Payton Jr. + 2nds for Sasser

[Bentley1225]

This move is to swap PGs to get Warriors under tax threshold while Pistons get more intangible assets

To Detroit
-Gary Payton Jr. (1 year, $9.1 million)
-2026 Atlanta 2nd round pick
-2028 Atlanta 2nd round pick

To Golden State
-Marcus Sasser (2 years, $5.6 million plus T.O.)

Why?
Swap of 6'2", 195 lbs point guards. One is 31, the other is 23. The Pistons get the veteran and additional picks while Warriors get a younger guy on a rookie contract. This allows Warriors to get under tax threshold and leverage Pistons cap space.

[gswhoops]

Yeah if it gets us under the tax I could see it happening. I don't know anything about Sasser, so maybe we'd be interested in him, but we already have a ton of guards so I'm not sure he would get any PT here.

[Scoot McGroot]

Yeah if it gets us under the tax I could see it happening. I don't know anything about Sasser, so maybe we'd be interested in him, but we already have a ton of guards so I'm not sure he would get any PT here.

It’d get y’all about $600k under the tax line, so it makes sense there. And if Payton has effectively been replaced in minutes, it would be a solid deal for the W’s.

[JJ_PR]

I've seen plenty of chatter about Sasser being a breakout candidate, people are high on him. I don't think he's just a throw in to be honest.

[giberish]

Feels like a trade deadline deal. Detroit would have decided that Sasser isn't a big breakout guy and GS is looking to get under the tax.

[tester551]

I've seen plenty of chatter about Sasser being a breakout candidate, people are high on him. I don't think he's just a throw in to be honest.

Yeah - I have hopes for Sasser. If things come together for him, Pistons could regret a trade like this.

[chrbal]

I've seen plenty of chatter about Sasser being a breakout candidate, people are high on him. I don't think he's just a throw in to be honest.

Yeah - I have hopes for Sasser. If things come together for him, Pistons could regret a trade like this.

His point and I don’t think we can take back that much money difference in a trade

[Crymson]

This move is to swap PGs to get Warriors under tax threshold while Pistons get more intangible assets

To Detroit
-Gary Payton Jr. (1 year, $9.1 million)
-2026 Atlanta 2nd round pick
-2028 Atlanta 2nd round pick

To Golden State
-Marcus Sasser (2 years, $5.6 million plus T.O.)

Why?
Swap of 6'2", 195 lbs point guards. One is 31, the other is 23. The Pistons get the veteran and additional picks while Warriors get a younger guy on a rookie contract. This allows Warriors to get under tax threshold and leverage Pistons cap space.

Bad for the Pistons. GP2 isn't a reliable shooter and he isn't a handler, and he's got nothing to offer the Pistons. Sasser is at least a good shooter and has potential as a handler if he can make his tough shot profile work, he's been in the league for only a year, and he's got three seasons remaining on a very cheap contract. Dumping him for blah draft capital would be a bad move. Pass for Detroit.

For what it's worth, GP2 is a point guard in name only.

[Scoot McGroot]

I've seen plenty of chatter about Sasser being a breakout candidate, people are high on him. I don't think he's just a throw in to be honest.

Yeah - I have hopes for Sasser. If things come together for him, Pistons could regret a trade like this.

His point and I don’t think we can take back that much money difference in a trade

Detroit has the cap space to make the trade, if they so wanted. I think they could even keep Sasser here and send Wendell Moore or no one at all. For GS, I think they’d be willing to spend 2 2nds to get under the tax and sign a vet minimum themselves?

[Billl]

I don't think sasser is going to get dumped like this. At least not yet. I think new management is going to take a look at all the young guys in more of a real nba team setting. By the deadline, they will likely be making some decisions. It's not like he was horrible last year or anything. He shot 38% from 3 as as a rookie. That put him 3rd in that category. I don't know if I'd call him a break-out candidate, but if he's shooting 40%+ from 3 and putting in effort defensively this year, that wouldn't be shocking.

