Did the cap increase surprise Hennigan?

magickingdom · Post #1 » by **magickingdom** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:00 pm

So we have waited 4 years to get to the point of finally making the team better. We even got rid of Harris to clear up cap space for this summer. But did Hennigan not foresee the cap increase or what? Yea we have cap space, maybe enough for 2 max players. But so does everyone else have cap space available due to the cap increase. So it seems that out of all the years to have space available, we have it the worse year one could. If we were one of only a few teams with money, we might be in a great situation. But with many teams with money this year it kind of lessens our chances of making a big splash in free agency. So was it just bad luck, or just bad timing, or did Hennigan mess up when it came to cap space this specific summer? Did he not have the ability to see what the situation was going to be this summer?

OrlandO · Post #2 » by **OrlandO** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:06 pm

Doubt it surprised any GM... everybody knew it was going to skyrocket. And it's a blessing and bad luck for all as every team wants to improve but demand will outweigh supply. Everybody having money is probably why he cleared even more than most... use two free agents to lure each other along with our other perks. Might not work, but what if it does?

BadMofoPimp · Post #3 » by **BadMofoPimp** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:10 pm

Yes. Now, he has to find a way to reach the salary floor again.

fendilim · Post #4 » by **fendilim** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:12 pm

Doubt it surprised any GM, much less a guy like Rob who seems to be meticulous in planning things. But I don't think this is his REAL plan. I think his real plan is to be able to draft a potential superstar. Unfortunately for him, the highest pick he had was in what could be one of the weakest drafts in history (the Ola year).

But I bet he has a timeline of where this team has to be after 4 years, and going the Free Agency route is his backup plan in order to achieve the goal.

magickingdom · Post #5 » by **magickingdom** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:13 pm

I hope there are 2 max players out there just looking for the opportunity to play together.

j-ragg · Post #6 » by **j-ragg** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:40 pm

magickingdom wrote:I hope there are 2 max players out there just looking for the opportunity to play together.

fendilim · Post #7 » by **fendilim** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:51 pm

j-ragg wrote:
magickingdom wrote:I hope there are 2 max players out there just looking for the opportunity to play together.

Xatticus · Post #8 » by **Xatticus** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 5:15 pm

I suppose that would depend entirely upon what sort of plan Hennigan conceived and what his timeline was. We have known for a couple years that this was going to happen, and perhaps even earlier if you suspected that the new TV deal would yield significantly more revenue for each team (a fairly safe assumption). I'm not really bothered either way, because prognosticating this wouldn't at all impact the market itself, only his individual approach to talent acquisition. One must constantly examine fluctuating markets for inefficiencies to exploit.

If his plan was simply to use a rebuilding period to stockpile assets via the draft, and follow that up by diving into free agency after the roster has been purged of bad money, then I will jump off the Hennigan bandwagon. This is a fool's plan. I don't believe that Hennigan is that simple-minded. He built up a lot of credit with me by swiping some talented players that were buried on other rosters (Harris, Vucevic, Fournier, Harkless) and by drafting well, but nothing else he has done has demonstrated any real vision. Those early acquisitions haven't been parlayed into any foundational pieces. I keep hoping that there is a big trade or two coming this offseason, because the only real alternatives are to punt or overpay in free agency.

OrlChamps2030 · Post #9 » by **OrlChamps2030** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 5:22 pm

Unfortunately this isn't a strong free agent class. Durant and LBJ will return to their teams. Whiteside isn't likely to come here and I don't think Conley will either. I'm not sure if being the team that gets to pay Dwight, Parsons, Horford, or Barnes the max is a good thing. We will most likely max Fournier.

I am starting to think that Hennigan's best route is to double down on the guys he has chosen and sign a couple of solid free agents like Mahimni and Marvin Williams. Guys who won't get in the way but can still be valuable contributors on a playoff team.

Trades are probably our best route to improve this team.

Skin · Post #10 » by **Skin** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 5:27 pm

Seems kinda silly to be wondering this question.

Having cap space is never a bad problem to have. We are not at a point where we need to use our cap space to jump into "win now" mode. We're most likely going to compliment our young players with savvy vets on short term contracts.

The one thing we can't afford to do is mess up and give the overpay a player who will have bad trade value after we give him that contract.

Skin · Post #11 » by **Skin** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 5:30 pm

I also really think that the type of FA we bring in really has to mesh with our young up and comers.

BadMofoPimp · Post #12 » by **BadMofoPimp** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 7:14 pm

fendilim wrote:Doubt it surprised any GM, much less a guy like Rob who seems to be meticulous in planning things. But I don't think this is his REAL plan. I think his real plan is to be able to draft a potential superstar. Unfortunately for him, the highest pick he had was in what could be one of the weakest drafts in history (the Ola year).

But I bet he has a timeline of where this team has to be after 4 years, and going the Free Agency route is his backup plan in order to achieve the goal.

