Well that's kind of my point. It would take at least two miracle moves to contend this year or next year with GS. That isn't realistic whether our payroll was last in the league or the highest in the league. The moves of the summer of 2016 wouldn't have changed GS adding the 2nd best player in the league to a 73 win team. They have to have several things happen. They need Collins to be the guy they hoped to get when trading up. They need Nurkic to be the Bosnian Beast. They need a trade or two that either nets them a star (unlikely probably) or a trade that is similar to the Nurkic deal last year in which they pick up a player that is unwanted or not used properly elsewhere and turns out to be a nice fit on our team. Of course if they hit a home run on a non-lottery draft pick (Kawhi, Greek Freak, Gobert, Butler) that would really, really boost their chances.
Noted. My bad. Point still remains. It would still be completely within the realm of possibilities to see him request a deal out before that last year if we still haven't taken the leap. And those contracts we signed in 16 are a massive hurdle to overcome. You, yourself mention the need for a miracle or multiple instances of good fortune to move up. we would be in a far better place now if we had more flexibility in place of these assets.
Hoops here is the thing i am thinking about our payroll that might help a little bit. Last year the actual cap level went down instead of going up as predicted. This year i expect there to be a much bigger jump in the cap level. That could help out a bit if that happens. Of course not a lot but some relief could be on the horizon. There is now way IMO that cap level stays the same or drops again. Just doesn't seem likely to me.
Would we though? Please explain to me how their would be so much more flexibility right now? The Blazers have the highest Trade Exception in the league right now so they could easily improve the team if they were willing to spend the money. They never used the tax-payer MLE this year so they could still use that to sign someone on the buyout market.
Houston was a treadmill team until they got CP3. If he stays healthy, they're elite. If he doesn't, they're back among the pack. Things change from season to season. Klay Thompson and Durant both have just one year left on their contracts after this season. Who knows what happens then.
Yeah, the NBA seems to be thriving right now. We'll see what the Blazers plans are by Thursday if they keep the RFA's or not. This is what I think the plan was going into this season: Stay around the luxury tax line and see how this team performs. If they played like they did towards the end of last season or they have an opportunity to add some real difference making talent then use the Trade Exception and not really worry about the tax. If they struggled or were treading water then just duck the tax bill and focus on after the season ends to really make some big moves. At the draft and during the first couple weeks of free agency teams might be giving players away because there isn't a lot of cap room to sign all these stars that are going to be available. It seems like a waste of a year but why not save a little money this year and re-invest it by going all in this summer?
That's how the Warriors won two championships. 2015- beat Cavs without Kyrie or Love. Dellevedova was Cleveland's second best player and Golden State actually lost twice. 2017- beat Spurs without Kawhi Leonard If those teams are healthy, I don't think GS wins either year. Twice! Something GS has failed to do thus far.
I kind of think Neil Olshey as well as most every GM went on predictions. The cap was supposed to go up 7-10 million this year. That didn't happen. If it did? They are not having this same conversation because getting under the tax threshold is not a problem. I agree they are simply going to make a small move to just bump down below the tax area. Makes total sense if they can. Then make more moves this summer.
Yes. Not only because of opportunity cost, but because the three players that we are overpaying are unquestioned negatives on the floor, and the highest paid one makes both of our stars worse. I can't tell if you're being facetious with this question. First of all, we would be a better team as Turner would not be playing. But we would actually have some capspace if we did not have Turner/Moe/Leonard on the roster. And not to mention the dead money we are carrying with the Nicholson/Ezeli contracts (and Varejao). This is such an inefficient use of $. Again generated because PA/Neil overpaid for mediocrity. Let's not forget that PA is paying Nicholson nearly $3mil for seven years just to get rid of Crabbe. Highly doubt PA would approve using that TPE for anything more than the $ savings given Neil's lack of proper judgement when it comes to evaluating talent. Like whom? Not to be too pedantic again, but our only chance of moving up in the next two/three years is to find some gem to land in our laps like Nurk did. We also shouldn't forget how Neil himself was toting the pick he gained in that deal moreso than he did Nurk. Really losing faith in his ability to build a team.
They went to the WCF in 2015 (after winning 56 games), won 55 games last year before flaming out against the SAS buzzsaw. And they have a bonafide MVP candidate. Besides the fact that they still had the pieces needed to make a deal for CP in the first place, which we clearly do not. Not seeing what you are.
It's kind of ridiculous how many people still haven't accepted how badly the summer of 16 fucked this team.
If we do absolutely nothing, the terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad contracts come off the books in 2 years. I don't think dame is going to be washed up at 30...
While I completely agree the Turner signing is bad both on the court and off the court, you still didn't really explain how flexibility would be different. I'm fully aware of how the TPE was generated but that doesn't change the fact that having it is flexible. If they were right at the cap number then they wouldn't be able to sign anyone either. No matter how far over the cap they are now, they still have the flexibility of bringing in $13 million or less for nothing. I'm not arguing about the on court play or if they will use it but it's not debatable that having no cap space and no trade exception is less flexible than having no cap space and a TPE.
I feel like I'm beating a dead horse in here today. The concept of opportunity cost clearly isn't gaining any traction. Having nothing on the roster with a bit of capspace is better than having three immovable deals for which we would need to give up assets to get rid of. We have nearly 120 mil tied up in contracts for players who will give us nothing for three years. It would be have been close to 200 mil if we didn't find the AC trade dump. Even Houston got fucked to an extent with the Gordon and Anderson deals, but Gordon has surprisingly remained healthy and is putting up numbers. Anderson is trash. But the rest of their roster was flexible enough and comprised of the right contracts to get a guy like CP. Most teams have one or two bad deals like this. We have three. In this market where players don't consider POR a destination to force trades to, these mistakes are so much more magnified.
So we are going to just waste 2 years of Dame's career being hamstrung by bad contracts? Are you sure he's okay with that? Because if we plan to let prior mistakes stop us from making groundbreaking moves, I can guarantee you he will look at other career options. He got his teammates paid but it's not up to him if they bog the cap down.
I’m so sick of defending Neil... seriously, the fact the he won’t even entertain offers for CJ... and now Collins is untouchable too. This team is dead last in assists because we have two guards that play iso ball in our starting lineup.. he has had years to evaluate and see that it doesn’t work and wants to keep rolling with it. Neil has been saying “next year” for 5 years now... this guy has no balls and will never pull trigger on a big deal... so disappointing
Re-live the horror: http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/evan-turner-becomes-a-blazer.302179/ Can't believe that sticker shock. Even I was trying to rationalize that in the end. smh.
