I like the move. There must be a handshake deal with Ray and Danny that he won't be traded. Why would he re-up with the chance that he could be traded to a non-contender, when he could just become a free-agent now and get the mid-level over a few years from one of the powerhouses?
This is simple. Money. There is no hand shake deal. If Danny has to trade Ray, Ray knows it's business. His $10 million contract will look really good for a team having a fire sale.
I don't think either view is correct.
1) The midlevel may not exist next year. So that's one big reason that Ray didn't go that route. Even when one considers that, why would Ray want a 3 year 20 million deal when he can take a guaranteed 10 million this year and then (if he wants) pursue the remaining 10 million afterwards. For all we know, Ray has another good year and still gets the middle level offer next summer (assuming it exists).
2) I don't see Danny trading Ray. And it's not because of a secret handshake. Quite frankly, I don't see any deal really being palatable. Contenders who would want Ray for his game likely won't give us anything. Young teams won't want him for anything else but his expiring deal. And while that sounds great on paper, what are these young teams actually going to give us? It's not like the Wizards are going to give us John Wall to "dump" 10 million dollars. More than likely, a team would offer us overpaid veterans with long deals. And it's not worth taking on such salaries and hurting our chances in free agency.