Free Agency

worcester wrote:In baseball athletes are insured, and if their injuries keep them out for a season, insurance pays 70% of the tab. I had a pitcher making $10M a year for the Rays who rehabbed pretty well, but the Rays wanted the $7M insurance more than the few extra wins they could get with this pitcher, so they kept him on the disabled list. I wonder if this applies in basketball as well. Does the team get any money back from an insurance policy if the player is out for a year?

Most NBA contracts are insured.
Those with injury histories are uninsurable, such as Amare Stoudemire, due to his knees.
I am sure Bynum is uninsurable do to his knees.

OK...then let's pass on Bynum unless he's REALLY well.

Bynum was a serious contributor for the Lakers when he was healthy. Both games.

If you are gonna go for question marks, why not go for Oden?

Well, today is the first day free agents can be signed, starting at noon EDT.

Thought I'd bubble this thread up to the top and use it as the launching pad for all this.


bob


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The Celtic strategy this year is to bomb.....tank...whatever you want to call it.

This next draft is full of impact/franchise players in the first 7 - 10 selections, and the opportunity for the Celtics to wind up in a position of as having the best odds of landing a first pick.......comes once in a decade if not longer.

Danny will use this year to get under the cap which can become punitive in future years if he does not do it now, and go over the cap when he has a real chance to win #18 later on.

Boston Herald: Austerity now Ainge’s game

Getting the salary structure in order is no simple chore. Sometimes it means showing great restraint, which is a little easier if you don’t want you team to be too good. The Celtics, who will be hard-capped if Keith Bogans is sent to Boston via sign-and-trade as part of the Nets deal, will likely desire to stay below the luxury-tax line next season. New repeater rates loom after this season, and the Celtics won’t be looking to add big dollars to their roster.
So despite the fact that Boston could have some valuable exceptions available (like the non-taxpayer mid-level or biannual), it might be better for the Celtics to simply sit on their hands, or at least err on the side of short-term additions.

ESPN Boston: C’s likely to be spectators in free agency show
I’ve been screaming this for a long time now, so I’m hoping that everyone starts to understand the severity of this situation. The Celtics are NOT going to pay a luxury tax on a team that is by no means a luxury. Especially not with the repeater tax set to hit after next season.

What’s the repeater tax?

In the 2014-15 season, any team that has paid the luxury tax over the prior three consecutive years will pay a higher rate than everyone else.
So let’s pretend a team is a nice, clean, $10,000,000 over the cap.

Under the old system, which was in place until last season, the tax bill for that was $10,000,000… which is a dollar for dollar tax rate.

This upcoming season, the tax bill will be $16.25 million. It’s an incremental tax rate that starts at $1.50 per dollar, but increases for every $5 million you’re over the cap.

Next season, if you’re a “repeater” team, the tax for being $10,000,000 over the cap is $26.25 million.

The new CBA nearly triples the tax a team like the Celtics has become accustomed to paying. Unless you’re a bazillionaire like Prokhorov in Brooklyn (whose tax bill next season might be around $70 million, by the way), you’re not inclined to be paying taxes all that often in the NBA anymore.

So wrap your heads around the repeater tax, ladies and gentlemen. Starting next year, it will apply to any team that has paid the tax in three of the previous four seasons. So not only will the Celtics be on a non-tax budget this summer, they’ll probably be on one next summer too or else they’ll be hit with the repeater tax in 2014-15. From there, it will be a dance of tax paying for a few years and then stepping out again.

Also keep in mind that the tax line is likely going to be just under $72 million, and with good management, you can go over the cap to sign key guys but still avoid the tax. The Oklahoma City Thunder have done it pretty well. But that just means the days of signing big-name free-agents to massive contracts will be more limited than ever. Max contracts aren’t going to be handed out has freely as they were before.

Anyway, the entire goal of this CBA and its repeater taxes and other penalties for big-spending teams (like a sign-and-trade triggering a hard-cap) is to not allow major-market teams to stockpile big, bloated salaries and spend their way out of mistakes that small markets can’t afford to make. It does indeed level the playing field to a degree because even though these owners are super rich, they don’t want to throw their money away on a non-contender.
Wyc Grousbeck and the boys upstairs have been very willing to pay taxes on this team, just not when they suck. And after a long stretch of success, it’s time to suck and be cheap for a little while until enough lines in the ledger can be cleared to start piecing together another contender.

This is what rebuilding is. And under this CBA, it’s going to happen a lot more often than we’re used to. This is a new set of rules that is only just starting to kick in for this upcoming season and beyond. The landscape is changing dramatically.

