On the record: which SF do you want?

[Minstrel]

It is not the cap that it is the issue. It is the luxury tax. That is the stick that hits you in the ass at a later date. If the Blazers spend foolishly now (long and big money for marginal short-term improvement) talent will be lost in the future in order to stop the pain.

Think of the luxury tax as being slowly whipped. A strong individual can take the whip for a time. After a while the pain becomes intolerable and they will do anything to stop the whip.

If this is true for Allen, then I certainly agree with you that he should not take on a bad contract. My comments were always in the assumed universe in which Allen is not concerned with paying the luxury tax (as he wasn't in the 1999-2002 period). If this assumption is wrong, then Allen should certainly take finances into account.

And to be clear, I wasn't advocating "long and big money for marginal short-term improvement." I was advocating "long and big money for significant long-term improvement." That is, taking on a bad contract in order to get a young-prime star or near-star from a team willing to trade talent for cash savings. Not taking on a bad contract to get a so-so player or short-term declining vet.