Trade Talk (Part 16): Early Season Anxiety Edition

[shrink]

In the, "how fast can I piss them off" category, how about Randle for Jordan Poole? Randle definitely opts out, saves Washington money for them to fix some mistakes and build appropriately. Poole, well, he could be very interesting next to Ant. Fire away....

Side note, DD to Houston for Jabari Smith Jr straight up works too....just saying....

PG - Poole, Conley, Rob
SG - Ant, Naw
SF - McDaniels, Minott
PF - Smith, Reid, Miller
C. - Rudy, Garza

Last March, Keith Smith at Spotrac ranked Jordan Poole as the second worst contract in the NBA (behind Bradley Beal, and his no trade clause). I would need a ton of incentive to trade any expiring for him.

https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2230/nbas-10-worst-value-contracts

I like DiVincenzo for Jabari Smith better, but part of the value of the KAT trade was getting three cheap seasons of DDV. I like Jabari more than most, but even if he does well, he’s going to get paid a lot of money really soon. I think the team has to be worried about payroll.

Btw, I like your sense of humor, with the “piss them off” category and Fire away!

[winforlose]

In the, "how fast can I piss them off" category, how about Randle for Jordan Poole? Randle definitely opts out, saves Washington money for them to fix some mistakes and build appropriately. Poole, well, he could be very interesting next to Ant. Fire away....

Side note, DD to Houston for Jabari Smith Jr straight up works too....just saying....

PG - Poole, Conley, Rob
SG - Ant, Naw
SF - McDaniels, Minott
PF - Smith, Reid, Miller
C. - Rudy, Garza

Last March, Keith Smith at Spotrac ranked Jordan Poole as the second worst contract in the NBA (behind Bradley Beal, and his no trade clause). I would need a ton of incentive to trade any expiring for him.

https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2230/nbas-10-worst-value-contracts

I like DiVincenzo for Jabari Smith better, but part of the value of the KAT trade was getting three cheap seasons of DDV. I like Jabari more than most, but even if he does well, he’s going to get paid a lot of money really soon. I think the team has to be worried about payroll.

Btw, I like your sense of humor, with the “piss them off” category and Fire away!

I want to rephrase this slightly. If you told me that an NBA POBO traded Karl Anthony Towns for Jordan Poole, Jabari Smith Jr, Keita Bates-Dion (who got cut over the 2nd apron and will cost about it 5 mil in tax for literally no production,) and a first unlikely to convey before turning into 2 2nds, would you want that POBO fired. Because if TC wants to prove that his accomplishments in Denver were not a fluke and that his leaving them right before it all fell apart was a coincidence rather than a function of poor long term planning, this is not a good way to do it. TC came to a Wolves team on the rise. The Pat Bev Wolves were forming a defensive identity and guys like KAT were turning their defense around with high wall. To go from that, to where this next round of trades takes the Wolves, TC’s reputation would be severely damaged, and his legacy tarnished. I cannot imagine either trade happening, much less both.

[Guest84]

In the, "how fast can I piss them off" category, how about Randle for Jordan Poole? Randle definitely opts out, saves Washington money for them to fix some mistakes and build appropriately. Poole, well, he could be very interesting next to Ant. Fire away....

Side note, DD to Houston for Jabari Smith Jr straight up works too....just saying....

PG - Poole, Conley, Rob
SG - Ant, Naw
SF - McDaniels, Minott
PF - Smith, Reid, Miller
C. - Rudy, Garza

Last March, Keith Smith at Spotrac ranked Jordan Poole as the second worst contract in the NBA (behind Bradley Beal, and his no trade clause). I would need a ton of incentive to trade any expiring for him.

https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2230/nbas-10-worst-value-contracts

I like DiVincenzo for Jabari Smith better, but part of the value of the KAT trade was getting three cheap seasons of DDV. I like Jabari more than most, but even if he does well, he’s going to get paid a lot of money really soon. I think the team has to be worried about payroll.

Btw, I like your sense of humor, with the “piss them off” category and Fire away!

I want to rephrase this slightly. If you told me that an NBA POBO traded Karl Anthony Towns for Jordan Poole, Jabari Smith Jr, Keita Bates-Dion (who got cut over the 2nd apron and will cost about it 5 mil in tax for literally no production,) and a first unlikely to convey before turning into 2 2nds, would you want that POBO fired. Because if TC wants to prove that his accomplishments in Denver were not a fluke and that his leaving them right before it all fell apart was a coincidence rather than a function of poor long term planning, this is not a good way to do it. TC came to a Wolves team on the rise. The Pat Bev Wolves were forming a defensive identity and guys like KAT were turning their defense around with high wall. To go from that, to where this next round of trades takes the Wolves, TC’s reputation would be severely damaged, and his legacy tarnished. I cannot imagine either trade happening, much less both.