So I’m sorry to everyone who’s asking, but there’s not going to be a pursuit of Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, or any other big name you might wish was in Green and White next season. They’re just not in the budget.
This was a big topic of discussion with Mike Gorman last night on Celtics Stuff Live. Please check out the show. It’s 2 and a half hours long, but Gorman is the first half hour of it.


Danny will also evaluate all assets, cut those who are not useful now or that can be used as a trading asset later.

One person I would give shot to is Greg Oden...........low risk....high upside...........a typical Danny type of signing. Give him 1 year with team option at minimum salary ...........see if he can play. If he can....you got a legit center at a bargain price..........if not he is off your books next year.

112288

bobheckler wrote:Well, today is the first day free agents can be signed, starting at noon EDT.

Thought I'd bubble this thread up to the top and use it as the launching pad for all this.

bob

Very few free agents can be signed today.  Here is the types that can be signed:

Coon, Larry (2012); \"NBA Salary Cap/Collective Bargaining Agreement FAQ" wrote:

102. What is the July Moratorium?

It is a period during the month of July in which teams may not sign most free agents or make trades. Free agents become free on July 1, but the salary cap is not set until the league's audit is completed later in the month. Teams and players must wait for the salary cap to be set before trades and most free agent signings can commence. Teams may negotiate with free agents beginning July 1, but they have to wait until the moratorium ends before signing a contract.

There are a few types of signings that are allowed to take place during the July Moratorium. Generally, these are the signings that do not depend in any way on the specific value of the salary cap:

•Teams may sign their first round draft picks (to a standard rookie "scale" contract -- see question number 48)
•A second round draft pick can accept a required tender, which is a one-year contract offer teams must submit to retain their rights to the player.
•A restricted free agent can accept a qualifying offer from his prior team (see question number 43).
•A restricted free agent finishing the fourth season of his rookie "scale" contract can accept a maximum qualifying offer. The player will receive the maximum salary, but the actual amount is not determined until the end of the moratorium (see question number 43).
•Teams may sign players to minimum salary contracts for one or two seasons, with no bonuses of any kind.

All other signings must wait until the moratorium ends.

gyso

Why tank this year? Remember the last time that happened? Boston didn't get either one of the top 2 picks.

Andray Blatche re-signed with the Nets for $1.4M.

Blatche and KG on the same team. That will be worth watching for the entertainment factor.

My guess is that we'll see Blatche act like everybody else who gets to play with KG. He'll go from hating his guts to thinking he's the best teammate he's ever had.


bob


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BOB,

Call it what you want, but Danny is getting the Celtic's below the cap level so as not to be a repeater which then leads to stiff taxes. Therefore he will not seek any major assets in the free agent market. See my post this morning on Ainge which will explain in detail. What he plans to do is weed out the new good talent acquired or invited this summer and cut or trade away the rest.

Bass and Lee will be moved for sure and Wallace could also be moved. I think Humphries has a shot at sticking.......he does bring a physical presence to the paint which I like.

112288

112288

Tanking is repugnant.

There are still things to do to get this roster set. I cannot say who gets cut or traded but I think DA has an incentive to put a competitive team on the court.

Dboss

bobheckler wrote:Andray Blatche re-signed with the Nets for $1.4M.

Blatche and KG on the same team.  That will be worth watching for the entertainment factor.

My guess is that we'll see Blatche act like everybody else who gets to play with KG.  He'll go from hating his guts to thinking he's the best teammate he's ever had.


bob


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Bob,

There are also rumors that Brooklyn is the front runner for Kyle Korver.
They would have quite a formidable 10 man deep rotation.

Gary Washburn: Danny Ainge said he made courtesy call to Dwight Howard's reps to see interest in coming to #celtics through s & t. Answer was no Twitter @GwashNBAGlobe

- At least he called...

Dwight doesn't want to play in a large market. He can't handle the tabloids.

Personally, I'd rather have a center that isn't so thin-skinned.

Dboss,

We haven't agreed on everything lately, but I definitely agree with the use of the word "repugnant" to describe "tanking." As Danny said (and I'm paraphrasing), "These are the Celtics!" Moreover, to subject young guys like Sully and Green to some deliberately half-assed approach to games so they can become comfortable with losing would be beyond stupid.

Sam

ANY ONES GUESS AS TO HOW MANY WINS NEXT SEASON?

112288

not gonna happen under Danny's watch

Thanks to Kobe Dwight will not resign with LA

Kobe's Pitch was insulting to Howard.

They can get a center and PG from Houston if a sign and trade occurs.  Houston is sitting at $42 mill this year so they could sign Howard for $15 million and raises every year and LA would not get anything.  Most likely senario is a sign and trade so that the team getting howard can shed some salary.  Gstate is also in the mix but if they do this they will partially gut those great young players that we like.

The mavs have nothing to offer.

Atl has cap space