Rockets GM Daryl Morey will have plenty of cap flexibility this summer to pivot away from the profound disappointment of this season, as long as Dwight Howard opts out as expected. Houston’s guaranteed salary commitments only come to about half the projected salary cap, so if the team moves on from the disjointed pairing of Howard and James Harden, it’ll have the chance to sign a new maximum-salary free agent and then some. See how the Rockets’ cap situation looks for 2016/17 as Hoops Rumors continues its offseason salary cap digest series.
Guaranteed Salary
- James Harden ($16,784,032)
- Trevor Ariza ($7,806,971)
- Corey Brewer ($7,612,172)
- Patrick Beverley ($6,000,000)
- K.J. McDaniels ($3,333,333)
- Sam Dekker ($1,720,560)
- Clint Capela ($1,296,240)
- Montrezl Harrell ($1,045,000)
- Total: $45,598,308
Player Options
- Dwight Howard ($23,282,457)
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Michael Beasley ($1,403,611)
- Andrew Goudelock ($1,015,696)
- Total: $2,419,307
Restricted Free Agents (Qualifying Offers/Cap Holds)
- Donatas Motiejunas ($4,433,683/$5,720,513)
- Terrence Jones ($3,532,643/$6,223,825)
- Totals: ($7,966,326/$11,944,338)
Unrestricted Free Agents (Cap Holds)
- Dwight Howard ($30,300,000) — pending player option1
- Josh Smith ($980,431)
- Jason Terry ($980,431)
- Total: $32,260,862
Projected Salary Cap: $92,000,000
Footnotes:
- The cap hold for Howard if he opts out will be the maximum salary for a veteran of 10 or more seasons. The number shown here is an estimate based on the projected cap figure.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Beasley and D-Mo should be kept. Not too sure on Jones and Terry.
Despite their disappointing season, the Rockets don’t really have bad contracts. They have plenty of freedom for a complete rebuild this summer.