Every time the wolves have an opportunity to build organically with promising youth, extra assets, etc, they make some goofy move for a vet that don't fit and waste their future. More recently with Rudy and Jimmy. Why can't we just build like OKC? (They had great impact but it was a rocky experience.)

Idk, Rosas was probably on his way to a pretty good roster building with youth. What exactly has TC done aside from the Gobert trade? While not going through the list specifically, have any of his picks so far panned out (excluding Rob/TSJ)??

If you were going to go after Jabari, why not just do that from the jump? I didn't know much about TC before him coming here but it's a bit underwhelming for me. Honestly, I don't think you could even get Jabari for DDV.

[winforlose]

Last March, Keith Smith at Spotrac ranked Jordan Poole as the second worst contract in the NBA (behind Bradley Beal, and his no trade clause). I would need a ton of incentive to trade any expiring for him.

https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2230/nbas-10-worst-value-contracts

I like DiVincenzo for Jabari Smith better, but part of the value of the KAT trade was getting three cheap seasons of DDV. I like Jabari more than most, but even if he does well, he’s going to get paid a lot of money really soon. I think the team has to be worried about payroll.

Btw, I like your sense of humor, with the “piss them off” category and Fire away!

I want to rephrase this slightly. If you told me that an NBA POBO traded Karl Anthony Towns for Jordan Poole, Jabari Smith Jr, Keita Bates-Dion (who got cut over the 2nd apron and will cost about it 5 mil in tax for literally no production,) and a first unlikely to convey before turning into 2 2nds, would you want that POBO fired. Because if TC wants to prove that his accomplishments in Denver were not a fluke and that his leaving them right before it all fell apart was a coincidence rather than a function of poor long term planning, this is not a good way to do it. TC came to a Wolves team on the rise. The Pat Bev Wolves were forming a defensive identity and guys like KAT were turning their defense around with high wall. To go from that, to where this next round of trades takes the Wolves, TC’s reputation would be severely damaged, and his legacy tarnished. I cannot imagine either trade happening, much less both.

Every time the wolves have an opportunity to build organically with promising youth, extra assets, etc, they make some goofy move for a vet that don't fit and waste their future. More recently with Rudy and Jimmy. Why can't we just build like OKC? (They had great impact but it was a rocky experience.)

Idk, Rosas was probably on his way to a pretty good roster building with youth. What exactly has TC done aside from the Gobert trade? While not going through the list specifically, have any of his picks so far panned out (excluding Rob/TSJ)??

If you were going to go after Jabari, why not just do that from the jump? I didn't know much about TC before him coming here but it's a bit underwhelming for me. Honestly, I don't think you could even get Jabari for DDV.

I was pissed by the offseason moves (not including the draft which I think actually probably went well. The Dilly trade wasn’t cheap, but the Ant window needs a PG of the future and good luck getting them any other way.) I was pissed by the KAT trade, and now I am pissed about the Randle effect. All of this being true, hopefully ownership is resolved in a way that the controlling party is willing to spend the money to contend and can stop actively making us worse.

[thinktank]

Here's the next 40 or so after Randle after I weeded out as many as I could. See anything you like?

