duncan228
06-27-2008, 11:37 PM
I put this here because of the piece about the Spurs. Please move if it belongs in NBA Central.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA06208.4D.BKN.COLmonroe.nba.3feb960.html
Mike Monroe: Trade helps Nets set up throne for King James
Hours before Thursday night's draft, Nets' general manager Kiki Vandeweghe fired the first shot of the day, trading an All-Star for two players who didn't match Richard Jefferson's scoring average, even when you added up their per-game production.
The conclusion was inescapable: New Jersey had just jumped into the LeBron James 2010 Sweepstakes, with both feet.
The draft is all about the future, and that is why the move the Nets made was so significant, even if it didn't involve any picks. Bobby Simmons, one of the Bucks Vandeweghe accepted in exchange for Jefferson, will make $10.6 million in 2009-10. Then the Nets can renounce their rights to him and drop that amount from their player payroll on July 1. Yi Jianlian, the other former Bucks player on his way to New Jersey, will be on the cap then for about $4 million, if the Nets want to keep him.
Jefferson?
He is to make $15 million in 2010-11.
Do the math.
The Nets also got some immediate help from the draft, Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson, two bigs who can score.
The big draft night winner, though, was Minnesota. For once, it seems Kevin McHale pulled all the right strings. He kept O.J. Mayo away from the Clippers, then used him to get the draftee he wanted, Kevin Love, plus Mike Miller, from Memphis.
Plug Miller, one of the league's best perimeter shooters, and old-school big man Love into a lineup that already has Al Jefferson, Randy Foye and Corey Brewer and the Timberwolves will be in the Western playoff field in a year or two. They also jettisoned a bloated contract (Marko Jaric) and can dump Brian Cardinal's $4.9 million in — you guessed it — 2010.
Other draft night winners:
•The Bulls, who finally have a true point guard and a chance to move the combo guard he will replace.
•The Heat, who got the draft's only potential superstar. Of course, they will have to talk some team into taking Shawn Marion off their hands. If Michael Beasley is this draft's version of Amare Stoudemire — and he is — how long before Marion, with one of the league's most fragile egos, is unhappy being the No. 3 option?
•The Spurs, who got a player at pick 26 they had ranked in the top 15.
You can't truly evaluate draft night without keeping in mind that potentially power-changing summer of 2010. So, even as the Spurs celebrated their selection of IUPUI guard George Hill as one that instantly improves a team that was thisclose to making another trip to the NBA Finals, they understood that the field of teams in position to be powerful players in the summer of 2010 got more crowded.
Remember: Tim Duncan extended his contact last fall, and a major part of his new deal allows his salary to dip by nearly $3.5 million on July 1, 2010, just as James, Dwyane Wade, Carlos Boozer and some other very talented players hit the free agent market.
The Spurs are poised to hit that summer with plenty of dough to spend on free agents, even those looking for maximum deals. If it seems odd that the Spurs insist all three of their draft picks have a good chance to make the roster, especially for a team that has had a practice of stashing draft picks overseas, try to understand the economics.
Going forward with three 2008 picks, none of whom will be making more than $1.16 million on July 1, 2010, plus 2005 selection Ian Mahinmi, who will be on the cap then at $1.78 million, will give the Spurs lots of salary cap flexibility. This will even allow them to add a free agent this summer, perhaps for the full mid-level exception of just under $6 million, and still be 2010 players.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA06208.4D.BKN.COLmonroe.nba.3feb960.html
Mike Monroe: Trade helps Nets set up throne for King James
Hours before Thursday night's draft, Nets' general manager Kiki Vandeweghe fired the first shot of the day, trading an All-Star for two players who didn't match Richard Jefferson's scoring average, even when you added up their per-game production.
The conclusion was inescapable: New Jersey had just jumped into the LeBron James 2010 Sweepstakes, with both feet.
The draft is all about the future, and that is why the move the Nets made was so significant, even if it didn't involve any picks. Bobby Simmons, one of the Bucks Vandeweghe accepted in exchange for Jefferson, will make $10.6 million in 2009-10. Then the Nets can renounce their rights to him and drop that amount from their player payroll on July 1. Yi Jianlian, the other former Bucks player on his way to New Jersey, will be on the cap then for about $4 million, if the Nets want to keep him.
Jefferson?
He is to make $15 million in 2010-11.
Do the math.
The Nets also got some immediate help from the draft, Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson, two bigs who can score.
The big draft night winner, though, was Minnesota. For once, it seems Kevin McHale pulled all the right strings. He kept O.J. Mayo away from the Clippers, then used him to get the draftee he wanted, Kevin Love, plus Mike Miller, from Memphis.
Plug Miller, one of the league's best perimeter shooters, and old-school big man Love into a lineup that already has Al Jefferson, Randy Foye and Corey Brewer and the Timberwolves will be in the Western playoff field in a year or two. They also jettisoned a bloated contract (Marko Jaric) and can dump Brian Cardinal's $4.9 million in — you guessed it — 2010.
Other draft night winners:
•The Bulls, who finally have a true point guard and a chance to move the combo guard he will replace.
•The Heat, who got the draft's only potential superstar. Of course, they will have to talk some team into taking Shawn Marion off their hands. If Michael Beasley is this draft's version of Amare Stoudemire — and he is — how long before Marion, with one of the league's most fragile egos, is unhappy being the No. 3 option?
•The Spurs, who got a player at pick 26 they had ranked in the top 15.
You can't truly evaluate draft night without keeping in mind that potentially power-changing summer of 2010. So, even as the Spurs celebrated their selection of IUPUI guard George Hill as one that instantly improves a team that was thisclose to making another trip to the NBA Finals, they understood that the field of teams in position to be powerful players in the summer of 2010 got more crowded.
Remember: Tim Duncan extended his contact last fall, and a major part of his new deal allows his salary to dip by nearly $3.5 million on July 1, 2010, just as James, Dwyane Wade, Carlos Boozer and some other very talented players hit the free agent market.
The Spurs are poised to hit that summer with plenty of dough to spend on free agents, even those looking for maximum deals. If it seems odd that the Spurs insist all three of their draft picks have a good chance to make the roster, especially for a team that has had a practice of stashing draft picks overseas, try to understand the economics.
Going forward with three 2008 picks, none of whom will be making more than $1.16 million on July 1, 2010, plus 2005 selection Ian Mahinmi, who will be on the cap then at $1.78 million, will give the Spurs lots of salary cap flexibility. This will even allow them to add a free agent this summer, perhaps for the full mid-level exception of just under $6 million, and still be 2010 players.