the_process wrote:smittybanton wrote:I think Denver and Portland are locks for the playoffs, with LAC, NO & UTAH fighting for the last spot. Giving up on '17 (frank jackson) and 2018 1st at a chance for the eighth seed seems like a lot. Are they over the luxury tax threshold? I've not heard that they are expected to deal their first. Would love to have it.
As for Covington, we don't need cap space to re-sign our own players. We have their Bird Rights. It's up to Josh to decide whether he wants to spend for a winner. Maximizing our space requires signing young free agents to grow with, then going over the cap to re-sign our draft picks. Not what BC has been doing. That's Josh Harris. But I digress.
Covington is eligible in November for a renegotiation and extension. Meaning you can use existing cap space to bump his salary this year, and then you can lower his salary by 40% the 2nd year, then 7.5% the 3rd and 4th years; i.e. dump Jah for nothing, then give Cov a raise to 20M this year, then drop him to 14M next year, then 13.5M, then 13M. Which works out to a 4-59.5 extension,and helps with cap room going forward.
As far as the West goes; to me Portland is almost certainly out of the playoffs, and so is Denver, unless their defenses both improve drastically. Memphis depends on what contributions Chandler Parsons gives them, and Parsons is less reliable than Embiid. So I see New Orleans as in, and trying to get as high as the 6th seed. Plus their owner is very old and wants to win now. Combine all of that and IMO they are motivated to push their chips in and try for that 1st round upset of San Antonio.
But why use existing cap space, when you can use that for a free agent, and use Covington's Bird rights to go over the cap?
Interesting take on Portland, Denver and New Orleans. Let's see!