Mark Cuban was speaking the truth when he asked whether the Los Angeles Lakers should give serious thought to using the amnesty clause on Kobe Bryant next season. Not that the Lakers would ever do it, but there is some sound financial reasoning behind Cuban’s statement. [Read more…]
Dwight Howard is the best center in the NBA. Yes, still. He also is (a) incapable of making an elbow jumper, (b) unreliable at the free-throw line, (c) susceptible to long-term injury, (d) hypersensitive to criticism from teammates and coaches, (e) more interested in becoming the next Bill Murray rather than the next Bill Russell and (f) wondering why no one has handed him the icon status he desperately craves. But the worst thing Howard is – and unlike the items above,
On the plus side for Memphis Grizzlies fans, they don’t have to worry about new owner Robert Pera having to reach deep into his wallet to pay the punitive repeater luxury tax in the years ahead. As if Grizz fans care about Pera’s wallet. The verdict here is that the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off a heist Tuesday in making their 3-for-1 trade with the Grizzlies, acquiring Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington and Josh Selby and a first-round pick in exchange for Jon Leuer.
// The New York Knicks have until midnight ET Tuesday to determine whether Jeremy Lin’s offer sheet from the Houston Rockets is, well, Linsane. The Rockets have offered Lin $25 million over three years. An average salary of $8.3 million is a bit exorbitant for a player with a two-month resume. But when that deal contains a final year of nearly $15 million with huge luxury tax implications, it may even be too steep for Knicks owner Jim Dolan. I discussed the
When the clock strikes 12 in several minutes, ending the moratorium period and beginning the feeding frenzy of free agency, these are the numbers NBA teams will be working with for the 2012-13 season as announced by the league Tuesday night: The salary cap will be $58.044 million. That is the same amount it was last season. The luxury tax threshold will be $70.307 million. That is also the same as last season. Any team whose payroll exceeds the threshold has to
Eight days until the trading deadline. Eight days for the Indiana Pacers to find the missing piece for a legitimate run at the conference finals, or for the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire the player that makes them a playoff team. Eight days for the Orlando Magic to go all in on Dwight Howard or blow it up and start over. Eight days for the Atlanta Hawks to avoid the luxury tax or the Los Angeles Lakers to add to it. Eight days to
By Chris Sheridan NEW YORK — As noted in this earlier post, a few details of what was in the owners’ latest proposal to the players’ union have come to light. Here is another one: SheridanHoops.com has learned that the owners have proposed four different levels of the luxury tax, with the tax increasing from a dollar-for-dollar levy on teams slightly above the luxury tax threshold (which was $70.307 million last season, when the Lakers, Magic and Mavericks were reportedly the only tax-paying teams),
From the mailbag: Hi Chris, I have a simple idea to solve the guaranteed contracts issue and wanted your opinion… Make each contract guaranteed for the first 2 years and allow each team to dump one player per year that has played for more than 2 years on their contract (in essence the last 3 years are not guaranteed but teams can only dump one guy per year if they so desire). A grossly overpaid player hurts the game, enrages fans, and can