The Bulls drafted great talent but had an awful losing atmosphere. They had Brand and Artest and Brad Miller who all became all-stars elsewhere. They were on the same Bulls team at the same time. Brand wanted out of the recent dynasty, "players don't win championships, organizations do" environment. Brand went to the Clippers, Artest to Indy, and Miller to Sacto. None of those are better organizations or destinations than Portland... Other than the organization arrogance, the Bulls had issues with poor coaching, and the Cartwright trying to install the Triangle, which takes years and players to buy in. The Blazers first order of business has to be hiring a known GM with good reputation, then a coach with same. Or one guy who's both - like Sloan maybe. Then the cap space will take care of itself. Tho hiring Sloan likely would preclude DWill...
According to ShamSports, here are the salaries or cap holds that we have for this summer: Aldridge 14M Matthews 6.5M Babbitt 1.9M Thomas 1.35M Williams 1.44M Smith 1.37M Batum 5.4M (cap hold) Claver 1.05M (cap hold) Freeland 850K (cap hold) Factoring in our two picks (I estimated #6 & #10, totaling an additional 4.4M, based on the rookie scale), our total salaries/holds entering free agency total about $38.3M, which would give us a best-case scenario of about $20M in cap space. However, Shawne Williams and Jamal Crawford have player options worth 3.1M and 5.2M respectively, so if those are exercised, that could reduce that number significantly, as could the possibility of us exercising Flynn's option, which is worth 4.3M. If all of those occurred, we would be left with only about 7.5M in cap room.
Those two guys are exactly what I am talking about. You've effectively rolled their cap space back a season. With $10M in cap space this summer, you trade for an expiring contract so you meet the minimum payroll and load up for bear the summer after. There are always three team deals possible where the third team is brought in with cap space to absorb a contract. It's possible to get a good player that way.
Kobe: 1,146 games played for the Lakers Dirk: 1,034 games played for the Mavs Dwight: 611 games played for the Magic Lebron: 541 games played for the Cavs, plus the savior of the franchise and from Akron Deron: 62 games played for the Nets. Deron owes NJ nothing. Hell, Lebron didn't owe Cleveland anything. It was the Decision that drove everyone against him.
Everything I've seen and heard indicates that Flynn does not have an option now, and that he will simply be an UFA at year-end. I also have to believe JC will not exercise his option. We do need to buyout S. Williams to preserve that cap space, though (or play him as much as possible so he looks like a stud, declines his option, and signs elsewhere, but that's unlikely). The question I have.... So, we have $20 million in cap space with Batum's hold.... Could we burn that $20 million on FA's, then re-sign Batum at $8 million (i.e. go over the salary cap and his cap hold to re-sign him after buring every last penny of cap space)??
PtldPlatypus, and thank you for posting your list. I just remembered Joel Freeland thanks to you. Wouldn't this be the perfect time to convince the guy to come over? There's lots of open roster space, and with so much uncertainty, every spot will be earned, not just handed out. He would have a chance to come in during all of this turnover, and what he gets is what he's earned, and assuming he earns some PT, he can be a part of the new era and the rebuilding.
and he'll never have an actual no trade clause. cba doesn't include them,outside of one year deals that result in losing bird rights.
Correct on Flynn, Houston declined his option. He's an UFA. As for Williams, here is what last CBA said on buyouts: So my wondering is, if we buy him out for 4 million, it would seem to count 2 and 2, which would reduce his salary amount by a million next season. Then, if he signs elsewhere, it reduces our cap spot by that amount. He is out for the year, so no hope of inflating his value.
It's kinda hard to come up with a solid scenario not knowing what Batum and his agent are going to ask for. Also, some team could pull a Wesley Matthews on us and offer Batum more than he's worth. Another factor are the Euro's. Wendell Maxey thinks they will bring over Freeland and Diebler. Also, the two lotto picks. I think the summer of '13 will be the big FA year for this team. If they are serious about rebuilding I think they will trade LaMarcus and some of the other assets (Wes, Babbitt, Smith) and start from a clean slate.
Thanks, I haven't paid much attention to the CBA this time around, so I wasn't sure where the buyout stuff stodd. But a buyout will save us money, so let's make it happen. Let's face it, with him being out the rest of the year (I didn't realize it - was caught up in the shock that we actually got the pick we did, and that trade really was about GW for the pick and everything else was to match salaries), he will otherwise exercise it.
James Harden. OKC has two max deals, we could make it really hard on them. Possibly forcing them to decide between Harden and Ibaka.
If we don't buyout Shawne, we still could trade him to get the cap space to sign more free agents. Unlikely but possible if it's part of a larger trade. I probably wouldn't buy him out unless we saved $1million+ in cap room.
I do like the idea of making pitches to the big name pipe dream free agents, Deron, Eric Gordon, etc. then if we as expected strike out there roll the cap space over to next season. Lets say Dallas gets Deron, they might be willing to trade away Beuabois and a pick to take on a one year contract if it would let them sign another free agent. Teams are always looking to shed salary in trades and willing to give up picks, just look at the Lakers trading away Fisher for a month of the season and giving up their first round pick to do it. The critical thing is not signing mid-tier free agents for contracts longer then 1 season. We don't want a Ron Mercer. If we need to add some salary to hit the minimum I'd even consider giving Nash a crazy $12million+ one year contract. Vastly overpay a player for one season but maintain that flexability for the following summer.
Given the Hornets' situation, Gordon isn't necessarily a pipedream. I think he'd listen, but there are a few teams with cap room, so there will be some competition. Ron Mercer - there's a name I hadn't heard in a while. What's funny about that name? He'd be our 3rd best player right now. And anyone have an answer to this: The question I have.... So, we have $20 million in cap space with Batum's hold.... Could we burn that $20 million on FA's, then re-sign Batum at $8 million (i.e. go over the salary cap and his cap hold to re-sign him after buring every last penny of cap space)??
Absolutely! In fact, we could do our deals and wait for offers for Batum, have 3 days to match, but Batum could actually hold on his decision as long as he wants. If Batum plays ball, we could use every dime of our cap space, then sign him to 10 mil after everything is said and done.
