Sam Presti's Survival Strategy In A Post-Apocalpytic Dystopian Nightmare

Simple question: Did the tough economic climate affect NBA team's spending plans as much as MSM scaremongerers would have you believe?

Not-so-simple answer: Kind of.

This summer saw a team that could have had nearly 8 figures of cap room opt not to use any of it. The Oklahoma City Thunder did pretty much nothing with their offseason once draft day was completed, and having won a total of 23 games last year, it's justifiable to ask why that was. There follows some exploratory maths, which get a bit dull and confusing.


If the Thunder had completed their buyout of Earl Watson (saving them $3.125 million; for argument's sake, let's assume that it could have been done earlier than July 17th), not signed James Harden, B.J. Mullens and Serge Ibaka until their cap space had been used, renounced all these guys that they don't want, not bothered to trade for Etan Thomas, kept Chucky Atkins and waived him, they would have had the following payroll:


Nick Collison - $6,250,000
Nenad Krstic - $5,160,832
Kevin Durant - $4,796,880
Russell Westbrook - $3,755,640
Jeff Green - $3,516,960
Earl Watson (waived) - $3,475,000
Damien Wilkins - $3,300,000
Thabo Sefolosha - $2,759,628
D.J. White - $1,036,440
Shaun Livingston - $959,111
Kyle Weaver - $870,968
Chucky Atkins (waived) - $760,000

Total = $36,641,459 for 10 players.


To that total, add the cap holds of $3,336,800 for Harden and $933,500 for both Mullens and Ibaka, take away all the cap holds linked to above (which at the start of the offseason also included cap holds for unwanted players such as Desmond Mason and Mickael Gelabale) and the Thunder would have had themselves a total team salary of $41,845,259. Against a salary cap of $57,700,000, that would have meant cap room of $15,854,741. And that's pretty much the max.

(If bits of that don't make sense to you, such as the talk of cap holds for draft picks and free agents, don't worry about that for now.)



Had they done this, the Thunder would have the second biggest free agent player this past offseason, second only to the Pistons. However, the Thunder didn't use their 8 figures of possible cap room. They didn't use any of it, in fact. They didn't make a single move this offseason that required any cap space, which is why they continue to rock massive cap holds on such seminal names as Danny Fortson and Malik Rose (over $21 million added to the cap in those two alone).

What they did instead was trade Wilkins and Atkins to Minnesota for Etan Thomas, taking on an extra $3,846,088 of salary this season just for the joy of getting future second round picks. They then followed tradition by signing their three first rounders to 120% of the scale, boosting those earlier figures of $3,336,800 and $933,500 to $4,004,160 and $1,120,200 respectively. Finally, they made their only two free agency signings of the summer:

Kevin Ollie and Ryan Bowen.

They could have had as-near-as-is max cap room. Instead, they got the two least talented players in the league. No offense. (They tried to make it three when they also signed Michael Ruffin, but roster numbers got the better of him. Sadly.)

The Thunder still have the lowest payroll in the league, a modest $48,383,101, and could have nearly $9.5 million in cap room tomorrow if they can bear to parted from The Fortson and friends. But they still haven't done so. They've shown no intention of doing so all summer. And until over-the-tax teams starting waggling cash and picks incentives towards the Thunder for them to take on their bad contracts when the trade deadline comes around - just like teams did with Memphis all of last year - then they're not going to use their cap room any time soon either.



The obvious question is why. Why would the Thunder not use this massive potential asset? Why would they turn down the opportunity to be one of the few buyers in such a seller's market? Why weren't they in there soliciting players like David Lee, Paul Millsap and Ben Gordon, using this prime opportunity to add one more significant piece to an already impressive young core? Did they whiff on an opportunity? Were they mismanaged?

