(09-14-2020, 04:29 PM)StepBackJay Wrote: If you are Detroit and you suck every year why not just take 2 bad contracts and be a good team? You already have Griffin. If I am them and I want to make the playoffs I could get Westbrook probably for nothing and 1 other overpaid player like Wiggins and just see what happens. Make the playoffs at least. If you had Griffin, Westbrook, Wiggins and Rose and they stay healthy you would at least be in the playoffs in the East.
You are continously under wrong impression that wanna be contending teams will just dump bad contracts for nothing. They will not. They want contributers back and they are prepared to pay picks for it. So, if Houston is trading Westbrook, it will be because they are rebuilding (picks and/or young players back) or because they want to get better (better fitting players). Houston of course have a problem, because they have no assets left to trade for really better players. In Philly case, they have about one or two years window to make it happen with Embiid/Simmons. So Horford will only be traded for better fitting player and Philly will happily pay picks to make it happen.
You are also continusly wrong that bad teams will be just dumping decent players on bad salaries (like Wright+Jackson for Bledsoe if he gets traded). They will not do that, unless they receive a pick. They have no motivation to do it. It is better for them to run it one year, increase his stats and decrease how bad contract is with one year less on it. Like OKC did with Paul.
The only exceptions when salary dumps might happen are if someone wants to clear cap space because he wants to sign good players or if someone wants to avoid tax. What we don't know is the effect of Covid economic crisis. Teams are losing money and it may lead to some decisions we haven't seen in the last years. However, no rumors of owners in trouble have been circulated yet. Only one case, where possibility that picks will be sold for cash was mentioned.