47. Immanuel Quickley $32,500,000 $32,500,000 $32,500,000 $32,500,000
48. Khris Middleton $31,666,667 $34,012,345 $0 $0
51. Jerami Grant $29,793,104 $32,000,001 $34,206,898 $36,413,790
57. Nicolas Claxton $27,556,817 $25,352,272 $23,147,727 $20,943,184
58. Miles Bridges $27,173,913 $25,000,000 $22,826,087 $0
59. John Collins $26,580,000 $26,580,000 $0 $0
61. Anfernee Simons $25,892,857 $27,678,571 $0 $0
62. RJ Barrett $25,794,643 $27,705,357 $29,616,071 $0
64. Jaren Jackson Jr $25,257,798 $23,413,395 $0 $0
65. Jonathan Isaac $25,000,000 $15,000,000 $14,500,000 $14,500,000
67. Terry Rozier $24,924,126 $26,643,031 $0 $0
69. Kyle Kuzma $23,522,727 $21,477,272 $19,431,819 $0
70. DeMar DeRozan $23,400,000 $24,570,000 $25,740,000 $0
73. Brook Lopez $23,000,000 $0 $0 $0
73. Bruce Brown $23,000,000 $0 $0 $0
77. Cameron Johnson $22,500,000 $20,543,478 $22,500,000 $0
77. Malcolm Brogdon $22,500,000 $0 $0 $0
79. Clint Capela $22,265,280 $0 $0 $
81. De'Andre Hunter $21,696,429 $23,303,571 $24,910,714 $0
82. Lonzo Ball $21,395,348 $0 $0 $0
83. Marcus Smart $20,210,285 $21,586,856 $0 $0
85. Nikola Vucevic $20,000,000 $21,481,481 $0 $0
87. Myles Turner $19,928,500 $0 $0 $0
88. Jakob Poeltl $19,500,000 $19,500,000 $19,500,000 $0
89. Duncan Robinson $19,406,000 $19,888,000 $0 $0
91. Bojan Bogdanovic $19,032,850 $0 $0 $0
92. Keldon Johnson $19,000,000 $17,500,000 $17,500,000 $0
94. Collin Sexton $18,350,000 $19,175,000 $0 $0
96. Jusuf Nurkic $18,125,000 $19,375,000 $0 $0
97. Harrison Barnes $18,000,000 $19,000,000 $0 $0
97. Patrick Williams $18,000,000 $18,000,000 $18,000,000 $18,000,000
100. Bogdan Bogdanovic $17,260,000 $16,020,000 $16,020,000 $0
101. Rui Hachimura $17,000,000 $18,259,259 $0 $0
102. Kevin Huerter $16,830,357 $17,991,071 $0 $0
103. Zach Collins $16,741,200 $18,080,496 $0 $0
104. Caris LeVert $16,615,384 $0 $0 $0
105. Luguentz Dort $16,500,000 $17,722,222 $17,722,222 $0
108. Deni Avdija $15,625,000 $14,375,000 $13,125,000 $11,875,000

Jerami Grant and De'Andre Hunter are the only two that jump out to me. You need to get a PF back or we're cooked. I actually think both players would fit us really well. Probably better than Randle.

[TimberKat]

The only trade that I am interested right now is Brandon Ingram for Randle or whatever. Maybe Siakam if Pacers decides to go a different direction. I understand the salary may not work but maybe we could do it as two separate transactions or involve a 3rd team with the principal concept of we end up with less total salary than what we currently have.

[shrink]

The only trade that I am interested right now is Brandon Ingram for Randle or whatever. Maybe Siakam if Pacers decides to go a different direction. I understand the salary may not work but maybe we could do it as two separate transactions or involve a 3rd team with the principal concept of we end up with less total salary than what we currently have.

Ingram makes $36.0, Siakim makes $42.2. Since they make more than Randle, we need to aggregate, which means our total payroll has to be under the second apron ($189.5) when the transactions are completed.

Our current payroll is $199.8, so we would need to send out at least $46.3 mil for Ingram, or $52.5 mil for Siakim.

Randle makes $33.1. The gap would mean hard choices between

$43.8 Gobert
$42.2 Ant
$23.0 Jaden
$14.0 Naz
$11.4 Donte
$10.0 Conley

Also, keep in mind that we would need to come up with incentive for IND, and we would also want to pay these players going forward, which might mean not having the money to pay Naz. A trade isn’t impossible legally, but it seems very difficult to pull off.

[TimberKat]

The only trade that I am interested right now is Brandon Ingram for Randle or whatever. Maybe Siakam if Pacers decides to go a different direction. I understand the salary may not work but maybe we could do it as two separate transactions or involve a 3rd team with the principal concept of we end up with less total salary than what we currently have.

Ingram makes $36.0, Siakim makes $42.2. Since they make more than Randle, we need to aggregate, which means our total payroll has to be under the second apron ($189.5) when the transactions are completed.

Our current payroll is $199.8, so we would need to send out at least $46.3 mil for Ingram, or $52.5 mil for Siakim.

Randle makes $33.1. The gap would mean hard choices between

$43.8 Gobert
$42.2 Ant
$23.0 Jaden
$14.0 Naz
$11.4 Donte
$10.0 Conley

Also, keep in mind that we would need to come up with incentive for IND, and we would also want to pay these players going forward, which might mean not having the money to pay Naz. A trade isn’t impossible legally, but it seems very difficult to pull off.