No, I don't think so. As far as I see it, it was a combination of two things;

1. Truly quite a crap free agency class. The three aforementioned players were probably the pickings of the market, and two of them were restricted, which would have made the Thunder heavily overpaying to get them. They also would have had to bid outrageously to outbid the Pistons for Gordon, since Detroit themselves overpaid him, and while there's no real evidence to suggest that Oklahoma City attempted to get Gordon, there's also no real evidence that they should have done.

2. They don't have a whole lot of money. Having cap space and having money are not really the same thing.

Oklahoma City aren't a big budgeted franchise. As mentioned above, they have the league's smallest payroll, and spent all of last year trimming the remnants of Seattle's payroll. Attendance for the new franchise has been impressive in the early going, but the $75 million that it cost to move the team - combined with the $325 million that it cost to buy it - seems to have stymied the Thunder's spending on players. They've signed Nenad Krstic for three years and unsuccessfully tried to trade for Tyson Chandler's big contract, but that's been about it. And it isn't long until they're going to have to pony up for Kevin Durant's max contract. (That is, unless they trade his plus/minus-killing arse away before then. Although that might be hard to do, since apparently he's difficult to give way for free.)

But is this unwillingness to spend limited to the Thunder only? Quite what is the difference between spending during this summer's recession and during last summer's honeymoon period? Let's look at some more numbers.




Listed below are the future salary commitments for all NBA teams, including this season, but not including luxury tax payments. Note: for the purposes of consistency, all options and partially guaranteed contracts are assumed to be being paid in full. Even those that won't be.

1st: Orlando Magic - $317,268,369
2nd: Los Angeles Lakers - $256,433,829
3rd: Toronto Raptors - $244,926,542
4th: New Orleans Hornets - $238,288,724
5th: Golden State Warriors - $234,876,874
6th: Dallas Mavericks - $228,559,817
7th: Philadelphia 76ers - $225,715,686
8th: Washington Wizards - $217,956,499
9th: Detroit Pistons - $216,397,593
10th: Utah Jazz - $211,782,244
11th: Denver Nuggets - $209,996,915
12th: Cleveland Cavaliers - $197,756,154
13th: Portland Trail Blazers - $197,607,482
14th: Indiana Pacers - $189,539,684
15th: Sacramento Kings - $182,546,117
16th: Milwaukee Bucks - $181,912,234
17th: Atlanta Hawks - $181,775,571
18th: Charlotte Bobcats - $180,263,002
19th: Boston Celtics - $172,718,480
20th: Chicago Bulls - $169,916,272
21st: Phoenix Suns - $169,532,243
22nd: San Antonio Spurs - $168,787,128
23rd: Minnesota Timberwolves - $165,310,707
24th: Los Angeles Clippers - $157,306,417
25th: Houston Rockets - $147,199,150
26th: Memphis Grizzlies - $127,671,869
27th: New York Knicks - $124,240,768
28th: Miami Heat - $121,060,368
29th: New Jersey Nets - $118,253,823
30th: Oklahoma City Thunder - $109,551,956

Total = $5,565,152,517. Or, to put it in words: five billion, five hundred and sixty five million, one hundred and fifty two thousand, five hundred and seventeen dollars.


(Makes you feel a bit weird to see it all totalled up like that, doesn't it?)



And now, the same statistic, but from this time last year. The following is the future salary commitments for all NBA teams as of October 26th 2008;

