penbeast0 wrote:I was looking at trades; both Holmes and Bagley are pretty expensive which makes them hard to deal.
Actually it can be the exact opposite under the current CBA. Teams that are into the 2nd apron can't consolidate multiple players in a 2-for-1 type deal. These are the teams that are most desperate to deal. They want to ship as much big budget salary as they can in a single lump. If they can't ship it out they get nasty tax penalties, can't use the MLE or trade exceptions, their draft picks are frozen etc. The penalties get worse if they are repeat offenders. We are looking at: Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, and the Lakers are like 45,000 below the line.
A guy like Holmes has a non guaranteed contract after this year. Bagwell is expiring. Any 2nd apron team who has an underperforming player signed for equivalent $ but longer years will be hungry to dump as much salary as they can. They want the biggest expiring contract that is coming off the books to give them breathing room in the out years.
Brogdon is the big fish with his $22m expiring deal, but Holmes, Bags, Davis, Gill, and PBJr are all able to be off the books next year. Kuzma has a big deal with a couple more years on it, but it declines every year. Of this group I'd bet only Bags has a chance to be on the team next year. At a decent re-sign value. The others I expect will be actively shopped for draft capital.
