| The Best Laid Plans Of Mice And Men Authored by Derek Bodner - July 8, 2008 - 2:04 pm
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"That's a compliment to Kyle that playoff bound teams wanted him, and that was the one [contract] that could be traded. And that was the one move that financially made sense to secure cap space for the summer", Stefanski said at the time.
The trade was the second in a series of moves to make significant cap space this summer. Moves that spanned two general managers, starting with the trading of Allen Iverson for a package that included Joe Smith's expiring contract, and culminating in the decision to not extend qualifying offers to Herbert Hill, Shavlik Randolph and Louis Amundson. Finally, the journey to salary cap redemption and leveraging that cap space into improving the team was complete.
Then Baron Davis opted out of the final year of his contract, igniting a series of events that has threatened to blow up Philadelphia’s well-laid plans.
Heading into the offseason, the Sixers were one of only two teams expected to have significant cap space. The other team, Memphis, was not expected to be a major player in the free agent market. Not only was this a huge advantage for the Sixers in trying to sign their primary targets, it also gave the them leverage when dealing with their own free agents, as there was no team to get into a bidding war with.
Now things have gotten interesting.
With Davis opting out, and by renouncing the rights to Mickael Pietrus, the Warriors unexpectedly have more than enough room to sign an impact player, if they do so before inking Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis to new deals.
The expected two-horse race for Elton Brand has, in fact, become a three-horse race, with the Warriors joining the Clippers and Sixers. Once Los Angeles signs Baron Davis, they will have to get Brand to take a pay cut before re-signing him. Depending on the final salary cap figure, which is to be set July 9th, the Warriors will likely to be able to offer a significant amount more than the Clippers for the same amount of years, and both teams will be able to easily trump an offer from the Sixers.
Similarly, if the Sixers are targeting Josh Smith, as has been heavily rumored, the Warriors could abandon the Brand sweepstakes and enter into a bidding war for the 22-year-old power forward. An offer sheet from the Warriors could be five to ten million dollars higher than the Sixers, and would present the Hawks with a harder decision on whether or not to match.
The Warriors gaining cap space could force two restricted free agents off the Sixers’ radar. The Warriors are in possession of two of the more attractive targets this year, both of whom are restricted. While it was doubtful that either Monta Ellis or Andris Biedrins would be signed without the Warriors invoking their right of first refusal, the only legitimate hope they had to sign both of them would have been to enter into luxury tax range. With Baron Davis opting out of his contract, retaining both Ellis and Biedrins has become much easier for Golden State.
With that said, Stefanski did continually try to convey that the team would not necessarily use their salary cap space on a free agent, but that it could be used to facilitate a trade. This is certainly true, and while Golden State’s cap space could have an adverse effect on the Sixers trying to sign other free agents, it was far from a guarantee that cap space was going to get them a free agent outright.
There was always the chance that Brand would return to the Clippers, and attempting to sign a restricted player like as Smith, Ellis or Biedrins was always a far-from-certain possibility
The real concern that this change in the free agent landscape had provided the Sixers is regarding the upcoming contract of Andre Iguodala.
The Sixers still have the right of first refusal for Iguodala, as he is a restricted free agent, and have the option of matching any offer sheet he signs with another team. However, heading into the offseason there was not much of a chance that the Sixers would have to engage in a bidding war for his services. With nobody to get into a bidding war with, they had all the leverage in contract negotiations with Andre.
If the Warriors lose out on Brand, there is a legitimate chance they could focus their attention on the four-year veteran out of Arizona. This unexpected scenario could force the Sixers to spend significantly more on Iguodala than they were initially comfortable with – leaving them with a very tough decision to make on how much they feel Iguodala is truly worth.
This is the development that could prove costly for the Sixers.
Derek Bodner can be reached at dbodner22@gmail.com |
