The Case for Acquiring “Bad” Contracts (or, I’m addicted to bulletpoints)
2012-02-26I’m going to advocate for something that will leave some Cavs fans questioning my sanity; trading Jamison and Sessions and taking back “bad” contracts that end in 2013 – 2014 as a return, to some extent for the sake of having the bad contracts. Benefits of owning and trading expiring contracts include:
- When trading these assets, the other team relinquishes a more tangible, “this is going to help us win” related asset, in exchange for taking a “bad” contract off their books.
- Free agency has a pretty poor track record. Unless a team is signing a no brainer max-contract player or signs inexpensive players at solid cost / benefit, a majority of $4 to $12 million annual contracts have been poor value. Trading expirings allows a team to build where they have more control, through trades and the draft.
- Almost all lopsided trades include an expiring, salary balancing contract; Theo Ratliff and Wally Szczerbiak in the Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen trades to the Celtics, Kwame Brown for Paul Gasol to the Lakers, Erick Dampier brought Tyson Chandler to the Mavericks …honestly, this list could be long.
For the Cavs, I think there is almost no downside to taking back deals that expire by 2013 – 2014. Reasons include:
- Kyrie or any other youngsters won’t need extended until after that. There is no reasonable way the Cavs run up against salary cap issues in this timeframe. Cleveland will need to pay someone over the next two years; it’s likely better as a short term commitment through a trade than an overpaid free agent.
- Once the more prohibitive luxury tax kicks in, the NBA could see heavily lopsided trades. Trading for contracts with a couple of years remaining right now has a dual benefit. It gives the Cavs expiring contracts to include in those robberies, and also helps restrict long-term payroll obligations, so they can take on money while staying under the luxury tax themselves.
Finally, other examples of team’s using cap space or trading expiring contracts to their benefit are:
- Dallas built their champion by continually trading expiring contracts to upgrade their roster.
- Oklahoma City used their available cap space to take on Matt Harpring and Mo Petersons contracts. The payoff was that, as a bonus for taking those deals, they acquired Eric Maynor and the 11th pick in the 2010 draft.
On a parting note, I’ll offer a wild trade that requires the Cavs to take on $18 million of salary next year and $12 million through 2013 – 2014.
- Cavs gets Hedo Turkoglu, Luke Walton, first choice of Magic, Lakers or Mavericks (owned by Lakers) 2012 1st round pick, Andrew Goudelock, DeAndre Liggins and Lakers 2017 1st round pick
- Orlando gets Andrew Bynum, Antawn Jamison, Omri Casspi, second choice of Magic, Lakers or Mavericks 2012 1st round picks, Lakers 2013 1st round pick, their own 2014 2nd round pick back from Cleveland, and the Lakers 2015 1st round pick
- LA gets Dwight Howard, Ramon Sessions, third choice of the three 2012 first round selections.
The ESPN trade machine says it works, and it has benefits for all three teams.
For Cleveland
Certainly some Cavs fans are screaming at their computers right now, and I understand that some of you still will be after my explanation. Maybe converts can be won by breaking it down this way:
- Jamison’s expiring contract for Turkoglu and Walton’s near-term expiring contracts. Walton expires next season and Turkoglu in 2013 – 2014. Basically until youngsters start needing extensions, Cleveland has short term filler instead of over-paying a free agent. Ideally Turkoglu’s contract can facilitate grand larceny at the trade deadline in 2014; at a minimum, it can be traded to acquire additional assets. The Cavs keep plenty of salary cap flexibility, with an extension for Gee and 4 eventual first rounders; they have 12 players for $50 million in 2012 – 2013, 9 players for $42 million in 2013 – 2014, and only Varejao & rookie contracts in 2014 – 2015.
- Sessions for a mid-first round pick in 2012.
- Casspi and the 2014 2nd round pick for Goudelock, Liggins & the 2017 Lakers 1st round pick. Basically a known, below average player for a couple of unknown youngsters. Goudelock and Liggins were the 46th and 53rd picks in 2011. The players received combined salaries are lower than Casspi’s, plus the acquisition of a future first round pick. Piling up first round picks from now until forever can’t be a bad thing.
None of the three players that were traded are major parts of the Cavs’ future, this trade won’t result in salary cap concerns, and there are six new assets brought in (includes Walton and Hedo’s expiring deals). This is a trade with little downside that continues building on the Cavs’ future flexibility.
