Should we expect another Hornets give away?

[nickagneta]

Rasual Butler for a second round pick??

That's a head scratcher!! But if you know anything about George Shinn, owner of the New Orleans Hornets, then it really shouldn't be. He is a notoriously cheap owner that was practically run out of Charlotte for refusing to keep together a very promising young nucleus and running that team out of the playoffs and into the forever land known as the NBA Lottery.

Butler was sent to the Clippers because it was going to save the Hornets not only Butler's salary but the luxury tax penalty that equaled his salary or nearly $8 million. Shinn wants to pay the luxury tax about as much as the average American wants to kiss Osama Bin Laden. Yet his team is still over the luxury tax threshold by $4 million and next year it doesn't get any better due to the plethora of long term contracts that New Orleans holds and the projected decrease of the salary cap and luxury tax numbers.

So what to do. The Hornets have to dump salary and, lo and behold, there's only one team with a trade exception big enough to accommodate the Hornets. The Denver Nuggets still hold a $9 million trade exception, from I believe the Marcus Camby to the Clippers deal, that expires on November 4. Use it or lose it. Here's the other thing, Denver feels they should have beaten the Lakers and that they have a limited window of success in the Chauncey Billups years. They also have only 12 or 13 signed players and can add a body.

So, should we expect what appears to be the obvious? I gotta think with the recent loss of Linas Kleiza to Europe that the trade that makes the most sense of any trade I have ever heard of seems to be that James Posey will be heading to the Nuggets for a conditional second round draft pick and that Denver will use $6 million of that trade exception to replace Kleiza with the championship experience of Posey while getting George Shinn and the Hornets under the luxury taz while still perpetrating the fraud on the people of New Orleans that he wants them to think he still cares about winning a title.

[Roy Hobbs]

Interesting idea, nick.  I don't think Denver wants to take on that type of salary, though; one of the reasons they let Camby go in the first place was because they have luxury tax worries of their own.

[nickagneta]

Interesting idea, nick.  I don't think Denver wants to take on that type of salary, though; one of the reasons they let Camby go in the first place was because they have luxury tax worries of their own.

Ahhh but all that was before the Chauncey Billups trade and the galvanizing of the Nuggets into a true title contender. Perhaps the gate receipts and the extra parking and concession sales have made enough impression on the Denver ownership to think they could afford some luxury tax payments if a title is within reach, which, let's be realistic, it wasn't at the time of the Camby deal.

[JSD]

Interesting idea, nick.  I don't think Denver wants to take on that type of salary, though; one of the reasons they let Camby go in the first place was because they have luxury tax worries of their own.

Right, but the circumstances are different now. When they gave Camby away they were in the midst of trying to get all of their pieces to fit together. Also It was before they rid themselves of AI. Now that they've they are contending team and could use a Kobe stopper. I like this trade for both teams.

[thebirdman]

I agree with Roy. I don`t see DEN taking on that much salary for a role player. 12 million with luxury tax for Posey? I don`t think so.

They just gave away a first rounder to get rid of Hunter, so I doubt they are interested in adding big contracts unless it is for a star player who could take them over the top...

[Roy Hobbs]

Interesting idea, nick.  I don't think Denver wants to take on that type of salary, though; one of the reasons they let Camby go in the first place was because they have luxury tax worries of their own.

Right, but the circumstances are different now. When they gave Camby away they were in the midst of trying to get all of their pieces to fit together. Also It was before they rid themselves of AI. Now that they've they are contending team and could use a Kobe stopper. I like this trade for both teams.

I just can't see Denver adding another $12 million to their payroll, after luxury tax.  They've been a frugal ownership group, and they're already spending beyond their comfort zone.

[nickagneta]

Denver offered Kleiza a $2.7 million qualifying offer that would have put them well over the luxury tax. They were hoping and praying to sign him for less than the MLE. They were more than willing to go over the cap this year for quality players. Posey is a quality player. Steven Hunter, not so much. That's why they gave him away.

If they were so dead set on saving money, they would have renounced Kleiza instead of giving him the opportunity to use them to get into unrestricted free agency and cost them $5.4 million on top of it.

[thebirdman]

Denver offered Kleiza a $2.7 million qualifying offer that would have put them well over the luxury tax. They were hoping and praying to sign him for less than the MLE. They were more than willing to go over the cap this year for quality players. Posey is a quality player. Steven Hunter, not so much. That's why they gave him away.

If they were so dead set on saving money, they would have renounced Kleiza instead of giving him the opportunity to use them to get into unrestricted free agency and cost them $5.4 million on top of it.

Renounce Kleiza? That would really make no sense. Why would they make him an unrestricted FA? It is not like there would be a cap hit if he signed for another team for the MLE or like he did in Europe...They still own his rights and can match any offer he gets from the NBA.

But the fact that they didn`t want to pay him close to MLE money shows they are thinking about financial flexibility...and all of their moves in the last couple of years show that...

They will not overpay role players, IMO...and Posey is a role player...