NBA Salary Cap Chat With Larry Coon 8/17/12

1. Chris

   Two questions:

   1) Wouldn’t the Lakers be better off marketing Gasol as a center after seeing Garnett’s resurrection after the move from PF last season? He’d have to be considered the third best in the league and would extend his shelf life.

   2) As shockingly bad as the Howard deal was for Orlando, wouldn’t there have been a more logical move between ORL, NJ and MIN:

   MIN received Lopez in S&T, Turkoglu and MarShon Brooks;

   NJ received Howard, G.Davis, J.Richardson, Duhon and MIN’s 18th pick

   ORL received Pekovic, Derrick Williams, Wes Johnson, Farmar, Morrow

   • Larry Coon

     1. I agree that the older Pau gets, the less he remains a natural power forward and the more he becomes a natural center. And as we saw, Pau did very well as a center for extended periods with the Lakers in Bynum’s absence. That said, I don’t think there will be a lot of difference between the two positions on the Lakers this year. Both have the mobility and range to make them pretty much interchangeable on offense, and on defense I see them switching on a lot of plays.

     2. The Magic & Nets tried a number of scenarios to make a three-team deal work (including with Minnesota), and never found the right combination. Part of it is timing, of course — based on what they ended up with, they may very well wish they could go back in time and take the Brooklyn deal — or further back in time and take a deal available to them at the trade deadline. But they didn’t take the earlier deals when they were available, and had to live with what was available a week ago.

2. LA in LA

   I have always been curious what is the definition of a big market team? It can’t be population because San Antonio is top ten city in terms of population. Is it TV makert size? And what is the cut off number number from big to small?
   10? 15?

   • Larry Coon

     The only place the definition really matters is with revenue sharing, where they use TV households in the team’s designated market area.

     At the top of the list are New York & Brooklyn (7.39 million), Los Angeles (5.57 million) and Chicago (3.49 million). At the other end of the scale are OKC (0.71 million), Memphis (0.67 million) and New Orleans (0.64 million).

     San Antonio is listed at #27, with 0.88 million TV households in its designated market area.

3. al

   Great chats. RAPS. fan. CALDERON is off the book next year. WHAT we can get for him? assuming he is playing well.
   thanks

   • Larry Coon

     I know the Raptors floated the idea of using their amnesty waiver on Calderon this year, and would have pulled the trigger if they had gotten a commitment from at least one team to pick up at least half his salary. Nobody was willing, so they kept him. Based on that, I don’t think he has a lot of trade value right now. Maybe as an expiring contract, but I don’t think the Raptors take on long-term salary like that for a player who’s moving in a contract dump.

4. Rupe

   Do you see the Lakers keeping both Duhon and Blake on the roster going it to training camp? Also how big of a coaching upgrade is Edddie Jordan and Bernie Bickerstaff?

   • Larry Coon

     Duhon was a throw-in in the Dwight Howard deal, and I doubt he’s a part of their long-term plans (and his salary isn’t fully guaranteed in 2013-14, although it -is- guaranteed this season). But at this point he’s on about the same level as Blake. I think both come to camp, and that will give Mike Brown a chance to evaluate what he’s got.

     I’m not quite sure what to think about the hiring of Jordan and Bickerstaff. The reason is because last year Brown had Ettore Messina and John Kuester on his staff, and it’s not clear how much they helped. Last year I saw the Lakers run very few plays that seemed to spring from Messina’s influence, and he’s widely regarded as an outstanding tactician. So I think it remains to be seen what influence this next set of assistants will have on the staff.

5. Deven

   Would Dwight and CP3 really consider teaming up with Josh Smith in Atlanta next offseason? I mean they have all that cap room to spend that summer. Thoughts?

   • Larry Coon

     I think Dwight and Paul are the Lakers’ and Clippers’ to lose, respectively. Both teams have the inside track on signing them long-term. If they DID both decide to leave, then the Hawks would definitely be in the conversation — right now they only have Al Horford ($12 million), John Jenkins ($1.3 million) and Lou Williams ($5.2 million) signed to fully guaranteed salaries in 2013-14.

