They did use the stretch provision on him, which spreads his cap hit out over two years, but I don't know enough about the stretch provision to know if they needed to waive him that far back to make use of it. If not, then Olshey probably just valued the roster spot over having Varejao...technically they save a tiny amount by waiving him, as the minimum salary that his new team pays is salary that the Blazers don't have to pay. If they had no interest in playing Varejao, they probably figured they might as well waive him.
Aware? Yes. Annoyed at how it's designed? Yes. There's too much time between games at the beginning of the postseason, and not enough time between games in the second round.
I'm still annoyed Minstrel.... very annoyed.... can Dame get a note from his doctor to postpone the game?
OK, found it. Financially, it was a wash. We have to pay Varejao $14 million (balance of this year's salary plus ~$10 million for next year), but can use the stretch provision to spread the final $10 million out over 5 years. So, it's only a $2 million cap hit per year moving forward. That's why we cut him - otherwise his full ~$10 million salary would have counted against our cap space this summer. Now, it's only a $2 million cap hit. The $14 million total is a wash - we were $14 million under the league minimum salary and would have had to pay that anyway. The difference is that $14 million would have been spread out among our current players. So, basically we traded our players bonus checks for a future 1st round draft pick. BNM
If the league could stop the playoffs til Curry was feeling like playing basketball, I'm sure they would. It's out of their hands, though.
I found it while you were posting. The stretch provision lets them spread out his remaining ~$10 million salary over the next five years - so only $2 million per year cap hit. That's why we waived him. That lets Neil preserve MOST of our cap space for this summer + add a future 1st round pick. So, we got an asset and preserved our flexibility. BNM
Didn't Harkless make three or four in a row (counting one in the first half) in game 6 (and not counting the one he made after the whistle)? Is Aminu really a better shooter than Harkless, or does he just take a lot more shots? Harkless has a good looking shot. When he misses, the ball usually rims in and out. Not like the airballs and clanks off the backboard that Aminu throws up in between his makes. Maybe if Harkless shot more he'd get into a better rhythm. Aminu has absolutely no conscience. Kind of the anti-Batum. When Batum missed two, he wouldn't shoot the rest of the game. Aminu just keeps throwing balls at the ceiling until one falls in. I wouldn't have said this at the beginning of the season, or even half way through the season, but right now, and for sure next season, I'd play Harkless before Aminu all day, every day.
They didn't need to waive him immediately to use the stretch provision. They could have waived him in June and accomplished the same goal. We traded for both Roberts and Varejao at the deadline, so we had to waive two players in order to make those deals. The chronology used was waive Frazier, trade for Varejao, waive Varejao, trade for Roberts. I imagine that Neil didn't see any other players on the roster that he'd prefer to waive to make room for the Roberts deal. Kaman is less useful as a player, but he was still mentoring an uninjured Meyers Leonard at that point.
Speaking of not waiving Montero: He continues to look really good in his few minutes of garbage time. His shot is smooth and looks great going in! It would be great if he could provide some size at the backup PG position in the not too distant future.
Speaking of garbage time: I like how our guys play under control in garbage time. Usual you think of garbage time as this helter skelter mish mash of guys running up and down trying to get shots up. I feel like our guys, like Pat for instance, try to run the offense and set each other up. Pat and Montero are good shooters too. I'm glad they didn't get cut for douchebag goon flopping specialist Varajao.
Ah yeah, I mixed it up with the NFL stretch provision, which spreads a cap hit out over two years. Good information, thanks!
I think they saved a lot more than a "tiny amount." Adding his contract pushed them closer to the minimum salary. They only owe Varejao for the time left this season, so basically ~$4.5M in savings on his ~$9m contract. Plus vet minimum from GSW when they signed him. They gained a 1st round pick, no?
No, as I said, it was basically a wash (within a half million either way). In round numbers, POR was responsible for the balance of Varejao's contract this year (~$4 million) and his entire salary next year (~$10 million). So, roughly $14 million. They were also ~$14 million under the league minimum salary. So, they would have gad to pay that anyway. So, pretty much a total wash (plus r minus a fraction of a million). Using the stretch provision lets them divide the remaining ~$10 million owed Varejao over the next five years. That minimizes the cap this coming off season. So, basically, the total dollars are a wash and we exchanged a $2 million cap hit for a 2018 top 10 protected first round draft pick from CLE. BNM
