Angeles.

  19. RD

    Larry,

    You once briefly discussed uncertainty at the quantum level and suggested that it was unclear whether or not “randomness at the quantum level could macroscopically propagate” and influence the outcome of observed physical processes. But isn’t it clear that that randomness can propagate? If the position of an electron is determined, stochastically, then the bond its greater atom comes to form also must be determined stochastically. (I.E., the electron emerges in quanta X; the atom forms a bond with the atom adjacent to quanta X.) And so, likewise, must the position of the greater molecule be considered a byproduct of this elemental randomness; the precise position of the greater structure; and so on; until we are forced to concede that there is a genuine, conceivably influential, if subtle effect of quantum randomness on observable events.

    • Larry Coon

      I want to hang with you, cowboy.

      Unfortunately, there isn’t enough time, nor is this the place, to discuss these kinds of (very interesting) questions.

  20. EO

    If the Rockets do manage to pull off a trade for Howard will they be able to offer him the most money for a new contract?

    • Larry Coon

      Yes, because they’d inherit his Bird rights.

  21. Nick

    Do u see the lakers trading gasol this summer? if so, where do u think he ends up?

    • Larry Coon

      The biggest factor driving the team’s plans for the next few years is Kobe Bryant. He’s got a limited window left where he can lead a team to a title, and the Lakers are in “win now” mode for as long as he’s still effective.

      Problem is, they’ve lost in the second round two years in a row, and right now they’re clearly a notch below OKC. If they want to win one more in the Kobe Era, they need to make some changes. But they don’t have a lot of trade assets, and right now Gasol is their best asset. In addition, he struggled to acclimate in Mike Brown’s system. As Phil Jackson pointed out, promoting Bynum to number two upset their balance and chemistry, and pushed Pau to a role in which he didn’t excel.

      So I think it’s likely that Pau ends up being the centerpiece of a large deal to bring back multiple players who can help. Money is also a consideration — the Lakers are going to start being more financially conservative, and unloading Gasol’s remaining $38 million would be a part of that.