That happens all the time. Daniel Theis was signed last summer by Houston and then traded at the deadline.
Why are you now saying the Blazers have to trade Payton in months? Your comment was the Blazers can't resign Hart next season because of Paytons long term contract, which is what I argued against.
I can't speak for the people saying it but I suspect the reason they are taking the position Hart will be traded is because of having to re-sign him and the Vulcan seeming reluctance to pay luxury tax
but here's the thing about that: the luxury tax threshold went up by 14M from last season to this one. If you assume just a 10M jump next season (could easily be more), then next year's tax line would be around 160M
now, if you assume Hart opts-out of the final year of his deal, then the Blazers would be at around 120M in payroll for 10 players. And they have Grant-Hart-Winslow as FA's. Eubanks will be FA to but I don't think he has an impact of this equation. Obviously, Winslow would be 3rd priority. And Grant 1st priority. Blazers have 40M under the tax to work with. I don't know what Grant will get. I'm thinking 25M. That would be 28M/year. That might even be a little high. Anyway, that leaves 15M under the line. Say Hart gets all of that. That would be a contract paying him 17M/year.
that would have Portland at the tax line with 12 players. 2 minimum contract guys would put Portland 3-4M over the line resulting in a 4-6M tax bill. Is that really so onerous? And remember, the tax line could actually be higher than the 160M used in the assumption. Obvously, the Grant/Hart contracts could be higher as well but I'd think 28M/year for Grant and 17M/year for Hart are in a realistic ballpark
another factor: set Simons aside for a minute. So the next consideration is Shape/Hart/Payton. If Payton was an actual PG his 6'2 size wouldn't be an issue. But he's not. Meaning the assumption that Hart is the odd man out among the 3 seems pretty shaky. I did not like the Payton signing; not with hard-capping the team. I thought it was a mistake. Maybe Payton's play will change my mind, but I am really tired of Portland length-deficient rosters.
it's way early, but Hart is averaging 11pts-9reb-4ast-2stl with an assist/turnover ratio over 2.0 and a 12% usage rate. All of that while playing good defense and leading the team in hustle and intensity. It's next to impossible for me to imagine Payton producing at a higher level or having a bigger impact