I have to object, that was not merely an attempt, I accomplished actual condescension. But okay, your question is fair enough.
Dragic’s 19M contract had to be cleared out of the way. Is the basic answer. I don’t know how much remained on that, but at this point in the season perhaps 1/3 of it, or a little less, maybe 6M, to fulfill that contract. Just using guesstimates and simple arithmetic, call it 6M, for purposes of discussion.
Compare to a buyout of Thad, a contract of 14M. Same simple guesstimate, 1/3 of that, 4.7M.
So it’s - very roughly - a difference of maybe 2M (?) between buying out Thad versus Dragic, at this point of the season. Not very much in terms of NBA player salaries.
Mentioning that on the way by.
From the point of view of another team, if Dragic is bought out, that 6M goes away, and they can sign him for the vet minimum, rest-of-season. The NBA reimburses teams that sign vets to minimums, so the net to the team is 1.7M, now, per season. The rest-of-season is prorated, so take 1/3 of that, by the same rough guesstimate as above, call it 600k.
Many teams would pay Dragic 600k, for the rest of the year, when they wouldn’t pay him 6M. Is the idea, even if these numbers are not precise at all.
So when you see the widespread interest in Dragic, that’s at 600k, not 6M.
If the Spurs had tried to trade Dragic, it could only have been at the 6M figure, under his preexisting contract, since that was what the Spurs held. Hard to find takers, there, who would give the Spurs 6M in value back for him.
About the trade with the Raps, as long as we’re here…
The Spurs moved Thad, who would have cost 4.7M (?) to buy out, if he demanded full value, and they opened that roster spot.
They moved Eubanks, opening that roster spot, and removing that 600k (?) of remaining salary.
In gaining the Rap’s pick, and losing the Piston’s pick, they moved up in the draft by 10 spots (?). The actual change is unknown at this time, but the 1st rd pick has got to be higher than the 2nd.
They got Dragic, intending a buyout at 6M (?).
I don’t have the actual numbers. But at the bottom line, it appears the net result is, the Spurs paid only 1 or 2M for whatever distance they’ll move up in the draft. Even if they ultimately move up only five spots it ought to be worth that.