shrink wrote:If the Wolves trade for Pau and have to spend $20 mil on him next year, how many of these things would Glen Taylor eliminate to not go far far over the lux?
Does Taylor let Pekovic walk? Tough to pay $20 for Gasol, then limit his productivity by bringing him off the bench.
Does Taylor decide not to use the MLE? That might mean no Gelabale, Chris Johnson, or Bjelica.
Does Taylor not re-sign Buddinger?
Does Taylor sell our pick, determining addition youth at triple the cost doesn't help our win-now direction?
Does Taylor decide to not cut an injured/unproductive player, because he still would need to add more salary for the replacement?
Does Taylor decide not to do a trade for a more talented player, simply because he doesn't want to add even more salary to Pau?
This is why we can't pretend money doesn't matter. If they decide to take on the over-priced Pau, it will be at the expense of other things later - probably many other things, with a $20 mil salary weighing down the payroll. You don't just lose what you give up in trade this year -- you pay Gasol two years and lose opportunities for next year too.
I think you're putting too much emphasis on the one year of Pau's deal and not enough on the four years of what a Pek extension would mean. Pau's one year will be up when we have to extend Rubio and Cunningham and AK, Pek's won't be. Can we afford $12M-$13M of Pek in 2014-2015? Or would we be better off with Pau for $8M?
Moreover, If Pek + Williams + Luke go out in a Pau deal then in offseason trade would be more or less salary neutral for 2013-2014. I'm happily putting Williams in there, because i expect by the end of the year he will no longer have positive trade value (see Flynn, Johnson) for how much he'll make.
