MartinsIzAfraud wrote:Now this would definitely change depending on what happens with TRoss/Vuc. Would see this as a cap clearing trade to go all in on 2020 FA chase.
Even if the Magic let Ross and Vucevic go, the Magic will more than likely not be able to spend cap in 2020.
Fultz and Isaac become restricted free agents in the summer of 2021. That means that the Magic will need to conserve cap space to retain them that summer. If they are anywhere near to the quality of players that Magic fans and the front office hope they'll be - at bare minimum they'll each get a 20% of salary cap contract, which is what Aaron Gordon got, but both will be eligible for 25% of salary cap max contracts. That means the Magic have to save for two potential salaries that will occupy 40 to 50% of their entire cap space. Salaries that the prior year will have been 5-10% of their total cap.
Then the following summer Aaron Gordon hits unrestricted free agency. He'll be eligible for a 30% of salary cap max...and the summer after that Bamba hits restricted free agency.
Jeff Weltman has continued to state that they just do not have a lot of flexibility with cap space. He's not lying.
This is the cap condition that occurs with teams that accumulate multiple rookie scale contracts that end in 1-3 year clusters. Within that short span, teams go from a 1/3 of their key players each earning $3m-$7m suddenly jumping to +$15m to $28m each. This nearly always starts to force premature roster decisions to avoid deep luxury tax issues...and because of that those moves rarely end up being good transactions.
This is why I continue to say, the Magic need to retain their assets and maintain a competitive baseline. This keeps trade value's up and improves the development of ALL players. It is also important to front load the structure of their new contracts. This allows the Magic to have multiple asset options at the trade deadline in 2020 to help resolve how they approach that jump in their payroll.
It's like they wanted to die