[gswhoops]

Yeah - I have hopes for Sasser. If things come together for him, Pistons could regret a trade like this.

His point and I don’t think we can take back that much money difference in a trade

Detroit has the cap space to make the trade, if they so wanted. I think they could even keep Sasser here and send Wendell Moore or no one at all. For GS, I think they’d be willing to spend 2 2nds to get under the tax and sign a vet minimum themselves?

Agree with all of this. Tax relief, not Sasser, is the prize for GS here. Honestly, getting nothing in return would be fine.

[xdrta+]

His point and I don’t think we can take back that much money difference in a trade

Detroit has the cap space to make the trade, if they so wanted. I think they could even keep Sasser here and send Wendell Moore or no one at all. For GS, I think they’d be willing to spend 2 2nds to get under the tax and sign a vet minimum themselves?

Agree with all of this. Tax relief, not Sasser, is the prize for GS here. Honestly, getting nothing in return would be fine.

You can almost guarantee they'll do something like this before the trade deadline. They need to start the clock on getting out of repeater tax hell. It takes two years, after all.

[gswhoops]

Detroit has the cap space to make the trade, if they so wanted. I think they could even keep Sasser here and send Wendell Moore or no one at all. For GS, I think they’d be willing to spend 2 2nds to get under the tax and sign a vet minimum themselves?

Agree with all of this. Tax relief, not Sasser, is the prize for GS here. Honestly, getting nothing in return would be fine.

You can almost guarantee they'll do something like this before the trade deadline. They need to start the clock on getting out of repeater tax hell. It takes two years, after all.

I think the reason they haven't done it already is that the FO is holding out (ridiculous) hope that they can somehow swing a trade for a star before the deadline.

[giberish]

Detroit has the cap space to make the trade, if they so wanted. I think they could even keep Sasser here and send Wendell Moore or no one at all. For GS, I think they’d be willing to spend 2 2nds to get under the tax and sign a vet minimum themselves?

Agree with all of this. Tax relief, not Sasser, is the prize for GS here. Honestly, getting nothing in return would be fine.

You can almost guarantee they'll do something like this before the trade deadline. They need to start the clock on getting out of repeater tax hell. It takes two years, after all.

I don't think getting out of the repeater tax is an issue for this season. As noted, it takes two years to get out of repeater status. Next season they're definitely going to be in the tax (either Kunminga's 2nd contract, the result of some star trade or both). However, 2-3 years down the line Curry will retire and they'll have to rebuild for a bit. At that point they'll be out of the tax for a couple years before hopefully assembling a new luxury roster where it makes sense to pay luxury taxes again.

[xdrta+]

I don't think getting out of the repeater tax is an issue for this season. As noted, it takes two years to get out of repeater status. Next season they're definitely going to be in the tax (either Kunminga's 2nd contract, the result of some star trade or both). However, 2-3 years down the line Curry will retire and they'll have to rebuild for a bit. At that point they'll be out of the tax for a couple years before hopefully assembling a new luxury roster where it makes sense to pay luxury taxes again.

This year still matters. It doesn't have to be 2 consecutive years, the clock goes back 4 years to count if you're a repeater. 2 out of 4 and you're a non-repeater the next year. The sooner you can skip the tax a year, the better.

[giberish]

I don't think getting out of the repeater tax is an issue for this season. As noted, it takes two years to get out of repeater status. Next season they're definitely going to be in the tax (either Kunminga's 2nd contract, the result of some star trade or both). However, 2-3 years down the line Curry will retire and they'll have to rebuild for a bit. At that point they'll be out of the tax for a couple years before hopefully assembling a new luxury roster where it makes sense to pay luxury taxes again.

This year still matters. It doesn't have to be 2 consecutive years, the clock goes back 4 years to count if you're a repeater. 2 out of 4 and you're a non-repeater the next year. The sooner you can skip the tax a year, the better.

