Wallace had nothing to do with deal

[jman3134]

Yeah, but why not sign another rookie minimum like Johnson? DJ Kennedy, someone like that.

[darkangle901]

I think maybe the reason they pulled the trigger now is the schedule. I think maybe they thought they could wrangle a first round pick or an extra 2nd rounder out of the trade by waiting, but decided that it was best to make this deal early.

February is probably the easiest month of the schedule, so it does make sense to make a deal at the end of January, so that we can let our new team learn to play together and hopefully not give away too many games in the process.

They still should have gotten more though.

[jefe]

Yeah, but why not sign another rookie minimum like Johnson? DJ Kennedy, someone like that.

That's exactly my point. If the Rudy Gay trade was rushed to avoid handing out a minor contract, then I don't know what to think.

[jman3134]

I see what you are saying there, but with the exception of Gay and Prince, what was the salary differential before and after both trades? I think the two trades were inextricably linked. The first trade signaled that we were dumping salary- we would stop at nothing to avoid paying the luxury tax. The second trade gave us a bunch of expendable replacement parts/trade bait.

Your theory would only ring true imo if we consistently have the minimum number of players on the roster. Or maybe, like you said, we get rid of Johnson. Still, I don't see that happening.

Edit: If it were true, it would be an example of the saying, "penny wise, dollar foolish."