Post-deadline Olshey Keep or Fire

[Hobbesarable]

And then I think there were a ton of us who thought: "well, it doesn't seem that great, had hoped for better, but now that it's done, I hope it works out." Unfortunately it hasn't, and we wish our GM had done better and been smarter.

Yep. I admit I thought the same thing.

I was hesitant about the contracts ET and Crabbe received, but I was hoping one or both would live up to it.

Many of us thought we got a nice deal for Hark and many in here were against signing Meyers.

 

[illmatic99]

 

[Denny Crane]

Who? (Rhetorical question)

 

[illmatic99]

This has to be a sign to come for GMs who splurged in the summer of 16. Kupchak is a UNC connection, so the whole nepotism thing continues with MJ.

 

[tester551]

Not surprised in the least.
Cho seems like a nice enough guy - but his talent evaluation left a lot to be desired. As much as I complain about Olshey - NO is an upgrade from Cho.

 

[ripcityboy]

Not surprised in the least.
Cho seems like a nice enough guy - but his talent evaluation left a lot to be desired. As much as I complain about Olshey - NO is an upgrade from Cho.

He got us the pick that became Damian Lillard, didn't he? I will always thank him for that.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

He got us the pick that became Damian Lillard, didn't he? I will always thank him for that.

Yeah, but if Cho had still been here, that pick probably would have been Harrison F***ing Barnes.

 

[hoopsjock]

He got us the pick that became Damian Lillard, didn't he? I will always thank him for that.

Cho traded for Gerald Wallace (against his wishes). It was Chad Buchanan who traded Wallace for the pick that became Lillard.

 

[ripcityboy]

Cho traded for Gerald Wallace (against his wishes). It was Chad Buchanan who traded Wallace for the pick that became Lillard.

Ahhh my bad.

 

[BonesJones]

We had taxpayer MLE available.

There's clearly some misconception that not paying players means you have flexibility. If you are way below the cap, you only have up to the cap in flexibility without exceptions. This is a real squeeze, as witnessed the Heat when they signed LeBron and Wade and Bosh only to find themselves handcuffed by the salary cap, only able to sign vet minimum contracts for that season. It likely cost them the championship, which they won the next season, after having draft picks/MLE to improve the roster.

If you are over the cap but under the LT, you have that amount of salary (more than the CAP!) in flexibility. You have more $$$ to build your roster while having all the flexibility you'd otherwise have at under the CAP.

Even over the LT threshold, we had the ability to get rid of Crabbe's big contract, make trades, and get under the LT. NO had a huge TPE that could have facilitated a trade to bring in another high salaried player, if there were one that was available and worth the price.

If we didn't overpay we'd have a FULL Moe available this summer to sign a better player than Turner to a $8.3M or cheaper contract, instead of paying Turner $18M a year.

 

[tester551]

There's clearly some misconception that not paying players means you have flexibility. If you are way below the cap, you only have up to the cap in flexibility without exceptions. This is a real squeeze, as witnessed the Heat when they signed LeBron and Wade and Bosh only to find themselves handcuffed by the salary cap, only able to sign vet minimum contracts for that season. It likely cost them the championship, which they won the next season, after having draft picks/MLE to improve the roster.

There is clearly some misconception that spending your entire wad of money means that you made smart decisions with player acquisition.

I don't think anyone is advocating not spending money. Most of us are saying wait until you can find a difference maker.

You don't pay $200 to eat at McDonalds - simply because in no way will they ever have that type of value.
Likewise, you don't pay Crabbe $18M per year, or ET $17M per year. You don't pay Meyers $10M per year and HOPE they ever have that type of value.

Crabbe is worth $7-8M, ET $5-6M, and Meyers $2-3M.

If you can't acquire players at their real value - it's better to not acquire them at all.

What's better - having $3M of dead cap space over the next 6 years (as a result of Crabbe) or having Connaughton for $2M? Having ET at $17M (that you can't even GIVE away) or Gerald Green, Gerald Henderson, Garrett Temple, or some other player paid at their actual value (or below)?

 

[Denny Crane]

The sky was falling when we were "stuck" with Crabbe's contract.

There's that.

 

[hoopsjock]

There is clearly some misconception that spending your entire wad of money means that you made smart decisions with player acquisition.

I don't think anyone is advocating not spending money. Most of us are saying wait until you can find a difference maker.

You don't pay $200 to eat at McDonalds - simply because in no way will they ever have that type of value.
Likewise, you don't pay Crabbe $18M per year, or ET $17M per year. You don't pay Meyers $10M per year and HOPE they ever have that type of value.

Crabbe is worth $7-8M, ET $5-6M, and Meyers $2-3M.

If you can't acquire players at their real value - it's better to not acquire them at all.

What's better - having $3M of dead cap space over the next 6 years (as a result of Crabbe) or having Connaughton for $2M? Having ET at $17M (that you can't even GIVE away) or Gerald Green, Gerald Henderson, Garrett Temple, or some other player paid at their actual value (or below)?

Stating that players are overpaid is a completely different discussion than the flexibility argument.

They could've still retained Gerald Henderson. They could've still signed Gerald Green to a minimum contract as could the other 28 teams at any point before Houston did. They can still keep Connaughton. Sure, I'd rather have Garrett Temple at $8 million than Turner but you can say that about free agents every year and Turner was the better player heading into free agency that summer.

I can't speak for @Denny Crane but I don't think anyone is claiming that the players they signed were smart moves. This discussion was about flexibility and the loss of it if not used.

 

[Denny Crane]

A $5M hit to the cap and LT line hurt most teams, if not all.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/16859143/nba-salary-cap-projection-2017-18-season-lower-expected

Salary-cap projection for 2017-18 season to be lower than expected
The league previously projected the 2017-18 cap to hit $107 million but lowered that number to $102 million Thursday and lowered the luxury-tax-line projection from $127 million to $122 million.

 

[CupWizier]

I can confidently say he's not happy with the roster. Sure he likes them personally, but he asked how the team could improve in the meeting with PA (these were Lillard's own words). Safe to say, the only thing that improved today was the Allen's bottom line.

Actually that's not the only thing that came out of the Noah trade. A short sighted person would conclude that, but by getting under the luxury tax it improves the ability to do better deals.

 

[MarAzul]

I don't think he did. Walton simply ran Kerr's system. The Warriors were good defensively but mediocre offensively with Jackson. Jackson ran a stagnant, iso-based offense that didn't take advantage of his players at all. I don't think it's a coincidence that Green broke out under Kerr.

Walton kept the machine running, but he didn't create the machine. That said, obviously having great talent matters. But having a coach who can optimize the talent matters a lot.

Man, that is a fact. It would not be difficult for Walton to "just" run Kerr's system. They both played for the same coach using the same system.