(02-11-2022, 01:09 PM)fifteenth Wrote: This is a legit discussion that actually has some history with this forum. It's not a slam dunk that cap space is better than tradeable contracts and staying over the cap while remaking a team. That's an ongoing conversation and teams have rebuilt themselves using both approaches.
The next thing might be harder for you to take. I know most of the forum is dead set against what I'm about to say, but as I tried to listen to folks that know more than us message board folk (usually) yesterday on podcasts and Followill's extra long post game show on the ticket I heard several folks (in the talking basketball business) mention what some have said here, that the two contracts we traded for are actually tradeable and fit into a good salary range for creating trades.
Also, it helps them to have this opinion that these media folks generally don't hate the two players as much as almost everyone here does (seems like here we're stuck on what they are in 2022, in their current situation).
But the main point, though, is that in the trade game in the NBA, contracts the size of the two we just acquired are very useful (I'm getting this from the folks who cover the sport!). And a max contract for "not-max" player is not a contract that's useful in the trade game.
From a salary matching standpoint, mid sized contracts are valuable. They are more valuable if the player is useful and is a shorter term contract. Stick Dinwiddie in this camp even if the partial gaurentee on his last year ($10m) is a bit odd. Bertans is far less useful due to skillset, contract size and years left. But salary filler is only useful if you have other assets to attach to it. Our cupboard is a little bare in that regard:
-Dorian (whenever he is eligible to be traded)
-JB (S&T or same as Dorian if he extends)
-Maxi (useful expiring)
-Powell (expiring)
-Josh Green (I personally don't think he's shown enough to get anyone excited beyond being used for a minor salary match)
-THJ in '23-24 or the final year of his contract.
-'27 FRP (think that's the soonest available until our owed '23 conveys).
-Dinwiddie in '23-24
-Bertans in '24-25
I can kind of understand the thinking behind Dinwiddie and Bertans are more useful pieces to the team on the court and more flexible to be moved because of contract sizes, but that assumes you have valuable assets to attach to them to obtain whoever the trade target is. It also assumes you have a competent front office. We don't have much of the former and we shouldn't have in faith in the latter.
As someone else mentioned, if Dinwiddie was the prize, you probably should have taken the Dragic deal and then done a separate deal for Dinwiddie and tried to pocket the pick. Sorry I forgot who posted that thought.
It really feels like Cuban is misevaluating what he has and is trying to recrate the magic of the 2011 season. This team isn't a move away. We are in one of the more unenviable positions to be given we have a superstar. Good enough to make the playoffs, not near good enough to compete for titles, nowhere near bad enough for the lottery. I'd rank us somewhere around the original Cavs led by LeBron. Problem is that LeBron was better and the East was a whole lot worse.
The plus side to this is the willingness to move off of KP. Luka also seems patient and as expected, isn't asserting himself in the front office decisions yet.