Yup - it's Neil's job to get Parsons/Howard to understand that: (a) There is no meaningful difference between making $80M and $90M, and (b) They will personally benefit from taking less so that the team can be stronger/deeper. They will be fresher for the Playoffs if they take less money, allowing us to retain our RFAs. Both Howard and Parsons have injury issues, so it should be worth $10M to them to have capable back-ups so they don't have to over-exert themselves during a grueling 82-game season. They'll at least make a portion of that $10M back due to deeper Playoff runs, and hopefully a Championship or four.
So what would Parsons' contract be if Dwight were to get even say $22M from Portland? They both might have to take a million or two less to play together in what would be a VERY interesting off-season.
Who knows if Pau would come but if Portland were to be able to get both Parsons AND Howard, I think you would see at least the possibility of players coming here on a vet minimum or mid-level exception that we wouldn't have thought possible before.
If we need to dump salary to make room then it would seem to make more sense to dump both Aminu and Davis and re-sign our RFAs. We still need a bench, and those cap holds are much smaller than Aminu/Davis salaries. Get Howard/Parsons to take a little less and we should be able to keep at least 2 of our 3 RFAs, if not all 3.
If we manage to get CP, Howard, and Pau... that's the biggest offseason period (2006 was really special at the time).
Whether Portland has ANY shot at Dwight will be decided in the next hour as Parsons is 30 minutes into his meeting with Memphis.
No, actually, they're not. Harkless' cap hold is roughly equal to Davis' salary, and Leonard's is roughly equal to Aminu's. Unless you think the RFA guys are significantly more valuable long term than the guaranteed guys (since they will be paid significantly more), you renounce the RFA's.
EXACTLY! Pitch to them (which IS ACTUALLY the truth) ^. IF they actually want to win & prolong their careers/not have miserable seasons/cut down on injuries, aches & pains... both of u take less $ so that we can put u together AND so that we can surround you w/ good players; also say to them: "you've both played for teams where you've not really liked some of your teammates, how much is it worth to you to play w/ those that you ACTUALLY respect & like?" ^ my sea change, we're @ a pt. now that we gotta make some noise & this seems to b 1 of the last ways to do it; IF this doesn't work... on to plan c BUT for now...
Really? Huh - I figured cap holds were in the $2-3M area. And if I recollect Aminu/Davis are both around $7-8M. I didn't realize cap holds were that high. Still, I would rather dump Aminu/Davis and keep our RFAs. Crabbe, Harkless, and even Meyers all still have serious potential for improvement, while Aminu and Davis are what they are. If we dump Aminu/Davis in order to land Parsons/Howard while retaining the RFAs that's a HUGE improvement over last season. It's essentially as if we traded Aminu for Parsons and Davis for Howard.
