If we can get Pau Gasol for like a S&T with Speights, we gotta do that, right? The Lakers might want to reduce their tax bill for the year and Gasol is in the last deal of an admittedly overpriced contract. We start Tristan at the 4 and Gasol at the 5. If Gasol has a good year, we would have bird rights on him and could hopefully keep him for around 10m a year on a short term new deal.
I actually like this a lot. It's a very creative way to utilize our cap space next year. If all it costs the Cavs is cap space/money, then I make that trade no question.
Gasol might be turning 33 this year, but he's still a multi-time All Star with a winning pedigree and championship experience. I think he could be a valuable influence on players like Tristan and Tyler. I also really like his versatility in terms of where he fits with our bigs.
Right now, the Cavs have $32.1M in total cap (Irving, Gee, Varejao, Thompson, Waiters, Zeller, Miles, Selby, and Speights*) allocated to next season. Assume the salary cap stays near where it is this year: $58.8M, and that leaves the Cavs with $26.7M in cap space. Furthermore, if Speights is lost to free agency and Miles is cut by the team, that's an additional $6.8M in cap space.
I'd like to keep Ellington and Livingston next year and assign them reasonable contracts. I'd probably offer Ellington a contract similar to what Gee obtained ($10M over three years). I'd offer Livingston a contract for the same length, but worth a little bit less ($7.5M over three years). Assume starting values for $3.5M (Ellington) and $2.5M (Livingston), and we're at $7M. Let's assume the Cavs draft 7th and 29th overall with their first round picks. There's an additional $2.33M (7th) and $857K (29th) for those two rookies based on the current NBA Rookie Pay Scale. Retention of Ellington, Livingston, and our two draft selections would total approximately $10.2M for four players, that would leave our lineup looking something like:
PG: Kyrie Irving/Shaun Livingston/Josh Selby
SG: Dion Waiters/Wayne Ellington
SF: Alonzo Gee/C.J. Miles/2013 Draft Pick (7th)
PF: Tristan Thompson/2013 Draft Pick (29th)
C: Anderson Varejao/Tyler Zeller
At this point the Cavs' money committeed to the cap would be approximately $42.3M (players committed, rookies, and re-signed FAs). This would still leave them around $16.5M under the cap. Pau Gasol is set to make $19.3M next year. If the Cavs traded (or signed and traded) Mo Speights and C.J. Miles, that would net us back $6.8M in cap space (as explained above), moving us to $23.3M under the cap, which would be more than enough to take on Gasol for next year and still leave us with a little cap space to play around with.
Why? If it is one year deal, gives us a good player to par with Irving for a playoff run next year, and it also gives us a good big man in 2014 when we sign a max free agent. It is ok to have some veterans on the team, Gasols game is shooting, and pick and pop, even as he ages he could still give us 18 - 9 from the Center potions, and would pair great with TT.
I agree with you here too. I think Gasol would be a really good fit with our current rotation of bigs. His ability to play either the 4 or the 5 allows him to start at the 5 next to Thompson or he can move over to the 4 when Andy comes off the bench. He's shown he's a good passer which is an important part of the offense Scott is looking to implement.
Next year is our make or break playoff year. I think Gasol takes us there. If we're looking to attract free agents to Cleveland in the summer of 2014, we're going to need to win and gain profile around the league. This includes pushing into the playoffs. His contract comes off the books that summer too. Which gives us flexibility with what to do with him. If we miss out on the high end free agents, but are able to get one the second tier guys (and Gasol) at a reasonable offer, I think that's still better than being left handing the bag with a ton of cap space and nobody (Dallas this year).