i thought it wasn't allowed in the cba to alter the last year of a player's contract. anyhow, i could see why lawson would be down with. when unproven players are getting max dollars this free agency, then the money will also jump next year. all he has to do is be on best behaviour for one season to cash in.
This form of modification is. CP3 did a similar thing in the NOLA/LAC trade. It isn't a Player Option. We can force him to play the last year at $12m, which we likely will if he's on his best behaviour and we go deep into the playoffs. He allowed us to remove the guarantees off his 2nd year. Which is probably what he was facing anyhow. Denver was probably forcing a 50% buyout, which is the same as taking the guarantee money off and waiving him. My guess is Morey figured that out, that a buyout was part of the rumors of DEN waiving him. So, yeah, for that reason if DEN was insisting on a buyout or they'd make him rot, it was probably OK with Lawson, since he didn't have to go on the waiver wire.
This is actually a win-win-win deal for all parties. Kevin Pelton's ESPN article explains why it's good deal for Denver as well RIGHT NOW. Lawson didn't sacrifice much, if at all, either. Say the chance of him playing well next season is 50/50, he'd get less money next season if he doesn't play well, but he'd get bigger multi year deal if he plays at or above his normal level, because of the huge cap increase next year.
Did Kevin Pelton say he could be a free agent after next year? Yeah, only if we waive him with pla. This is not a Player Option; we have him locked up for 2yrs if he plays like Lawson can. We can fire/waive him if his life falls apart. He can't shorten his contract, only we can. He's not in control if he plays well. This isn't a contract year for him. Morey has all the cards. Essentially, as I've been saying, DEN was likely in a 50% buyout negotiation with him while looking for trading partners. Turning the 2nd yr into non-guaranteed essentially gives Morey that 50% buyout as an option,,,,we waive him if he sucks and wipe him clean off the books or keep him if he plays well. It's the equivalent of a team option should Lawson play well.
Morey is such a gifted GM. I'm amazed that teams would even be willing to make deals with him, given the likelihood that he will come out with the better end of the bargain. It makes what he is able to do even that much more remarkable.
Only shot to get Durant is to be able to do what the Spurs did with LMA... give him such a good basketball situation he can't turn it down... Slapping down..... Lawson/Harden/Durant/Howard IS that good of a situation but it takes a lot of dominoes falling into place. However it is good to have that kind of flexibility... Flexibility got us Harden, Howard, Ariza and Lawson... All pre meditated long shots that we kept pursuing and striking out on and kept trying. Also to people thinking it isn't that hard to rebuild a team... Just collect assets and make smart trades.... How well is Boston looking with their asset accumulation? The Sixers? How many decades did it take the Clippers? Phoenix? It isn't easy..... It wasn't easy to not cave and give up more for Lawson months ago, or to get Lawson's contract conditions modified, or to not getting in a bidding war with LA for Lawson... Not panicking and matching Parsons.
Well, that's a different topic than what we were discussing. We have Lawson locked up for two years, but can waive him for no salary after his first year. Per BimaThug's twitter, here's the guarantee date. We have to guarantee his salary prior to free agency season next year. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ty Lawson's new guarantee date is the day following the NBA Finals, or the day after the NBA draft, whichever is later <a href="https://twitter.com/BBallInsiders">@BBallInsiders</a></p>— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricPincus/status/623252421335126016">July 20, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Guarantee date on Lawson's salary means that (if he doesn't work out in HOU) he could be a pre-draft trade asset. But no good for S&Ts.</p>— David Weiner (@BimaThug) <a href="https://twitter.com/BimaThug/status/623263663865004032">July 20, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
You'd rather it be a later date, so you don't have to gamble. Note sure why you are discussing the date of guarantee, when BimaThug clearly says we benefit more from a later one. Are you and that Kelvin Pelton guy saying that you intend to cut him pretty much no matter what, without any ability to negotiate with Durant prior, as if he's a one-year rental. I seriously doubt Morey risks it all if Lawson succeeds next year at improving us.
If you look at what Denver fans are saying, they’re actually glad to see this deal done. And really, if you look at previous Morey deals, the other team fans mostly felt okay from their side. Morey simply by low and sell high, never paying retail, but there’s a reason why players have low values. Harden was a 6th man. Dwight was cancer. Asik was a backup. Terry semi-quit the Kings. Brewer was shooting like 20% with Minnesota. Josh Smith was killing the Pistons. Morey takes on players other teams at their lowest value, but it’s not like those teams could find better value elsewhere.
AND getting the 2nd year NON-guaranteed? Just a solid transaction. Lawson bringing over his old jersey with him to show Rockets what a real uniform looks like so they can change it - that's the only way this can be better. Maybe Morey shoulda asked while he was ahead
It's gonna be legend...wait for it...dary! But Lawson must be kept away from alcohol. We have a bloody good memory about Eddie Griffin stuff. JUST NO MORE DUI!
The other benefit here is if he is waived the day after the draft there is most likely no team going to pick him up. Everyone will most likely be at 90% of the cap or more which means they won't have space to pick him up even if he plays out of his mind and looks like a top 3 point guard this coming season. He will clear waivers and we can then bring him back if we want to.
Why would we waive him after his salary becomes guaranteed? That would render the whole excitement in thread useless. It would be like Morey never achieved the non-guaranteed year, and let his waive date expire. Am I missing something? Certainly, a later guarantee date is more beneficial. If Lawson has a relapse or otherwise disappointing season, it's great we can waive him prior to the draft or use as an expiring asset in a trade, but we were hoping the guarantee date was after July 1st, which makes him a SnT asset, as BimaThug mentions. bottomline: If he sucks, you cut bait and get him off the books. If you could SnT during free agency with a non-guaranteed you, he's a valuable salary purging asset for trading partners. But with this guarantee date, we couldn't use him that way.
This is the best thing happening for both sides. We run an one year risk and additionally we free up 13 millions in cap next summer free agency if Lawson doesnt pan out. If Lawson makes a 180 turn not only will he be in time for the cap jump, we also get a chance to sign one of the top FAs next summer. I highly doubt we will get Durant and besides him who else is in FA big enough to make an impact on our roster? no one... Al Horford? nah.
