There is no doubt we will have to offer JR the entire MLE to even have a shot at him.
I don't know if Denver can match that.
Based upon comments that I've read from their coach, it seemed to me that Karl simply was disgusted with Smith.
There is no doubt we will have to offer JR the entire MLE to even have a shot at him.
I don't know if Denver can match that.
except the Spurs aren't even close to luxury tax.
Yeah, I understand. My point is fans on message boards are willing to spend the company money more than owners are which was my response to Nugget message board fans saying Nugg ownership will pay the luxury tax.
Ah,
that is very true.
Thats why I always find it funny when fans rip the ownership of the team when that said owner is forking out over 80 million to a basketball team's payroll, that its cheap that they don't want want to pay more than 12 million plus another matching 12.
I would argue that fans who follow a team closely know enough about that team to make reasonable predictions on the course of action taken if there's a consensus among the fans.
Spurs fans consensus is that the Spurs aren't willingly going to go into major luxury tax, though they've skirted into it in the past.
Denver fan consensus at least from the board I frequent (have to be a member to even read) is that JR Smith will be matched up to the MLE based on their understanding of Kroenke.
George Karl is usually disgusted with all of his players and will throw them under the bus very easily, then talk them up just as easily.
Skirted yes.Spurs fans consensus is that the Spurs aren't willingly going to go into major luxury tax, though they've skirted into it in the past.
Go full blown, Dallas Mavericks into it?
No.
...as the Nug fans are with their owner's money. $12M is a load to pay for a bench player who's your #4 scorer.
Denver has made some HUGE cap errors in the last 4-5 years. You just can't pay your starting five $10-11 M each, on average, and stay in business in mid level market. I don't see this as a move to keep Smith, I see it as a desperate bid to shed ANY salary they can with those 8 players and $78M already on the books, and needing to sign a minimum of 5 more players to make up the minimum 13 man roster.
Uh, with 8 players and $78M on the payroll, they'll kind of ing have to, to the tune of an extra $13M with an incomplete roster of 8 of 13 needed spots. The only question is "how much?".
Mixed. It's harder to be a total screw up in the lottery.
Yeah he drafted Kwame, but has gotten Felton and others so it is a true mixed.
From what I remembered hearing from Karl at the end of the year, they were gonna try and shed some weight off their salary cap to get themselves closer or outta the luxury tax. It mite have to do with ownership gettin tired of payin in the luxury tax and getting nothing in return.
re: paying the tax for the #4 scorer . . .
The Nuggets knew they'd be in serious tax when they gave Nene $60 million for 6 years, and he was the 5th scorer and wasn't even a starter when Camby and Martin were healthy and they still had years left on their deals.
Kroenke has proven he'll spend the money for the players he wants to keep.
What's mid-market size to him? Kroenke's on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthy and according to figures I've seen his net worth is about 26 times that of Peter Holt.
Just because the Nuggets didn't match an RFA contract for their 3rd string 30 year old center in Elson at the time doesn't mean they won't pay up for a 22 year old who would be starting on most teams. And they still have Iverson coming off the books next summer.
When they made those moves, they thought they could put together a deep playoff team. It didn't work, and now they're stuck with a load of contracts. Very rich owners pay out the ying yang...for a while. See: Cuban, Mark; Allen, Paul. Eventually, they realize that they are going to burn through a load of their own fortunes, and that while they can do it, they probably shouldn't, and they stop free spending, and get more within what their market will support.
Three year full MLE contract, third year player option. Put in some penalty bonuses for NOT making the second round. I guarantee you Denver wouldn't touch it. He'd be unrestricted in two years, and he'd either walk, or Denver would be right back in tax jail.
In Denver's minds, they are a deep playoff team. That's why Karl hasn't been fired to start over, Melo hasn't been traded, etc. In their minds they have legitimate excuses as to why they weren't deep in the playoffs, among them Nene spent the year recovering from cancer and Kenyon Martin was still in the process of 'rebuilding his career' as Karl puts it. So they think next year they'll be a contender with a healthy Nene and Martin, and with Karl's new gameplans and his talk of how he learned so much and all they need is a good match-up.
re: your contract proposal, I don't see what your guarantee is based on. I don't know of any penalties any team could write into a contract that could cir vent the MLE allowed in the cba. Besides, in two years time they won't be in tax jail, as it is now they'll be free from about $30 million of salary due to Iverson and Camby.
A lot of things about Denver's decision making is moronic. What's unclear is what direction they are leaning. Are they shedding the pick to free up money to sign JR Smith, or are they beginning a trend of fiscal sanity, of which they don't want to go into luxury tax by paying through the nose by matching a contract for JR?
The beauty is, if they match, you just wait two years and go after him in 2010 if all the big fish are gone. Camby and Iverson are the only ones on that team with any heart or balls. If you let them go, you're stuck with CryMelo, ChokeMart, and Nene? Yuck.
They're an organization in their own little world, and Nene's monster contract when there were no other bidders, he wasn't a starter and hadn't lived up to potential, and there were two other highly paid big men there already is just one example of what goes on there. And that plays into how I can easily see them matching any offer on JR Smith.
Denver is just very disfunctional. Remember that news reports were of Karl declaring it was either him or Melo and that they couldn't co-exist? Well now Melo is there for good and Karl still hasn't resigned or been fired. Karl will tear his players down but then sing their praises. He would complain about how eccentric they were but gush about how much he learned from them. He'd make excuses that the reason the Nuggets hadn't won a series was that they had bad match-ups, once they got a good one and won a series they'd snowball into success. He blamed Nene's cancer. He'd declare that a practice after being down 2-0 would be 'optional' for the players. Karl also said in the post-LA series presser that it wasn't up to him to 'philosiphize' (his quote) on why the team only played hard when they were finished.
Do you understand about the luxury cap? If we tendered a MLE deal to JR, it would effectively cost them $10 million a year to keep him. And they're already 10 million over the lux tax without him.
Ya motha f'r I understand the luxury cap, obviously the Nuggets are more than willing to pay the tax to keep players they think will help them win, JR fits that bill, so I can see them matching and paying the tax to keep the talented 22 year old.
Depends on whether the Nuggets think their window is still open. hasn't worked out so far. I think they'll keep JR if they can get rid of some big ass contract.
But who will take that?
Which is why they have been shopping camby around I think...
If they can find a suckerrrrrrrr taker for Nene or someone along those lines, they will keep him probobly.
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