http://hoopshype.com/salaries/portland.htm After reviewing the salaries for this summer (almost guaranteed that Crawford opts out of his contract); I think we can follow these steps and get all the pieces need. Currenty, we will be at 41.2 mil (including Crawford, Hickson's 4 mil cap hold and the Batum 5 mil cap hold). So if Crawford "opts out" of his contract; then we would be around 36.2 mil. The salary cap is around 58-60 mil. We still have potentially two lottery picks that could be collective of 6 mil. That leaves us with 42 mil. That is 16-18 mil free. So here is the steps: 1.) Offer D Will 16 mil per for 4 years (Basically Max) 2.) Sign Flynn for 2-3 mil per for 3 years, with year 3 being "player option" 3.) Match any reasonable offers for Batum (7-9 mil) and Hickson (5-6 mil per) 4.) Use the vet min to give Pryzbilla a 1.7 mil contract. We keep the team in tact and have D Will. YAY!
I think the max is 14.5 per year... I could be wrong. I'm just wondering if we shouldn't throw our money at Eric Gordon and draft someone like Kendall Marshall. Gordon is a RFA but I'm thinking there's a chance the league wouldn't match if we did a front loaded contract like we did with Wes Matthews. Either way, I think this team would be very good. I'm not really sure what Deron is going to do, and I would love to see him here, but in case he interested we should definitely consider drafting Marshall, re-signing Flynn,a and going after Gordon. Flynn/Marshall Gordon/Matthews/Williams Batum/Babbitt Aldridge/Smith? Hickson/Drummond?
Well if our line-up consisted of what you suggest, then I would be ecstatic with our moves. Drummond and Marshal? Not bad first rounders, IMO. Matthews is actually a damn good reserve. I actually like him better coming off the bench. I worry about E Will though, since he can't really play PG and with your set up, he's pretty much buried on the bench. If we got Gordon, then I would try and package E Will and Nolan Smith for a decent PG. I don't think Flynn is ready to start yet, IMO.
Well, the thought would be to play Flynn until Marshall was ready to start. He would be the PGoTF. I'd definitely think about packaging one of our guards though. Maybe get another true small forward or a backup four.
I think Drummond would eventually be the Center, so moving Hickson to back up PF/C will still give him a solid 25-30 minutes a game. I doubt he would be pissed about that. I like the Hickson, Aldridge and Drummond front court trio. Very solid! Also, we could just bring in Craig Smith and possibly Pryzbilla for insurance. I was looking at Marshall and I think he would need at least 3-4 years before being effective. But hey, who knows man, sometimes players can contribute right out of the gate like Rondo did in Boston.
We can't sign Deron if both Batum and Hickson are RFA's, because of their capholds. We can most likely keep one.
Hickson's cap hold should be more than Batums. He was picked ahead of Batum. But regardless, we also have the international player's cap holds. And we don't have bird rights on Flynn, so that money is coming out of the cap. Plus, like someone said, a max contract for DWill starts at 17 million. I don't think we can tender a max offer without letting go of some of our players.
the easiest thing to do would be sign/trade for small assets NJ might want and a big exception, similar to the lebron cavs/heat deal. might have to give up babbitt + 2nd round picks or something similar to make it work.
The trouble with all of this D-Will talk is that we don't really know if he's even considering Portland ... I mean, it's a helluva nice thought, but I get the feeling there's going to be some pretty disappointed folks when the bubble bursts and Williams picks Dallas (or wherever) -- There are a ton of teams with cap-room this summer.
just speculating about the cap implications if he does consider us. i personally would be fine either way. i'd love to have him, but at the same time giving up any future cap flexibility for one FA is always a big gamble, both on chemistry working out and on his long-term health.