For Orlando
They move a big contract, allowing a match on offers for Ryan Anderson this summer without worrying about the salary cap. In 3 months time, they go from being a franchise severely over the luxury tax, looking at Dwight Howard’s impending departure, to possessing:
- An under-25 front court of Andrew Bynum and Ryan Anderson. One a center fresh off averaging 16 points & 13 rebounds a game; the other a floor stretching, offensive rebounding power forward that lead the NBA in made three pointers.
- Six 1st round picks in the next 4 years.
- A team that’s under the salary cap in 2012 – 2013 and has $15 million worth of expiring contracts after that season.
This seems like the groundwork for a relatively smooth transition out of superstar abandonment.
For LA
The Lakers instantly become serious contenders again, with upgrades at center and point guard while taking on minimal additional salary.
Gordon’s going to get near max money from someone (cough NY cough cough). Hes a great young players but I just don’t know if he’s worth spending our entire free agency on and risk losing out on Antawns and Sessions expiring contracts for nothing if he decided to go elsewhere. Even if we gave Gordon max, I don’t know if he’d come. Hawes does intrigue me. Again though, these promising players may not want to come to cleveland regardless. And to have a chance, just a chance, to get them we would have to basicaly give up – draft picks… Read more »
Gordon’s going to get near max money from someone (cough NY cough cough). Hes a great young players but I just don’t know if he’s worth spending our entire free agency on and risk losing out on Antawns and Sessions expiring contracts for nothing. Even if we gave Gordon max, I don’t know if he’d come. Hawes does intrigue me. Again though, these promising players may not want to come to cleveland regardless, to get them we would have to basicaly give up draft picks (trading expiring contracts for draft picks and cap fillers) and draft position for 2 years,… Read more »
I have to say, its tough being a Cavs fan at college in Virginia, as I really am disconnected from most things Cleveland. That being said, I LOVED reading all these comments and this awesome debate. Kevin, I am now really sold on this idea of possibly acquiring a bad contract, and put ourselves in position to make moves two, three years down the road. At first, I thought you were crazy for suggesting it, but this whole debate has made me see the benefits. Mallory, I would agree with you that we should try to go after maybe one… Read more »
Mallory, I also dont think you want to jump the gun in free agency without knowing who our core is. Impatience in free agency, and the desire to ALWAYS be as good as we possibly could be RIGHT NOW doomed us with lebron. Lets not make the same mistakes, kyrie is not going anywhere for 4 years. He is more likely to sign an extension if we have 2 years as bottom dwelling playoff teams and 1 year of going toe to toe with the best of them and maybe, just maybe winning a ship, than if we have 3… Read more »
Definitely Mayo and Hawes. Actually Hawes could potentially be a sneaky good pickup for the Cavs – he’s a big body who can face up and “jump” shoot pretty nicely. And he’s really young. I like a core of Irving/Hawes/TT/Andy/wing man draft pick X/FA SG X.
Basically I I think it’s time to get our core together – you don’t want Kyrie waiting around too long for some good bodies to play with. We’d still have a little cap left after signing Hawes. I’d be happy with that.
I would add OJ Mayo to that list…Spencer Hawes as well.
Mallory, we will probably make the playoffs next year regardless of what we do in free agency this year, however what I said is we won’t be contenders. Again unless we sign dwight howard, no FA we sign will make us serious threats to miami and OKC or the bulls next year. “At some point, guys, we’re going to have to start building forward and not laterally” Yes, and adding young high potentail talent is building forward. watching overpaid vets walk for nothing, just to overpay OJ Mayo or Wilson Chandler, Both pretty innefficient low potential players while giving up… Read more »
Andrew: I had to laugh when I saw Monta Ellis and Andres Biedrins: one guy no one would take and another guy they’d never trade for Jamison and/or Sessions. Biedrins will end up being an amnesty player, thus denying us a chance to field a center and power forward combo that could fail to shoot 45% from the line, that would be epic. Matt: Free agents who are probably worth over 8 million this year who the Cavs should consider: Nicholas Batum, Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, Gerald Wallace (if he opts out — I doubt the Blazers can… Read more »
I’m not sure there’s a right or wrong here…if you built a highly complex model to predict Cleveland’s chances of winning an NBA championship in 2016, it might be 4% one way and 3.6% the other.
