Idea about Sarver and Salary Cap!

[Yuma]

Much was made about his competitive nature (Sarver's) and his ability to raise capital!! How sure are we that the Suns WON'T go over the cap if it meant signing Kobe or whoever our brain trust said we needed to sign? We have been laboring under the assumption the Suns are doing everything to stay UNDER the cap. That was true when Jerry C. was laboring to keep all his plates spinning on his sticks!! The ball game could have just changed gentlemen.

 

[slinslin]

NBA teams can't go over the cap by signing players whose rights don't belong to that team.

And the luxury tax is probably a thing of the past in a couple of years at least.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Slin is right. The idea of getting under the cap is to be able to pursue FAs. When you are over the cap, a team can only use its MLE (usually around 5 million). JC didn't use it lately because there wasn't really anyone worth that much to the suns (that was available) and we had such a high payroll already.

 

[George O'Brien]

Slin is right. The idea of getting under the cap is to be able to pursue FAs. When you are over the cap, a team can only use its MLE (usually around 5 million). JC didn't use it lately because there wasn't really anyone worth that much to the suns (that was available) and we had such a high payroll already.

I think it was mostly the latter.

Actually, the number of full MLE FA moves is not all that high. Either the player is worth a lot more than the MLE and goes to a team with cap space, or teams go for guys who are well below the limit as backup and roll players. Last summer, the only full (or nearly full) MLE signings I can think of were Gary Payton, James Posey, and Olowokandi.

The Suns could have used some veteran backup players, but luxury tax really discouraged them from doing that.

 

[Yuma]

I think it was mostly the latter.

Actually, the number of full MLE FA moves is not all that high. Either the player is worth a lot more than the MLE and goes to a team with cap space, or teams go for guys who are well below the limit as backup and roll players. Last summer, the only full (or nearly full) MLE signings I can think of were Gary Payton, James Posey, and Olowokandi.

The Suns could have used some veteran backup players, but luxury tax really discouraged them from doing that.

Then how does Mark Cuban saying he will sign guys for whatever amount he wants, regardless of the luxury tax or salary cap work? I have also heard several free agents saying they will play for him because he will spend what it takes on his team!

 

[slinslin]

Cuban is resigning his own players.

 

[elindholm]

Then how does Mark Cuban saying he will sign guys for whatever amount he wants, regardless of the luxury tax or salary cap work? I have also heard several free agents saying they will play for him because he will spend what it takes on his team!

A team can go over the cap to extend the contract of one of its current players, provided that player has "Bird rights," which (if I remember correctly) basically kick in when he has played at least three years under his current contract. So draft picks and free agents know that, when the time comes, Cuban won't hesitate to spend what he can under league rules.

A team can also go over the cap to use its MLE every year (assuming it's over to start with). Most team can't afford to do that, but Cuban can.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Then how does Mark Cuban saying he will sign guys for whatever amount he wants, regardless of the luxury tax or salary cap work? I have also heard several free agents saying they will play for him because he will spend what it takes on his team!

Think about it logically, if a team can spend more than the cap whenever they want, what is the point of a cap? The cap was designed to prevent large market teams (or high rolling owners) from buying their teams talent outright. Since it is a given that not every owner is on the same playing field in terms of disposible income, the cap is created (and determined off of league wide revenues).

The point of the MLE is to allow teams that are locked into bad contracts improve through FA, but they can only sign average players. At least that is the point (it is based off of the average league salary), but sometimes we see people take a pay cut a la Payton.

The luxary tax is is dollar amount above the salary cap. Anyone over that dollar amount is forced to pay a dollar for dollar tax on their contracts. However, the luxary tax has no direct effect on FA signings. Is does however indirectly effect them, since the players salary is essentially doubled. This is the biggest reason the suns havent signed a player for the MLE lately. Instead of paying 5 million for a player, they would be paying 10 million.


The way teams get so far above the cap is by resigning their own players, like Eric said. The reason for Bird Rights is pretty obvious, a team shouldn't loose out on talent they developed for 3 years just because they are over the cap. It would cause way to much player movement.

The most recent example with Cuban is Steve Nash. Although the Mavericks are way over the cap, he can give Nash a maximum contract if he wants. Same with Antoine Walker actually. Players want to let their current deal expire while they are on the Mavs, because they have the best chance of getting a fat paycheck that way.