Easier to read link is in the tweet but here it is again as well: https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/4rg0o2/transcript_of_an_amazing_brian_windhorst_story/
The one thing this podcast doesn't go over is the Thunder would have only had 1 year of tax even if they kept Harden provided they would have just amnestied Kendrick Perkins (like everyone in the world thought they should have done).
The next CBA negotiation is going to be interesting, teams have been going on ridiculous spending sprees.
If Durant opts out after 1 season they can't go over the cap to keep him. Curry is also a Free Agent next summer. Durant will qualify for about $39 max, but with no bird rights at all. Curry will qualify for about $35 max but with full bird rights. They currently are committed to Thompson and Green for around $33 combined next summer. They can re-sign Kevin and Steph and have 4mil in space to sign one more guy.
I wonder if owners spent this summer (and probably will next summer too) assuming they'll be able to negotiate another round of amnesty exceptions. So they're taking gambles with money that will end up being non-guaranteed.
The non-Bird exception allows them to pay him 120% of his prior year salary. Wouldn't be the full 10-year max, but it'd be more than his current deal would have him make in 2017. http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q25
It's expected that he'll opt out next year and get the full max deal that he's entitled to. The Warriors will have cap space to sign him to it, but (like this off-season) they'll have little money left to fill out their roster. Of course, this year, they're getting ring-chasers on bargains, like Pachulia and West, so it'll be interesting to see if they get more such players next year.
