Knightro wrote:bigdogdylan5 wrote:You retain all your assets now but what happens when you are well into the tax pushing against the apron in year 3 with Paolo max extension. At that point you will have to give up Suggs or Isaac. I also have Vince Carter and Lewis rapid declines to absolutely worthless sitting in the back of my head. You would have to think about it but its really risky.
Ehh maybe.
The cap and tax apron are *allegedly* going to increase by a flat 10% each year. If that's the case...
2024-2025 aka George Year 1
Cap: $141M
Tax: $171.3M
Apron 1: $178.6M
Apron 2: $189.4M
George: 49.3M
Paolo 12.2M
Suggs: 9.2M
Franz: 7.0M
Total: $77.7M on core four, $93.3M on the rest of the roster to avoid tax
Verdict: Well under the tax
2025-2026 aka George Year 2, Franz Year 1 and Suggs Year 1Cap: $155.1M
Tax: $188.4M
Apron 1: $196.4M
Apron 2: $208.4M
George: 51.8M
Franz 38.8M (max deal)
Suggs: 25M (4/100 deal)
Paolo 15.3M
Total: $130.9M on core four, $57.5 on the rest of the roster to avoid tax (Cole, Carter, Black, Howard, Houstan, 2024 1st rounder, 2025 1st rounder under contract)
Verdict: *Likely* under the tax with some simple maneuvering
2026-2027 aka George Year 3, Franz Year 2, Suggs Year 2 and Paolo Year 1Cap: $170.6M
Tax: $207.2M
Apron 1: $216.1M
Apron 2: $229.2M
George: $54.2M
Paolo $42.7M
Franz: $41.9M
Suggs: $27M
Total: $165.8 on core four, $41.4M on the rest of the roster to avoid tax, $63.4M to avoid 2nd apron
Verdict: Tax team, but very likely under the 2nd apron
2027-2028 aka George Year 4, Franz Year 3, Suggs Year 3 and Paolo Year 2Cap: $187.6M
Tax: $228.0M
Apron 1: $237.7M
Apron 2: $252.1M
George $56.7M
Paolo $46.1M
Franz: $45.3M
Suggs: $29.2M
Total: $177.3 on core four, $50.7M on the rest of the roster to avoid tax, $74.8M to avoid 2nd apron
Verdict: Tax team, but very likely under the 2nd apron
Then George would come off the books and the finances would completely reset.
What it really boils down to is this...
Do you think adding Paul George to this existing roster and internal improvements from Paolo, Franz, Suggs, Black and Howard would make them a contender to win the Eastern Conference in the next two years?
If so, I think you have to pull the trigger the signing. If not, you probably shouldn't because Year 3 and Year 4 have the possibility to be real ugly.
This is assuming PG gets a four year deal, if he'd take a 3 year deal I think it's a no-brainer to sign him since it would only be one potentially painful year before he's gone.
