sanddude909 wrote:Why do you think GS traded Richardson for a trade exception and a rookie?
It clears up our cap space and allows us to resign Andris and Monta.
It cleared up some cap space.
Let's be rational about this: Ellis is our most unstoppable player due to his athleticism and quickness. He has become our most reliable half court option. He is hitting over 50% of his shots from the field. Against the Hornets, he had 9 boards. He's be averaging around 5 assists per game pretty consistently since December or so.
You're from GS, you're used to huge let downs, and you're trying to be rationale about having a good team?

I guess the other question to ask is, other than hoping Orlando can sign him, why do you think GS would choose not to? Plus, the market for RFA's has changed dramatically in the last 2 years.
I never said Orlando has a shot at getting him. I think Ellis is a ~10mil/yr type guy, he's pretty damn good
Your entire argument seems to be based around your cap though, have you had a look?
Davis will make upwards of 15+ mil through 2010, Harrington makes 10+ through 2010, Jackson makes about 8 through 2010. Right there is about 35 million in salary. Know who else you have signed through next year? Basically Benelli and Wright (I haven't kept up on what Webber is making).
Ellis and Biedrins will both command around 8-10mil/year. Adding that to your salary of the 3 players above gets you to about 50 million /yr through 2010. So, having 50-million in salary for your starting 5 is good financially? I didn't realize that.
Take into account what happens with gys like Barnes, whatever Webber is making and for how long, that Wright is making a few million, and that you only have like 8 guys signed through next year (that's assuming you even resign Ellis/Biedrins). I guess you'll be signing the other half of your squad using the LLE.
Point? The salary situation in GS isn't as clear cut as you make it out to be, I'm not sure how much money your owners are willing to dole out (since I Don't follow GS that much) but to resign Ellis and Biedrins you're looking at 50+ million/yr in salary just for your starters effectively, the rest of your bench will probably be about 20 million more, for a grand total of somewhere around 70-million in salary. Pretty big payroll there -- not quite the Knicks or Mavs, but pretty steep especially with how much that bench would suck.
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