By now, the one big thing to come out of the lockout is the amnesty clause, which will most likely be in effect. According to a recent ESPN article (link here), teams will have two years to use it and will not be able to use it on future players acquired via trade.
Before we delve into it, it's important to note that this could change. There may not be an amnesty clause (though there almost certainly will be). We won't know anything for sure until a new CBA is officially agreed upon.
So what is the amnesty clause? Basically, it lets each team dump one contract that they wish they didn't have. Though it is more suited to players like Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas, or anyone ever signed by David Kahn, every team has the option to use it. Or not use it, if they so wish.
The clause is mainly used to correct mistakes, but thanks to Daryl Morey's brilliance, the Rockets don't really have any bad contracts. As the ESPN article correctly states, the only big contracts the Rockets have belong to Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, and Kyle Lowry. Do you think the Rockets would use it on Martin or Lowry? Yeah, me neither. And though I highly doubt they would use it on Scola, I guess I wouldn't be floored if they did. Scola's contract works better in a sign-and-trade than it does as open space, especially with the hole left by Yao's departure.
Quiz: which two players currently have the fourth and fifth largest contracts on the Rockets?
Answer: Hasheem Thabeet and Jonny Flynn, respectively.
Again, I'd be surprised if either of these guys got cut, but not completely shocked. I'm sure the Rockets want to give Thabeet a chance (and they have a team option next year anyway if they want to use it), and it seems like Morey really likes Flynn, judging from the rumors that he's been trying to trade for him since Flynn left middle school.
Maybe the Rockets cut Terrence Williams to get rid of him and his twitter account? As you can tell, I honestly don't know, though I'm leaning towards not using it. The other current players under contract (Jordan Hill, Goran Dragic, Patrick Patterson, Courtney Lee, and Chase Budinger) either contribute enough to warrant keeping them or have small contracts anyway. Small in NBA terms of course.
So, what do you guys think? Should the Rockets use the amnesty clause? If so, on whom? And why?