Good players are welcome, but right now we are developing from within or hunting all star players.
Our financial peak efficiency, at the current team development trajectory, probably comes in 2 summers from now, in 2018-19.
Here are some arguments why:
- Smart becomes RFA and his cap hold is considerable cause he was the 6th pick and that gives us some space and flexibility.
- Bradley and Thomas become UFAs, additional 15 mil$
- Brown, Mickey, RJ, Rozier, Yabusele, Žižić and the rest of the young men will all be on a super cheap contracts demanding between 1%-4% of the projected cap in 2018-19. We expect to get some starters and role players there at that bargain. Maybe even more in Browns case.
- Crowder could very probably be outperforming his contract then. He will be paid at about 40% of the starters salary, while still being relatively young (27) and presumably at his peak.
- Big Als big pay is the only big contract. At 32 he will still perform well I believe. He is a skilled player. They age better.
- 2 high to mid lottery BKN picks. Their salaries are depending on the new CBA changes in regard of the rookie scale contracts. Say about 10 mil$ for both.
All those core (sans Kelly) and prospect players salaries would still leave at about 80 mil$ of Guarantied salaries. That is 12-15 players, practically full roster.
Cap will be at 110-115 mil$ by then. That is a considerable cap space.
For the sake of this projection I didn't include any trades. They could increase our guaranteed salary off course. The point is more about how we can wait for the bigger fish/fishes.
Hayward is nice, but he is more of a valuable supporter than a leading man.
In the end, who knows, maybe his relationship with Brad gives us some value in the long run.