Posted by Bonn1997:
are there zero positives trying to get into cap manageability any time within the next 3 years?
Well, I've never been convinced of any. But you can list some advantages and I'll give my opinion of them. Maybe you have some advantages that I've never thought of before.
we have 9 players making $5 mil or more. the only (current) players making less than that are sweetney, sundov, ariza, and butler. if we want to trade for a player on a rookie contract, for example, one of those guys has to go, and we don't particularly want to lose any of them (except sundov, who has only marginally above zero value). or, we take back more crappy contracts so that we can move one of our expiring-in-a-few-seasons deals. that's one downside to having our roster full of players making more than the MLE.
cap manageability does not mean getting under the cap. it means not paying 2/3 of our players at a level that no one else wants them, having contracts of all sizes so we can put packages together for players besides the overpriced vets we have been picking up. it's NY, we can pay an extra max contract or two. but we should also be able to attract talent in proportion to what they're making moneywise.
if...
penny were making $3 mil instead of $14
TT were making $7 mil instead of $13
mo taylor were making $5 mil instead of $9
JYD and rose were signed to shorter contracts
and houston (assuming he never plays again), shandon, and amaechi disappeared from that picture,
we would have a team with a high but decent salary number, full of tradeable assets. we can get the talents of all those guys i just mentioned for the around the money i cited, or for rookie contracts, MLE/LLE, or even vet's minimum or young FA's (think butler, dermarr johnson).
so, instead of trading them as expiring contracts for guys with longer deals and only marginal talent upgrades, what if we let them expire and resigned them at the money I mentioned, or, more likely, signed or drafted comparable replacements at market value? all of a sudden, our talented but unbalanced roster becomes movable for quality players who contribute to our needs and our identity. lowering our payroll is not an end to itself, but a means of creating a flexible, balanced roster. peace.
[Edited by - Masterplan on 03/07/2005 19:36:10]