Capela is also a restricted free agent. He's not going to agree to re-sign just to be traded to Cleveland. Also, free agents that sign new contracts can't even be traded until the winter.
Bobby Marks had an ESPN Insider ($$$) article explaining Houston's cap situation. Basically, unless they can find a team to take Ryan Anderson's $20 million contract (and they probably don't have the draft assets to do so), they'll need Lebron to take a discount in the sign-and-trade and to trade away Gordon, Tucker, and Nene.
Over the past day, there has been some momentum towards Lebron-to-the-Lakers in the gambling markets.
One such update from twitter:
Derek BodnerVerified account @DerekBodnerNBA 16h16 hours ago
Updated LeBron James odds from @bovadalv
As far as I can tell, the rush to get down bets on Lebron-to-the-Lakers originated from a Gary Payton rumor (that may turn out to be wrong).
Allow this USA Today article to explain.
It has been reported that Bronnie's kids have registered in LA schools.
It was on the interweb, so I know it's true.
First free agent news (or rumor) that I find intriguing is that Trevor Ariza is interested in the Warriors. This is the epitome of the type of player Golden state is looking for and I don’t think there is a better fit out there as far as someone that’s likely to sign there. He would provide toughness, defense, can guard 4 positions, 3 point shooting, and a championship DNA. If you hate the Warriors you may want to hope this doesn’t come to fruition.
The Warriors are the A#1 destination for guys who have earned enough and are the back end of their careers looking for a ring. Ariza will be 33 next year and has already made $75 mil in his career. While he might be able to get more somewhere else, I don't think anyone is going to pay him $10+ mil a season. Of course, the Warriors are likely to be in tax territory next season and need to decide how much they want to spend on a guy like Ariza.
-Jason "Ariza is a great fit with what the Warriors try to do in terms of spacing and switching" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
It would also be a blow for Houston to not retain him, especially if you believe (as I do) the odds of the Rockets nabbing Lebron are slim at best. While he may have worn down (again) in the playoffs, Ariza has been a very important complementary piece for them during the Harden era.
If I was Houston I would try to bring back the exact same team I had last year. They were the perfect fit! Obviously you have to go at Lebron if you can but I think it would cripple their depth and possibly their three point shooting. I’m not sure the Rockets could have came up with a better combination of players than they did this past year. Their record with Paul and Harden on the floor together was unbelievable. With Paul and Harden playing together (when healthy) they were one of the best lineups of all time!
I listened to Zach Lowe's podcast with Steve Kerr and he stressed that the Warriors are going to try and get younger this offseason. He said that is a key way to keep things fresh, by having young guys fighting to make their mark and/or stay in the league. He thinks that will force the big 4 (or at least everyone save for flighty Klay) to play more of a mentor role which will also give them something to focus on as the long season unfolds. That sounds like good news for Quinn Cook and bad news for Swaggy, Zaza, David West, JaVale, etc.