contract wrote:jagz wrote:Spoiler:
I deleted that paragraph after I read some social media reactions to the piece, because I realized I was just going by the info in the article. Nevertheless, your point still brings up the issues of Wade feeling like he wasn't a priority and the question of why Whiteside didn't take less, considering Wade had a little bit to do with his big deal, at least in terms of the calculus of his offensive worth. There has still been no good answer as to why he was willing to do that for Durant and Wade, but apparently not just Wade, according to Winderman's weaselly explanation.
There isn't any reason for Whiteside to take a pay cut for Wade. Whiteside would be a moron to put himself in the same situation Wade was in of financing Pat's poor cap management. In 2010, the Big 3 all agreed to take less money so the Heat could sign Mike Miller. That cost each of them millions of dollars. After 3 years Miller was amnestied, but they were all still taking a hit on their salaries. The same thing supposedly happened last season with Dragic. Supposedly he took less so the Heat could pay Wade $20 million. Now Wade is gone, and Dragic is still paying for that 1 season for another 3 or 4 years.
It's unfair to put that on Whiteside or Dragic or any other player. Managing the cap is Pat Riley's job.
For anyone who doesn't understand what I mean in the post above, if you assume that Dragic took $2 million less last season so that the Heat could pay Wade, that is NOT a $2 million sacrifice. Over the life of his 5 year contract, that comes out to > $10 million dollars to rent Wade for 1 season.
Pat was talking about how teams should get their picks back if the player they sign & traded for leaves before the pick is used ... I wonder if he feels the same about money players leave on the table. I wonder how he'd feel about Dragic demanding $8 million back from the Heat since it's no longer needed to pay Wade.
