Florida Today's John Denton reports that the sign and trade involving Rashard Lewis has been accomplished, and the Orlando Magic will hold a press conference at about 10 am Pacific time to announce it.
Lewis will wind up making $126.4 million over six years in the deal, which sends a second-round pick Seattle's way (nice), and a trade exception worth about $17 million (fantastic).
There may be some casual fans who will react to this deal and say, "Huh? We gave up Rashard Lewis for a 2nd-round pick and some salary cap thingy? That sucks, man!"
Well, it doesn't suck. It's flipping terrific. Why Orlando went along with this is beyond me, unless they were pressured into it by Lewis and his agent. If I'm Orlando, I'd much rather pay out five years and $90 million than six years and $126.4 million. Plus, now they lose a second-round pick.
For casual fans who don't get it, the trade exception gives us the same bargaining power as a Theo Ratliff contract, without having to actually pay the bloated salary. It's really a valuable tool, and Sam Presti did the right thing in making it happen. Kudos to the Sonics' front office for pulling this off.
It hurts to lose Rashard, who was a great player for the Sonics and one of the best players in team history. He never missed extended periods of time with mystery injuries, you never heard him complain about minutes, and he worked on his game for all nine years in a Sonic jersey. Good luck in Orlando, Mr Lewis, and thanks for your efforts here in Seattle.
23 comments:
Its a great day Patches Pals. . .
We were all wrong about how much Lewis would get. Who knew that somebody out there would agree to this 6-year, cap strangler?
Good luck trying to trade Lewis when teams look at that 6th year number of around $26 million.
Anybody have more info on the $17 million Trade Exception? What could the Supes do with it? Some examples?
How the hell did Presti pull that off!
The man must have a silver tongue and the predatory instincts of a jackal.
- Dan
Here's the scoop on trade exceptions:
Traded Player Exception: If a team trades away players with a higher combined salary than those they acquire in return (we'll call this initial deal "Trade #1"), they receive what is called a Traded Player Exception, also known colloquially as a "Trade Exception". Teams with a trade exception have up to a year in which they can acquire more salary in another trade (Trade #2) than they send away, as long as the gulf in salaries for Trade #2 is less than or equal to the difference in salaries for Trade #1. This circumvents the rule which normally does not allow teams over the salary cap to acquire net additional salary in trades. This exception is particularly useful when teams trade draft picks straight-up for players; since draft picks have no salary value, often the only way to get salaries to match is to use a trade exception, which allows trades to be made despite unbalanced salaries.
So, you can see how it helps in this fashion:
1) If the Sonics wish to acquire a high first-round pick next year (for, oh, I don't know, OJ Mayo), they can use the trade exception to make it happen
2) If the Sonics are having difficulty trading Ridnour/Wilcox/Petro/etc., they just made whatever trade they are proposing one heckuva lot more lucrative to their dance partner(s).
The bottom line is that Sam Presti won't have any trouble getting other GMs to return his calls now.
Wow,
And I thought Michael Jordan was dumb for sending the Warriors a 10 million dollar trade exemption. To get 17 million dollars that's great.
I'd like to share some knowledge that I've gained since the GSW trade with Charlotte about trade exemptions. The way they describe it down here the Bay Area is that you can't subtract you exemption from someone's total salary. This a big deal down here in Warrior land because people assumed that they could instantly trade 14 to 15 million dollars of salary and use the exemption to cover the other 10 illion from KG's salary.
What is the case is that you can trade for player making 17 million dollars or less and not have send back salaries to get within +/- 25% of the total salaries being swapped. Below are list of guys from Hoopshype.com list of top paid players who the Sonics could use the exemption to trade for in which they won't be required to get within +/- 25% threshold.
12. Baron Davis Golden State $16,440,000
-. Shawn Marion Phoenix $16,440,000
-. Steve Francis Portland $16,440,000
15. Antawn Jamison Washington $16,360,095
-. Dirk Nowitzki Dallas $16,360,095
-. Paul Pierce Boston $16,360,095
18. Ray Allen Boston $16,000,000
19. Ben Wallace Chicago $15,500,000
20. Elton Brand LA Clippers $15,344,000
21. Michael Redd Milwaukee $14,520,000
22. Pau Gasol Memphis $13,709,375
-. Andrei Kirilenko Utah $13,709,375
24. Lamar Odom LA Lakers $13,524,000
25. Mike Bibby Sacramento $13,500,000
26. Amare Stoudemire Phoenix $13,488,377
27. Joe Johnson Atlanta $13,488,377
28. Zach Randolph New York $13,333,333
-. Yao Ming Houston $13,260,000
I'm not saying that we're going to trade for any of these guys, but it opens the door wide open for trades. This also give you the option do a three team trade and send the exemption to another team if you so please. Also exemptions like this one expire by the season the season. In layman's terms use it or lose it.
