the beauty of the big 3's contracts are: they are all max deals, and they all end right around the time the players stop being max players. that means, after next year, we have a max salary to throw around and land a top FA (since ray will be off the books - well, he might resign with us, but not at a max salary). the next year, its pierce. again, same situation...able to offer a top FA a max contract, maybe resign pierce at a bargain price. kg's is the year after that. so, basically, we can offer max contracts to guys to replace the big 3 as we move along, while possibly still keeping the big 3 on the team, albeit in a lesser state, as they won't be as good by then.