Post#10 » by count55 » Sun Feb 22, 2009 3:41 am
Cap flexibility really refers to the ability to make decisions, signings, and trades, but remain under the luxury tax threshold, which is a de facto hard cap for the Pacers and many other franchises.
The Pacers have $58mm in contracts for next year, but that is only for 9 players. The Tax threshold is projected at about $69.4mm, so we only have about $11mm to add 6 players to our roster. It will drop to around $9mm after we sign our 1st round pick. It is this money that they are talking about.
Essentially, trading away the expiring contracts would have used that buffer. They are saying they would have done it if it had made long term sense.
Take the Chandler rumors. Had we traded a package exclusively made up of expirings (Rasho, Daniels, etc), that would have added over $12mm to our salary next year, but we still would have only had 10 players or so. Therefore, we would be over the luxury tax for each of the next two years, but would have only added Tyson Chandler.
Does anybody think adding Tyson Chandler to this team will make us champions?
It would have been a crushing financial move, and I think it would have likely precipitated the end of the Simons ownership of the Pacers, and probably the Pacers in Indiana.
This is why the Pacers were almost certainly including one of their longer contracts (Foster, Tinsley, Dunleavy) in the offer, while New Orleans was insisting on all expirings.
Two summers ago, the Pacers were forced to sign Stephen Graham, Andre Owens, Kareem Rush, and Travis Diener to fill out their roster and still eke in below the threshold. They are trying to avoid having to make a quarter or more of their roster be minimum level players. They are hoping to keep open the option to re-sign Jack or to spend all or part of the MLE on a free agent.
Also, they're trying to keep the franchise financially viable during horrible economic times and a period of declining revenue for the team. Most of the moves available to them would have brought only marginal to moderate improvement on the court, but added millions of dollars of cost.
The reason that they're open to draft picks is because they are the cheapest way to add talent. The Pacers have four players on rookie contracts: Danny Granger, Jarrett Jack, Brandon Rush, and Roy Hibbert. Combined, they will make about $7.6mm this season, or, put another way, those four players will make $0.4mm less than TJ Ford, $0.8 less than Rasho, $1.4mm less than Junior, and $2.5mm less than T-Murda.
While the Pacers still have a very long way to go, what Bird and Morway have done since last summer is very, very impressive. In the JO deal alone, they reduced next season's salaries by $13mm, which gave them the money to sign Danny to an extension. They also added Roy Hibbert.
Yes, it is frustrating that there was no tangible movement at the deadline. However, looking at the players available, and netting the improvements they may have brought against the financial burdens and restrictions they were certain to bring, the Pacers FO handled the trade deadline very well. It is regrettable that they could not have dumped Tinsley, but that is a herculean task in an of itself.
I have no idea what you're talking about, and clearly, neither do you.
