Post#159 » by Braggins » Tue Dec 6, 2022 6:35 am
If the Hornets get off Rozier's contract their cap situation is actually going to be fine when Hayward comes off the books after next season. I don't actually think PJ will get 20 million, but even in a worse case scenario where he does, lets say they were to also resign Richards, DSJ, and McDaniels, for 35 mil combined, at that point their cap sheet besides rookie scales would be 62.5 mil for PJ, Richards, Martin, DSJ, and McDaniels. They're currently paying like 55 mil per year for just Rozier and Hayward, both of whom are significantly older than all those guys and Hayward doesn't play more often than he does.
Having five good young role players on small-medium contracts (easy to trade) locked up for only like half the cap is fine. I actually think there is a decent chance the combined cost of those five players will be more like 50 mil per year (PJ-15/Richards-12/DSJ-9/Martin-7.5/McD-7) and them messing up the 2021 draft so bad will give them a year pause on rookie extensions after PJ and Miles situations are resolved. If they want to keep Miles there is a chance they'll get him at a big discount and at the very least definitely won't have to shell out a massive contract like they were looking at doing before.
They really need to trade Rozier for cap space, though. He just doesn't fit the LaMelo timeline and his cap space would be better spent on younger role players. Hayward is expiring and if he is also much higher impact when he actually plays, so its fine to get stuck with him at this point and see if maybe you get a fairly healthy season out of him next season, which could bridge to a quick turnaround.
