Domejandro wrote:Klomp wrote:winforlose wrote:
Those of us who were on the dump WMJ train realized that going into the tax this year might shorten the window by 1 year. Had we dumped WMJ then we could sign anyone and still pay Mike’s bonus without going into the tax. It was a blunder. But I agree that winning a title this year is far more important than extending the window.
If we win a title this year, extending our window to win a title kinda becomes moot, no?
If anything, that is more reason why it is stupid to enter the Repeater Tax for no reason a year early on a Championship caliber team. Why push forward the financial window like that?
It was just exceptionally poor cap management by Tim Connelly that I (frankly) will never understand.
While I championed the idea of trading WMJ into cap space, in Connelly’s defense, that is not a common move by a GM. GM’s wear a bunch of different caps, and he clearly has been excellent in his career in the organization’s top down direction and he’s fantastic at talent evaluation and projection in the draft and in trades. He has a background scouting. But those skills don’t always mean a GM is perfect at cap management.
Also, while a WMJ trade would have been a good move from my vantage point, I’m just a guy that reads the internet. There can be many reasons we don’t hear about that would make it more reasonable to keep WMJ.
For example, (and this is all fiction), suppose Connelly went to Taylor, Lore and ARod and said he wants to fire WMJ to dodge the chance that they
might face lux taxes and the repeater down the road. Maybe they say they’ve met him and like the kid, and if they don’t fire him and MIN makes the NBA Finals, they’ll be making much more money and they won’t care about lux taxes this year or down the road. Personally I would hope a GM has full autonomy, but these teams belong in to the owners, and all owners meddle to one degree (Mark Cuban, James Dolan) or another (Harris/Blitzer hands off through PHI’s process).
Or maybe he couldn’t find a trade partner with cap space or a TPE that would take WMJ on for a reasonable price?
I’m not saying this move shouldn’t have been made. In fact, Connelly has made me very happy making almost every move I’ve liked (and doing better negotiating than I expect, with cheaper contracts or added assets in trades)! I’m just saying that I don’t necessarily have all the facts that would lead into the decision. I just hope this doesn’t come back to bite us in the ass.