I think you let Jaden go as incentive. Could we use Ingles + filler instead of of Donte? Hope Ingram regain all star form. Build around Ant, Ingram, Naz, Gobert with whoever

[Norseman79]

So, lets get ugly....Jordan Poole averaging more assists and 42% on 3 this year, also over a steal per game I believe. His contract is a lot, 29 mil, however, with Mike slipping (he is) and Dilly's limitations (there are), he might be a perfect fit next to Ant (Poole better as 2-3rd option, not primary). I do not like Jordan Poole, but doesn't he fit and add more than Randle?

I would happily send DD (rockets need 3pt shooting) and Miller to Rockets for Smith Jr.....why for them, Smith is about to cost more and they have a lot to pay for. He is also arguably a toss up with Eason for them, Smith just has better size Eason seems more versatile and they appear to like Eason more. DD is cheap for them to keep players in place and Miller offers a Smith-lite to replace him and develop behind Eason.

My main point is that anything coming back for Randle isn't going to be flawless, if you are expecting that, better off just keeping him and letting him walk for cap space.

[DaMplsKid]

The only trade that I am interested right now is Brandon Ingram for Randle or whatever. Maybe Siakam if Pacers decides to go a different direction. I understand the salary may not work but maybe we could do it as two separate transactions or involve a 3rd team with the principal concept of we end up with less total salary than what we currently have.

Ingram makes $36.0, Siakim makes $42.2. Since they make more than Randle, we need to aggregate, which means our total payroll has to be under the second apron ($189.5) when the transactions are completed.

Our current payroll is $199.8, so we would need to send out at least $46.3 mil for Ingram, or $52.5 mil for Siakim.

Randle makes $33.1. The gap would mean hard choices between

$43.8 Gobert
$42.2 Ant
$23.0 Jaden
$14.0 Naz
$11.4 Donte
$10.0 Conley

Also, keep in mind that we would need to come up with incentive for IND, and we would also want to pay these players going forward, which might mean not having the money to pay Naz. A trade isn’t impossible legally, but it seems very difficult to pull off.

Randle for Ingram straight up?

According to the checker here and ESPN Machine the trade works

https://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/8815387

Congratulations on a successful trade
Due to Minnesota being under the cap and choosing to invoke the Cap Room rule, Minnesota could not go over the cap by more than $100,000 of post-trade Team Salary, which did happen here.

Due to New Orleans being under the cap and choosing to invoke the Cap Room rule, New Orleans could not go over the cap by more than $100,000 of post-trade Team Salary, which did happen here.

This trade satisfies the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

[Norseman79]

The only trade that I am interested right now is Brandon Ingram for Randle or whatever. Maybe Siakam if Pacers decides to go a different direction. I understand the salary may not work but maybe we could do it as two separate transactions or involve a 3rd team with the principal concept of we end up with less total salary than what we currently have.

Ingram makes $36.0, Siakim makes $42.2. Since they make more than Randle, we need to aggregate, which means our total payroll has to be under the second apron ($189.5) when the transactions are completed.

Our current payroll is $199.8, so we would need to send out at least $46.3 mil for Ingram, or $52.5 mil for Siakim.

Randle makes $33.1. The gap would mean hard choices between

$43.8 Gobert
$42.2 Ant
$23.0 Jaden
$14.0 Naz
$11.4 Donte
$10.0 Conley

Also, keep in mind that we would need to come up with incentive for IND, and we would also want to pay these players going forward, which might mean not having the money to pay Naz. A trade isn’t impossible legally, but it seems very difficult to pull off.

Randle for Ingram straight up?

According to the checker here and ESPN Machine the trade works

https://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/8815387

Congratulations on a successful trade
Due to Minnesota being under the cap and choosing to invoke the Cap Room rule, Minnesota could not go over the cap by more than $100,000 of post-trade Team Salary, which did happen here.

Due to New Orleans being under the cap and choosing to invoke the Cap Room rule, New Orleans could not go over the cap by more than $100,000 of post-trade Team Salary, which did happen here.

This trade satisfies the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

My question is simply why would the Pelicans?

[shrink]

The only trade that I am interested right now is Brandon Ingram for Randle or whatever. Maybe Siakam if Pacers decides to go a different direction. I understand the salary may not work but maybe we could do it as two separate transactions or involve a 3rd team with the principal concept of we end up with less total salary than what we currently have.

Ingram makes $36.0, Siakim makes $42.2. Since they make more than Randle, we need to aggregate, which means our total payroll has to be under the second apron ($189.5) when the transactions are completed.

Our current payroll is $199.8, so we would need to send out at least $46.3 mil for Ingram, or $52.5 mil for Siakim.

