Raptors Off-Season - How much cap space do we really have?

[Rapsobsessed7]

i was curious myself and had some free time today so i edited my trade deadline edition cap thread to bring forth this one.

2014/2015 Toronto Raptors Salary Info

DeMar Derozan

$9,500,000

John Salmons

$7,000,000 (1 million guaranteed next year)

Landry Fields

$6,250,000

Amir Johnson

$7,000,000 (5 million guaranteed next year)

Chuck Hayes

$5,958,750

Steve Novak

$3,445,947

Jonas Val

$3,678,360

Tyler Hansbrough

$3,326,235 (1 million guaranteed)

Terrence Ross

$2,793,960

Marcus Camby

*$646,609

= 49,599,861 (assuming Salmons & Hansbrough arent waived)

= 41,273,626 (assuming Salmons & Hansbrough ARE waived)

* = Camby buyout

Blue = partially guaranteed contracts

Noteable Cap Holds/Qualifying Offers:

Greivis Vasquez

$5,375,470 ($3,203,780 qualifying offer)

Patrick Patterson

$7,763,253 ($4,319,474 qualifying offer)

Kyle Lowry

$9,315,000

= 63,727,349 (this number reflects cap holds + Salmons & Hansbrough waived)

= 58,111,990 (this number reflects QOs accepted (& Lowry cap hold) + Salmons & Hansbrough waived)

2013/2014 Rookie Scale:

#20 =

$1,174,200

#34 =

TBD

#59 =

TBD

* remember they can sign for as much as 120% of this rookie scale or as little as 80% of the rookie scale.

= 59,286,080 (Salmons/Hansbrough waived + cap holds/qualifying offers & inclusion of 1st round pick. This is the most likely figure to represent how much we have committed next year

Salmons & Hansbroughs contract

Salmons - have till June 30th to guarantee the full 7 million or waive him for 1 million

Hansbrough - have till June 29th to guarantee the full 3.3 million or waive him for 1 million

Where Does This Leave Us?

the cap is at 58 million right now, i would expect it to be around 60 million next year. This means that we will have zero cap room next season. Even if you dont re-sign Lowry, you would have to renounce Patterson & Vasquez to make significant room. If you renounced Vasquez & Patterson but kept Lowry's cap hold you would have about 9.1 million in cap space if the cap is at 60 million. If you renounced all 3 thats when you get enough room to be players in FA, that would leave you with 42.6 million committed (roughly) and about 17.4 million in cap space.

What this tells me is that improvements are going to have to come via trade. Theres no other way to really do it. Salmons & Hansbrough have valuable contracts, ones that can be utilized all the way till June 29th (June 30th in Salmons case) so thats the avenue you should explore in order to improve this team.

[Spacing]

Could you just imagine having Rudy and Bargs albatross contracts on the books too?

At least trading them yielded some savings, some immediate and some for the future.

[Rapsobsessed7]

Could you just imagine having Rudy and Bargs albatross contracts on the books too?

At least trading them yielded some savings, some immediate and some for the future.

yup at this rate 2015 will be when we can make a big move in FA

[Duffman100]

Man, I wish we didn't owe money to Fields and Novak. What a waste at the end of the bench.

[FluLikeSymptoms]

Don't the QOs for RFAs such as Pat, Greivis, Nando count on July 1, rather than the cap holds? They're much lower. Thought cap holds were a Bird rights thing for UFAs. I'm not a cap expert.

[Rapsobsessed7]

Don't the QOs for RFAs such as Pat, Greivis, Nando count on July 1, rather than the cap holds? They're much lower. Thought cap holds were a Bird rights thing for UFAs. I'm not a cap expert.

yep your right, if the Raptors extend QOs to Vasquez & Patterson they are lower. Ill provide that in the OP.

[dagger]

Yes, we will have cap room, unless we use it to move Salmons or Hansbrough prior to June 29-30. You don't begin by putting cap holds and qualifying offers for reserves as priorities in the use of cap space. If we had a chance to sign a better starter, using cap space, we would throw all of those cap holds and QOs out the door faster than you can say Jerryd Bayless. Ive always assumed, given our current draft position, a full guarantee for Amir, a $62m cap and a $9m salary for Lowry that we would have in the area of $10m in net cap space. Our starting point is $43 million, including Amir's entire salary, our picks, the Camby buyout and the Hansbrough/Salmons guarantees. I expect a $62m cap. So that's $19m in potential cap space, with about $9m taken up by Lowry.

Also, given our potential situation for the summer of 2015, I'd rather not diminish potential cap space by signing anyone but Patterson should there be no starter upgrade available in the summer of 2014. How hard could it be to replace Vasquez for one year if he would rather not take our QO? Luke Ridnour for one season would be fine with me to preserve space for 2015.

[Patman]

Don't the QOs for RFAs such as Pat, Greivis, Nando count on July 1, rather than the cap holds? They're much lower. Thought cap holds were a Bird rights thing for UFAs. I'm not a cap expert.

No, the cap holds stays even for players tendered QO's.

[silverhill27]

Don't forget the possibility of using the stretch provision on Fields and/or Hayes.

