hoopsjock
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I kinda agree with both of you.That's a false dichotomy that you are setting up there.
Portland could be spending $200M is salary & still have a lotto level team.
Just because they 'spend money' doesn't mean that they are any better. Also, if they make a move to duck the tax - it doesn't mean that they are not committed to winning.
The moves we're talking about here are minor and will not move the needle.
Unprotecting our pick with Chicago and using Bledsoe's contract to attach multiple assets and go after a star, would've been a way to show they're willing to do whatever it takes. There's been a ton of examples of teams doing this in recent years including Minnesota with Rudy Gobert and Atlanta with Dejounte Murray the past week.
Would going for it like that lead to a contender? Maybe not, but by hard capping themselves they basically rule out even the possibility of that being an option.
Now, maybe that's smart not to risk the future on an all-in move. If they duck the tax in this particular situation to me it does signify that they were never really interested in trying to go all-in. That could be the correct decision, but it's still letting financial decisions affect basketball decisions.