Randle makes $33.1. The gap would mean hard choices between

$43.8 Gobert
$42.2 Ant
$23.0 Jaden
$14.0 Naz
$11.4 Donte
$10.0 Conley

Also, keep in mind that we would need to come up with incentive for IND, and we would also want to pay these players going forward, which might mean not having the money to pay Naz. A trade isn’t impossible legally, but it seems very difficult to pull off.

Randle for Ingram straight up?

According to the checker here and ESPN Machine the trade works

https://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/8815387

Congratulations on a successful trade
Due to Minnesota being under the cap and choosing to invoke the Cap Room rule, Minnesota could not go over the cap by more than $100,000 of post-trade Team Salary, which did happen here.

Due to New Orleans being under the cap and choosing to invoke the Cap Room rule, New Orleans could not go over the cap by more than $100,000 of post-trade Team Salary, which did happen here.

This trade satisfies the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

I suggest you use the Spotrac Trade Checker. It includes all the new apron rules, which are critical to our deals.

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/trade-machine/_/year/2024/team1/min/team2/nop

This deal fails because we can’t take back more salary than we send out.

[shrink]

Keep in mind that our high payroll is a very big deal.

Last year, with a very successful season and plenty of playofff games, the team only had $305 million in revenue, which was #27 in NBA. We used $165 mil for player salaries, which represent only part of all the expenses the team has.

This year we have $204 mil in salaries and $96 mil in lux taxes. Yes, the salary component just jumped to $300 mil! Revenues aren’t going to come close to covering expenses this year, and ownership is going to have to dog deep in their pocket to pay the difference.

I think the Wolves are hoping Randle simply expires, but be careful on making trades for players we need to pay next year.

[TimberKat]

Keep in mind that our high payroll is a very big deal.

Last year, with a very successful season and plenty of playofff games, the team only had $305 million in revenue, which was #27 in NBA. We used $165 mil for player salaries, which represent only part of all the expenses the team has.

This year we have $204 mil in salaries and $96 mil in lux taxes. Yes, the salary component just jumped to $300 mil! Revenues aren’t going to come close to covering expenses this year, and ownership is going to have to dog deep in their pocket to pay the difference.

I think the Wolves are hoping Randle simply expires, but be careful on making trades for players we need to pay next year.

Let Randle simply expire is not a good thing. That means we loss Towns, who is going to make the all star this year, to simple salary dump and not getting anything back. I get and also don't get the argument that will allow us to sign Naz.

[winforlose]

Keep in mind that our high payroll is a very big deal.

Last year, with a very successful season and plenty of playofff games, the team only had $305 million in revenue, which was #27 in NBA. We used $165 mil for player salaries, which represent only part of all the expenses the team has.

This year we have $204 mil in salaries and $96 mil in lux taxes. Yes, the salary component just jumped to $300 mil! Revenues aren’t going to come close to covering expenses this year, and ownership is going to have to dog deep in their pocket to pay the difference.

I think the Wolves are hoping Randle simply expires, but be careful on making trades for players we need to pay next year.

Let Randle simply expire is not a good thing. That means we loss Towns, who is going to make the all star this year, to simple salary dump and not getting anything back. I get and also don't get the argument that will allow us to sign Naz.

The 2nd apron has some pretty nasty penalties and some pretty quick salary escalations. The idea is that by saving 50+ million on KAT next year, we can let JR walk and still be able to pay Naz such that in 26/27 we are out of the 2nd apron having only been there in 24/25 and 25/26 worst case.

[Klomp]

My main point is that anything coming back for Randle isn't going to be flawless, if you are expecting that, better off just keeping him and letting him walk for cap space.

Without a doubt! We need to keep this in mind. And I would also add that Towns' salary made this to be the case for his trade. We were honestly lucky to get both Randle and DiVincenzo. It might not be the direction some of you wanted for the franchise, but Tim Connelly absolutely did NOT get fleeced in the trade.

[winforlose]

Keep in mind that our high payroll is a very big deal.

Last year, with a very successful season and plenty of playofff games, the team only had $305 million in revenue, which was #27 in NBA. We used $165 mil for player salaries, which represent only part of all the expenses the team has.

This year we have $204 mil in salaries and $96 mil in lux taxes. Yes, the salary component just jumped to $300 mil! Revenues aren’t going to come close to covering expenses this year, and ownership is going to have to dog deep in their pocket to pay the difference.

I think the Wolves are hoping Randle simply expires, but be careful on making trades for players we need to pay next year.

