Here are the updated numbers, using our friend Tim Donahue's salary estimated instead of my own today:
Already officially signed:
Paul George...............................17,120,106
George Hill..................................8,000,000
C.J. Miles....................................4,394,000
Ian Mahimni................................4,000,000
Solomon Hill................................1,358,880
Damjan Rudez.............................1,149,500
That total is 36,022,711
Add to that these extremely likely signings from Turner, Young, and Whittington still to come:
Myles Turner...............................2,357,000
Joe Young...................................525,093
Shane Whittington........................947,276
That total is 3,829,369
Now add Monta Ellis and Rodney Stuckey, who you are signing purely with cap room we can now assume (I will not add Lavoy Allen yet, as we will sign him last I believe since his cap hold is so low, and we can go over the cap to sign him)
Monta Ellis..................................10,304,450
Rodney Stuckey...........................6,698,565
That adds up to 17,003,015
Add that up for those 11 players, and you get: 56,855,095 + 947,276 (Allen's cap hold)=57,802,371
If you assume a cap number of 68,886,000 (9% increase from a year ago is my estimate), then we have this available to spend: 68,886,000-57,802,371
= $11,083,629 to spend, but......
Before the Pacers can actually spend that amount, they will either need to renounce Luis Scola or re-sign the veteran forward, because his cap hold of 9,300,000 would eat almost all of that up.
Any guaranteed contract we take back in any transaction with the Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Lakers would also come off of that $11,083,629. And we would need to resolve Scola most likely prior to taking any significant salary back, because with his cap hold still on our books our flexibility is hampered quite a bit.
We also have the "room exception" available to us of 2,814,000 to spend on a player because we have operated this summer as a "below the cap" type of team apparently. And obviously we can sign any player who agrees to a veteran's minimum deal no matter our cap situation.
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So now, the moves left to do likely will come in this order:
1. If you could do it, sign one more veteran minimum type guy FIRST, to fill that 12th roster spot and eliminate the Lavoy Allen cap hold, thereby giving you an extra 947,276 in cap space. Or, you can use taking a non guaranteed stiff back from either Dallas or (more likely) the Lakers to get that 12th roster spot taken up with a warm body.
2. Next, we need to resolve Scola one way or the other. We either need to sign him using cap space, renounce him and let him go, or I suppose you could renounce him, then use the "room exception on him, if you so chose. Or, you could still sign/trade him somewhere if you want to get creative, and if he and the other team want to cooperate. Or, you could renounce him and then just use cap space to sign him back later.
I would assume at this point that he will return for some modest salary, but either way we need to resolve his situation one way or the other.
3. After we do that, we will have around 11,000,000 to spend on a salary dump from another franchise, or to sign a free agent or multiple free agents. If we do sign Scola, then we can just subtract his 2015/2016 salary from that 11,000,000 estimated total.
4. Next move would be to finish the Lavoy Allen contract officially.
5. Next move after that is to use your "room exception" now, or perhaps carry it over until the season begins in case someone unexpectedly becomes available for whatever reason as an in season free agent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All in all, I would have liked the flexibility of trying to remain an "over the cap" type of team simply from a flexibility standpoint, because I would have liked to keep that mid level exception and bi annual exception slot as tools. But apparently, we have chosen to do our books in a slightly different method.....which may all come out the same anyway.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now for some speculation and thoughts:
1. I am assuming that we may take a warm body back from Los Angeles in the Hibbert deal.
2. I highly doubt that we would take Ray Felton back from Dallas without being highly incentivized to do so, but you cannot rule out the possibility.
3. I would not rule out the possibility of Joe Young potentially being sent overseas for a year for development purposes, based on the fact that playing time will be scarce here for him, especially if we decide we want a more veteran 3rd point guard. It's unlikely that happen, but it isn't impossible.
4. Kenneth Faried would fit almost perfectly from a financial, age, and positional standpoint if for some reason Denver would want to dump his contract. I am not a huge fan of his, but I also haven't watched him play much since college.
5. A Scola sign and trade is unlikely but not impossible, if he wants to chase a ring somewhere. If he does, we should accommodate him if possible. I am sure I can find a young player somewhere on each roster that might make sense for us to take flyer on, if he wants to do that. No clue about how much money he wants, but a trade to Cleveland might be feasible if they want him, and if he wants to go there.
6. Not that any of us really wanted him anyway, but we no longer have the money under the cap to trade for David Lee, so speculation about that can end.
7. I would have tried to do a sign and trade with San Antonio involving West, and I wonder if hurt feelings played a role at all in that not happening apparently. I would have been interested in the rights to Livio Jean-Charles, and/or Patty Mills. Maybe nothing would have come of that, but I would have been calling them. They need Mills now I guess since Joseph signed such a ridiculous contract in Toronto. I guess West signing a veteran minimum deal eliminated any reason for San Antonio to do it that way, but they are very close to the salary limit and might have been willing to do something creative if we had pushed it earlier.
8. Speaking of the Spurs, how lucky are they that they have legitimate hall of fame guys like Duncan and Ginobili willing to stay there and play at very below market rates? Compare that to some other places, and it is really remarkable.
9. Kevin Seraphin would be an interesting signing for us, simply because he is young and fills a need size wise. I also wonder how cheap Andrea Bargnani might end up being. I don't really like him as a player, but at this point, beggars can't be choosers, and in this different attack he might be an option as a 2nd unit type scorer off the bench. Yes, he is soft as a marshmellow, but he still is likely the best offensive option left on the board at this point, and he is young and fills a need position.
Seraphin and Bargnani are at least worth discussing I think, though watching Bargnani might make my head explode potentially if I have to watch his sieve like defense all year.
