The hypothetical is for it to be RIGHT NOW, not next season. If a real one happens, it won't be for years. We're talking 2020 at the absolutely earliest.
If Mills is a FA, how do you protect him? The Expansion draft wouldn't be until after this season and Mills is a FA at that point. There's nothing to protect there. If Pau opts out then there is nothing to protect there either. If he opts in then you have a point.
The hypothetical is for it to be RIGHT NOW, not next season. If a real one happens, it won't be for years. We're talking 2020 at the absolutely earliest.
Then yes I agree...if they did it today you'd be correct.
If we're talking this season, expansion drafts take place before the draft and free agency. So Gasol is still a FA under this scenario and Manu was to become a free agent. Dedmon and Lee were not on the squad yet either.
Assuming you would have to protect foreign assets that are not yet under contract, I'd then go Kawhi, LMA, Parker, Green, Anderson, Mills and two of LJC, Bertans, Milutinov assuming you had to protect them.
Diaw would not have been protected (if trying to clear cap space) and nor would Duncan if known he was retiring. Though could have protected Diaw not knowing Gasol was signing. Simmons goes unprotected unless you don't need to protect the Euros.
Next offseason isn't very difficult either. It's Kawhi, LMA, Green, Anderson, Murray, LJC, Bertans = 7. Parker gets you to 8 unless you're trying to unload the last year of his deal.
Gasol, Lee and Dedmon are player options so no need to protect them. Manu and Mills are UFAs and Simmons is a RFA.
Kawhi converting Pistons fans to his krew.
It's kind of a rhetorical question, since it won't happen this year or the next, and Parker's contract will be over anyway. But if it happened right now? What would the Spurs do... move Patty to starting PG, and go looking for a replacement backup? (We're already struggling to figure out a third string point.) Because there aren't a lot of teams out there looking to let go of starter-caliber PG's. And the Spurs would likely have to give up another piece or pick to make a deal like that happen.
If you expose Parker, he would quite possibly be the best PG available, and at a price that isn't out of line with this year's salary increases. Losing him outright would be the equivalent of tanking this season. The Spurs didn't think that was a good idea, or they would have done it during the offseason. For the Spurs to have even a remote chance of winning it all this season, they have to have the 5 obvious starters, plus Patty and Manu. For the eighth? Right this minute I would probably pick Murray, because of his potential and the fact that his contract will keep him around longer than most of the rest. You could probably risk Manu, because of his age and contract, so Kyle is probably the next one on the list to protect. But if Manu got snatched, the bench would be ed.
BTW - even if they only added 2 new teams, that would mean there would be 30 additional players in the league. If there were 30 additional good players sitting around waiting for a job, the Spurs wouldn't be struggling with the bottom third of their roster so much. (Nor would a lot of other teams.) Even people who don't like Parker have to see that he's not expendable on this roster. So if you exposed him, you would have to replace him with a player who is: 1)available, 2)affordable, and 3)as good or better. And the replacement pool is going to be shallower than it is right now. Which makes guys like Lap and Murray more necessary than they are right now.
Last edited by GSH; 10-14-2016 at 01:36 PM.
Schroder just resigned with the Hawks for 70 million for 4 years. Mills will get over 50 million for 4 years.
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