2023 Free Agency

[BlacJacMac]

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[moss_is_1]

Makes me think we are very confident we can use our full mle as well.

We still have NAW's bird rights, we just lose the ability to match correct?

[TimberKat]

Makes me think we are very confident we can use our full mle as well.

We still have NAW's bird rights, we just lose the ability to match correct?

Question is for whom? A lot of the lower cost players are going to pick PHX and LAx first.

[BlacJacMac]

Makes me think we are very confident we can use our full mle as well.

We still have NAW's bird rights, we just lose the ability to match correct?

Question is for whom? A lot of the lower cost players are going to pick PHX and LAx first.

Does PHX have their full MLE? Aren't they in like the 7th apron by now?

[shrink]

Makes me think we are very confident we can use our full mle as well.

We still have NAW's bird rights, we just lose the ability to match correct?

Question is for whom? A lot of the lower cost players are going to pick PHX and LAx first.

Does PHX have their full MLE? Aren't they in like the 7th apron by now?

PHX is definitely a tax-payer, and the new CBA limits the tax-payer MLE to $5 mil (vs $12.4 for non-taxpayers).

In the future, if they are over the second apron, the new CBA will remove the apron entirely, but I don’t believe that rule kicks in until next summer, to give teams a season to help get their payrolls in line with the new CBA rules.

[moss_is_1]

Makes me think we are very confident we can use our full mle as well.

We still have NAW's bird rights, we just lose the ability to match correct?

Question is for whom? A lot of the lower cost players are going to pick PHX and LAx first.

There's quite a few guys that would help. Even if we end up breaking our mle into a couple of guys and then bringing back NAW.

[shrink]

Makes me think we are very confident we can use our full mle as well.

We still have NAW's bird rights, we just lose the ability to match correct?

Exactly, even without making a Qualifying Offer, we retain a player’s Bird rights, and don’t need an exception to sign him. And as you say, he just becomes an unrestricted free agent, so we’d lose the ability to swoop in and match if he signed a contract with a different team.

I should point out that being Unrestricted doesn’t mean we couldn’t match or exceed someone else’s offer before a contract is signed. In NAW’s situation, where he is on good terms with the team, it’s likely he would notify us before signing. For example, he or his agent might say, “CHA offered me $4 mil a year. Do you want to make an offer that beats that?”

I will mention though that if we signed NAW first with Bird rights, we can only use the full non-taxpayer MLE if it keeps us under that first apron - otherwise we’d need to use the tax-payer MLE. I should also note that using the MLE hardcaps the team.

[theGreatRC]

I really hope we can re-sign NAW & try to get a shooter with the rest of the MLE.

His shot can be worked on, but you can't teach his discipline and tenacity on defense, the job he did on SGA & on Murray in the playoffs was awesome

[wolves_89]

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This really surprises me. Restricted free agency is usually a pretty big advantage for the team.

At this point I'm very curious what Connelly is planning since whatever moves he makes has to end up being better than Prince+NAW (who are both pretty solid rotation players).

[TimberKat]

Makes me think we are very confident we can use our full mle as well.

We still have NAW's bird rights, we just lose the ability to match correct?

Question is for whom? A lot of the lower cost players are going to pick PHX and LAx first.

Does PHX have their full MLE? Aren't they in like the 7th apron by now?

Good point. I think they still can sign vet min but not sure about what MLE they still have

[Norseman79]

Is there an outside chance that they actually think Moore and Minott are ready to be the backup 2&3? And are trying to load up for a backup point guard?

[BlacJacMac]

Is there an outside chance that they actually think Moore and Minott are ready to be the backup 2&3? And are trying to load up for a backup point guard?

That would be a petty massive gamble to be counting on two players that have a combined 250 NBA minutes under their belts.

[Domejandro]

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This really surprises me. Restricted free agency is usually a pretty big advantage for the team.

At this point I'm very curious what Connelly is planning since whatever moves he makes has to end up being better than Prince+NAW (who are both pretty solid rotation players).

Nickeil Alexander-Walker's qualifying-offer was roughly $7MM. Barring a longterm contract, his agent likely would have (correctly) had him pick up his qualifying-offer, rather than testing free-agency. That would have nuked Minnesota's ability to stay under the Luxury-Tax line and significantly undercut the amount that the team could use with their Mid-Level Exception.

[TimberKat]

Is there an outside chance that they actually think Moore and Minott are ready to be the backup 2&3? And are trying to load up for a backup point guard?

That would be a petty massive gamble to be counting on two players that have a combined 250 NBA minutes under their belts.

If it's Taylor running the show, I would say they just want to save money and put the new guys out there. But this time I think they are thinking big, maybe like Barnes or some full MLE guy.

[wolves_89]

Read on Twitter

This really surprises me. Restricted free agency is usually a pretty big advantage for the team.

