Posted by SupremeCommander:

No. the dollar amount is not the same thing. When you trade players, the salary of Team A must come within 25 percent of Team B. It's a subtle difference, but it is an important distinction.

The $3 million CANNOT be included to offset the accounting of player's salaries. The $3 million gets included if one team assumes a significantly larger amount of money due.

For example, team A trades a player making $10 million for an overpaid player making $12.5 million on Team B. Team A only makes the deal if they get $3 million tossed their way.

Now take this example: Team A wants the player on Team B making $12.5 million, but Team A can only trade a player making $7 million. Even if they include $3 million, this trade cannot happen, because the players' salaries do not come within 25 percent of each other.

Picks can be purchased outright because they are picks; picks aren't salaried players.

It's not likely that some scrub signed to a 10 day contract will be needed to make a trade happen, but his 10 day contract salary (I believe) gets prorated out to a full season and could be used to get a deal to work. Again, not likely, but if the other team needs to take back a scrub for the deal to get done, better to have that scrub be signed to a 10 day contract.

I agree with you that they don't need him to get a second round pick... but who knows. Maybe another team wants one of these guys so it looks like another team isn't just dumping the pick for cash. Much easier sell to another fanbase when a player comes over with cash, as opposed to straight cash