4 yrs $16 mill per probably gets him for Sac. And they'd be better off paying him than LaVine. The thing is if they don't overpay, my guess is that if the Celtics can get in the ballpark, he'd go with them and compete for a title vs getting every last possible dollar.
That ballpark means we’d probably have to let one of our starters go at some point. You can’t give a one-sided role player 15% of your cap.
If he gets $15 million, I’d sign Jamal Crawford and call it a day.
Honestly, I don’t think % I’d cap means much in a period where the Celtics are going to be significantly over it for a number of years, with or without Smart. I’d look at it as % of payroll. Can you give an elite role player like Smart 10-12% of your payroll? You probably can if it’s a 3-year deal (so runs out when Tatum enter contract #2 and when Hayward’s deal ends). Trickier if it’s for four years, but you can probably move him as an expiring at that time to someone for a not-exorbitant price, at worst.
Whether you want to call it % of cap or percentage of payroll, just make sure you add in ALL the costs of going into the tax in order to sign him.
Personally I see no reason to attribute that cost any more to Marcus than to Baynes. The Celtics knew when they chose to re-sign Baynes that going into the luxury tax was a definite possibility, and if it comes to fruition because he gets the big offer he’s seeking and the Celtics match, presumably they were prepared for it.
Like it or not, Baynes is already a sunk cost. Plus Baynes clearly came in well below market, at a very team-friendly price that didn't create any extra budget pressure. It still left plenty of room under the threshold for Smart's AND Bird's qualifying offers.
We've been through this discussion before. You seemed to think Baynes was the odd man out. I disagreed. I've said all along and I think the way things have resolved make it clear that on this current roster, if healthy, Smart is the odd man out. Danny came to terms quickly with Baynes and has left it up to the market to determine Smart's fate.
At this point, retaining Smart at any price above the QO they've already tendered is a decision unto itself. And it carries a price tag.
Maybe Danny will be willing to pay that price. We'll see.
Poll
Topic: Marcus Smart RFA [Merged - finalizing 4 year deal] (Read 179441 times)