dckingsfan wrote:Think about the costs for a backup PG against the luxury tax savings - quite an affordable contract then, no? + they get Luwawu-Cabarrot who I feel will improve their with that brand of basketball.
If he is found guilty and can't play the games he is automatically docked that pay (and that too comes off the luxury tax penalty). The perfect case for them would be if Schroder couldn't play the first 40 games (luxury tax penalty wise).
I think the risk/reward matrix is too great not to jump at the opportunity, no?
Is it really? Everyone talks about it from a savings standpoint this season versus having Melo, but if they would have stretched Melo and signed a minimum backup PG, they'd be paying over $20 million less given the tax this season than they would be with the current trade. That would have been the true money-saving move. And it would have been an even bigger cap saving move because it would have kept them less exposed to the repeater tax in subsequent seasons.
So it isn't a money-saving trade, let's consider if it helps them. Schroder is talented, for sure, but he's a guy who absolutely needs to dominate the ball; he's pretty darn horrible off the ball as he can't shoot, and he isn't a defender, either. He's a terrible, terrible fit next to Westbrook. As a backup for Westbrook? Sure, but finding guards who can take and miss lots of shots isn't necessarily as hard as it sounds. He's still young and can improve, for sure, but he's also 24 and has been largely the same player the past few seasons so it seems pretty likely that he is what he is.
As for Luwawu, he's an interesting flyer, but he's also 23 and been really pretty bad in his 2 seasons thus far. I don't really see how he factors into the equation here. The Thunder could have found any number of cheap young wings on the market for the minimum at this point that would be as good as Luwawu without having had to take back Schroeder's contract.
Like I've been saying, I can absolutely see it for the Thunder. So long as they're okay paying the money, great, it's just money. And there is very much the possibility that Schroeder matures and makes them look great in the trade. It's a pretty expensive financial shot to take, though, when compared with stretching Melo. I actually think the Thunder made this play not so much for Schroeder himself but in the hopes that they find a way to move his contract - something they wouldn't have been able to do with a stretched Melo contract. Basically, they're paying more this season in the hopes of paying less in future seasons.
Cavs