07-15-2022, 10:50 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-15-2022, 11:03 AM by DanSchwartzgan.)
I've been playing around with deals and think I may have discovered the original and intermediate plan for Mitchell to NY. I think it may tell us something about the plan going forward, and a possible Mav's connection.
Let's go back to prior to Walker to Detroit being finalized. Recall this needed to be done first so Duren could play summer league, but was held open beyond the initial rush of signings on 7/6. I believe the preference would have been to deal Walker, Noel and Burks all together to Detroit while simultaneously sending Grimes to Utah (with picks) for Mitchell. Super clean for Utah as they don't want NY's crap contracts like Fournier. They just took on several bodies in the Gobert deal. So, going forward, I think the plan has to be to send as little future salary to Utah as possible. NY dealt it's only expiring deals other than Rose, so more has to be done to meet this goal.
So, how does Dallas enter this other than possibly paying for a $13.86mm TPE in the Brunson deal? I think expiring Powell may play a role.
There was some talk in another thread about Kemba Walker to Dallas and it got me to digging around a little. Walker agreed to a buyout, but it never went official as far as I can tell. The Knox signing hasn't gone official yet. AND, I found a site that said Detroit might have an $11.8mm TPE large enough to take on Powell (I don't believe this is still true, just taking you through the process).
Detroit got a $20.95mm TPE in the Grant deal in early July. I can walk you through the mechanics of how Detroit temporarily had an $11.8mm TPE (big enough for Powell) by netting Kemba against the Grant TPE and staying over the cap, but it no longer matters as it went away when they dipped below the cap to take Burks/Noel into space. But, there was a moment in time where Powell to Detroit might have fit into the rest of the Grant TPE and Brunson might have generated a $13.86mm TPE. This would have been in that timeframe between when Kemba was traded, but before Noel/Burks were traded and Brunson was finalized. Rose and Grimes aren't enough to match Mitchell, but add Noel to the outgoing (replaced in Detroit by Powell) and you are there. Not as clean as Grimes alone, but that ship sailed when Detroit finalized the Walker/Duren part of the deal. At least Rose and Noel are expiring.
So, why bother with Powell? You have to understand the power behind the throne in Detroit and NY. Everyone knows by now that Mitchell and Brunson are CAA as are Toppin and Randle as well as Ivey in Detroit and Conley in Utah. What isn't as well known is Detroit is an Excel shop. Bagley, Olynyk, Kemba, Bey and most importantly Cunningham are all Schwartz guys. Schwartz's interest is making sure his people are taken care of and right now Kemba is screwed in Detroit and Powell is screwed in Dallas. No one gives a crap about Powell (or Kemba really) as players. But, Detroit gives a crap about keeping Schwartz happy. BTW, I don't think CAA wants to strand Conley in rebuilding Utah and Powell plus Brunson going out in one big giant 4-way with Detroit, Utah and NY could have landed Conley if Powell went to Det. I know I'm throwing out a lot of things, but there were many ways this could have happened at different points along the process.
Fast forward to now. Detroit should have $10mm of room left until Knox is final. NY still wants Mitchell and Utah doesn't want crap long term contracts. It is possible too many doors have been closed to include Detroit and Dallas in any Mitchell deal. But, I think there was a plan along the way to include them. I also think NY has to come up with a non-aggregated way to add something expiring to Rose and Grimes. I mentioned last night that CAA structured the Gary Harris extension as NG in the second year and he matches Fournier. That could be a backup plan as Orlando would surely want compensation. NY can also go back to the Detroit well and use some of their space as part of their outgoing.
The way this could go down and still involve Dallas and Detroit is:
Utah sends Mitchell to NY/Gets Noel, Grimes and Rose and a ton of picks
Dallas sends Powell to Detroit with other compensation/Gets Reddish/McBride
Detroit sends Noel to Utah/Gets Powell to make Schwartz happy
NY sends Rose and Grimes to Utah and Reddish/McBride to Dallas and gets Mitchell.