1st: Orlando Magic - $294,700,756
2nd: Washington Wizards - $289,258,879
3rd: Philadelphia 76ers - $280,843,432
4th: Golden State Warriors - $266,578,475
5th: New Orleans Hornets - $259,494,157
6th: Dallas Mavericks - $256,486,158
7th: Charlotte Bobcats - $241,276,414
8th: Milwaukee Bucks - $240,182,828
9th: Sacramento Kings - $238,980,548
10th: Chicago Bulls - $233,647,431
11th: Cleveland Cavaliers - $230,050,946
12th: Boston Celtics - $227,210,745
13th: New York Knicks - $223,651,682
14th: Los Angeles Lakers - $218,983,731
15th: Denver Nuggets - $218,283,798
16th: Utah Jazz - $216,382,116
17th: Phoenix Suns - $215,488,477
18th: New Jersey Nets - $213,824,140
19th: San Antonio Spurs - $196,644,633
20th: Toronto Raptors - $194,241,647
21st: Los Angeles Clippers - $193,352,090
22nd: Minnesota Timberwolves - $192,651,934
23rd: Indiana Pacers - $178,713,794
24th: Miami Heat - $174,614,367
25th: Houston Rockets - $170,637,835
26th: Detroit Pistons - $165,711,468
27th: Atlanta Hawks - $157,119,737
28th: Memphis Grizzlies - $146,551,493
29th: Portland Trail Blazers - $133,235,971
30th: Oklahoma City Thunder - $121,422,133

Total: $6,390,221,815

Difference between 2008/09 and 2009/10: $825,069,298

[Note: none of these figures are guaranteed to be 100% accurate, because I've reverse-engineered them, but at worst it's 98.5%. Also note: the $158,312,000's worth of extensions given to Danny Granger, Jason Maxiell, Martell Webster and Andrew Bynum were signed after October 26th 2008, and therefore weren't counted towards their team's totals above. Nor is the $18 million that reappeared on Portlands's cap for Darius Miles. Similarly, LaMarcus Aldridge's extension from last week is not included, because I don't know what it is yet.]


$825 million is a lot of freaking money, even when split over 30 big money franchises. That figure alone highlights the difference in spending between this year and last. But here's another way of looking at it.

This summer, $1,275,302,921 of new player salary was given out. That total includes minimum salary deals, rookie scale contract, extensions......everything.

Last summer, however, $1,885,122,482 of new player salary was given out. That's an decrease of $609,819,561 in new expenditure from one summer to the next. And that's a lot.




Of course, there are mitigating factors for that. The crappy 2006 draft class has had something to do with it; as I mentioned here, only three players have gotten extensions from that draft class, and only a couple more have a chance of getting one. The 2010 free agency market is another huge factor (one that you may not have heard of, due to the minimal press coverage its received), and many teams are trying to avoid clogging their cap in eager anticipation of the impending free agency anti-climax coming up next offseason. When that day comes, spending should ramp up again, and the current contingency plans for it may well explain some of the decline in salary expenditure.

But more than anything, it appears that the economy's affect on player spending has not been overstated. Working purely on averages, NBA teams have $20 million less on players this summer than they did last summer, a large amount of money regardless of the number of years that it is spread over. Times are tough, and we're all having to make small sacrifices right now. (Personally, I'm forgoing all haircuts. They're too expensive anyway.) The NBA is no different; as we've now seen, it's stopped spending like it used to as well.

And so that might explain why the Thunder picked Ryan Bowen over Paul Millsap.



(The picture that opened this post had literally nothing to do with the rest of it.)

Summer signings, round 28

- Continuing a recent tradition, the Knicks signed Allan Houston for training camp, seemingly not telling him at any point that he's just not going to make the roster. Don't worry, we won't call it a comeback. Their other camp signee, swingman Dan Grunfeld, has equally little chance, but he's going to enjoy his moment in the spotlight nonetheless.

- The Lakers chose to re-sign Didier Ilunga-Mbenga because he's tall and nimble, the fact that he's about to turn 28 and has never doen a damn thing be damned.

- Jamon Gordon has signed with Trikala in Greece. Insert your own yodelling reference.

- Three months after drafting him, and many weeks after pretty much all other first rounders were signed, the San Antonio Spurs finally took care of business and signed George Hill. More importantly, however, they also signed Salim Stoudamire. I'm sort of happy about this. Salim's a good player and a good fit for the Spurs, but he's now one of 18 players on a 15 man roster, and one of only a few without a guaranteed contract. Also, if San Antonio decides to keep an extra shooter - and they should - then the odds favour Desmon Farmer, a man coming off a blazingly hot season down in the D-League, and no less of a fringe NBA talent than Salim. Desmon's advantage over Stoudamire is that he is of a nromal shooting guard's height, whereas Salim is a comparative midget. With Hill now signed, Tony Parker as the lifelong starter and Jacque Vaughn here whether they like it or not, the Spurs probably won't want four guards that are 6'2 or under. And that's a damn shame.

