7.3 Million in Cap Room

[JThorneST@aol.com]

This trade does free up 7.3 in cap room. Kenny Anderson's entire contract was
picked up by the Blazers. A lot of discussion has been that Paul Allen pays it
but it doesn't count against the cap. However, it does. I am almost sure of
this fact, because while it would save the Toronto Owners some money, the main
point is to free cap room, which they did. Think about this: why if Paul Allen
is paying it would it not count against Portland's cap? Portland is already
over the cap anyway, with the Rasheed Wallace and Brian Grant signing, and
will be further over the cap when they resign Damon this summer. The fact that
it counts against cap should mean nothing to the Blazers. Guys, we have Kenny
Anderson for free, both in terms of Paul Gaston and salary cap purposes. When
you add Tyus Edney's contract, we have 7.7 million in cap room. The cap may or
may not go up so I would at least estimate that we will have 8 million cap
space. I believe that the guy Pitino is targeting is Scottie Pippen. Although
personally I would wait a year and take a look at Vin Baker,Penny Hardaway,
and Antoine's rookie class. Speaking of Antoine, if we wait with the cap
space, we would have to agree to terms but not sign him so we could keep our
room. Isiah and Damon had a similar agreement so Toronto could purse some
UFA's this summer, but when Isiah left, that agreement obviously went by the
wayside. Other potential guys for us this summer could include Antonio
McDyess, Joe Smith, and Issac Austin. But Pippen makes the most sense in my
opinion.

BTW- I am almost 100% on that cap deal.

P.S. Wonder if Barros instead of Billups still could have landed us Kenny? My
bet is that it could have, if we made Toronto wait until the deadline. If that
had happened, we still could have kept Chauncey, and gained another million
more in cap room than Chauncey's contract provided.