Really the point of this post was to have discussion on trade deadline options as that time nears. Thanks for everyone’s feedback. Hopefully the Cavs choose which ever is the 4% option.
Also, Matt, if you’re not gunning for the playoffs next year you have the complete wrong mentality going forward. There is no reason not to expect to contend for a playoff spot. This year I will concede is very debatable, but (assuming we don’t make the playoffs this year) with 3 top 10-15 overall picks, we do NOT want to continue losing – see Kevin’s article about the cycle of lottery if you don’t believe that.
Matt — At SOME point you have to overspend, unless again, you get lucky and end up with 3 top tier guys (a la OKC) because, as you said, we don’t really have the capability of getting top tier guys to sign with us. At some point, guys, we’re going to have to start building forward and not laterally, meaning putting together the pieces needed to build a real contender.. I have no real problem with trading Jamison for a longer contract (I’m mostly playing Devil’s advocate here, although I do believe in some of what I’ve said) but continuously… Read more »
Seriously Mallory, who is it you think we can get this FA this year that we wouldn’t be able to replace in 2014 with a similar if not better contract? I understand not sitting on cap space just to sit on it, but here we are sitting on it in exchange for draft picks with the knowledge that we will be a hotter destination in 2 years than we are now, and with the knowledge that in two years we’ll know a whole lot more about our core than we do now and will thus be able to make more… Read more »
” if we can get any remotely big FA to sign with us, that’s a total coup.” No, it is not. Not unless that FA happens to play a different position than our best draft picks coming up in the next few years, and he signs a reasonable contract. I don’t know who in the upcoming FA is worth giving max money too outside of Dwight, deron, and maybe eric gordon, and sorry mallory, none of them are coming to cleveland. outside of that, we’ll have to overspend since we currently aren’t contenders, and pay dudes like brandon bass giant… Read more »
Mallory, Technically I think Kyrie’s extension wouldn’t be until the summer of 2015. I could be wrong and that is something I neglected to mention in my post. Debatebly if in 2012 & 2013 the Cavs signed minimal free agents extending beyond 2014, they would only have Varejao’s contract (and it’s a team option) and rookie contracts in the summer of 2014. They could sign two max free agents to pair with Irving and all their accumulated players on rookie contracts, if they were committed to eventually being in the luxury tax once extensions started. I like the flexibility of… Read more »
And just a random point about how awesome Kyrie is, there are 13 gaurds who shoot as many attempts per game as irving does, and only wade and cp3 score more points per shot (he’s tied with rose). btw, points per shot is a much better criteria for judging shot selection than Fta/Fga. the whole point of shooting is to score, so points per shot is the most important metric for deciding if your decisions to shoot were well advised. Rubio’s points per shot? well he doesn’t shoot enough to make the qualifications for the list on espn apparently so… Read more »
Kevin – I think my last post went to spam.
Here’s the thing that worries me most – We know we’re not a premiere free agency location, that much is obviously. Also, we know that we have an owner who is willing to spend WAY beyond the cap limit to win, again, this is a definite. We also know that, if given the chance, we’re going to resign Kyrie for the max (barring an injury or something) We also assume here that Andy is sticking around. With that formula, in 2013 we’ll likely be giving Kyrie a big time extension, meaning we’ll start closing in closer to the cap threshold.… Read more »
Mallory, just curious, what are these FA’s that you so desperately want this offseason that cost more than $8mil/year (which we’d still have to work with in this scenario) and won’t be replaceable interchangeable with whats available in 2014, when our young assets start actually acclimating to the NBA game? I assure you know matter what we do in the next 2 years we are not winning a championship, so unless you dissagree with that what is the harm in waiting to sign a huge free agent until Cleveland is a more attractive destination and we know what our draft… Read more »
Mallory, Why not take the draft picks now and sign the equivalent of Mayo or Chandler in 2014? If the Cavs sign $20 – $25 million worth of free agents this summer to 4 year deals, their team moving forward is pretty much Irving, Thompson, 2012 pick, those free agents and Varejao. Is that good enough? If you sign 1 or 2 year contracts this summer, as noted before, that doesn’t seem to have any benefit over just taking the “bad” contract. With the near term expiring contract, it seems the team’s options are so much more limitless. Extra draft… Read more »
