Do We Have Enough Cap Room To Sign Both Millisap & Jefferson?

[BETCATS]

I don't trust Jefferson's health. He's played 8 full seasons and only been active in 70 or more games for 4 of them. We have enough of an injury problem where I wouldn't like to see him paid big bucks to be added to the gurney rotation.

We really need an offensively skilled big though. Milsap is much healthier but I'm not sure how much better he will get from where he is right now and how much it would cost to get him. I wouldn't be opposed to signing him though.

[CableBoxCat]

I did some googling; you are allowed to get over the salary cap if you sign a player acquired through the draft.

This is true, but the draft occurs before the free agent signing period opens. I think that a cap hold is applied for your drafted player as soon as you draft him (equal to whatever the NBA allocates for that draft position), whether you sign your pick right away or not. So you can't just draft a guy, not sign him, sign a bunch of free agents up to your cap limit, then go over the cap to sign your pick. You would have to be at, near, or over the cap before you draft for that exception to take effect.

[isguros]

This is true, but the draft occurs before the free agent signing period opens. I think that a cap hold is applied for your drafted player as soon as you draft him (equal to whatever the NBA allocates for that draft position), whether you sign your pick right away or not. So you can't just draft a guy, not sign him, sign a bunch of free agents up to your cap limit, then go over the cap to sign your pick. You would have to be at, near, or over the cap before you draft for that exception to take effect.

The blazers website says the following

teams are allowed to sign their first round draft selections to rookie "scale" contracts even if the club is over the salary cap

I don't know if the signing period comes with limitations, but we signed Jeff Taylor on the same day as D.J. Augustin signed in Indiana.

[CableBoxCat]

I don't know if the signing period comes with limitations, but we signed Jeff Taylor on the same day as D.J. Augustin signed in Indiana.

Jeff Taylor was a 2nd round pick though, and 2nd rounders are allowed to be signed to non-guaranteed contracts. 1st rounders (like MKG) are on guaranteed contracts and have to be paid a certain amount based on their draft position (that's the "rookie scale" the Blazers site is talking about, and it means you have to be between 80% & 120% of the number the NBA assigns... almost never the lower number). Even if you don't sign a 1st rounder right away, there's still a cap hold applied to your cap number equal to whatever the NBA says their slot should be paid. In theory, you could sign as many 2nd rounders or un-drafted FAs you want up to the roster max of 15 players, as long as you pay them the league minimum, even if you're over the cap. That's an exception allowed under the current CBA. There are no mandatory salary guidelines for 2nd rounders. In fact, you don't even have to keep them on the roster if they look like a bust in the summer league. You have to pay a 1st rounder his money for 2 years no matter what. In the 3rd season, his team options kick-in and you have some more leeway.

In other words, the second you draft a 1st rounder, as far as the NBA is concerned your cap space is reduced by whatever they say his slot should make: your cap space - your pick's rookie scale # = the amount of money you have to spend in free agency. Whether he's signed yet or not is irrelevant as far as the league is concerned. Now, if you're at or over the cap heading into the draft, then yeah, you can go over to sign your guy. All teams are allowed to sign their picks regardless of their cap situation, but whether you do it right after the draft or the day before the season starts doesn't matter as far as the league is concerned.

EDIT: Last year's rookie scale for the #2 pick was $3,835,600, so that number came off our cap the second we drafted him. He apparently eventually signed for 120% of that value (pretty standard), so he's making $4,602,720 this season.

[isguros]

the second you draft a 1st rounder, as far as the NBA is concerned your cap space is reduced by whatever they say his slot should make

I appreciated that you took the effort to explain the entire situation, but the only thing I didn't quite understand was this part:

the second you draft a 1st rounder, as far as the NBA is concerned your cap space is reduced by whatever they say his slot should make

So if I've read this correctly, the rookie exception counts for a team that will be forced to go over the salary cap, by signing their first round pick(s), prior to the NBA draft?

[CableBoxCat]

So if I've read this correctly, the rookie exception counts for a team that will be forced to go over the salary cap, by signing their first round pick(s), prior to the NBA draft?

Not sure I understand what you're asking. You can't sign a player you drafted prior to the NBA Draft since you haven't drafted him yet. You can be over the cap, draft a guy in the 1st round, and then sign him to whatever the NBA allows (even if it takes you past the salary cap, or even if you were already over). The point is that you can draft whomever you want at any 1st round draft position you want, but their salary number (based on NBA's rookie scale) gets applied immediately. If you're already over the cap, no big deal (that's the exception). If you're under the cap, totally fine, but his rookie scale number is getting applied to your cap before free agency opens. Your cap space for free agency (which opens after the draft) is reduced by that amount.

[isguros]

Witch that all cleared up, I'm proud to say: it's not possible to sign both Jefferson and Millsap

[CableBoxCat]

In happier news, our cap space for 2014 is insane, especially if we amnesty Tyrus. The only other guy under contract is Haywood (with Dallas paying most of his salary). We can pick up the team options for Kemba, MKG, Taylor, & Bismack who are all still on rookie deals (!), plus at least 2 1st rounders who will also be on rookie deals. 2014's offseason is shaping up to be a very, very good offseason.

[alfie6]

wow this is exciting, but we gordon has a player option that year 2 right?? no doubt he will take that cool 12 mil lol. only bummer about it.

[CableBoxCat]

wow this is exciting, but we gordon has a player option that year 2 right?? no doubt he will take that cool 12 mil lol. only bummer about it.

No, he doesn't. Gordon's player option is for the 2013-14 season, so he's off the books for the 2014 offseason no matter what.