The Cavs got trade exceptions. So what? WFNY FAQ
July 27, 2015Next Up: Kansas City Royals … Next Stop: Pluto
July 27, 2015Late Sunday night, NBA fans caught word that the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trailblazers agreed to a deal that sent to players—Brendan Haywood and Mike Miller—to the Pacific Northwest in exchange for cold hard cash and a decently sized gift card to be used later. Cleveland added in a couple of second-round picks in order to help sweeten the deal as it is believed that neither player will actually play for Portland next season. This is one of those rare deals where something big happens, but it’s not the players as much as their contracts that are dealt. And it’s also one of those rare deals that gets an A+ from ESPN.com’s Kevin Pelton.
Cleveland Cavaliers: A+
I’m a bit blown away by how well this trade worked out for the Cavaliers.
The expectation had been that Cleveland would need to send a couple of second-round picks to a team under the cap to take on Haywood’s non-guaranteed contract and help the Cavaliers create a trade exception in the amount of Haywood’s $10.5 million salary. … But in addition to offloading Haywood’s contract before it became guaranteed on August 1, the Cavaliers also managed to shed Miller’s guaranteed $2.85 million salary, a move with huge financial implications. …
It’s easy for fans to overstate the value of trade exceptions. Most go unused, and trade exceptions may be less valuable than ever next summer because so many teams will have the ability to take on salary in trades using cap space. Still, there’s zero downside for the Cavaliers to having the exception. They don’t pay anything and don’t have to use it. And given the limitations on Cleveland adding talent as a taxpaying team, a massive trade exception remains a unique opportunity to improve what is already a championship contender.
Pelton is spot on: It is easy to overstate the value of a TPE. It’s also easy to forget that a TPE is exactly how the Cavaliers acquired center Timofey Mozgov last season, a player who is not only in the final year of an absurdly cheap contract, but one who helped solidify a defensive unit that was in dire need of help down low, ultimately leading them through the Eastern Conference with juggernaut-like force.
Once it became evident that the Cavaliers were not going to get a player with the ballooned contract of Haywood, the tax savings and the traded player exception became paramount. Pelton digs in to the nuances of how much money the team saved by moving Miller as well, but the fact that the veteran was able to also get a $500,000 payment as a trade kicker on his way out truly iced the belief that everyone won in this deal, especially the Cavaliers front office.
[Related: A look at the Cavaliers’ projected luxury tax situation]
9 Comments
In Griffin we trust! Now if he could only tutor Mark Antonetti.
Half way through the season, will we be able to get a max contract player (20 ish M player that half of his salary would be paid leaving the remaining 10M) or does it not work that way?
Negative. Per the CBA, trade exceptions cannot be combined with traded away salary, nor can they be combined with each other.
If we were to use this at the trading deadline, or even next season, who do you imagine the Cavs would trade away?
Let me re-phrase. Is a 20M contract still worth 20M for trading purposes half way through the season or is is then 10M because 10M has already been paid.
Sadly probably Andy. Who would you rather have, Andy or Mozgoff?
I’m pretty sure it’s commensurate. Would have to be a $10 mm player.
Not allowed to trade anyone away with this deal (directly). Could do a separate deal alongside it though.
I should’ve read the FAQ first.