Who will be the 15th man!!!!

[mcHAPPY]

I could see a situation arise where steamer makes it, Hamilton signs in china, trade at deadline with one less contract coming back opening roster spot, China season ends, and Hamilton resigned for rest of year with options on future years.

Actually that makes a lot of sense. Damn.

Or raps designate him to DLeague and after trade deadline he resigns.

I originally thought china cause of $$$

[GLF]

it really wouldn't surprise me if hamilton AND steamer (is this his nick name now? awesome) make the team. i talked about it with apollo last night on twitter. he made the good point that guys like psycho t and fields have contracts that can be moved at the deadline and that's certainly true, but i dunno. young guys with good size that can shoot don't grow on trees.

if i had to pick one it'd be steamer since its more of a position of need thing.

I was talking to the Raptors Republic twitter page and whoever runs that seems to think the same thing you're thinking. They believe both Steamer AND Hamilton will make it and Masai will come up with something creative in order to make that happen. I hope you guys are right because I like the way Hamilton is playing and we really do need Steamer. Without him we have NO rim protection when Amir and Jonas come out of the game.

[Raps&Kronik]

I would love to see Hamilton on the team he's young has some handles, an above average defender and can knock down the three. Greg Stiemsma on the other hand will get a block here and there and defend big bodies in the post when JV takes a breather. I believe Stiemsma will win the job just because there's not as much depth at centre and we already have enough offence so Hamilton gets screwed IMO.

[SuperRaptor]

Is there no way to waive fields he is dead weight pay him out and take Hamilton and Steimsma?

[white men can't jump]

Is there no way to waive fields he is dead weight pay him out and take Hamilton and Steimsma?

It's fully possible, but in that scenario, I think we get pushed over the tax threshold....Which is not at all worth it just for Hamilton or Stiemsma.

[DanH]

Is there no way to waive fields he is dead weight pay him out and take Hamilton and Steimsma?

Sure they can. But it would mean going into the tax, which they won't (smartly) do for a 15th man.

[SuperRaptor]

Sure they can. But it would mean going into the tax, which they won't (smartly) do for a 15th man.

We are going to pay Hamilton like a million a year or something aren't we? Will we really be going that deep into the tax? MLSE has deep pockets time to dip into them slightly, Fields is done, Hamilton is service able and cheap.

I say get'er done.

[DanH]

We are going to pay Hamilton like a million a year or something aren't we? Will we really be going that deep into the tax? MLSE has deep pockets time to dip into them slightly, Fields is done, Hamilton is service able and cheap.

I say get'er done.

Well, there are side effects to going into the tax. First, you lose the non-taxpayer cut of the tax bill, usually about 3-4 M. So you'd be paying Hamilton 1M, paying almost 1M in tax, and losing 3-4M in income. So you'd be paying him effectively 6M, or what Fields makes.

Then you've also started the clock on the repeater tax penalties, meaning that in a couple years when the team is looking to make a push and spend well into the tax, they are suddenly held back by extra harsh taxes kicking in a year earlier because they went into the tax this year.

[white men can't jump]

We are going to pay Hamilton like a million a year or something aren't we? Will we really be going that deep into the tax? MLSE has deep pockets time to dip into them slightly, Fields is done, Hamilton is service able and cheap.

I say get'er done.

It has nothing to do with the tax bill, and everything to do with repeater tax rules. You pay repeater tax (which is a higher tax rate, and like normal tax, gets progressively higher the higher your payroll is) if you go over the tax threshold in 3 out of 4 years.

This year we're set to stay under. And we have capspace next summer which should allow us to stay under. But starting in 2016, even with the new TV deal raising the cap, it could be pretty likely we enter tax territory (DeMar, JV and Ross will all need new deals if all are kept). And that could also make it hard to avoid in subsequent seasons.

So the cost of going over the tax now could be much higher than the actual tax bill we pay this year.

[white men can't jump]

Well, there are side effects to going into the tax. First, you lose the non-taxpayer cut of the tax bill, usually about 3-4 M. So you'd be paying Hamilton 1M, paying almost 1M in tax, and losing 3-4M in income. So you'd be paying him effectively 6M, or what Fields makes.

Then you've also started the clock on the repeater tax penalties, meaning that in a couple years when the team is looking to make a push and spend well into the tax, they are suddenly held back by extra harsh taxes kicking in a year earlier because they went into the tax this year.

I didn't even think of this angle.

[SuperRaptor]

It has nothing to do with the tax bill, and everything to do with repeater tax rules. You pay repeater tax (which is a higher tax rate, and like normal tax, gets progressively higher the higher your payroll is) if you go over the tax threshold in 3 out of 4 years.

This year we're set to stay under. And we have capspace next summer which should allow us to stay under. But starting in 2016, even with the new TV deal raising the cap, it could be pretty likely we enter tax territory (DeMar, JV and Ross will all need new deals if all are kept). And that could also make it hard to avoid in subsequent seasons.

So the cost of going over the tax now could be much higher than the actual tax bill we pay this year.

Ah, I see, that sucks I hope MU can work some magic, and trade Fields or Hayes for to open up another spot.

[white men can't jump]

Ah, I see, that sucks I hope MU can work some magic, and trade Fields or Hayes for to open up another spot.

That would indeed be quite some magic, especially if he's trading one to open a spot.

[white men can't jump]

That would indeed be quite some magic, especially if he's trading one to open a spot.

I'm thinking at this early stage the best bet is a team with capspace that hasn't hit the cap floor yet.

Is Philly the only option then?

[DanH]

I'm thinking at this early stage the best bet is a team with capspace that hasn't hit the cap floor yet.

Is Philly the only option then?

That requires sending them an asset though. Not sure we want to do that for the sake of a 15th man.

Best bet is to find a taker for Hansbrough who actually want him, and have a trade exception to take him in with. Make it a 2nd rounder (likely 50+) coming our way.

[white men can't jump]

That requires sending them an asset though. Not sure we want to do that for the sake of a 15th man.

Best bet is to find a taker for Hansbrough who actually want him, and have a trade exception to take him in with. Make it a 2nd rounder (likely 50+) coming our way.

I guess they could just eat the salary as a surcharge, which just goes back to their own players. They are about $15M under the floor, though. Would basically give everyone a million dollar bonus (though I have no clue if there are rules about how it's re-distributed). Guess they may prefer that if they can't get any assets.

I don't know about trading Hansbrough so early, though, just to sign a 15th man. He's great injury insurance, and I want as much of that as possible early in the season. I do think there's a high chance he's traded at some point in the season though.

And I don't really care, honestly. What I've seen from all 3 options fighting for the last spot has not been impressive. I think they'll keep one in the end, but don't know why they'd go out of their way to make room for two.