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Re: Vin-sanity of a different sort
> ---------- Initial message -----------
>
If Kenny's salary came off the books at the end of the
year that would leave roughly $9mil that could be spent
on salary cap exceptions > (you can spend quite a bit on
these now, what is it up to 4.5 mil per year
> or more?)
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It isn't the entire 9 million. I wish it were. We'd have
to subtract Vitaly's 5.7 million and Forte's 1.08 million
from that.
(BTW, I've read that the veteran's exception will be 5
million, although maybe others can confirm that for you)
As for luxury tax, Kenny clearing the cap this summer
(Vitaly still on board) would have left a projected
payroll around 47 million.
There are two linked issues with that:
One, if Boston re-signed Kenny at a discount (or a
replacement FA starting point guard), plus FA's Walt and
Bremer, plus two first round draft picks, we'd be close
to where we are now with Vin on board.
Two, if Boston or anyone ELSE wants to outbid the five
million dollars that other teams can automatically offer
top FAs through the veteran's exception (regardless of
team payroll), they need to be not just at the salary cap
but more than 5 million under it (maybe 34 million
payroll at most). Strictly speaking, this would have been
unrealistic even before the ill-fated Vin Baker trade.
What surprises me is the latest spin on list about how
I'm now "defending" the Baker trade.
A week before the trade even happened, back when it was
chat room fodder, I was the guy that was weeping and
wailing about how terrible it was, how implausible it
was, how stupid it would be for the GM to do this. I made
the very same arguments I read now (but maybe said
better) :-) and louder than anyone else.
But now there's no gain in it. Have you heard me whine
about the trade months after the fact?
My father told me once, in my impressionable youth, that
any time I spend thinking about mistakes of the past is a
negative use of my time. "What ifs" should be posed
regarding the future, not in reference to the (never
perfect)past.
Yeah, how "deep" I know, but he's an impressive guy. ;-)
The best advice I've ever come up with so far with my own
son, Koji, is "boys don't whine". To me, that gets at
least the gist of my father's advice, as to how boys
should approach challenges in life.
The Vin Baker fiasco is a crippling situation (and was a
terrible trade idea) but its NOT the end of the world.
I'd rather point out where the trade now puts Boston in
numbers, particularly if it means a choice between doing
that or just whining. Part of moving on means firing the
GM and identifying a superior replacement.
To those who say the new owners seem too "naive" to fire
the GM, imagine if you were the guy actually signing pay
checks in excess of one million dollars per month to Vin
Baker, knowing you'll be doing the same thing every month
into 2006? Enough said.
But at the same time, Boston's relative cap position
hasn't changed that much. Moreover, Boston's relative
payroll may still be below that which a defending "Final
Four" team could justify spending (18th overall). And the
Celtics still have 5 to 7 million to spend on a new
player.
As crippling as the Baker trade was, its up to the owners
whether we spend the entitled exception or not. The
organization and its fans just have to move on.
I'm quietly moving on too. I read one "argument" in
particular that seemed to me so deliberately dishonest
and irrational, it made me for the first time sick of
this list and some people on it. I prefer to be a
solitary fan, or participate in other lists.
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