None of that used up the Detroit cap room. Another version would send Reddish and McBride to Utah and Powell going into the additional space created by sending back Saben Lee. In other words, there are still a lot of variations available that might or might not include Dallas. But, I think Dallas was probably part of the plan once upon a time.
Let's go back to prior to Walker to Detroit being finalized. Recall this needed to be done first so Duren could play summer league, but was held open beyond the initial rush of signings on 7/6. I believe the preference would have been to deal Walker, Noel and Burks all together to Detroit while simultaneously sending Grimes to Utah (with picks) for Mitchell. Super clean for Utah as they don't want NY's crap contracts like Fournier. They just took on several bodies in the Gobert deal. So, going forward, I think the plan has to be to send as little future salary to Utah as possible. NY dealt it's only expiring deals other than Rose, so more has to be done to meet this goal.
So, how does Dallas enter this other than possibly paying for a $13.86mm TPE in the Brunson deal? I think expiring Powell may play a role.
There was some talk in another thread about Kemba Walker to Dallas and it got me to digging around a little. Walker agreed to a buyout, but it never went official as far as I can tell. The Knox signing hasn't gone official yet. AND, I found a site that said Detroit might have an $11.8mm TPE large enough to take on Powell (I don't believe this is still true, just taking you through the process).
Detroit got a $20.95mm TPE in the Grant deal in early July. I can walk you through the mechanics of how Detroit temporarily had an $11.8mm TPE (big enough for Powell) by netting Kemba against the Grant TPE and staying over the cap, but it no longer matters as it went away when they dipped below the cap to take Burks/Noel into space. But, there was a moment in time where Powell to Detroit might have fit into the rest of the Grant TPE and Brunson might have generated a $13.86mm TPE. This would have been in that timeframe between when Kemba was traded, but before Noel/Burks were traded and Brunson was finalized. Rose and Grimes aren't enough to match Mitchell, but add Noel to the outgoing (replaced in Detroit by Powell) and you are there. Not as clean as Grimes alone, but that ship sailed when Detroit finalized the Walker/Duren part of the deal. At least Rose and Noel are expiring.
So, why bother with Powell? You have to understand the power behind the throne in Detroit and NY. Everyone knows by now that Mitchell and Brunson are CAA as are Toppin and Randle as well as Ivey in Detroit and Conley in Utah. What isn't as well known is Detroit is an Excel shop. Bagley, Olynyk, Kemba, Bey and most importantly Cunningham are all Schwartz guys. Schwartz's interest is making sure his people are taken care of and right now Kemba is screwed in Detroit and Powell is screwed in Dallas. No one gives a crap about Powell (or Kemba really) as players. But, Detroit gives a crap about keeping Schwartz happy. BTW, I don't think CAA wants to strand Conley in rebuilding Utah and Powell plus Brunson going out in one big giant 4-way with Detroit, Utah and NY could have landed Conley if Powell went to Det. I know I'm throwing out a lot of things, but there were many ways this could have happened at different points along the process.
Fast forward to now. Detroit should have $10mm of room left until Knox is final. NY still wants Mitchell and Utah doesn't want crap long term contracts. It is possible too many doors have been closed to include Detroit and Dallas in any Mitchell deal. But, I think there was a plan along the way to include them. I also think NY has to come up with a non-aggregated way to add something expiring to Rose and Grimes. I mentioned last night that CAA structured the Gary Harris extension as NG in the second year and he matches Fournier. That could be a backup plan as Orlando would surely want compensation. NY can also go back to the Detroit well and use some of their space as part of their outgoing.
The way this could go down and still involve Dallas and Detroit is:
Utah sends Mitchell to NY/Gets Noel, Grimes and Rose and a ton of picks
Dallas sends Powell to Detroit with other compensation/Gets Reddish/McBride
Detroit sends Noel to Utah/Gets Powell to make Schwartz happy
NY sends Rose and Grimes to Utah and Reddish/McBride to Dallas and gets Mitchell.
None of that used up the Detroit cap room. Another version would send Reddish and McBride to Utah and Powell going into the additional space created by sending back Saben Lee. In other words, there are still a lot of variations available that might or might not include Dallas. But, I think Dallas was probably part of the plan once upon a time.
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