RealGM

MIN GETS: Stromile Swift + Maurice Ager

NJ GETS: Rodney Carney + Brian Cardinal + UTA 1st (Top 23 protected)

This is basically a deal where NJN gets a couple small assets to clear one year of Cardinal. If you have the cap space next season, you get comped for your two unnecessary players, and it doesn't affect your 2010 Free Agency space. Cardinal becomes a tradable expiring next year. Cardinal costs $6.75 mil next year. Sell the pick for $3 mil if you'd like. I figure it clears out Swift's minutes, so you can invest them in your future, Lopez, Anderson, Sean Williams and Boone. It looks to me like you have a full roster next season, and no big financial plans for 2009, but can you afford this and still avoid the lux?

EDIT - if you want to turn one of your four young big men into a future protected 1st, MIN can add that to the deal as well. I'm think removing Swift though would end enough of the glut.

I'd do this. Carney could be our backup 2/3 (not too high on him but damn I would be shocked if we could get anyone better for Stro/Ager) , cardinal could wear a suit and we get a 1st rounder for Swift/Ager (when neither are worth a first rounder...even if it's a late pick). I could see the Nets passing on it though. They may not want to pay 12 million to Cardinal over the next 2 seasons. I could see his deal being a killer. If he came off the books at the end of the season like Stro, this would be a no brainer.

Obviously, an '09 expiring Cardinal would be a no-brainer deal, but MIN wouldn't want to move him if he were. They are positioning themselves for '09 capspace, and we basically "buy" a future 1st for the $6mil of contract in Cardinal's last year.

Yeah, I'd do it.

ecuhus1981 wrote:Obviously, an '09 expiring Cardinal would be a no-brainer deal, but MIN wouldn't want to move him if he were. They are positioning themselves for '09 capspace, and we basically "buy" a future 1st for the $6mil of contract in Cardinal's last year.

Yeah, I'd do it.

Great breakdown.

I figure this season's a plus. Cardinal and Swift both cost the same, and both would get little playing time for you, but you'd probably rather be taking a look at Carney than Ager.

Next season, 2009 -- I don't know. It costs $6.75 mil, but you get Carney and a protected 1st. The price seems right, and adding the youth seems to fit. However, if Cardinal's year of salary puts you guys over the lux, then its probably too expensive

2010? Same cap space for free agents, plus you'd have rights on Carney and the 1st rounder on the second year of a rookie deal.

So I guess it might break down to be a lux question for you. How's that looking for 2009?

Incidently, for those wondering why MIN would do this deal (skip this post if you don't care), its all about cap space.

The plan from the Wolves front office has always been to target 2010, and they've been more active than any other team this last year cutting salary and acquiring youth and picks. However, MIN is not a highly desirable location for free agents, so its quite possible they get shut out by all the other competitors who've cleared cap space for 2010.

In 2009 though, MIN has already cut $18 mil, with $10 mil in buy-outs and $8 mil in expirings. This could leave them at around $60 mil which will probably be just under the 2009 salary cap. This is the worst place to be. If they are at $72 mil, they would still be under the lux and have a more talented team. If they are under the salary cap, they lose their exceptions (MLE BAE, etc), and they don't have enough cap space to compete with teams that do. If they can move Cardinal, and be judicious on other contracts, they could get significantly under the cap in 2009. The players available in free agency may not fit as well, but MIN's only sure competitors would be OKC and MEM, and MIN may be more desirable than either of those cities.

More importantly, MIN can use the 2009 cap space in other ways. They can sell it to a team that's just over the lux for assets, or to a team that needs more money for their free agent signing. Cap space is a highly valuable trade commodity, as recent deals have shown (cap space for Kurt Thomas expiring plus two protected 1sts). They could also sign a free agent that doesn't fit, and trade him later to a team that can't make that offer. However, this plan will only work if they can get far enough under the salary cap to have the financial leverage to make these things happen. Moving Cardinal, even just his final, expiring year, is key because of all the other salary they will take off the books in 2009.

With so many teams targeting 2010 -- not 2009, I think there will be several suitors to take on Cardinal's last year for an expiring, so I don't think it will be too expensive. I started with NJN because it seems to me though that NJN would get the most out of the youth, and MIN might even play Swift some this year, since they are so weak at center.

Did someone just trade for Maurice Ager? Sign me up.

NetsForce wrote:Did someone just trade for Maurice Ager? Sign me up.

lol is he thaat bad? if it was up to me I would just let ager rot on the bench and let swift expire. However this trade is looking sexy to me

shrink wrote:So I guess it might break down to be a lux question for you. How's that looking for 2009?

We'd be well below the lux tax even after this deal.

whatever