Mallory, Guys who shoot as much as jameson and do so efficiently are all elite free agents, aka guys not coming to cleveland unless we way overpay, or can convince them we are contenders and that sort of thing is important to them. you know, something that will be a lot easier to do in 2014 where our draft picks become somewhat known commodities, Kyrie has made an all star game or 2. But that’s where our differences lie, you think we have a shot at being a contender next year or the year after, I do not. Kyrie, Andy,… Read more »
Also, when teams trade a turkoglu or jamison and get a big return, it’s not that they’re trading that player. They are trading that player’s expiring contract and several young assets in order to get a much better, established player. This was the case in the trades I mentioned in my post. Eventually there’s a team with a disgruntled superstar…the Cavs are sitting there with a huge expiring contract, 5 good young role players, one young star, several draft picks coming up. Basically, Cleveland is able to offer the best package for that disgruntled star, while also keeping a good… Read more »
Kevin – You nailed it – Looking at the 20-30th picks, you have a 50/50 shot of getting someone who will stay in the league. Beyond that, you have a 50/50 shot of getting a top rotation player, and maybe a 20% shot at getting a starter (probably even lower) Considering that, doesn’t it make more sense, if we have the money, to sign a FA who we know can be at least a top tier rotation player, if not more? I feel like a guy like Gordon or Mayo or Chandler is worth more than a bunch of late… Read more »
Mallory, The “taking on a bad contract” plan leaves money to sign 2 or 3 approximately mid-level players over the next 2 off-seasons if the Cavs choose to. It does limit the ability to make a huge free agent signing. If the Cavs let Jamison expire and trade Sessions for a 1st round pick, they will need to sign approximately $20 million worth of free agents this summer in order to get to the minimum level (in addition to Gee at $3-ish million). Maybe there is $20 million worth of free agent gold the Cavs can strike this summer… I’m… Read more »
I do like the idea the article presents in taking on a few bad contracts to avoid overspending on free agents too soon (due to the new CBA pressure on cap space). Over paying now would not necessarily put us at title contention. You’d see the Cavs more of a Hawks/Grizzles type of team with talent but not enough to go all the way. Bad contracts actually would solve this by securing big money to a few people, leaving the team from doing something stupid like making the playoffs too early (and ruining our chances at talented lottery players). My… Read more »
Nupe, “even prior to this season starting, there was talk about who would likely try to pick up Jamison late in the season for their playoff run” That is not the case anymore, and rumors are just that. I haven’t heard an Iota of interest from any contenders about jameson. Bottom line is Jameson is terrible, and the bulls don’t have any cap contracts that make sense for him and even if they did, I’m not so sure Tom Thibadeu would want that defensive liability mucking up his game plans. (especially when boozer is a better option at the same… Read more »
Carter –
You really think players were that turned off by a guy who 1. Is willing to pay plays big bucks 2. Wants a championship badly and 3. has a team with a budding star?
I think not. You’re underestimating how good of a destination Cleveland could potentially become to lower echelon stars and upper echelon role players.
I don’t think anyone here favoring Free-Agency as a way to build will realize how turned-off players were by Gilbert’s letter to LeBron. No matter how good it might have made YOU feel, it set the Cavaliers back for a long time in terms of getting FAs.
The reason we’ve been able to compete so well this year is because Jamison has filled the scorer role. Find a guy who is high volume like him, with a little more efficiency and some decent D, and you’ve got exactly what’s missing. Hopefully this guy is a swing.
Matt, even prior to this season starting, there was talk about who would likely try to pick up Jamison late in the season for their playoff run. The Bulls were mentioned as one of the landing spots because they ‘need’ another scorer as a spot up shooter or could create some offense besides Rose. Last season Boobie/Parker were mentioned in a similar way, but they could not create their own offense, so Jamison is considered a better option and with an expiring contract may be a guy a team (such as the Bulls) would consider. Bottom line, Jamison is still… Read more »
I really think adding a Gordon/Mayo/Wilson Chandler/Danny Granger type is EXACTLY what the Cavs need. Someone who can create with or without the ball in their hands, and who can take a lot of the load off Kyrie. This is why I actually think we’re much closer than people realize. A decent center is needed too, but We have two pretty good high energy D guys (Andy, TT) and a great distributor. Gee is a decent bench compliment, but nothing more. Add some scorers, and we have a pretty good team, especially since there’s some room for growth.
