Exclusive Ayton is agreeing to buyout

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I believe he is willing to take a buyout also. Got the impression in his end of season statement that he wasn't planning on being here.
We can't just buy Jerami out. That's just too much dead money on the books. It makes no sense.

I'm sure you know this but the buyout number isn't what stays on your books as far as cap hits, it's the entire contract... you could stretch it but that would be an even more monumental disaster.

It's a trade or Jerami stays.
 
That makes even less sense with Ayton gone.

Can they re-sign Walker later for cheaper if no one else offers more?

I posted a couple of days ago, wondering if they were choosing between Walker and Duop. Not exactly the same type of player, but pretty close. About the same size with Duop is about 7 lbs heavier.

Neither can really defend the perimeter, but Walker may be a little bit better at it. While Reath is probably better built for the 3rd string center.
 
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I was looking at possible reasons for why they weren't willing to take on salary next year, but I couldn't really come up with anything.

I thought it was because we'd be able to generate cap space, but with the existing rosters + roster holds + Sharpe's 25M cap hold next year + 20M Camara extension, the Blazers would already be over the 152M cap for next year. Maybe if they had a deal that unloaded Grant for expiring contracts then it would make more sense, but I highly doubt that's on the table.
 
I was looking at possible reasons for why they weren't willing to take on salary next year, but I couldn't really come up with anything.

I thought it was because we'd be able to generate cap space, but with the existing rosters + roster holds + Sharpe's 25M cap hold next year + 20M Camara extension, the Blazers would already be over the 152M cap for next year. Maybe if they had a deal that unloaded Grant for expiring contracts then it would make more sense, but I highly doubt that's on the table.
Might also be related to team being for sale, don't make any additional large commitments except obvious deals like extending Camara
 
I was looking at possible reasons for why they weren't willing to take on salary next year, but I couldn't really come up with anything.

I thought it was because we'd be able to generate cap space, but with the existing rosters + roster holds + Sharpe's 25M cap hold next year + 20M Camara extension, the Blazers would already be over the 152M cap for next year. Maybe if they had a deal that unloaded Grant for expiring contracts then it would make more sense, but I highly doubt that's on the table.
That is a reason why the Ayton and Ant moves confuse me. Wish we would have went all in on trying to get cap space for lopsided deals in this cba world.
 
Could easily be they view Jrue as a useful piece to the team and the way they wanna play, and Ayton was only going to bring back bad players with bad money. Seems to make a lot of sense to me.
 
Also bringing in two or more multi year deals for our expirings is different than just one.
 
Any rich billionaire who is looking at buying an NBA franchise is looking at a long-term return on their investment. The current roster is not a big factor.
 
I was looking at possible reasons for why they weren't willing to take on salary next year, but I couldn't really come up with anything.

I thought it was because we'd be able to generate cap space, but with the existing rosters + roster holds + Sharpe's 25M cap hold next year + 20M Camara extension, the Blazers would already be over the 152M cap for next year. Maybe if they had a deal that unloaded Grant for expiring contracts then it would make more sense, but I highly doubt that's on the table.

Getting their team salary cleaned up for moving forward is simply what they need to do. As you say -- Camara, Sharpe, et.al. of the keepers (and whoever makes that list) will need their $$$.
Not stretching Ayton's dollars to 2-3 years would be best. They don't need to pursue a free agent with the non-taxpayer MLE; they don't really need to worry about being hard-capped for just a year. Even worse, stretching Grant for 3 years or longer is prohibitively insane.
 
I was looking at possible reasons for why they weren't willing to take on salary next year, but I couldn't really come up with anything.

I thought it was because we'd be able to generate cap space, but with the existing rosters + roster holds + Sharpe's 25M cap hold next year + 20M Camara extension, the Blazers would already be over the 152M cap for next year. Maybe if they had a deal that unloaded Grant for expiring contracts then it would make more sense, but I highly doubt that's on the table.
Maybe Sharpe will earn $40+ million? (its not the cap hold - the actual salary and luxury tax level are the most relevant)
Maybe they want to resign Thybulle or Timelord?
Maybe they want an MLE free agent this summer or next summer?
Maybe the contracts offered into next season were junk deals and would tie up that cap space as well as a roster spot?
Maybe they want flexibility to add salary in a Grant or Jrue trade and not be right up against the cap.

There is not a good reason to take on 2026-27 salary unless there is a clear benefit which appears there was not.
 
I'm a little skeptical, but if he 'knew' he could get a full-MLE from some team he would come out ahead. Give up 11M; sign for 14M
Ayton has made quite a bit in his career - so perhaps his camps thinking is he gives up 11 even with the chance he would sign somewhere between 6-14. Might believe he can showcase for his next contract far better on a team like the Lakers with Luka.
 
We could have anyways.

Kemba Walker?

If you mean Jabari Walker - that has nothing to do with Ayton.

Jabari qualifying offer was only about $3 million I believe so Blazers either plan to not bring him back or think they can sign him for less.

I thought we were full on roster spots?

If that's the case, I think after waiving Ayton, they bring Walker back. Especially if they believe they will be also moving Grant. I thought Walker played well with Clingan at the end of the season last year and we are light on PG’s right now.
 

Pretty surprising it was such a large salary forfeit. This makes it pretty clearly a smart decision.

What if Ayton signs for full MLE of 14 million - then we'd save about $16 million off the cap or so?
 
I thought we were full on roster spots?

If that's the case, I think after waiving Ayton, they bring Walker back. Especially if they believe they will be also moving Grant. I thought Walker played well with Clingan at the end of the season last year and we are light on PG’s right now.
The 15 man roster limit isn't until October.

Qualifying offer that Blazers didn't give to Walker has nothing to do with roster limit either.
 
I thought we were full on roster spots?

If that's the case, I think after waiving Ayton, they bring Walker back. Especially if they believe they will be also moving Grant. I thought Walker played well with Clingan at the end of the season last year and we are light on PG’s right now.
In the offseason you can go over the 15 roster spot limit, just need to be down by the regular season or thereabouts
 

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