Trade & FA 2024-25:

[DallasMaverick]

In today's NBA, trades desperately need guys who make 8-10 mil a year to match salaries. Even if Hardy or Grimes meet expectations I can see teams still be interested in the salary. Plus they are both still very young. 

Pretty low risk vs. reward to me.

The big long-term issue is that, in this modern era, you can’t have non-performing payroll. 

If you’re paying a guy $8-10m, he needs to playing (and contributing) 15-20 minutes per game. And doing it at a significantly higher level than a minimum guy.

Can’t just pay a guy those numbers for insurance purposes. Or on the hope that he might develop someday, or you think you might need a contract that size to trade, someday.