[Patman]

Don't the QOs for RFAs such as Pat, Greivis, Nando count on July 1, rather than the cap holds? They're much lower. Thought cap holds were a Bird rights thing for UFAs. I'm not a cap expert.

yep your right, if the Raptors extend QOs to Vasquez & Patterson they are lower. Ill provide that in the OP.

Not true: http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q38

[Patman]

Don't forget the possibility of using the stretch provision on Fields and/or Hayes.

They're not ideal candidates for the stretch. It will only prolong us paying them, when we can just let them expire next year.

[Rapsobsessed7]

Don't the QOs for RFAs such as Pat, Greivis, Nando count on July 1, rather than the cap holds? They're much lower. Thought cap holds were a Bird rights thing for UFAs. I'm not a cap expert.

yep your right, if the Raptors extend QOs to Vasquez & Patterson they are lower. Ill provide that in the OP.

Not true: http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q38

I thought that when the QOs are extended thats the amount that counts towards the teams cap. If they arent extended, then the cap hold is what remains until renounced.

[silverhill27]

Assuming Lowry gets re-signed for around his cap-hold, it's good to know Masai still has some flexibility. If there's an impact free agent to be had, there's the possibility of Vasquez and Patterson being renounced.

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

Not sure if there is anyone out there worth pursuing in free agency this summer.

Isaiah Thomas maybe? A sparkplug off the bench, good offensive numbers, defence sucks, but he can be a difference maker off the bench.

[Laure]

Not sure if there is anyone out there worth pursuing in free agency this summer.

Isaiah Thomas maybe? A sparkplug off the bench, good offensive numbers, defence sucks, but he can be a difference maker off the bench.

Thomas will take starter money. And he would more than likely feud with Lowry, so what's the point.

[silverhill27]

Don't forget the possibility of using the stretch provision on Fields and/or Hayes.

They're not ideal candidates for the stretch. It will only prolong us paying them, when we can just let them expire next year.

Stretching Fields would free up around 4 million in cap space this offseason. If there's someone Masai is targeting, I could see it happening.

[Rapsobsessed7]

Yes, we will have cap room, unless we use it to move Salmons or Hansbrough prior to June 29-30. You don't begin by putting cap holds and qualifying offers for reserves as priorities in the use of cap space. If we had a chance to sign a better starter, using cap space, we would throw all of those cap holds and QOs out the door faster than you can say Jerryd Bayless. Ive always assumed, given our current draft position, a full guarantee for Amir, a $62m cap and a $9m salary for Lowry that we would have in the area of $10m in net cap space. Our starting point is $43 million, including Amir's entire salary, our picks, the Camby buyout and the Hansbrough/Salmons guarantees. I expect a $62m cap. So that's $19m in potential cap space, with about $9m taken up by Lowry.

Also, given our potential situation for the summer of 2015, I'd rather not diminish potential cap space by signing anyone but Patterson should there be no starter upgrade available in the summer of 2014. How hard could it be to replace Vasquez for one year if he would rather not take our QO? Luke Ridnour for one season would be fine with me to preserve space for 2015.

I know Vasquez has gotten a lot of slack around here but hes played pretty well IMO. If you take a look at whats available at the backup PG spot there isnt a lot. Ridnour is done IMO and Vasquez has started to really play well. I think 62 is a fairly aggressive estimation, even last year when the league did really well the cap only jumped 600k. Regardless though, if you let Vasquez & Patterson walk, signed Lowry for 9 million your at 50 million already. By doing this though youve created a bunch of needs. You now need a PF (either to start over Amir or back him up), you in all likelihood need some size behind JV and a backup PG for Lowry. I just dont think the above is a realistic scenario.

I mean what FA are you going to target? Deng? Gasol? Randolph (if he opts out)? i just dont see many options worth losing both Vasquez & Patterson for.

[Patman]

yep your right, if the Raptors extend QOs to Vasquez & Patterson they are lower. Ill provide that in the OP.

Not true: http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q38

I thought that when the QOs are extended thats the amount that counts towards the teams cap. If they arent extended, then the cap hold is what remains until renounced.

I had thought so, but unfortunately no.

A restricted free agent is included in team salary by the greatest of:

His free agent amount (as defined in the table above)
The amount of his qualifying offer (see question number 44)
The first-year salary in a first refusal exercise notice (a notice given to the player that the team is exercising its right of first refusal by matching an offer sheet (see question number 44)

[Patman]

Don't forget the possibility of using the stretch provision on Fields and/or Hayes.

They're not ideal candidates for the stretch. It will only prolong us paying them, when we can just let them expire next year.

Stretching Fields would free up around 4 million in cap space this offseason. If there's someone Masai is targeting, I could see it happening.

True.

[Rapsobsessed7]

I had thought so, but unfortunately no.

A restricted free agent is included in team salary by the greatest of:

His free agent amount (as defined in the table above)
The amount of his qualifying offer (see question number 44)
The first-year salary in a first refusal exercise notice (a notice given to the player that the team is exercising its right of first refusal by matching an offer sheet (see question number 44)

good to know, thanks.