The media and why hasn't anyone put the hard word on Dell

As to why he hasn't stretched Asik or Ajnica freeing up a ton of money

We discuss it as fans ad nauseam but those with actual media clout shy away from the hard questions?

Feels bad man

Because as little as the media knows about the NBA it’s still more than 99% of the fans.

If Asik gets stretched then we lose the chance to possibly get him a medical retirement in February which would clear ALL of his cap him off of the team and not just stretch it out over the course of years. If we stretch Ajinca then we have zero backup centers on this team.

But even more important, let’s say they do stretch Asik and Ajinca, exactly what are we supposed to do with the freed up money now in the season? Is there some center sitting out there right now that’s worth not only the minimum contract he would get but also is worth adding years of dead money to our team? Why make such a long term damaging move before we absolutely have to?

Or is it all just for the sake of a new shiny player who we haven’t seen yet so he could potentially be anything? Even though in 2 weeks we’d just be calling to cut him too for another player but our cap situation would have become even worse.

If we’d discussed this issue ad nauseam already then the answer as to why we haven’t stretched them already should have been clear to you. The failing is with you, not the media.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

Because as little as the media knows about the NBA it’s still more than 99% of the fans.

If Asik gets stretched then we lose the chance to possibly get him a medical retirement in February which would clear ALL of his cap him off of the team and not just stretch it out over the course of years. If we stretch Ajinca then we have zero backup centers on this team.

But even more important, let’s say they do stretch Asik and Ajinca, exactly what are we supposed to do with the freed up money now in the season? Is there some center sitting out there right now that’s worth not only the minimum contract he would get but also is worth adding years of dead money to our team? Why make such a long term damaging move before we absolutely have to?

Or is it all just for the sake of a new shiny player who we haven’t seen yet so he could potentially be anything? Even though in 2 weeks we’d just be calling to cut him too for another player but our cap situation would have become even worse.

If we’d discussed this issue ad nauseam already then the answer as to why we haven’t stretched them already should have been clear to you. The failing is with you, not the media.

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The medical retirement thing is far from set in stone, someone said they had seen Asik at a shootaround before one of the games even.

It would be nice to know what plan the GM has planned going forward instead of having 17 wild fan guesses depending on the person

Because the media doesn't care about us. New Orleans doing bad means nothing to them.

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Originally Posted by AusPel

The medical retirement thing is far from set in stone, someone said they had seen Asik at a shootaround before one of the games even.

It would be nice to know what plan the GM has planned going forward instead of having 17 wild fan guesses depending on the person

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Yes. The medical retirement is far from set in stone. But if we stretch Asik now we have NO option of doing it.

Why would we want to make any drastic moves that would keep dead money on the books for years when there is a chance we don’t need to?

Again, what is the point of stretching Asik and Ajinca now? Who is out there and available now that is worth the long term ramifications of stretching them and in the case of Asik actually give up the chance to remove his cap hit entirely?

It’d be nice to know a lot of things but fans of all teams are in the same boat. GM’s don’t and shouldn’t reveal what they are planning to do.

I disagree. Dell is under a huge microscope around the league. He just signed maybe the crippling contract for this franchise in Jrue Holiday. As far as Asik I feel that if he gets healthy and back on the floor they can trade him. Ajinca is a player they need off the bench or a injury to DC or AD he is insurance.

The league doesn't care about us that much. They're looking at our box scores, counting up the losses and hoping like everything we suck by the deadline so they can run the "Pels should trade AD and Cousins" nonsense.

I'll tell you why I don't ask: I don't need to. Let me tell you why so you don't need to either.

They are prepared to do what it takes when there is a good enough move to justify it. So far, one hasn't presented itself.

So, they need to attract the attention of someone willing to take a chance here... the two bigs thing with Boogie about to be a UFA is not something you risk a decent chunk of your career on if you are a good player. So, wait and see.

To do that, they need to play well.

Now, if they have stretch the contracts, they can't sign big ones back, so who do you trade to make salaries work? That's one reason... Might need trade filler.

Also, if you waive the guy, you lock in a cost. If you do that for no good reason, it is a waste. Better to limit future cost by enduring while you don't have a significantly better move.

Lastly, it costs to offload these contracts in a vacuum, so you offload the minimum you need to work (e.g. Q). Then, as time goes on, the cost goes down. Plus, you never know when someone will be desperate for a body and give you some discount.

Boils down to basic cap management and an unfriendly market. Don't take them not moving the contacts yet as unwillingness to do so in the right circumstances.

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Most people around here frown upon the national media but if you listen to nba radio, they’re always bagging on Dell and Gentry.

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

The league doesn't care about us that much. They're looking at our box scores, counting up the losses and hoping like everything we suck by the deadline so they can run the "Pels should trade AD and Cousins" nonsense.

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Example A: Chauncey Billups.

I think the fans and sometimes the media are far more in love with the idea of "stretching" guys than virtually any actual NBA decisionmaker. It just isn't done very often, whether that be because of owners wrinkling their nose at paying a guy millions over the years for nothing, or GMs being afraid of tying their own hands with a long term obligation that basically leaves them working with a lower cap number than other teams.