MWP - 2013/14 PO, playing around with the LT bill

[Dr Aki]

what are you guys on about? the math is there for everyone to see!

either you guys simply didn't want to do the math, or you guys are digging your heads into the sand and refusing to see how much money is being outlaid simply to have a situational player

i'm gonna do the math for you guys (numbers ain't exact because i'm not doing math further than 3 decimal digits)

metta world peace 2013/14 salary = 7.7 mil
steve blake salary = 4.0 mil
duhon = 3.9 mil (1.5 mil guaranteed)

est. lakers 2013/14 payroll (inc. dwight's new contract at 20.5m, meeks 1.6m TO, 5-8 more players to fill out roster at ~5.5-6.5mm total) = ~107m

(i had forgotten about having to fill out the roster with minimum salary guys, that adds more money on top of the payroll, makes our tax situation worse)

est. 2013/14 LT threshold = 70.3m

~107m -70.3m = 36.7m

lakers pay:
0-5m x $1.5 = 7.5 m
5-10m x $1.75 = 8.75 m
10-15m x $2.5 = 12.5 m
15-20m x $3.25 = 16.25 m
20-25m x $3.75 = 18.75 m
25-30m x $4.25 = 21.25 m
30-35m x $4.75 = 23.75 m
35-36.7m x $5.25 = 8.925 m

total = 116.675 m tax bill, on top of the 107 m payroll we are paying = ~$224 million dollars

bare minimum moves the lakers will make:
amnesty MWP, pay him 7.7m, wipe 7.7m off LT calcs.
waive duhon, pay him 1.5m, save 2.4m off LT calcs.

10.1 m saved means the lakers will wipe:
1.7m x $5.25 = $8.925m
5m x $4.75 = $23.75m
3.4m x $4.25 = $14.45m

total = $47.125 m saved

if we convince MWP to waive his PO and sign a longer extension for less money (see OP post), lakers wipe 10.6 m off their payroll, save a further 2.125 m. total savings = $49.25 m.

(for those interested in where the 22m savings come from... 4.2m/10.6m = ~40%, 40% x 49.25m = ~20m)

at least this way, we keep MWP around, and we're amnestying blake instead. this was one of the reasons why i made this thread. i like MWP, i like what he brings, but you guys won't see that despite me saying so on multiple occasions, thats why i want him to opt out and sign for less.

so quit straw-manning my argument. i want MWP to hang around

this ain't just a game, this is a business. i don't always want to be a party pooper, but the numbers don't lie.

it seems like i always have to provide balance to the discussions on this board. i'm not making this sh*t up

[DEEP3CL]

Aki you know you're my dawg....got mad respect for the knowledge you have on the finances and all that. Let me make it clear I fully understand the financial ramifications we face and the business side of the NBA also. I also know you understand the impact of what MWP brings, but you know this could've been done last season if they were so strung on doing it. Trust me dawg if Doc Buss thought we'd run into a major financial glut and faced losses behind it, MWP would've been cut out quicker than you can wipe a baby's butt.

We know you're not making this sh*t up just to be spitting it, but at the same time as a fan I just stay in what I know will happen on that hardwood. And for the moment Metta is staying put. My only question is why is it that Metta has to be the target of your argument ?

Let me keep it real......when Kobe said last season that Metta is the only guy he knows he can go to war with every night, that sh*t wasn't said just to be spewing off. Kobe basically said if another trade is made that takes away guys he trust playing hard, then get my ass outta here. Same reason he put management on blast about Pau too, and I backed him 100%.

Look man if Buss is worried about tax and not winning, then he can be the Bucks or Bobcats. But he won't be filling Staples Center without having a product worth putting on the floor. It's real simple Aki, it's no skirting around being a cheap ass owner and talking about competing at the same time.......that sh*t ain't flying with smart people here in LA.

And then the last solution is real simple, if it's too damn tough to own then sell it. Simple as that, you think the Lakers gonna have a hard time finding another owner ?

Shhhhid......I doubt that seriously.

[EArl]

I think you guys worry about the luxury tax waaaay too much.

[Dr Aki]

deep, unfortunately that's just the way our salary structure crumbles in 2013/14

kobe's making 30m (exp), dwight - 20.5m, pau - 19m (exp), nash - 9.3m, the core is making 80m+, straight away, we're 10m over the LT. the rest of the roster breaks down as metta - 7.7m PO (exp), blake - 4m (exp), duhon - 3.9m (exp, 1.5m gtd), hill - 3.5m (exp), those guys make 19.1m total

and thats 8 players only, and if we're cutting 2 of them, we need bare minimum 6-9 players to fill out the roster at the minimum. 1 of them will be meeks, at 1.6m, and the rest at minimum will be another 6m tacked on.

metta's contract sticks out, no use arguing around it, its got a PO, which makes it easier for us to ask him nicely to use it. if we only get him to defer 4m next season, thats 20mil saved, we can offer him all that money in a smaller contract. instead of that going away to the other 29 teams, that money could be used to keep metta around for another few years yet, where we wouldn't pay a single drop of LT.

doing these small, yet simple things will likely save around 50m next year, thats 50m we're not giving up in addition to the probable overall 85m in LT payments and 50m in broadcasting rights that we are. im only assuming the lakers FO wants to get under the LT threshold for 2 straight years before we start getting up there again.

and thank goodness that repeater tax doesnt arrive until 2014/15 (because we'd qualify)

lakers wont be paying LT simply because we can, the buss family arent rich sugar daddy owners that are in the basketball business as a hobby like prokhorov or paul allen. nor are they crazy pay over-the-ends like MSG that own the knicks

save money now, spend money later, losing blake and duhon aren't going to hurt us as much as losing MWP, but they still gotta be weighed up. i really do hope MWP/agent helps us out a bit. 3 yr/11m or 4 yr/14m is neither an albatross contract if structured appropriately nor deadweight when it comes to trading