Kevin – While I do understand where you’re coming from on your premise of the trade, I think the key issue here is what extra we get in return. When I say I advocate the signing of short term FA deals, I mean that if we sign someone for slightly above or below the MLE (like the Shannon Brown deal) there’s the possibility that that player can actually become a piece of the puzzle. We know that someone like Hedo isn’t going to be in the remote future of the Cavs, and most late 1st rounders turn out to be… Read more »
i had some ideas like this over on fearthesword. If we trade for a guy like Ben Gordon, he has two years left, is an improvement over Parker and Gibson at the 2, could play with Gee, you could still draft a wing if you wanted to, and it wont cripple our cap situation.
With Thompson and Varejao set to be getting serious minutes over the next couple years, we are really going to need guards and wings that can score. we have one, with Irving, but more help is needed
Matt, You say, “But I would rather do this deal then do nothing with jameson and ramon walking.” You bring up an answer to the question at hand. Without stating it in my post, this is the exact debate I was trying to start. The trade deadline is two weeks away. What is better for the long term future of the Cavs; letting Jamison’s deal expire or getting something, however minimal, for it? I think it’s a legimate question and a legitimate debate given where the Cavs are now. Either way could work out for the best. I chose to… Read more »
Mallory, Regarding being “suprised” by me…floating an idea that caused disagreement / debate was half of the fun. Regarding your comment on the new CBA restricting free agents to 4 year contracts for a new team, are sign-and-trades still legal? What if a player will only come to the Cavs if a sign and trade for 5 years can be worked out? I think that short term, large annual contracts are an idea worth discussing, but what’s’s the real difference between that and trading for an expiring now? My plan has a couple extra first round draft picks. Your plan… Read more »
This has been a great discussion. Kevin, I again state that I understand your premise. There was an article on a blog recently about this same strategy as an option for the Wizards. Maybe it was Grantland. The writer advocated taking back Shawn Marion to save cap space for later years.
I think this is a good back and forth. IDK if you guys comment on twitter as well. Hit me up @keithmokris if you ever want to!
The Nupe, no one looks at Jamison as a Final part of a champioship squad either. He’s an average rebounder, innefficient scorer with probably the worst shot selection in the league, and a terrible defender. The only thing he does well is create offense for himself, inefficiently. Its an asset the cavs value because they only have one other player capable of doing so, but any contender is not going to value that asset as you don’t become contenders without players that can create efficient shots. If jameson gets moved, it will be for cap relief, not anything to do… Read more »
Dan Gilbert needs to peek at this one. For those who disagree with this, think about the two different scenarios for a second: 2012 Cavs lock up Eric Gordon and Brook Lopez to add to the core of Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Alonzo Gee, Boobie Gibson, Anderson Varejao, and a 2012 Lottery pick. Minimal Luxury space left, considering a Kyrie extension. 2014 Cavs lock up DeMarcus Cousins and Evan Turner (Just filler names. Just consider players of equalish value to Gordon and Lopez. Perhaps Harden in 2013?) to add to the core of Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Alonzo Gee, Boobie… Read more »
It’s hard to accept the idea that taking on a bad contract can be a good thing, but I get the basic premise. We will have enough flexibility as long as we don’t want to make an ‘aggressive’ push for a FA prior to Hedu’s contract expiring. I’m not sure who the ‘major’ FA’s are goiong to be in the summer of 2013, and I highly doubt we’ll want to make a splash at that time for the $10 millionish of cap space, but, I’d rather have that as an option than not – if possible. Just in general, I… Read more »
I think the whole premise of this article that I am on board with is: replacing the need to overpay a FA now (when we are not contenders and the crop of Cavs needs @ FA is not that sweet) just to meet the minimum salary cap requirements of 85 and 90% VERSUS having patience and adding salary cap filler while we are still rebuilding. It basically puts our ability to spend for a FA in line with when our current core (Kyrie, TT, Gee) will be ready to take it to the next level, while still preserving the ability… Read more »
Basically think the sort of contract Shannon Brown signed – it’s short, and worth like 3.5 mil. It’s a cap filler and he could end up being worth something.