So, you’re half right. I agree with everything you said right up until “Revenues aren’t going to come close to covering expenses this year.” We have more national games, which in turn is more exposure which is more merch sales (especially if we can get our act together.) We have I believe fully sold out season tickets for the season (based on one of the pregame shows, I need to double check this,) presumably at a higher price point. I don’t think the new TV money applies yet, but more national games should mean more revenue as well (not 100% sure about this one.) Overall I think there is a good chance to increase total revenue to help cover new expenses. I just don’t think the ownership can expect any short term profit from this season. The long term profit comes from the increased value of the team and the influx of new tv money.

[Klomp]

The only trade that I am interested right now is Brandon Ingram for Randle or whatever. Maybe Siakam if Pacers decides to go a different direction. I understand the salary may not work but maybe we could do it as two separate transactions or involve a 3rd team with the principal concept of we end up with less total salary than what we currently have.

Ingram makes $36.0, Siakim makes $42.2. Since they make more than Randle, we need to aggregate, which means our total payroll has to be under the second apron ($189.5) when the transactions are completed.

Our current payroll is $199.8, so we would need to send out at least $46.3 mil for Ingram, or $52.5 mil for Siakim.

Randle makes $33.1. The gap would mean hard choices between

$43.8 Gobert
$42.2 Ant
$23.0 Jaden
$14.0 Naz
$11.4 Donte
$10.0 Conley

Also, keep in mind that we would need to come up with incentive for IND, and we would also want to pay these players going forward, which might mean not having the money to pay Naz. A trade isn’t impossible legally, but it seems very difficult to pull off.

Here's a thought...

Shrink just laid out three of the biggest names who could be on the trade market in February. They are all big names, but their teams may get disappointed by the offers teams might send them in return for varying reasons. In that case, perhaps those teams turn to a Julius Randle and say that might not be that bad of a return. Especially for the Pacers in the East, where at 9-13 they are only two games behind the No. 6 seed.

IND Out: Siakam
IND In: Randle

MIN Out: Randle
MIN In: 3rd team pieces

3T Out: Pieces
3T In: Siakam

[winforlose]

My main point is that anything coming back for Randle isn't going to be flawless, if you are expecting that, better off just keeping him and letting him walk for cap space.

Without a doubt! We need to keep this in mind. And I would also add that Towns' salary made this to be the case for his trade. We were honestly lucky to get both Randle and DiVincenzo. It might not be the direction some of you wanted for the franchise, but Tim Connelly absolutely did NOT get fleeced in the trade.

lol. A poor man goes shopping and tells the store employee that he needs to buy shoes for his child. The employee hears this and asks the man how much he has to spend. He tells her that he is cash rich at the moment, but next year might get tight. The employee then convinces the man that instead of buying shoes now and shoes again next year, that he should just buy some really nice socks this year, so he can use the saving to help next year. Who cares that his son won’t have shoes, it saves money in the long term.

DDV and a conditional pick for Karl is a terrible return. He isn’t even a blue chip. He chose not to be here because he wanted to be a starting SG, he will never have that here unless Ant changes positions, which he doesn’t want to. This post isn’t just funny, it is sad, flat out untrue, and disappointing from you.

[Klomp]

Keep in mind that our high payroll is a very big deal.

Last year, with a very successful season and plenty of playofff games, the team only had $305 million in revenue, which was #27 in NBA. We used $165 mil for player salaries, which represent only part of all the expenses the team has.

This year we have $204 mil in salaries and $96 mil in lux taxes. Yes, the salary component just jumped to $300 mil! Revenues aren’t going to come close to covering expenses this year, and ownership is going to have to dog deep in their pocket to pay the difference.

I think the Wolves are hoping Randle simply expires, but be careful on making trades for players we need to pay next year.

So, you’re half right. I agree with everything you said right up until “Revenues aren’t going to come close to covering expenses this year.” We have more national games, which in turn is more exposure which is more merch sales (especially if we can get our act together.) We have I believe fully sold out season tickets for the season (based on one of the pregame shows, I need to double check this,) presumably at a higher price point. I don’t think the new TV money applies yet, but more national games should mean more revenue as well (not 100% sure about this one.) Overall I think there is a good chance to increase total revenue to help cover new expenses. I just don’t think the ownership can expect any short term profit from this season. The long term profit comes from the increased value of the team and the influx of new tv money.

That's great, but it still likely leaves us well outside of the Top 20. That's what shrink is saying. We don't have the infrastructure yet until a new arena is built.