It's Now or Never Baby!! - darkwolf80's Blog

darkwolf80's Blog

It's Now or Never Baby!!

Posted on February 6, 2014 at 11:48 PM.

(1)

As the offseason started I had made up mind that big changes were coming.
We ended up with the 9th pick in the draft, which we were hoping would lead to some much needed front court help.
We picked up the options on Gilchrist 6mil, Cody Zeller 4.2mil, and Harrison league min as he was a second round pick the year before. Jefferson also picked up his player option for 13.5mil. This all left us right at the max of the cap with no wiggle room to even sign draft picks. So something had to happen.

And I decided if I only have two years left to make a mark I was going to do it on my own terms. So as the saying goes everything must go! Ok everything but Parker.

I had two objectives: to clear as much cap space as I could and to get some young talent that was only a year away from blossoming.

The first move was to trade Gilchrist. I had already decided that Parker was not meant for long minutes at PF. I didn't want to put him through that grind again, especially coming back from knee surgery. I was able to trade Gilchrist/Mullens to the Suns for McDermott and Mason Plumlee. Those two would provide depth off the bench and were much cheaper options. It wasn't the best offer of talent I could have gotten back, but it met my goals of clearing cap space and giving me young talent.

Next, to show I was really serious about making changes I set about moving Al Jefferson. I knew trading an All-star player wasn't going to be popular. He was my number one scoring option, but was making 13mil a year and I felt I could find someone with more than just a scorer mentality for cheaper. After some discussions with multiple teams We came to an agreement with the Pistons of Jefferson/McGary/10th pick of 2nd rd for J.Embid/T. Allen/J.Stokes. I felt Embid could be that defensive anchor at the center that we greatly needed. And again it cleared up a good chunk of cap space.

My final predraft move was to move Stephenson. If my directive was to clear as much cap space as I could, I felt Stephenson could bring in something good. I had signed him for about 8mil a year for 4 years just the prior season, and he was a good player and gave his all. But I couldn't play favorites if I was going to pull this complete re-haul off. In more of a direct payroll dump I traded Stephenson/T.Allen to the Blazers for McCollum/Crabbe. I liked McCollum for a scorer off the bench. He has a pretty sweet stroke.

All these moves put me about 26 mil under the cap and with the 9th pick of the upcoming draft.

As the draft progressed we were able to land K. Holden a top five talent in my opinion. So I felt very happy on that pick. With Holden and Parker I felt we had two very young corner pieces for the future. Time would tell the story, as we all know the "sure" things don't always work out.

So now to the FA market and to use that cap space I created. The first target was restricted agent Kyrie Irving. I had heard there was some tension between Irving and the Cavs and that they might not match a max offer. So I made the max offer and was able to steal him for 4yrs/67mil. Now this did create an issue at PG for us as we still had Walker, but I was thinking we could play them both. I hadn't talked to Walker just yet, but at the speed I was moving this offseason I didn't have the time to. I would deal with the aftermath in the Pre-Season. I was able to sign B.Gordon back for one more year. For my last signing I was looking to add a veteran presence in the frontcourt. I wasn't sure that Holden was completely ready to start coming out of the gate. I spent my last chunk of change on Paul Milsap for 2yrs/12mil. When his offer was over it would be Holden time.

The world has been a buzz on all my moves, and I have heard much criticism. But again I only had two more years to bring that title to Jordan or I was out. So it was all or nothing!