I think the one big sticking point that isn’t being discussed (beyond what Marcus said above) is that the new CBA prevents any Larry Hughes-type contracts. If the worst you can do is four years, it makes WAY more sense for the Cavs to look to sign someone this summer who is young and could have potential value rather than sign Jamison 2.0. I’m actually rather surprised with you, Kevin. Basically, a late first rounder is an unknown entity and Hedo is worth almost nothing in the future (even as an expiring contract) Really the only reason I’d ever see… Read more »
“your trade is only great for the Cavs. If the Lakers part with Bynum and Gasol for Howard and Jamison, did they get any better? Is 32 year old Pau Gasol for 2 more years and $40 million a better fit for Orlando than 24 year old Ryan Anderson at less than half the cost??” Yes it is better, because if DH walks, then they only have Ryan Anderson, and if he stayk, they can’t afford to keep Anderson unless they find someone to take Turk. I guess I don’t see the point of taking on 12 million in salary… Read more »
I agree with kevin that this could be a good move. It prevents us from signing another larry hughes or locking into expensive FA’s before we know what we have with our young peices (TT, Gee to an extent) and future draft pieces. We will not be contending next year or the year after that, but if we add as many first round picks in the upcoming 2 drafts as possible, and then have money to sign the perfect FA who actually fits with TT, Irving, Gee, Verajoa, and 3-4-5 1st round picks, or use expirings to get a steal… Read more »
Whatever you do, hold on to Kyrie Irving. Here is an alternative statistical analysis to the question that TrueHoop raised over the weekend, “More special player: Irving or Rubio/”
http://hoopstats101.blogspot.com/
Again, looking good for Cavs fans — though not looking too bad for Minnesota, either.
The other difference between the Hughes contract and Hedo’s contract is the Cavs’ cap situation. Between Lebron, Hughes, Marshall, Jones, Ilgauskas, Gooden, Varejao, etc…the Cavs were well over the salary cap and basically locked into a core. The Cavs are way below the salary cap right now. Even with the “bad” contract, the ability is maintained to sign free agents if they see a good value. It may be a little early in the rebuilding process to lock into a core right now. Why not make another couple years worth of draft picks, try out some cheap agents, then see… Read more »
Keith,
I think you’re overlooking an aspect of the Larry Hughes situation that actually builds on my argument.
The Cavs got themselves in trouble by signing Hughes, Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones as overpaid free agents. Moving Hughes was hard because he had several years and tens of millions of dollars left on his contract. Turkoglu should be easier to move, as he’ll be an expiring contract soon.
No one has mentioned this yet…we amnestied Baron Davis for a reason. We DIDNT do it to just get space to fill with a contract like Hedo! Grant wants to go after better pieces.
Kevin, I’m glad to comment back and forth on this one. Obviously, different GM’s take different stances…we’re just looking at it different ways. Certainly, the Cavs are going to need to spend $$ this summer. They’re forced to under the new CBA. I see that you mean Hedo would basically be a player / cap hold saving us space for the future. In my mind, I want to chase young guys that help our core this summer. I’d rather overpay Spencer Hawes / Ryan Anderson / Nicolas Batum / OJ Mayo. We’re a small market team, the draft is the… Read more »
Keith,
Also thanks for the comments. The comments section is always a little less boring when there’s a debate.
HoopsDogg and Keith, Certainly part of my argument is that Hedo’s contract has value, beyond his actual playing ability. Expiring contracts are flexibility, again after one full season, his is expiring. Part of what the trade above buys is that flexibility. If the Cavs sign 3 free agents for 4 years at a total $30 million per year, the team’s flexibility is reduced. They’ve pretty much declared, “this is our core”. Acquiring near term expiring contracts maintains cap flexibility for several more years, plus the Cavs get a couple of additional first round picks to boot. Rookie contracts are the… Read more »
What is the deal with Ryan Hollins? For sure will be gone next year? what is the Cavs’ game plan at Center for the years to come? Bring on the next Z already.
