Inner_GI wrote:42PhD wrote:Dr. Rocker, The Cleveland Rocker: You are still $16,548,192 over the cap, and the only single contract you have that can take you under the line is Peeler, who only Cleveland has expressed interest in. Since you will likely be paying a hefty tax bill anyway, then, why dismantle Mr. O'Hard's title team? Isn't Tax + Title better than Tax + No Title? Our sources in Marietta say that the Hawks have determined this to be the case. Do the Lakers disagree with the far superior Hawks?
Oh boy. This is fun.
I already have a deal in the works to get under the cap, and not once has Cleveland ever expressed interest in any Laker player while under my watch. I already won my title with the roster I wanted and the game plan I wanted.
Just as clarification, the Cleveland interest was publicly expressed last season, just before the post-season.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1670
As a preview of what we intend, we're very interested in clearing enough space to accept Anthony Peeler's contract, some points, and a rookie scale contract in exchange for a minimum salary player to give the Magic a chance to sign some free agents, if they are interested.
Orlando responded with a pithy and suave negotiating move:
You're ass
Which was countered with:
You love it.
Have your girl call my girl, we'll do lunch.
This is simply the tenor of open negotiations, but clearly Orlando got a better deal because the Lakers were scared of a little tax, and that just goes to show that even Orlando can do a good deal from time to time.
There are 2 teams that can give the relief you need, 3 if you waive some players, The Nuggets, Knicks, and Pistons.
It doesn't serve Denver well to help you save your points (or the other teams, but they are in your conference) and they appear to be continuing their rebuild, and Peeler may on hurt their draft pick. The Pistons are an interesting case because they may actually want to be better, of they have an offer of Doleac for Horry on the table, which may serve them better in terms of improvement, since they don't have their pick and saves them some cap next season. The Knicks have Carmelo, so I don't see that.
I'm sure we'll see what happens, but those seem like great reasons for teams to just let Peeler sit there for a season and just destroy your points bank and have one less team to worry about for seasons to come as they build for a title.
If you are trading other players, it's hard to see how you get under the tax and get fair value, but I'm sure it could happen. It's a big league, and anything can happen.
We, Cleveland, of course wish you the best of luck with the plan, especially when teams should just let the taxed out teams hold their salary and deplete their war chests or deal players for much better deals than initially offered as the pressure mounts. You'll need it, and you'll need those teams really not to think about what has been clearly laid out here.
There's no "I" in team, but you can find "Eat me" if you push it too far.
