Atlanta offers $72 mil to Damp? Does anyone have good info on this? I've read a few rumors that Atlanta was offering less than NY, and that Damp wasn't that interested. I've also read that Atlanta was pretty much out of the running, and was looking to sign Swift. Then I saw this: http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/7514956 The author says Atlanta made a $72 mil offer for Damp. That seems to have come out of the blue, anyone seen any evidence to back this up? That is big money, and Atlanta has generally been trying not to overpay. >> UPDATE, 7/22: ESPN says it's a $27 mil offer, I wonder if someone transposed numbers (72 and 27). $27 jibes with most info our there. With numbers like that, I can see why the rumors of a 3-way with Dallas are surfacing, Cuban may be the only guy willing to match that kind of money. === On a completely different note, Skip Bayless had this quote in an otherwise disparaging article on the W's: Said a Warriors insider: ``Mully's goal has been to clear enough cap space in two years to make a run at Yao Ming. That was a big reason he wanted to get out from under Jamison's contract.'' http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...ess/9204852.htm That would be fantastic, but if someone could explain how the Fish and Foyle contracts are supposed to help towards this goal, please post here. What is the most we can offer?
Skip Bayless is a complete moron who sells papers by basically trying to piss everyone off or spouting out crap he has no evidence on. I don't doubt the warriors would like Yao but it ain't happening. Houston will not let him go, period. This guy also said Musselman loved Ridnour even though Ridnour makes Dunleavy look like Artest on defense. Makes no sense, Musselman would have never played him. Not to mention his brilliant idea of not pulling the Jamison trade hoping the new Charlotte franchise would pick him. They have an 18 million dollar roster now, I doubt they would have picked him. Like I said, Bayless is an idiot. The day he gets fired I'll do this.
Well, if our goal is re-signing Murphy and Richardson its definitely not Yao. If we lose both Richardson and Murphy, I think we're good to make a run at Yao as long as he wants to be on this team badly enough and chooses not to accept a team exercised option by the rockets (I think the player can refuse a team option but somebody correct me if I'm wrong). Otherwise he'll probably just remain a Rocket if he extends his contract and therefore becomes a restricted free agent versus becoming an urestricted free agent if he doesn't exercise the 4th year (again somebody correct me if I'm wrong). Since the Rocket's are his team I think he'll just stay in Houston unless he thinks having more of a Chinese community around him is better for his family. But the bottomline is the Rockets will never let this guy go as long as they can help it. But Yao can always make the decisions regarding where he wants to go because he holds a lot of clout.
It's definitely a long shot, but at least these guys are thinking big. I don't know how accurate the sites are, but real GM says he's an unrestricted FA in 2006, and hoopshype lists 2005 as a team option, with no qualifying for 2006, so I don't think Houston will have the rights to match. The thinking on the new CBA is a max contract of 5 years, with no advantage for the player's team (right now they can add an extra year). If the difference is simply 10% vs. 12.5% raises, then maybe the community is worth it. We'd have to make sure to have a team that can win, maybe Pietrus and Biedrins are the future, and Murph and JRich will move on. That would keep us in good shape, cap wise.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting fansince75:</div><div class="quote_post">It's definitely a long shot, but at least these guys are thinking big. I don't know how accurate the sites are, but real GM says he's an unrestricted FA in 2006, and hoopshype lists 2005 as a team option, with no qualifying for 2006, so I don't think Houston will have the rights to match. They will still be able to offer more money, which is usually all you have to do. Unless the CBA gets changed before 2006. I thought the current contract was about up.</div> I think I mentioned above that if a rookie doesn't accept a team exercised option for a 4th year, he can leave as an unrestricted free agent (meaning he can go to any team that makes an offer). But if he exercises the option and the team accepts it then he becomes a restricted free agent (meaning the Rockets can match whatever offer another team makes to retain him). So it's like guys like Lebron and Yao could test the market early to see if they are worth max dollars before they even reach their 4th year. All I remember is that Jrich and Murph had 3 year rookie deals but they signed an extension exercised by the team that would make it so they go into their 4th year. This is both their 4th year.
I dug around a bit and I think you are basically correct. The contracts for first round picks are three years plus a team option. The team must exercise the team option for the fourth season by Oct. 31 after the second season (I assume that Houston has not done this yet, but will). In year five, the player is a restricted FA, but to keep the option to match other offers the team must make a qualifying offer. If the player takes that offer, they play out the year and are FAs after the fifth season. Also, the team can make a deal with the RFA and the salary cap doesn't apply. BUT, if the FA signs an offer sheet, in order to match, the team must have room under the cap. This is where things get interesting. If Yao wanted out, and another team offered him big money, Houston can match only if they have cap room. The new CBA may make the money Houston can offer about the same as what another team can offer. Of course, the same rules could make it hard for us to sign our restricted FAs if we aren't smart about the cap. That, and this can't occur until 2006.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting fansince75:</div><div class="quote_post">BUT, if the FA signs an offer sheet, in order to match, the team must have room under the cap. This is where things get interesting. If Yao wanted out, and another team offered him big money, Houston can match only if they have cap room. The new CBA may make the money Houston can offer about the same as what another team can offer. Of course, the same rules could make it hard for us to sign our restricted FAs if we aren't smart about the cap. That, and this can't occur until 2006.</div> Everything you said was right, except this part. Houston would be able to match any offer sheet Yao signed because they'd have his Bird rights. I think the chances of Houston ever letting Yao go are slim to none. For it to happen Yao would REALLY have to want to get out of Houston and be willing to put off getting a big contract for a year. He'd lose about 7-8 mil in guaranteed money in the '06/'07 season and risk getting injured because his '06/'07 deal would be a qualifying offer, which is only a one year deal. He's guaranteed to be in Houston through the '05/'06 season, after which he'll become a RFA. He could get his big extension then, and could sign an offer sheet for the max with the Warriors. But, Houston could not only match, they could offer him even more money, since they can offer a max contract with 12.5% raises instead of 10% raises, regardless of what their salary cap situation is because they'd have his Bird rights. If Yao really wanted out of Houston, he'd accpet the team's one year qualifying offer, which I believe is the average salary of the top 5 players at his position. But by don't so, he'd become a UFA in '06/'07 and he'd be free to sign with the Warriors or any other team. Realistically, I think there's no chance of it, but who can predict 2-3 years into the future. As for all the rumors about Mullin having a grand scheme to acquire Yao, I don't buy it. Sure that may be one of the scenarios, but like I said, it's impossible to predict what will happen in 3-4 years, which is why I'm sure it wasn't Mullin's sole basis for trading Jamison. By the way, Bayless is an idiot. I read the headline of his column, but that was it. I didn't need to read the article to know exactly what was said and exactly why he was wrong. Remember this is the guy who admonished the Warriors for taking Pietrus over Ridnour and Reece Gaines...great pick Skip.
For that reason I tend to avoid reading the Mercury News sports columns... btw love the Al Attles quote, Walk.
Doh! You are soo right, Walk. I missed that little tidbit of info in the salary cap FAQ, Houston can match anything we offer. So the only thing we could do was force their hand in offering a max contract, which I imagine they will do anyway. That's a waste of time. I did find this article, who knows how accurate it is, but sounds like Yao has been a focus for the W's front office for a while, this is from 2003. Apparently, they're as bad at the cap as I am: http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-...tent_256698.htm The only other bit of intriguing info is that Yao's agent is Bill Duffy, who helped us get Biedrins and is close with Mully. I doubt he can do much unless, as stated above, Yao wants to come here.