Expirings in 2013-2014 will be valuable, because teams over the cap, or projected to be over the cap will be desperate to shed salary. That is the season the lower luxury tax, and punitive tax penalties kick in. But having cap space might be even more valuable for that same reason. Instead of a trade for mediocre players like Hedu, I say we use our cap space this summer to bid up major young restricted free agents. Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon, Nicholas Batum, Brook Lopez, Omer Asik, Brandon Rush (leading the league in 3pt%): All guys we have a decent… Read more »
If we are going to help facilitate a trade and take on a contract like Hedu’s, I say we do it for nothing less than a very promising young player like Ryan Anderson (who Orlando will be loathe to trade – but can’t afford to sign). A trade like this makes a lot of sense for all three teams.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7k288c9
Basically, Orlando gets Sessions, Gasol, and Bynum. We Get Ryan Anderson and Hedu. The Lakers get Jameer Nelson, Jamison, and DH. The Sessions destination and the Nelson destination as well as draft picks can all get worked out.
Kevin, I understand that Hedo isn’t hurting anything or taking up MAJOR space…but his contract inhibits flexibility. When I say “perfect piece” I am referring to guys who completely fit our gameplan. Youth core. Veterans who want to win. Hedo is overpaid…had his chance…doesn’t seem like he’s going to turn it around. He’s not worth taking on for a low first rounder or roll of the dice young player. Would I take on a guy like Hedo for a top 5 pick? Without hesitation. However, if I am going to absorb cap space, it has to be really worth it.… Read more »
Keith, I’ll argue that it’s too early to be looking for the “perfect piece”. There are still too many openings to be filled. The proposal above doesn’t really hurt the Cavs’ flexibility. They would still have $10 million-ish to sign free agents this summer and up to $18 million by summer of 2013. By the summer after that, Hedo’s contract is gone. Please explain a scenario where the Hedo contract is a “future killer”. I don’t think Sessions is worth keeping on the roster. Kyrie and Sessions shouldn’t share the backcourt. A $4 million per year backup point guard is… Read more »
Kevin, I would definitely be willing to shop Jamison at the deadline for a longer term contract. Hoever, it’s got to be the perfect piece for our team in the right deal. With the new CBA, flexibility is everything. Being the tax and having an albatross of a contract really hurts you. Guys like Hedo, SJax, even now Gasol…their contracts are WAY above their value. That’s a future killer. We know Kyrie has locked up the point. If Sessions opts out, then we have Boobie as a backup. If Sessions stays, we waive Boobie since his contract is non-guaranteed. I… Read more »
Kevin, I’d rather see the Cavs wait for Jamison’s contract to expire and make an above-market offer to O.J. Mayo. It would probably be expensive, since he figures to have many suitors, but the Cavs would be acquiring a known-quantity at the team’s weakest position. Although not the best defender, he can score from anywhere on the court and all indications out of Memphis are that his attitude is no longer a problem.
IMHO it’s not the ideal move, but it’s way better than allowing Sessions to walk and anything for Jamison is a boon.
I agree with what you’re saying about signing FAs versus trading assets: it is far better to let the “market” give a player value, because there are always undervalued assets and desperate teams
Marcus, Chicago, LA, OKC, Atlanta, New York and Miami are all teams that will need to make luxury tax related decisions by 2014. That’s before two more summers of free agency. Maybe NBA teams have gotten smarter and will suddenly stop running into luxury tax problems. You raise a good point about amnestying, but these teams may search out trade options first, in order to get some return on their investment. Also Walton would only be paid for one more year and Turkoglu for two. I don’t consider either of those timeframes as several years. Marcus and Keith, If you… Read more »
I tend to agree with Keith. Large expiring contracts won’t hold as much value as you think they do in 2-3 years. By then much of the league will already be on shortened contracts because of the new CBA, reducing the amount of bad contracts compared to now. Many teams also still have their amnesty clause to free up cap space from bad contracts. It’s simply not worth it for Gilbert to pay Hedo/Walton for several years in hopes that their expirings will yield some lopsided trades in the future.
One of the worst articles to ever appear on the blog. There is certainly merit in taking back a bad contract (Baron Davis) with an asset (unprotected first). This is just extremely horrible.
I normally find myself in disagreement w/you but this idea I am completely on board with. Nice work
you might think that people won’t like this but I actually like this deal. and I completely agree about the expiring contracts.
first: your explanation makes total sense to me. if anyone is angry they should consider your earlier posts for foundation on your position.
second: i like the idea of moving assets for 50-75 cents on the dollar rather than 0.
third: i prefer the leverage with picks as assets rather than “lets hope this FA signing is beneficial”