At this point I'm very curious what Connelly is planning since whatever moves he makes has to end up being better than Prince+NAW (who are both pretty solid rotation players).

Nickeil Alexander-Walker's qualifying-offer was roughly $7MM. Barring a longterm contract, his agent likely would have (correctly) had him pick up his qualifying-offer, rather than testing free-agency. That would have nuked Minnesota's ability to stay under the Luxury-Tax line and significantly undercut the amount that the team could use with their Mid-Level Exception.

For NAW to accept the QO means that his market is significantly worse than I thought. My guess would have been that he could get a deal around $18M/3 years, which would have meant there would be little incentive for him to sign the QO.

[Norseman79]

I'm also wondering if they're trying to clear cap space for a big trade with pieces coming back

[SO_MONEY]

This really surprises me. Restricted free agency is usually a pretty big advantage for the team.

At this point I'm very curious what Connelly is planning since whatever moves he makes has to end up being better than Prince+NAW (who are both pretty solid rotation players).

Nickeil Alexander-Walker's qualifying-offer was roughly $7MM. Barring a longterm contract, his agent likely would have (correctly) had him pick up his qualifying-offer, rather than testing free-agency. That would have nuked Minnesota's ability to stay under the Luxury-Tax line and significantly undercut the amount that the team could use with their Mid-Level Exception.

For NAW to accept the QO means that his market is significantly worse than I thought. My guess would have been that he could get a deal around $18M/3 years, which would have meant there would be little incentive for him to sign the QO.

I thought his market would be around 4mil... so I can see why he would take 7mil for a year.

[younggunsmn]

Also, Dane has alluded to some murky language in the new CBA where you only get all your 2 ways if you have filled your 15 roster spots.
If that's true, running 13 or 14 roster spots isn't going to be as attractive, as teams have done in the past to skirt the tax.

I was about to ask if anyone has seen/understands that.

I think everyone is learning new things about the new CBA every day, but this is what I have read so far pertaining to 2-ways, less than 15 roster spots....

- A team can only have LESS THAN 14 PLAYERS for 28 days during the regular season (and no more than 14 straight days)

- No team with under 15 players can have two-way player(s) "active" for more than 90 total games during the regular season.

Interesting thank you for this.
So 14 roster spots is a viable option.
Our 2 ways combined for 51 games played last year, But I'm guessing games active was a good deal higher than that.

[younggunsmn]

Very surprising opt-in for Josh Hart.
Must not have thought there was a team that would give him more than the MLE.

It would be nice to see the breakdowns of teams that can actually use the full MLE.
There might be a smaller than usual number of those available this year.

Guessing we didn't offer NAW a tender because we were afraid he would sign it.
If we make a 10 mil+ MLE signing, hard to see him back unless there really is no market for him.
That player also potentially cuts into his role, making signing with us less appealing.

I would prefer a really solid 10 mil+ player to 2 weaker players splitting that money, even if one is NAW, as long as that player can play backup PG. Don't really see that player though. Divencenzo, not a big believer. He had a horrid shooting year the year prior.
Brown is not a PG and will attract a lot of interested teams.

NAW still has an underdeveloped offensive game, maybe that will keep him from getting paid in the 5 mil+ range.
I really hope we can work out a reasonable deal to bring him back, losing him would leave a big hole at backup shooting guard too.
I really love the potential of the ability to stagger him and Jaden so one of them is always on the court to guard the other team's top perimeter scorer.

What if we brought back NAW and Prince on smaller deals and signed a backup PG for 3-4 mil?

NAW, Prince, and Jevon Carter all for 4 mil per each?

[KGdaBom]

[quote="younggunsmn"]Very surprising opt-in for Josh Hart.
Must not have thought there was a team that would give him more than the MLE.

It would be nice to see the breakdowns of teams that can actually use the full MLE.
There might be a smaller than usual number of those available this year.

Guessing we didn't offer NAW a tender because we were afraid he would sign it.
If we make a 10 mil+ MLE signing, hard to see him back unless there really is no market for him.
That player also potentially cuts into his role, making signing with us less appealing.

I would prefer a really solid 10 mil+ player to 2 weaker players splitting that money, even if one is NAW, as long as that player can play backup PG. Don't really see that player though. Divencenzo, not a big believer. He had a horrid shooting year the year prior.
Brown is not a PG and will attract a lot of interested teams.

NAW still has an underdeveloped offensive game, maybe that will keep him from getting paid in the 5 mil+ range.
I really hope we can work out a reasonable deal to bring him back, losing him would leave a big hole at backup shooting guard too.
I really love the potential of the ability to stagger him and Jaden so one of them is always on the court to guard the other team's top perimeter scorer.

What if we brought back NAW and Prince on smaller deals and signed a backup PG for 3-4 mil?

NAW, Prince, and Jevon Carter all for 4 mil per each?[/quote]
I'd be OK with that.