I'd be shocked if being in the tax this year or not will ever make a difference as to whether or not GS pays a repeater tax. There won't be a 2nd year out of the tax until their post-Curry rebuild - at which point they'll probably be out of the tax for a couple years.

If it's easy enough GS could certainly make a move to get out of the tax this year (if only for the tax saving of this season). But I don't see them being overly concerned about it or making extreme moves.

[Scoot McGroot]

I don't think getting out of the repeater tax is an issue for this season. As noted, it takes two years to get out of repeater status. Next season they're definitely going to be in the tax (either Kunminga's 2nd contract, the result of some star trade or both). However, 2-3 years down the line Curry will retire and they'll have to rebuild for a bit. At that point they'll be out of the tax for a couple years before hopefully assembling a new luxury roster where it makes sense to pay luxury taxes again.

This year still matters. It doesn't have to be 2 consecutive years, the clock goes back 4 years to count if you're a repeater. 2 out of 4 and you're a non-repeater the next year. The sooner you can skip the tax a year, the better.

I'd be shocked if being in the tax this year or not will ever make a difference as to whether or not GS pays a repeater tax. There won't be a 2nd year out of the tax until their post-Curry rebuild - at which point they'll probably be out of the tax for a couple years.

If it's easy enough GS could certainly make a move to get out of the tax this year (if only for the tax saving of this season). But I don't see them being overly concerned about it or making extreme moves.

They could be out of the tax this year and next if they wanted to, even competing. What if they make a deal for another star and it uses Kuminga for value and salary matching of some combo of Wiggins, Hield, SloMo, etc?

I wouldn’t say they’re desperate to get out of the repeater tax, but they’ve already effectively replaced Payton in the rotation, so why let him keep you in repeater zone going forward? If you get one year out of the luxury tax, you can then easily decide to recalibrate and stay under the tax another year. But if you stay in the tax for a guy you’ve replaced, any chance at resetting the repeater would take 2 new years of actions.

[babyjax13]

Yeah - I have hopes for Sasser. If things come together for him, Pistons could regret a trade like this.

His point and I don’t think we can take back that much money difference in a trade

Detroit has the cap space to make the trade, if they so wanted. I think they could even keep Sasser here and send Wendell Moore or no one at all. For GS, I think they’d be willing to spend 2 2nds to get under the tax and sign a vet minimum themselves?

Wendell Moore makes more sense to me. Sasser seems a bit rich, I think he's worth those 2nds on his own (at worst) and Payton's contract is clearly negative.

[gswhoops]

This year still matters. It doesn't have to be 2 consecutive years, the clock goes back 4 years to count if you're a repeater. 2 out of 4 and you're a non-repeater the next year. The sooner you can skip the tax a year, the better.

I'd be shocked if being in the tax this year or not will ever make a difference as to whether or not GS pays a repeater tax. There won't be a 2nd year out of the tax until their post-Curry rebuild - at which point they'll probably be out of the tax for a couple years.

If it's easy enough GS could certainly make a move to get out of the tax this year (if only for the tax saving of this season). But I don't see them being overly concerned about it or making extreme moves.

They could be out of the tax this year and next if they wanted to, even competing. What if they make a deal for another star and it uses Kuminga for value and salary matching of some combo of Wiggins, Hield, SloMo, etc?

I wouldn’t say they’re desperate to get out of the repeater tax, but they’ve already effectively replaced Payton in the rotation, so why let him keep you in repeater zone going forward? If you get one year out of the luxury tax, you can then easily decide to recalibrate and stay under the tax another year. But if you stay in the tax for a guy you’ve replaced, any chance at resetting the repeater would take 2 new years of actions.

I agree Scoot. To put it another way, why wouldn't we try to get out of the tax this year if all it costs us is 2 seconds and a non-rotation player?

[babyjax13]

It looks like Utah still has its MLE available. I'd be pretty happy just to absorb Payton for the 2nds then do a buyout so he can sign with a contender.