More updates as events warrant.
Tbird
Already officially signed:
Paul George...............................17,120,106
George Hill..................................8,000,000
C.J. Miles....................................4,394,000
Ian Mahimni................................4,000,000
Solomon Hill................................1,358,880
Damjan Rudez.............................1,149,500
That total is 36,022,711
Add to that these extremely likely signings from Turner, Young, and Whittington still to come:
Myles Turner...............................2,357,000
Joe Young...................................525,093
Shane Whittington........................947,276
That total is 3,829,369
Now add Monta Ellis and Rodney Stuckey, who you are signing purely with cap room we can now assume (I will not add Lavoy Allen yet, as we will sign him last I believe since his cap hold is so low, and we can go over the cap to sign him)
Monta Ellis..................................10,304,450
Rodney Stuckey...........................6,698,565
That adds up to 17,003,015
Add that up for those 11 players, and you get: 56,855,095 + 947,276 (Allen's cap hold)=57,802,371
If you assume a cap number of 68,886,000 (9% increase from a year ago is my estimate), then we have this available to spend: 68,886,000-57,802,371
= $11,083,629 to spend, but......
Before the Pacers can actually spend that amount, they will either need to renounce Luis Scola or re-sign the veteran forward, because his cap hold of 9,300,000 would eat almost all of that up.
Any guaranteed contract we take back in any transaction with the Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Lakers would also come off of that $11,083,629. And we would need to resolve Scola most likely prior to taking any significant salary back, because with his cap hold still on our books our flexibility is hampered quite a bit.
We also have the "room exception" available to us of 2,814,000 to spend on a player because we have operated this summer as a "below the cap" type of team apparently. And obviously we can sign any player who agrees to a veteran's minimum deal no matter our cap situation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So now, the moves left to do likely will come in this order:
1. If you could do it, sign one more veteran minimum type guy FIRST, to fill that 12th roster spot and eliminate the Lavoy Allen cap hold, thereby giving you an extra 947,276 in cap space. Or, you can use taking a non guaranteed stiff back from either Dallas or (more likely) the Lakers to get that 12th roster spot taken up with a warm body.
2. Next, we need to resolve Scola one way or the other. We either need to sign him using cap space, renounce him and let him go, or I suppose you could renounce him, then use the "room exception on him, if you so chose. Or, you could still sign/trade him somewhere if you want to get creative, and if he and the other team want to cooperate. Or, you could renounce him and then just use cap space to sign him back later.
I would assume at this point that he will return for some modest salary, but either way we need to resolve his situation one way or the other.
3. After we do that, we will have around 11,000,000 to spend on a salary dump from another franchise, or to sign a free agent or multiple free agents. If we do sign Scola, then we can just subtract his 2015/2016 salary from that 11,000,000 estimated total.
4. Next move would be to finish the Lavoy Allen contract officially.
5. Next move after that is to use your "room exception" now, or perhaps carry it over until the season begins in case someone unexpectedly becomes available for whatever reason as an in season free agent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All in all, I would have liked the flexibility of trying to remain an "over the cap" type of team simply from a flexibility standpoint, because I would have liked to keep that mid level exception and bi annual exception slot as tools. But apparently, we have chosen to do our books in a slightly different method.....which may all come out the same anyway.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now for some speculation and thoughts:
1. I am assuming that we may take a warm body back from Los Angeles in the Hibbert deal.
2. I highly doubt that we would take Ray Felton back from Dallas without being highly incentivized to do so, but you cannot rule out the possibility.
3. I would not rule out the possibility of Joe Young potentially being sent overseas for a year for development purposes, based on the fact that playing time will be scarce here for him, especially if we decide we want a more veteran 3rd point guard. It's unlikely that happen, but it isn't impossible.
4. Kenneth Faried would fit almost perfectly from a financial, age, and positional standpoint if for some reason Denver would want to dump his contract. I am not a huge fan of his, but I also haven't watched him play much since college.
5. A Scola sign and trade is unlikely but not impossible, if he wants to chase a ring somewhere. If he does, we should accommodate him if possible. I am sure I can find a young player somewhere on each roster that might make sense for us to take flyer on, if he wants to do that. No clue about how much money he wants, but a trade to Cleveland might be feasible if they want him, and if he wants to go there.
6. Not that any of us really wanted him anyway, but we no longer have the money under the cap to trade for David Lee, so speculation about that can end.
7. I would have tried to do a sign and trade with San Antonio involving West, and I wonder if hurt feelings played a role at all in that not happening apparently. I would have been interested in the rights to Livio Jean-Charles, and/or Patty Mills. Maybe nothing would have come of that, but I would have been calling them. They need Mills now I guess since Joseph signed such a ridiculous contract in Toronto. I guess West signing a veteran minimum deal eliminated any reason for San Antonio to do it that way, but they are very close to the salary limit and might have been willing to do something creative if we had pushed it earlier.
8. Speaking of the Spurs, how lucky are they that they have legitimate hall of fame guys like Duncan and Ginobili willing to stay there and play at very below market rates? Compare that to some other places, and it is really remarkable.
9. Kevin Seraphin would be an interesting signing for us, simply because he is young and fills a need size wise. I also wonder how cheap Andrea Bargnani might end up being. I don't really like him as a player, but at this point, beggars can't be choosers, and in this different attack he might be an option as a 2nd unit type scorer off the bench. Yes, he is soft as a marshmellow, but he still is likely the best offensive option left on the board at this point, and he is young and fills a need position.
Seraphin and Bargnani are at least worth discussing I think, though watching Bargnani might make my head explode potentially if I have to watch his sieve like defense all year.
More updates as events warrant.
Tbird
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