Exactly how meticulous is producing the worst team in the NBA over a 3 year period then praying to win a superstar in the draft?

purpleswordfish · Post #13 » by **purpleswordfish** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 8:39 pm

I'll say a lot about Hennigan, but even I don't think he was surprised by the cap going up the way it did. The trade of Tobias Harris for cap space was to give the Magic a puncher's chance at some of the high level free agents this summer. If the Magic whiff, it'll look like a bad move in hindsight. But, there is a small chance it pays off and Hennigan looks like a genius for ditching the Harris contract.

It could go either way. I would have held onto Harris and played it safe, but that's just me.

Catledge · Post #14 » by **Catledge** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 9:07 pm

I think Henny, like everybody else, has been aware that the cap would jump for a couple of years now. But I don't think he knew that when he first took the job and set us on the path of multiyear tank followed by a spending spree. He has been planning this for a very long time (that doesn't necessarily make it a good plan), and I think that within the context of when he first decided on the plan, he is indeed surprised to find that he is one of twenty-some teams with max cap space instead of one of a handful.

shadrock · Post #15 » by **shadrock** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 6:06 am

Of course it didn't surprise him. Its his job to know this stuff. Even we know about it and we are just fans. What a weird question.

shadrock · Post #16 » by **shadrock** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 6:07 am

Catledge wrote:I think Henny, like everybody else, has been aware that the cap would jump for a couple of years now. But I don't think he knew that when he first took the job and set us on the path of multiyear tank followed by a spending spree. He has been planning this for a very long time (that doesn't necessarily make it a good plan), and I think that within the context of when he first decided on the plan, he is indeed surprised to find that he is one of twenty-some teams with max cap space instead of one of a handful.

But we are one of only a few with cap space for two max players, which is significant.

LBPTarHeel27 · Post #17 » by **LBPTarHeel27** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 4:30 pm

I think he positioned us perfectly. We either hit a home run or we stay the course and develop our young guys.

No one was surprised by the cap hike. We also had cap space last year, it just didn't work out. It's not like everything Hennigan has done has been leading up to this summer. If you are of that belief, you are about to be severely disappointed.

fendilim · Post #18 » by **fendilim** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 4:48 pm

BadMofoPimp wrote:
fendilim wrote:Doubt it surprised any GM, much less a guy like Rob who seems to be meticulous in planning things. But I don't think this is his REAL plan. I think his real plan is to be able to draft a potential superstar. Unfortunately for him, the highest pick he had was in what could be one of the weakest drafts in history (the Ola year).

But I bet he has a timeline of where this team has to be after 4 years, and going the Free Agency route is his backup plan in order to achieve the goal.

Exactly how meticulous is producing the worst team in the NBA over a 3 year period then praying to win a superstar in the draft?

Takes a lot of luck trying to win the lottery. Especially if your team is "trying" to win.

LBPTarHeel27 · Post #19 » by **LBPTarHeel27** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:42 pm

fendilim wrote:
BadMofoPimp wrote:
fendilim wrote:Doubt it surprised any GM, much less a guy like Rob who seems to be meticulous in planning things. But I don't think this is his REAL plan. I think his real plan is to be able to draft a potential superstar. Unfortunately for him, the highest pick he had was in what could be one of the weakest drafts in history (the Ola year).

But I bet he has a timeline of where this team has to be after 4 years, and going the Free Agency route is his backup plan in order to achieve the goal.

Exactly how meticulous is producing the worst team in the NBA over a 3 year period then praying to win a superstar in the draft?

Takes a lot of luck trying to win the lottery. Especially if your team is "trying" to win.

You guys describe the rebuild like a republican talking about a democrat (and the other way around). Over simplifying the directive and goal to make it sound idiotic...even though it has us on the right track.

I understand that people are getting impatient and want to win sooner than later. It is hard to support a team that has consistently loss for several years in a row. However, I have yet to see a viable idea or plan that would have us in a better position than we are currently in. There are no FA's we could have gotten, no alternate draft picks, no big time trades...we are in the best position we could be in.

BadMofoPimp · Post #20 » by **BadMofoPimp** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 6:09 pm

LBPTarHeel27 wrote:
fendilim wrote:
BadMofoPimp wrote:
Exactly how meticulous is producing the worst team in the NBA over a 3 year period then praying to win a superstar in the draft?

Takes a lot of luck trying to win the lottery. Especially if your team is "trying" to win.

You guys describe the rebuild like a republican talking about a democrat (and the other way around). Over simplifying the directive and goal to make it sound idiotic...even though it has us on the right track.

I understand that people are getting impatient and want to win sooner than later. It is hard to support a team that has consistently loss for several years in a row. However, I have yet to see a viable idea or plan that would have us in a better position than we are currently in. There are no FA's we could have gotten, no alternate draft picks, no big time trades...we are in the best position we could be in.

A good GM would make surprise trades that are lopsided like how Indiana got Teague or how SVG got Reggie Jackson for two scrubs (DJ Augustin and Kyle Singlers) or use exceptions or expirings to improve. Lots of ways to go about it. I just don't think Henny has much clout with other GMs or Agents of the league. It is like he just decided that lets make a team play badly and pray we win a superstar in the draft for the next 3-4 years.

If he wins a superstar, then he looks great. If he doesn't and team loses, he looks bad. Basically, hinging his job on being the worst team and getting lucky in the draft.