OT: David West joins the Spurs; Cavs' luxury tax through the roof

Submitted by BornSinner on

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13210946/david-west-sign-san-antonio-…

David West is opting out of the last year of his contract to go to the Spurs for the vet minimum of $1.5 mill vs the $12 mill he would've made on the Pacers capping off a great offseason for SA.

Meanwhile, LeGM is working on getting Joe Johnson onto the Cavs by getting rid of Haywood and/or Varejao... 

Gilbert will be paying a record $200 mill and change (roster salaries + luxury tax) for the Cavs to lose to either the Warriors or Spurs in the finals. 

Got damn... 

Everyone Murders

July 6th, 2015 at 6:02 PM ^

Cleveland pretty much fucks itself.

(Also, West's agent must be really bad at negotiating.  It would be like having Wolverine Devotee negotiate Michigan's apparel deal.  "David desperately wants to play for the Spurs.  He says he does not even want to talk to the other teams, and money is no object.  Now let's talk salary!")

Everyone Murders

July 6th, 2015 at 7:35 PM ^

Yeah, I saw that in the OP's first paragraph, and I realize it's cap-driven.  It's a mind-boggling gamble by West, especially since so much of the Spurs core is aging - $10.5M.  But it's West's prerogative, of course.

I probably should not be blaming the agent for something that he was probably extremely frustrated about (it would have been better to say "West and his agent" or just "West").  But the opportunity to allude to WD's desperation for Nike overcame me.

Gucci Mane

July 6th, 2015 at 5:52 PM ^

Is there some hidden money West is getting ? The money is so much less it doesn't make any sense.

Gucci Mane

July 6th, 2015 at 5:58 PM ^

Maybe. But why do we never hear of teams paying players money off the books ? In a salary cap league paying a max player like lebron 5-10 million on the side would be a great benefit if you can get away with it. Does this happen ?

SanDiegoWolverine

July 6th, 2015 at 6:09 PM ^

if not crippled in the past. If Gilbert got caught paying his players on the side we would be heavily fined and stripped of multiple first round picks at best. At worst he would be voted out of the league. Under extreme circumstances the league could do something really punative like canceling player contracts. 

What typically has happened in the past is that teams have promised players that they will keep them in the organization after they retire if they take a discount. That's more of a gray area and happens all the time.

Lanknows

July 6th, 2015 at 8:18 PM ^

Teams that got CAUGHT have been fined.  Like...the TWolves for Joe Smith.

The Heat and Spurs seem to be doing OK with it despite a lot of suspicious activity.  And uh...Dirk Nowitzki makes about 1/3 of his value, even at this advanced age.

Nobody is getting a simple off the book check, but people are getting compensated in other ways all the time.

SanDiegoWolverine

July 6th, 2015 at 9:14 PM ^

It's not like Duncan is making 10 million a year for Texas department store chain endorsement or something. These billionaires are highly competitive that own teams and they stand to lose money if other owners are cheating. If they thought something fishy was up they would investigate and file a complaint. Dirk and Duncan have both made 150 million plus in their careers with no state taxes. If they value winning over cash at this point in their life then more power to them. Kobe did not, now he is on a shit team.

SanDiegoWolverine

July 6th, 2015 at 9:18 PM ^

In fact he was at a grandfathered in max from playing so many years and having started in 1996 when there was no rookie scale. So he was at 35 million in his last year - 12 million more than anyone else - and took 26 million a year for his last two years after he had torn his achilles. 

He said he took all the money because he was worh it. From a marketing prospective he was, but he showed that he valued money over winning.

Ronnie Kaye

July 6th, 2015 at 10:56 PM ^

All the TV event did was give them an excuse to say "It's not that he left it's how he left," which of course is bullshit. Ohio has one of the most provincial state cultures in the country. They really do think leaving is some sort of unthinkable betrayal.

Frank Chuck

July 6th, 2015 at 6:04 PM ^

The 2016 Western Conference Finals should be between the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs - the last 2 NBA Champions.

In the immortal words of Bart Scott, "CAN'T WAIT!"

Lanknows

July 6th, 2015 at 8:22 PM ^

Sure could be true, but the Warriors had a lot of things go right and Bogut and Curry have a ton of injury concerns.

As for the Spurs, they're a little light in the backcourt give Manu/Parker are unreliable but I imagine they'll be right there.

Don't sleep on the Rockets though. There's a lot of offseason left ...

ST3

July 7th, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^

They are led by two enormous head cases in Howard and Harden. It's OK to sleep on them. They aren't winning anything.

bronxblue

July 6th, 2015 at 6:21 PM ^

Great signing by the Spurs; GSW and SA are going to be terrifying next year.

Cavs need another shooter, but Johnson isn't anywhere close to the player he was a couple of years ago, and at that price you have to expect more than what he'll likely give you.  Just a bad trade if it happens.

swalburn

July 6th, 2015 at 8:50 PM ^

If you are a Cavs fan aren't you at least happy your owner is willing to spend the money on the product on the floor in hopes of bringing that city a championship.  Personally, that makes me like their owner even more.  I know that isn't a popular opinion on this board but that city deserves a title at some point.

BornSinner

July 6th, 2015 at 9:15 PM ^

But... I can say I respect Lebron for saying fuck you to owners and gripping them by the balls considering that history has it the other way around with owners always in charge. 

Gilbert, for how immature he is, should be given credit for sucking it up for the sake of winning. 

If OKC's owner wasn't a cheap bastard, they probably would've been a dynasty by now with Durant, Harden and Westbrook leading the charge. 

iLoveMichigan

July 6th, 2015 at 9:36 PM ^

Good. I am glad we have an owner willing to front that kind of cash. He is doing his part to help this title-starved city. The guy has done so many great things for Cleveland and I cannot thank him enough.

mGrowOld

July 6th, 2015 at 11:08 PM ^

Mo Williams just signed with the Cavs.   That takes care of our need for decent back-up PG.  Delly is definitely NOT a guy you want to be giving big minutes to (neither is Williams FWIW).

Looks like it's setting up for a Cavs-Spurs finals.  Both teams are loaded.  The difference (sadly for me) is Pop v Blatt and that is no match at all.

Blue_sophie

July 7th, 2015 at 4:53 AM ^

to learn the game at the highest level? I think of it like a successful lawyer going back to school for a masters degree in classical philosophy. . . Good for D-West, I always liked his little jumpshot game with the NO Hornets; now he won't need to rely on Paul's assists, but will benefit from the Spurs' ball movement. SA might be a great place for him to age-in-place (so to speak).

Blue Ninja

July 7th, 2015 at 7:37 AM ^

More contracts like that are likely in this off season with the cap increase coming next year. Players will opt for short contracts with less money to hit big numbers in the next off season. So for West this deal makes a lot of sense, get on a championship caliber team that can afford to give him a significant raise next year. So good move by West, although I recall reading some Cav fan comments that he would go to the Cavs because Matta was his former coach...how they thought that makes absolutely no sense.