- The Carl Landry saga is finally over, and in a really shoddy way. After maintaining for ages that they wanted the MLE (or at least, that's what we public were told), Landry and his agent Buddy Baker ended up signing a paltry 3 year, $9 million offer sheet from the Charlotte Bobcats. The Rockets matched almost instantly, scarcely able to believe their good fortune. When was the last time someone held out until training camp, and won? Carl Landry hasn't. Sasha Pavlovic didn't. Anderson Varejao didn't. So, Ben Gordon, if you're watching.....let's end the charade. In additional Rockets news, GM Daryl Morey says here that he expects Maarty Leunen to sign with a club "associated" with Efes Pilsen in Turkey. God knows what that means.

- Juan Dixon has returned to the Wizards as a half-arsed but far cheaper replacement for Roger Mason Jr, who signed with the Spurs earlier this summer. On an non-guaranteed minimum salary contract, it's a good move for Washington, but one which leaves Linton Johnson stuck on the outside as the 16th man. Damn you and your guaranteed contract, Stewie Griffin.

- Kaniel Dickens signed with Italian club Napoli way back in the day, but since that date, Napoli have found themselves in trouble for cooking the books, not paying proper taxes or pension payments. Their registration in the Italian league has since been revoked, and Dickens has left the team. He has stayed in Italy, however, and signed with Varese. Gary Forbes, another player who recently signed with Napoli, has also left the team, and is as yet unsigned.

- Former Raptors camp fodder LaVell Blanchard has signed with AEL Limassol in Cyprus. Cypriot basketball news! Right here! Get some!

- Omar Cook signed for Malaga in Spain. If you take a keen interest in those NBA players (or near-NBA players) who wind up playing for other countries because they can obtain passports based on residence (such as Jabari Smith playing for Qatar, J.R. Bremer playing for Bosnia, or Chris Kaman playing for Germany), then add this one to your list - Omar Cook has received a Montenegran passport, and will probably play for their national team once they commence international competition next year. Other eligible Montenegran players that you may have heard of include Nikola Pekovic (31st pick of the Timberwolves in this year's draft), Mladen Sekularac (2002 second round pick of Dallas, now belonging to Golden State after he was thrown into the Erick Dampier trade), Predrag Drobnjak (smelly journeyman), Zarko Cabarkapa (former Warriors first rounder whose back held him back), and Slavko Vranes (Knicks second rounder in 2003 - very tall, very bad). Good information all.

- Jiri Hubalek is the name of the man unflatteringly referred to in this post as "some white guy". That post mentions how Hubalek (going under the pseudonym of "some white guy") was to sign with the Phoenix Suns for training camp. Well, scratch that - Hubalek has instead signed with Solsonica Rieti in Italy. If you're eagerly awaiting news of who replaces him in Phoenix, wait until the next post. If you can.

- Finally, Robert Pack has packed it all in, and has been hired as an assistant coach for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League. That right there represents the best pun that I've ever made. Pity me.

Problems With Exposure

Well, at least the NBA is in a British newspaper finally. Even if it's one of those "Really Interesting Things David Beckham Does While Alive"photo segments that are used by hugely shite third rate publications to pad out their pages with pictures of pretty girls.

Amusing if only for the fact that it calls Didier Ilunga-Mbenga an "ace". Seven years ago, when I didn't know any better, I might have bought that.



(Note to English readers - I only bought the Daily Mirror for the I'm Alan Partridge DVD giveaway. And it wasn't worth the agony that stemmed from actually owning the Daily Mirror.)