froggyvk

The Pistons have Rasheed's bird rights, and Memo is a free agent after the season (2 year restricted). Is there a way the Stones can keep both?

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Petey

Sure.

If the Pistons don't renounce Wallace and Okur decides to settle for the MLE.

Another way is if they both split the cap space evenly or in some way. But that would be a Piston's fan dream as that amounts they receive each would most likely be under the MLE.

Only 2 ways I can think of.

-Petey

Storyteller

Yes, they could keep Rasheed's Bird rights, re-sign him and then sign Okur to the MLE. I don't think this is very likely.


However, there's an outside chance that the expansion draft could play a role in all this.

Say, for example, that Corliss Williamson is taken by Charlotte (not very likely, but possible I guess). That would give Detroit another $5 million in cap room for the two to share. So, they could sign Rasheed to a $7 million deal (releasing his cap hold) and then turn around and re-sign Okur for the same amount. Possible, but not very probable.


I would say that the most likely scenario is that the Pistons let Rasheed walk away and re-sign Okur. Leaving them right about at the salary cap or just under. However, doing this would put them far enough under the cap ($9-10 million) that they would lose all their exceptions. So after signing Okur, they might have a little cap room to offer another FA ($1-2 million), then just sign a couple of minimum contract players to finalize the roster.

Petey

If they don't renounce Wallace, doesn't that mean they actually have a MLE? If he is not renounced they are over the cap with the cap hold from his contract. Assuming the Bobcats do not pick anyone from their team.

-Petey

Storyteller

I brain-faded for a minute there. I went back and revised my post - but not until after you quoted me. Thought I could get that revision in before anyone caught my error....

Big John

A better alternative would be to offer Charlotte Elden Campbell plus enough cash to buy him out , plus a future first. Charlotte would then renounce Campbell and he wouldn't count against anyone's cap. Charlotte would in effect be trading an expansion draft pick for a future draft pick, which makes sense, since they will have more cap room for players in subsequent years than they do now.

I suspect that Charlotte will get offers like this from quite a few teams.

But even with that, Detroit still might not have quite enough to resign both Wallace and Okur, unless one of them is willing to accept a below-market offer. They would be at roughly 28 million in payroll, but you have to add the MLE back in (plus any trade exceptions they might have), so that puts them at 33 million with roughly 12 mil to play with. Not quite enough.

Petey

No. They don't have a MLE unless Okur is willing to settle for it. If they renounce Wallace they are under the cap, so... no MLE. If they keep his rights, offer a 6.5 million deal to Wallace and a 5.5 million deal to Okur (if they accept that), they have NO MLE.

-Petey

Big John

They don't have to renounce Wallace, they just have to let him walk.

I believe the MLE just gets added on to payroll when determining a team's cap position. That's not the issue. The issue is that Okur is an "early bird" player who cannot be paid more than the median league salary (which coincidentally is the same as the MLE) unless the team possessing those rights haa the cap space to pay more. And in determining how much cap space a team has, the MLE (and any trade exceptions the team possesses) is added to payroll.

So for example, if their payroll for cap purposes (actual payroll plus exceptions) is 33 million and the cap is 44 million, they could pay Wallace (or some combination of Wallace plus another free agent), 11 million and still have the MLE to use on Okur. Or, they could pay Wallace 6 million, Okur 5 milllion, and use the MLE on a third player. Either way, they can't pay Okur more than the MLE.

RP McMurphy

If you are under the cap, you are allowed to renounce the MLE so that you have more money to spend on free agents. If a team is under the cap by more than the MLE, then in all likelihood that team will renounce the MLE.

I think the Pistons have a shot at keeping Memo and Rasheed, but only if they manage to dump Elden Campbell along with a pick or prospect on either the Bobcats, or else a team like the Jazz or Hawks that may strike out in free agency.

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Big John

Yes, they can. So if they manage to dump Campbell on the Bobcats and renounce their exceptions, they would have roughly 15 million to spend on Wallace and Okur. That might be just enough. But it will cost Detroit an extra 4.4 million, since the Bobcats won't take a player like Campbell unless the buyout is financed by someone else.

Storyteller

Detroit could only offer $3 million in cash, which would cover nearly 3/4 of Campbell's salary, but not all of it. Plus, the earliest draft pick that the Pistons could offer would be in 2006. Still, they might be willing to do this. Since they HAVE to take 14 players, it all depends on who else is available, and what other kinds of deals they can get.