6. DMoney

   As Laker fan I know we can come off as a little greedy, but I assure you this not one of those times. I might be alone on this one, yet, I believe this is a WIN NOW season for LA. Win: Mitch is the smartest man on the planet, MB is an awesome coach, Howard restores image, Pau no longer soft, Kobe get six and Nash can stop telling everybody that not having a ring doesn’t keep him up nights. Lose: You’re no better than the 04′ team, Howard got his comeuppance before leaving for Dallas, Mitch is a fool, MB sucks and Laker fans are stuck watching the Heat win titles while the Lakers become the old Clippers. Now knowing this hangs over your head and knowing Howard may be out to start the season, why not bring in Andray Blatche to play PF while Gasol plays center. It’s low risk low cost. This will allow Hill & Jamison to stay on the bench so when Howard comes back their rolls doesn’t change. Blatch, if he’s smart, can use that time to show that he has got his game back and his mind right so at the end of the season his phone will ring off the hook for a nice contract.

   • Larry Coon

     I agree with you that the Lakers are going all-in to try to win another chip or two while Kobe’s still leading them (and after that, it’s time to re-tool around Dwight, assuming Dwight is still a Laker). Howard may very well miss the start of the season, but the Lakers have been in this situation before with Bynum, and have always relied on Gasol playing center. Since Howard likely won’t miss that much of the season, I doubt they take a flier on a player like Blatche — instead they’ll live with a big-man rotation of Pau, Hill and Jamison until Howard gets back.

     The Lakers aren’t trying to win 70 games here — they want to be in a good position for the playoffs, but other than that it doesn’t matter too much whether they are the first seed or the third. They won’t make any desperation moves in order to win more games in November.

     My only concern is with Pau’s minutes. He played 37.4 MPG last season (the most since the 2005-06 season with Memphis), and it clearly took a toll on him last season.

7. SatBchMagicer

   Good afternoon Larry. Quick 2 part ques-
   tion: 1-What is actual trade deadline
   date for 12/13, Feb. 14 or 21? (Seen
   both cited). 2-How long in years/seasons
   are ‘rights retained’ for 1st round un-
   signed foreign players? (Have referred,
   cbafaq-#48-50 & 61, not clear).

   • Larry Coon

     1. It’s February 21.

     2. it depends on the situation. If the player doesn’t sign and doesn’t play pro ball elsewhere, then the team retains rights for just one year, and the player is eligible for the following draft. If he -does- play pro-ball elsewhere, then the clock stops while he’s signed. The team retains the player’s draft rights for a year following the date the player notifies the team that he’s free of his international commitment (or a year from the date of the draft in a weirdly defined calendar year, whichever comes first).

8. Alex in Burbank

   Mr Coon, my question is simple. Do the salaries of coaches and assistant coaches count towards the salary cap?

   • Larry Coon

     The answer is simple, too: No.

9. SatBchMagicer

   I believe we already seeing effects of
   2011 CBA in big way; just some teams in
   position, like LAL/BRK to ignore luxury
   tax penalties for this coming season,
   maybe also 13/14 before ‘repeat offen-
   der’ provisions would ‘really bite’, Do
   you agree?

   • Larry Coon

     Yes. In fact, I think the new CBA will further increase the distance between the haves and the have-nots. One improvement from the last CBA is that every team, if managed well, will be able to be profitable. And for the most part, talent will be more evenly distributed (whether this is a good or bad thing is a judgement call) because most teams will not be able to stockpile talented players — for example, I think Oklahoma City will have a tough decision coming up between James Harden and Serge Ibaka. The reason it will be harder to keep talented players is because the luxury tax penalties will be so much more punitive, and most teams — which might have been taxpayers before — will no longer be able to afford to pay it.

     But I think there will still be a couple teams — the Knicks, Nets and Lakers, and maybe another team or two — that will be able to afford to pay the exorbitant tax, and will therefore be in a position to not only stockpile talent, but sweep up players cast off by other teams. I think these teams will be willing to pay the steep tax penalties (at least for a short time) while competing for a title.

10. Rob

    Can the Knicks use Renaldo Balkman’s contract, which is still on their cap, in a sign and trade even though they waived him?

    • Larry Coon

      Nope. The player must now finish the previous season with the team in order to be eligible for a sign-and-trade.

11. the banker

    Is it true that the heat is scared to spend because despite the success and hype of the big 3 specifucally lebron. Miam is a small market location and is loosing money?

    • Larry Coon

      I haven’t seen any indication that the Heat are scared to spend money. Their payroll is $82.7 million this year, and they have already committed themselves to $85.7 million, $78.4 million, and $65.9 million, respectively, for the following three seasons. What more do you want them to do?

12. Manny

    What are your thoughts on the deal received by JaVale McGee? How does the Nuggets’ cap situation look with McGee and Igoudala now on the books.

