A More Nuanced Look at the DPE Extension

[travis2]

I realize that this one will make someone question what I am smoking, and I'm not putting this forth as any real possibility, but...

Given that the Spurs are above the cap but below the tax (this season, anyway), and the Warriors are well into luxury tax territory...Klay Thompson has 1 year left on his contract. He is within $1M of KL's salary, so even if the Spurs would need to take a low-salary junk player (or two) to make it more palatable, the numbers should work.

Thoughts?

[K...]

I realize that this one will make someone question what I am smoking, and I'm not putting this forth as any real possibility, but...

Given that the Spurs are above the cap but below the tax (this season, anyway), and the Warriors are well into luxury tax territory...Klay Thompson has 1 year left on his contract. He is within $1M of KL's salary, so even if the Spurs would need to take a low-salary junk player (or two) to make it more palatable, the numbers should work.

Thoughts?

Uh Klay would walk, we couldn't tank unless we trade him and LMA, it makes the warriors less beatable, so no it's bad. Maybe a three team trade, but still why strengthen the warrrios?

[SpursforSix]

I realize that this one will make someone question what I am smoking, and I'm not putting this forth as any real possibility, but...

Given that the Spurs are above the cap but below the tax (this season, anyway), and the Warriors are well into luxury tax territory...Klay Thompson has 1 year left on his contract. He is within $1M of KL's salary, so even if the Spurs would need to take a low-salary junk player (or two) to make it more palatable, the numbers should work.

Thoughts?

why would I want Klay when I've got Mills?

[DPG21920]

Wouldn’t want Klay

[TD 21]

He can't requalify for the extension, because he'll be a free agent. Sure he can qualify for the bigger FA contract, but if that's his goal, why would that bother SA? He'd have to earn it, which means a great season for the Spurs.

Sure if Philly signs PG AND Lebron they won't be able to trade for Kawhi. But every team who missed out on those guys will only be more desperate. The Spurs miss out on undifferentiated picks, but plenty of offers thrown out there weren't based on those anyway

Because they'd run the risk of his leaving for nothing the following off season.

Few teams have both 1) have the requisite disposable assets and 2) a realistic shot at re-signing him.

[Chinook]

Because they'd run the risk of his leaving for nothing the following off season.

Few teams have both 1) have the requisite disposable assets and 2) a realistic shot at re-signing him.

That's not really a risk though. Kawhi can't get the DPE from any other team. If he plays the season out with the express goal of requalifying, he's not going anywhere.

Most teams who can trade for Kawhi now aren't using cap space or have picks as their main incentive. Those that are may have selected players SA likes. While I think every team would appreciate having Kawhi as soon as possible, for a player of his caliber, they'd make an exception.

[TD 21]

That's not really a risk though. Kawhi can't get the DPE from any other team. If he plays the season out with the express goal of requalifying, he's not going anywhere.

Most teams who can trade for Kawhi now aren't using cap space or have picks as their main incentive. Those that are may have selected players SA likes. While I think every team would appreciate having Kawhi as soon as possible, for a player of his caliber, they'd make an exception.

Things can change though. There's already been problems, so whose to say they won't resurface? And if they do without him signed, the Spurs will have lost virtually all leverage going into the trade deadline.

The focus should be specifically on the 76ers. If they sign James and/or George, the Spurs would lose leverage.

[rjv]

one thing to consider is that the draft takes place before teams can start talking to free agents so if you are the 76ers, do you stand pat on draft night and pick the player best suited to your needs or do you draft a player with the spurs in mind in case you later trade that player in a package for leonard? in other words, how can philly make a trade with SA on or before draft night if they don't even know the outcome of free agency yet? all i can guess is that they have an order of what players they want most and they will act accordingly.

[DPG21920]

From what I've been able to gather, the Spurs cannot include any incentives in Kawhi's extension. Maybe DPG21920 or another avid tweeter on here can reach out to Mark Deeks or Larry Coon or another cap guy and confirm. But it seems like the best compromise for both sides is to give Kawhi a deal with max incentives so that Kawhi gets a deal worth well more than the any other team could give if he returns to form but doesn't break the bank too much if he doesn't.

Provided that my understanding of incentives is incorrect, this is the contract I'd pitch:

Year	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023		Total	Average
Total	$37,117,500	$34,148,100	$34,148,100	$37,117,500	$40,086,900		$182,618,100	$36,523,620
Base	$31,815,000	$29,269,805	$29,269,805	$31,815,005	$34,360,206		$156,529,821	$31,305,964
Incentives	$5,302,500	$4,878,295	$4,878,295	$5,302,495	$5,726,694		$26,088,279	$5,217,656

Contrast that with a max offer from another team:

Year	2019	2020	2021	2022		Total	Average
Total	$31,815,000	$33,405,750	$34,996,500	$36,587,250		$136,804,500	$34,201,125

$20 Million more guaranteed with the upside of $46 Million more. If he gets a PO in that final year, he'd make more in the first four seasons anyway if he plays at the caliber he used to. If he doesn't, SA gets him for a large but manageable contract. We're talking $60 Million less over the five seasons. Even if he's MVP caliber each year of the deal, SA saves about $33 Million over the life of the deal.

So I looked to confirm this and it appears what you read is correct; no incentives in the DPE contract.