It's a choice because we could still trade Sheed during the season. Sheed's contract will be more valuable around the trading deadline when some teams realize they aren't as good as they would like to be and they're hemorrhaging money. Is it more important to get a good player for Sheed now or get a better player for him later?
I'm not sure if this is accurate.
Right now, Rasheed's value is because he's going to retire, and him sending his retirement papers in to the league office immediately clears his salary from ours -- or an acquiring team's -- books.
If we wait to the trade deadline, would the NBA still allow us to trade Rasheed's contract with no penalty? Or would they see that as us circumventing the salary cap? I mean, is David Stern going to buy that Rasheed wasn't technically retired until February, at which point he made things official (despite not playing in the first 2/3 of the season?)
Now, we could still trade Rasheed and have him agree to a buyout, but the cleanest way we can utilize his contract is via a pre-season trade.
That's the cleanest way for us to utilize his contract but that doesn't mean other teams will acquiesce to our plans.
As of now I assume he hasn't been traded because we have not gotten what we want for him. I don't see Danny saying ok so Shaq is the best we can get for him let's do it.
Keeping Sheed on the roster until the deadline and then him retiring would not be circumventing the salary cap because we would be paying him his contract value up until we filed those papers. He would be treated just as any other player who was injured.
How could Stern nix a trade of this type? At the time Sheed was traded he would be a player just like any other. Is someone from the Celtics organization going to confess to talking Sheed into waiting? Sheed will just say I wasn't sure and Stern will not be able to do anything because he will have no proof. Stern could launch an investigation into the trade but it would be fruitless.
As has been discussed in other threads for Shaq to succeed in Boston he will need to defer to others and tone down his ego, accepting a bench role. Signing him to a $6 mm contract would not give the indication that he was accepting this. While if he signs for the vet min that speaks volumes about his willingness to take a back up role.
So, under that scenario, we pay Rasheed $4 million (and, depending upon how his contract is structured, potentially more than that.) Presumably, he's not plying.
The trade deadline comes. If we're successful in trading him, the league may grant the team acquiring him cap relief. However, it cost us $4 million for the privilege.
On the other hand, we may be unsuccessful in trading him. He may attempt to retire from the Celtics at that point, but it's likely that we'd get no cap relief for the $4 million already paid. We'd also have to potentially pay luxury tax on that amount, meaning Wyc's paying an extra $8 million for an "asset" that he never utilized.
It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to assume that Rasheed is going to retire at the trade deadline. Either he's going to be traded before the season, or he's going to be expected to fulfill his contract. I can't forsee a circumstance where the team pays him several million dollars to not show up.
Wouldn't it be about $3 MM for his time up until the deadline?
I think it is not a terrible investment to hang onto Sheed's contract to make a move that could pay dividends in the playoffs. Sure it is a risk but the reward could pay through increased playoff revenue.
Either way if the choice is sign Shaq to the deal he is asking for or cut Sheed and get no one, I prefer the latter. Shaq has always been to some extent a focal point of his team, at least being the second option when on the floor. In Phoenix this caused them to miss the playoffs. In Cleveland you could argue that it cost them a championship, with (in a lot of people's opinions) Hickson playing much better.
The only way for Shaq to succeed on the Celtics is in a bench role. The best way to prove that he is accepting of this role is to take the vet min.
The deadline is more than 1/2 way through the season: thus, it'd be closer to 4 million.
The reason I've I'm jumping in here is because I've been asking the question for weeks: can we wait to the deadline to trade Sheed?
I tend to side with Roy. What do we even do with Sheed if he's on the team and not playing? Do we make up an injury? Do we put him on the inactive list and simply let him stay home? And then to have him go from sitting at home getting paid to "retired" right after the deadline seems to be some sort of salary issue.
I also agree with Roy's stance about the risk. I also wonder how much a guy like Wyc is going to be on board with paying Sheed that much to sit on his butt.
As for Shaq and his salary, assuming that Danny is fairly certain that he can't do better than Shaq, I think paying him a little more could be helpful. I'm usually totally in the camp that says not to bid against yourself; however, I'd argue that paying Shaq the minimum is NOT a good way to get him to accept a bench role. If anything, it will likely annoy him and perhaps encourage him to play selfishly to prove that he still "has it."
I'd be OK paying him 3-4 million a year, lauding his "sacrifice" (even if it's BS) to come to a winner, and trying to convince him to be happy on the bench. If not, I don't see the harm in playing him the first 5 minutes of the game with the starters, subbing him out early, and then essentially bringing him back in with the second team at the beginning of the second quarter. From then on, you can play him with the bench and Jermaine with the starters.
Topic: FYI - Shaq on Kimmel - Tonight (Read 11900 times)