    • Larry Coon

      Given the deals that other big men have gotten (Lopez, DeAndre Jordan, etc.), I think McGee’s contract is reasonable. This year the Nuggets are about $5.5 million over the cap, but well below the tax line. They’re deep at every position while keeping their spending options open.

13. J

    Where does the luxury tax money go?

    • Larry Coon

      This year it all goes to help fund the revenue sharing program. Starting next year half of it helps fund the revenue sharing program, and the other half is distributed to non-taxpaying teams.

14. Andy

    Do you think the Lakers are concerned about paying the new tax rate in 2013-14 or just the repeater fax in 2014-15?

    • Larry Coon

      I think they’re concerned about both, but are willing to pay the tax for a short period of time in order to win. They are going to be big taxpayers this year while the tax is dollar-for-dollar, and likely will be even bigger taxpayers next year (assuming Howard re-signs) when the tax becomes progressive. But right now they have only Steve Nash signed for 2014-15. I can see them making adjustments to the roster — including asking Kobe and Pau to take pay cuts — to lower their payroll that year.

15. Myles

    Do you know if NBA luxury tax is a deductible item on a team’s federal taxes?

    • Larry Coon

      Not as far as I’m aware. It’s not that kind of tax.

16. JT

    Are the Magic currently under the cap. Details of the Jameer Nelson deal have not been disclosed. Also if the Magic are under the cap, can they use the large trade exception acquired in the Howard trade? If so can they use it to acquire more than one player with it?

    • Larry Coon

      The Magic are currently $6.7 million over the cap. Nelson has a three-year contract, paying $8.6 million, $8.6 million and $8 million, respectively, although his third season is not fully guaranteed).

      And yes — they have a $17,816,880 million trade exception (good through Aug 10, 2013), and can use it to acquire one or more players without sending out salary to match.

17. Leroy

    Does paying more Luxury tax lower a teams revenue sharing bill?

    • Larry Coon

      No.

18. Eric

    What is the trade market out there for Eric Bledsoe? Could the clippers bring in a very good but maybe overpaid SF in a deal? Danny Granger maybe? Or are they just stuck at the current roster.

    • Larry Coon

      I don’t think the Clippers have any plans of trading Bledsoe this year. The question of value is therefore moot.

19. David

    Hello Mr. Coon,
    Do you see the Lakers trading Pau any time soon?
    do you think he will be a difference in this new starting line up?

    • Larry Coon

      Pau was taken off the market when the Lakers landed Nash. They are excited about having the two work together.

20. Darius

    Regarding your answer to Rupe’s question… don’t you at least think there’s a slight possibility the reason Brown never ran any of Messina or Snyder or whoever’s plays was because… *SHOCK* they didn’t have the personnel required for it?

    Color me out-of-the-loop or whatever, but I thought that was the whole point in trading for Sessions at the deadline year.

    • Larry Coon

      1) Messina said that wasn’t an issue.

      2) The Sessions trade was for a LOT of reasons.

      3) It would have been pretty short-sighted to bring in coaches who are a bad fit for the players, and the Lakers aren’t that short-sighted.

      4) They DID run some Messina plays, and what I saw worked pretty well. They just stopped doing it.

21. SatBchMagicer

    Can you briefly explain how Magic could use the now $17+M trade exemption they acquired on Aug. 10 ‘deals’ to their advantage by Aug. 10, 2013? My understanding, that’s when it expires.

    • Larry Coon

      The Magic can acquire up to $17,816,880 in salaries (one or more players) on or before August 10, 2013, without having to send out matching salaries. For example, if a star player making $15 million becomes available (because his team can’t afford his contract), the Magic could absorb his salary in trade, sending back only young (and cheap) assets and/or draft picks.

22. Nacho

    hi LARRY you think is this possible:
    perkins had a bad year and aldrich had a good year, then okc amnest perkins and succed to keep both harden and ibaka, cole aldrich convert in a starter and okc is still under the luxury tax cap, this can work or isnt?
    thx for your answer

    • Larry Coon

      No, I don’t think OKC would amnesty Perkins (and this year’s amnesty period is over now, anyway). If anything, I think the Howard trade bought Perk more job security. Is Perkins part of their long-term plans? It MAY prove necessary to sacrifice him in order to afford the rest of the team (with Aldrich being groomed to take over eventually), but we’re a long way from that point. If anything they’d try to move him in trade rather than amnesty him.