First, nobody really goes to "lengths" to protect him. People defend a move. People understand moves made. Some don't. Some whine about anything done now, because of what happened previously, with losing Aldridge.
Cleveland doesn't have their 1st net year. So if you held out for that, it'd be like holding out for sex with my grandpa. He's gone. It's gone. Not gonna happen. Alright?
Philly has been more than willing to take on salary for picks lately. We took on 2.8 million for 2 2nds. You can bitch and moan about expecting more, but that for one, wasn't going to happen, and B, it was already money spent. Anything up to the floor, Paul has to pay. So that went somewhere, and here, it went for 2 2nds. We traded 2 2nds for Robin Lopez recently. Nice asset to have. We helped them, sure. And they helped us with 2 picks. They could have went to Philly. You tell them to get lost, and then instead of 2.8 for 2 picks, it's 2.8 for nothing. Brilliant strategy. Glad you're not our GM.