Suns No-Buyout Policy

[amitg]

As these bad days for the suns continue, i'm being haunted by that horrible KT trade, which brought me to think about this:

I heard it more than once, that the suns never intended to buy out any player, since for the management it means paying someone who doesn't play, and helps you save only about half of the money since the player bought out doesn't count against the lux tax.

let's take the KT trade for example:
the suns sent him to seattle with two first rounders, for a trade exception, therefore saving 9M of his salary + 9M of lux tax.

if they would've just bought him out at the lux tax deadline (and after he loses playoff eligibilty), they would've saved 9M of lux, and don't risk of meeting him in the playoffs that year.
they could've probably reached a better buy out agreement earlier that year, paying only 50% of his contract (but giving him the opportunity to pick a team and play in the playoffs)
so in a better scenario, they could've save ~14M instead of 18M, but keep 2 draft picks (sell one for 3M, and still be in a better position than us today).

Unfortunately, I don't see us improving next year, and the fact that our unprotected pick was given to seattle will prevent us from rebuilding, and might turn into a nightmare if we actually 'win' the lottery next year.

My point?
Kerr and Sarver have ZERO vision, and someone should shake them badly until they figure they have no clue on how to run a basketball franchise, and hire someone who is capable of doing so.

[Mr. Sun]

Suns have many owners and no single owner sitting on a pile of liquid funds that can be used for buyouts.

[eastsidecrossover]

They could have made a trade for a better player like Gasol. That 2010 pick is killing me.