They try to spin it but it's obviously money. If Brown was making 40M a year, analytics and live streaming wouldn't be causing any fires. This is how they sell it b/c they cant tell season ticket holders they are cheaper than previous owners. Optionality is just a silver lining of the clearly talent-reducing move of losing JB by of not paying him.
Reporters should have asked -
-Why were you willing to exceed 70% on two players while trading draft picks to get Giannis? Optionality be [dang]ed!
-Analytically speaking, how many games to you expect Paul George to play this season vs Jaylen Brown?
-They kind of alluded to this, but did you offer JB an extension of less than the 70M per year max? if so, was it flatly rejected or was there potential to negotiate there?
-After Chisholm said with a bold face, money is no object - Is this ownership willing to exceed caps and pay the luxury taxes to the extent previous owners did? If ownership had made a cash deal instead (Pags) and was not debt financed with PE money, would less concerns about returning value to their investors result in more flexibility to sign/retain big contracts? Is there a benchmark profitability metric your find manages this investment toward for the upcoming fiscal years?
-For Bill, given the widespread negative reaction to this deal, do you expect to be booed when sitting courtside for games a TD Garden?