We have an opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in this, our weekly mailbag feature. Have a question regarding player movement, the salary cap or the NBA draft? Drop us a line at HoopsRumorsMailbag@Gmail.com. Here are this week’s inquiries:
How will the Celtics fit Isaiah Thomas‘ extension max contract as they are near max cap after signing up Gordon Hayward? — Greg Dizon
The first step, as Thomas stated last week, is to load up a Brinks truck full of money because he sees himself as a max player and won’t accept anything less. The Celtics own Thomas’ Bird rights, so they have the freedom to give him a full five-year max extension. The only question is whether Boston wants to accept the tax ramifications of carrying three max deals in Thomas, Hayward and Al Horford. Apart from them, most of the roster is still on rookie contracts, so the Celtics won’t face any other difficult financial decisions for a few years. Golden State and Cleveland have proven that if you want to be a super team, you have to have to pay super salaries, and there’s every indication that the Celtics plan to do that with Thomas.
Why does a team have to clear cap space to sign a free agent, but most teams sign way over cap? Very confused on signing with cap or having to make trades to make it happen. — Keith
Every team receives salary exceptions that can be used to sign free agents. Teams operating above the salary cap get a mid-level exception, which is $8.406MM this year for non-taxpaying teams and $5.192MM for teams over the tax apron (or in danger of passing that threshold). Teams that are under the cap receive a “room” exception valued at $4.328MM.
Also, teams over the cap – but below the apron – have a bi-annual exception. It can’t be used two years in a row and is valued this year at $3.29MM. As an example, the Rockets went over the cap when they completed their trade for Chris Paul. However, they were able to use the MLE to sign P.J. Tucker and the BAE to add Tarik Black. Most teams don’t mind being over the cap. It’s the tax threshold where they start to get nervous.
What will happen with the Carmelo Anthony situation? — 617 Sports News, via Twitter
Acknowledging that the Knicks are among the most unpredictable franchises in all of sports, here’s how it’s likely to play out. New GM Scott Perry has requested a meeting with Anthony. Even if that happens, don’t expect Anthony to change his mind about a trade. He wants to join his friends and get a shot at a title before he retires. The Knicks want to rebuild around younger players. They don’t fit together any more.
New York’s front office doesn’t have as much leverage here as it might believe. Having Anthony on the team at the start of the season, or even the start of training camp, could be a disaster. He could be disruptive in any number of ways and poison his young teammates’ view of the organization. Don’t forget that Kristaps Porzingis isn’t that far away from his first taste of free agency. Prolonging the standoff with Anthony any further is also going to hurt the Knicks’ prospects with future free agents and anger Anthony’s powerful agent, Leon Rose, who could respond by discouraging any of his clients from signing there. In short, it’s a players’ league now and the top players get what they want. Anthony wants to go to Houston, so expect him to be there by the end of summer.
Does anyone else see the scenario where ainge refuses to pay IT? we know what a cheap ass Danny is. he’ll likely have a high draft pick again with the nets pick, he could take the top PG in next year’s draft and tell IT to kick rocks. Especially if cavs stomp them in the playoffs. I’d say pay the man but I also would have likely traded for Jimmy Butler or demarcus cousins too
I don’t see this happening anymore since I think Ainge would’ve stayed at #1 and drafted Fultz if this were the case
It’s a lot less likely after they traded Avery Bradley instead of Marcus Smart
No PG in next years draft considered top talent.. The bigs will rule next years draft .. Ayton, kurucs, porter, bamba, carter are the big names and dukic is a sg. The best of the bunch is sexton and Duval and they are backup nba pgs think frank Jackson not scorers.
Hope Melo goes to the Rocket’s where he will continue to lose. He’s not a winner and has only won 3 playoff games in 14 years.
He’s only won 3 playoff games in 14 years? Melo’s was in the western conference finals in 2009 so I’m not sure where you find you’re information
Melos never been to the conference finals
2009 WCF was Denver vs LA. Carmelo Anthony was on the Nuggets during that time
he said that w. so much confidence
He’s getting the Max but not 5 years. It’s obvious they want him around assuming his hip is ok and he performed well this year. That’s one of DA’s best trades and he averaged almost 29ppm. With Jaylen Brown at the 2 guard spot I think they will be a very good backcourt this year. Smart and Rozier off the bench.
IT, Horford and Hayward are not a good enough trio to pay three max contracts to. These three are not going to get you a title. Horford or Hayward are good enough to be 2nd or 3rd best player on a championship team but not IT. I love everything thing that IT has done. He’s an awesome player. But he’s not a max player on a team with championship aspirations. He’s just not capable of playing at that level due to his physical limitations. The Celtics should deal him early in the year when his value, hopefully, will be high.
They can’t afford to do that because then they’d be at the cap without a starting PG with Smart needing a new deal. Also they want to compete now and considering Isiah only makes like 6 or 7 million there’s no current player they could add, it would have to be picks/prospects which isn’t what they need.
Here’s the thing. They’ll be over the cap either way. It’s not like in the MLB where if the Rays pay the wrong guy $20 million a year it cripples their franchise. So, they can be over the cap with an all star PG that has flaws, but is still an all star pg. Or, they can eliminate any chance of competing with Cleveland and draft a PG and sign your starter using the MLE next year. That just wouldn’t make any sense. They HAVE to keep IT. If someone comes up with a viable replacement that’s fine, but draft the 19 year old and wait 4 years for him to develop isn’t an option because it nullifies the Horford and Hayward signings and sends them back into the mediocrity they were in the year they got swept by Cleveland. It’s not really a choice. And money isn’t the issue. If IT is the issue, and not the money, fine. Find a different viable solution for competing now and that’s fine. I don’t think that guy exists.
I would agree, based off current information. I would have considered letting him walk if they still had Bradley though
Sure I think they would’ve looked at the possibility of that, but I think they’d keep IT anyway. The public backlash from a lot of the fan base would be awful, and Bradley is a good player but that leaves them in the same situation as they’d be letting him walk now bc Bradley can’t really play PG. Also, that pretty much negates adding Hayward because you’d go back to having 1 good scoring option and a couple decent scoring options. They’d just shut down Hayward instead of Thomas.
Well, you would be hoping that Brown and/or Tatum would develop into someone that can score in the half court, while Bradley plays more off the ball as a shooter, and a defender. But again, that would be something you’d have a full year to figure out
I guess I’m not thinking about this in enough detail. In a vacuum yes he has issues. But as you point out, they may have no better option.
Yeah that’s really my only issue. I agree he’s a defensive liability and his height complicates things, but at the end of the day they can’t replace him, and at the end of the day that’s really what it comes down to.
Hate to be that guy but some of the cap-related details given to Keith are incorrect. First of all, the availability of the taxpayer MLE isn’t determined by the previous season’s tax situation, but by whether during the current offseason a team is over the tax apron or not. The biannual exception is only available to teams under the apron but over the cap. So a team that uses either the mini MLE or room exception doesn’t have the BAE available to them.
I’ve updated the post to make sure the info is accurate. Only thing I’d add is that the division between the non-taxpayer and taxpayer MLE is somewhat nebulous — sometimes a team below the apron will limit itself to the taxpayer version to make sure it doesn’t hard-cap itself.