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JN wrote:dkb9696 wrote:What I am having a hard time understanding is why would the Raptors not just hold on to Dragic and take the Heats improved offer and then trade Dragic later in the season
I stand to be corrected, but I believe that they want to get rid of Dragic to clear cap space to do a move like signing Holmes.
But in the end it might just be to hold on to Dragic and trade him later as you suggest.
dkb9696 wrote:JN wrote:dkb9696 wrote:What I am having a hard time understanding is why would the Raptors not just hold on to Dragic and take the Heats improved offer and then trade Dragic later in the season
I stand to be corrected, but I believe that they want to get rid of Dragic to clear cap space to do a move like signing Holmes.
But in the end it might just be to hold on to Dragic and trade him later as you suggest.
Holmes has resigned with the Kings.
This would take the Raptors out of the cap space game too, meaning any remaining additions would come via the midlevel, biannual and minimum exceptions.
biblast wrote:WuTang_OG wrote:https://theathletic.com/2750542/2021/08/03/raptors-free-agency-an-underwhelming-36-hours-options-with-goran-dragic-updated-cap-sheet-and-more/Options for sign-and-trade
The basics of the Lowry deal have been reported. They are incomplete, possibly on a few fronts.
The first has to do with Lowry’s contract. It was reported as three years, $90 million. While agents sometimes leak rounded-up or even inflated numbers, that exact figure is not possible under the reported terms of the deal. Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa are the outbound pieces, and they make a combined $22.15 million. That allows the Heat to take back a first-year salary of $27.79 million for Lowry, which would let him earn $87.54 million on a three-year deal.
Maybe that’s close enough; $87.54 million to $90 million could be loose language in the reporting chain, and even that amount is far more than we expected Lowry to receive in guaranteed money. My belief remains that the early Lowry-Heat leaks were in part to see if other teams would offer more guarantee in a third year. A sign-and-trade has to be for at least three seasons, only the first of which has to be fully guaranteed. Lowry couldn’t feasibly get a fourth year due to the (convoluted) Over-38 Rule, so the main way of convincing Lowry would have been with the highest guarantee possible on a three-year term.
If Lowry truly is earning $90 million, it would require the Heat to include KZ Okpala, a decent prospect making $1.78 million. The guess here is that the Heat prefer to keep Okpala for inexpensive depth and Lowry is earning slightly less than reported.
It is not yet clear what draft compensation is accompanying Achiuwa to Toronto for facilitating and possibly taking on Dragic’s $19.44 million salary. The Heat can’t trade a first-round pick that conveys sooner than 2025, and even that date would be contingent on an earlier pick they owe to convey by 2023. They also only have a 2022 second-round pick (the worse of Philadelphia or Denver’s pick, so something in the 50s) or their own 2028 second-round pick to deal. Not exactly a massive haul, however it shakes out.
Two questions flow next: Are Achiuwa and some deep future picks enough for the Raptors to have played ball here? And what happens with Dragic?
The second question could inform the first. It was initially presumed Dragic would be routed elsewhere, either via a second trade or expanding the Lowry deal into a three-teamer. Dragic has been open about wanting to play in Dallas, and the Raptors would gladly send him there if it returned assets. A package of Dwight Powell and either Willie Cauley-Stein, Maxi Kleber or Dorian Finney-Smith works for cap math and satisfies the Raptors’ depth concerns at centre, but it leaves the Mavericks quite thin, especially inside. Dallas could conceivably find a fourth team that can throw better-fitting assets Toronto’s way, possibly absorbed to Dallas via trade exception first or for Kleber. The Mavericks have a better-stocked draft-pick cupboard, but their willingness to add Dragic will only go so far in asset terms. Toronto could also look to another team with cap space or that missed on the other point guards.
Basically, the Raptors’ options with Dragic are:
Find a team that wants Dragic and can offer assets more in line with Toronto’s needs and preferences. This sacrifices the cap space the Raptors would have had without Lowry on the books, but maximizing that space always meant also sacrificing Chris Boucher and the midlevel exception, and I’m not sure that player is out there any longer.
Find a team that can take Dragic into space. This limits Toronto’s monetary obligation and keeps its cap sheet more flexible, but it will likely return fewer assets. Dragic at $19.44 million for one year is roughly a neutral asset, so I’m skeptical teams are willing to attach heavy pick or prospect capital for him. (You still try, of course.) New Orleans could be a prime target here, expanding its earlier deal with Memphis to make everything fit in a much larger framework.
Hold Dragic. There would be no reason to buy Dragic out in the short term. Teams only get cap relief for the portion a player gives back, and short of Dragic giving up eight figures to be a free agent, it’s hard to see it being worthwhile. The Raptors could plug Dragic into the rotation as a quality veteran and revisit deals at the trade deadline. This would take the Raptors out of the cap space game too, meaning any remaining additions would come via the midlevel, biannual and minimum exceptions.
Great article! Thx for posting! I’m more confused than ever! I mean we’ll have to see the end result but man you have to ask yourself why going through all of this trouble ?? It’s as if Masai knew that he couldn’t sign any good FA with cap space, instead he’s using the trade route via S&T with Miami! Look where we are now? Again we need to wait and see the end result but this sounds like a fumble in the red zone!
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alienchild wrote:Why is everyone assuming the hold up is being caused at the Toronto end. Just as possible to be from Miami or Dallas.
Brinbe wrote:alienchild wrote:Why is everyone assuming the hold up is being caused at the Toronto end. Just as possible to be from Miami or Dallas.
Obviously it is on Dallas' end because that's who we're waiting on. But we pretty much sacrificed our capspace/FA period for this situation we could've avoided altogether.
WuTang_OG wrote:Yuri Vaultin wrote:Moses Brown would do it for me. Throw in whatever other crap.
guy is scrap
alienchild wrote:Why is everyone assuming the hold up is being caused at the Toronto end. Just as possible to be from Miami or Dallas.
Masai4PM wrote:I have a feeling we will all be pleasantly surprised with what we end up getting for Kyle.
Canadafan wrote:Bojan Burks Stewart for Siakam.
2 expiring vets that help now. A young big to add to the Scottie timeline
I'd prefer to keep Stew and give Monte Morris
I'd really prefer to keep Morris and Stew and give the great Killian Hayes and 2nd round picks
Yuri Vaultin wrote:WuTang_OG wrote:Yuri Vaultin wrote:Moses Brown would do it for me. Throw in whatever other crap.
guy is scrap
He's a better C than Dragic.
He had some monster games too!
Masai4PM wrote:I have a feeling we will all be pleasantly surprised with what we end up getting for Kyle.
biblast wrote:alienchild wrote:Why is everyone assuming the hold up is being caused at the Toronto end. Just as possible to be from Miami or Dallas.
That’s the point!!! We didn’t have to do this S&T if Miami or Dallas is screwing us over! It looks bad on us!!
Here’s the question, are we better off now than letting Lowry walk and use the cap space to address our roster needs ? FA market is now as dry as Tripoli! It’s too late to back out not to mention the PR nightmare with Lowry’s camp! So we may be forced to keep Dragic and I’m almost certain that wasn’t the plan!
Masai worked so hard to have all of these expiring contracts in 2021 for a nice cap space (hello Giannis), I don’t think the goal was to use it on Achuiwa and Dragic!
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