They need to get rid of ~$4M to get under the tax They have three expiring contracts: Gallo, Roberson, and PatPat Their expirings are either too big to fit into other teams' TPEs or for teams to stay under the cap (Gallo and Roberson) OR they are players that teams would not trade an asset for into order to take into the cap or TPE (PatPat) So they may have to dump their smaller salaries.
Never said that Paul was not a good player. In fact his skill set is s lot like JH but his overall play is slipping. My thought is if we get a player that enhanced Harden instead of extending skill set when he is not on the court we could be more effective at a higher level, plus the league is changing. Great guard play is not going to help with the size and length that other teams have put together. Covington type players what is needed. Wiggins is project/filler. Question if you could have any guard in the league is Paul still in the top 5? Now take into consideration his salary. Do we need a player like Paul or would competent / sturdy wing play be of more help going forward for the same amount of cap space.
Of course he’s not a top 5 guard in the league. That would make him all nba and he’s not that anymore, clearly. But he’s a top 15 or 20 guard, a top 50 player, and if the goal is to win he ***** all over Wiggins.
The deal was for Covington & Wiggins not just Wiggins. Paul salary takes a starter and a younger max to match. Wiggins’s max contract is toxic but there is room for him to grow into it. Minnesota - Westbrook Houston - Covington & Wiggins OKC - Paul + 2 FRP - Minnesota
That’d be my guess. Good move for the Heat imo. Good offseason. They weren’t doing anything. Now they have a top 4 (in the east) team after being pretty boring/expensive and lousy post Heatles. They aren’t a contender now or anything but they are relevant.