WHERE ARE ALL THE ANONYMOUS PRESTI HATERS NOW!!!
McWalter & Nuss. . .
Thanks for the info.!
Just remember, In Sam We Trust.
(P.S. S.Presti is going to be live on KJR Sportsradio in 20 min. at 10:35am PDT)
That's fantastic news. As I see it, it really helps in narrowing the roster. The Sonics have too many bodies right now, and the possibility of doing a 3-for-1 trade just got a whole lot easier because we don't have to worry about salaries mattering so much anymore.
I guess one way to look at it is that the Sonics can make just about any trade that they can agree to with another team. Which means losers like me can spend all day on realgm.com and not have to worry about salaries matching! This is the best news all year!
ESPN is reporting this as a done deal now. They are reporting a 2nd rnd pick and a $9 mil trade exception.
Still not a bad deal.
Thank you McWalter. I had no idea what all of this meant... thanks for saving me some time of scouring the internets.
Another thought would be to find a team that is way over the cap and trade the exemption to them for a draft pick and or included players salaries that fall within the +/- 25% threshold so that we can get another lottery pick.
Or you can roll the dice and do exact opposite and trade our #1 pick and/or future picks (which after watching us gut the franchise might have teams think we're a guaranteed lottery pick) to get a quality player to mentor Durant and Green with.
If it were me, I'd get one the phone right now and do the following trade to the GS Warriors. Our exemption and a player(s) who make up to 2.5 million dollars in total salary for M. Pietrus, their trade exemption of 10 million dollars and their #1 next season. This would instantly give us a young 2 guard who is already a proven defender in the league. We'd get there #1 pick (which many end up in the lottery because they bare made the playoffs last season) and we still have a 10 million dollar exemption.
The question is: WHY WOULD GSW DO THIS DEAL? Answer: every deal they make is in with the motive of getting KG in Oakland. This would give them a better bargaining chip to do a three way deal land them KG. Pietrus is currently a restricted FA, but it looks like he's going to say in GS for this season. They might just give up the #1 or even the guy they just draft B. Wright to pull off a deal like this.
Just some food for thought.
SI.com ran the same AP story that says the trade exception is $9 mil. We'll have to wait and see how the numbers shake out.
I am really impressed with Presti ever since he took over. He seems to have a plan and it looks like he's executing everything he wants (unless the re-sign Rashard talk wasn't really just a big smokescreen).
This next season, whether we win or lose, will at least be interesting!
So who wants to predict the exact date that NBA GM's will fear a call from Presti the same way Baseball GM's fear a phone call from Billy Bean? I am putting the over / under at about March 28th.
- Dan
Hum, 9 million would be fine, but the coup that 17 million wold have been. The reason the Warriors got 10 million was that the difference in what they gave up to the Bobcats and what they got in return with the #8 pick in the 2007 draft. With the Sonics getting just the 2nd round pick, which is now a conditional pick, it leads me to believe that well get granted a 17 million exemption. That is unless Orlando already owned a 9 million dollar trade exemption, which they would just transfer to us.
Plus, what espn is report is "believe" to be 9 million so they don't know for certain either.
Exactly. Until we see this reported at the Sonics website, this is all speculation from reporters who are trying to get a scoop.
Well, Gary Washburn and Percy Allen are also chiming in that their sources say the exception is between 9 and 9.5 million.
Also Gary Washburn makes a good point on the reasoning behind the trade. Apparently, other teams were working the phones with Sam Presti to get a S&T with Rashard involving a 6-year deal, and Otis Smith with the Magic was pressured into going along with it, or risk losing Lewis altogether. Nice work by Gary to give us that insight.
Presti was just on KJR and he confirmed it was $9 million.
Still I think he did great to get something for Rashard without having to take back any unwanted players. I also love it because this screws over the Magic and forces them to give up on chasing Darko.
Spend your imaginary $9 million here:
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_19675.shtml
(2006-2007 estimated salaries for all NBA players)
I also think you guys lucked out on this deal. Trade flexibility NOW trumps cap flexibility LATER, so kudos to Sam Presti for making that deal.
We better win a championship now. Jeez.
So who wants to predict the exact date that NBA GM's will fear a call from Presti the same way Baseball GM's fear a phone call from Billy Bean? I am putting the over / under at about March 28th.
Oh, Brother!
I just returned from vacation outside the country.
I just heard that Chauncey Billups signed a 6 year deal for over $120 million. He deserves it! Two time All-Star, Finals MVP, 7 Years in the Playoffs, All-Defensive Teams and heart and soul of the Pistons; good for you Chauncey!
And Rashard got a 5 year $60 million deal; good for him too. That's better than the measley $21 million that the Sonics owed you.
Did I hear that right?
It took me a second... but now I see what you did there.
Hey, if our commenters are going to start making witty smart-aleck remarks, then what the heck do you need us for?
How's Minnesota treating you, Juwon?
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