Hawks not looking to fill last roster spot due to luxury tax

[Sothron]

Excerpted from the Athletic interview with Schlenk. I highly suggest getting an Athletic sub if you don't. It is 1 buck a month for a ton of good to excellent articles.

 

There is still one spot remaining on the roster but the Hawks aren’t rushing to fill that spot right now.

“We’re going to hold at 14 spots for a while just because we are so close to the (luxury tax), I think we’re $1.8 (million) underneath the tax,” Schlenk said. “We are a little light at the big spot obviously with (Okongwu) being out, so maybe we’ll look to address that on a non-guaranteed deal kind of like we did with Solomon (Hill) last year for that last spot, where it gives us some flexibility going into the trade deadline.”

The tax is going to become a focus for the franchise moving forward because of the team’s lack of salary cap space. Both Schlenk and Tony Ressler believe that paying the tax in a year where they might not believe they have a championship squad doesn’t make sense. But if they believe they’re in title contention, it won’t be an issue.

“We hope that we can be just as successful as we were last year, and then I think if you can get that deep two times in a row, you are a serious contender,” Schlenk said. “Certainly, Tony is willing to pay the tax if we are going to be a contender. I’m probably more conscious of it than Tony is, to be honest with you. It’s my job to manage his money. He’s got a lot more of it than I do, so I worry about it more than he does.”

 

[kg01]

Hey whoa, lady.  You can't talk to saphron like that!

[Sothron]

1 minute ago, kg01 said:

Hey whoa, lady.  You can't talk to saphron like that!

Especially when our GM literally says he's not filling the last spot because of the luxury tax. So much for that talk about paying the tax.

[capstone21]

We don't need anyone else

[kg01]

15 minutes ago, capstone21 said:

We don't need anyone else

I agree that we'll be fine as is.

However, after a couple-a plays where our big gets folded up and shoved under the basket in the reboard action, we'll all be pining for some beefcake.

[warcore]

I'm fine with them not wanting to pay the tax this year and it doesn't worry me one bit. They're just being smart. They know they will be in the tax next year and the penalty gets worse and worse for repeat offenders. Let's put off that repeat offense another year to keep the band together. 

I will say though, I believe we can give that last spot to Deuce Coop and still be under the tax.

[JayBirdHawk]

I think if there was a player really worth signing that significantly upgrades what we already have and it takes us over the cap, we would.  We have $5.5 million left of our MLE exception to spend - there isn't a real difference maker worth that to justify going over.

[kg01]

7 minutes ago, warcore said:

I'm fine with them not wanting to pay the tax this year and it doesn't worry me one bit. They're just being smart. They know they will be in the tax next year and the penalty gets worse and worse for repeat offenders. Let's put off that repeat offense another year to keep the band together. 

I will say though, I believe we can give that last spot to Deuce Coop and still be under the tax.

[macdaddy]

I agree we don't need to sign anyone but not liking the GM saying we're not a contender the season after we went to ECF with an injured squad.  WTF?

[sturt]

30 minutes ago, Sothron said:

I think if you can get that deep two times in a row, you are a serious contender,” Schlenk said. “Certainly, Tony is willing to pay the tax if we are going to be a contender. I’m probably more conscious of it than Tony is, to be honest with you. It’s my job to manage his money. He’s got a lot more of it than I do, so I worry about it more than he does.”

I cannot not agree with this statement on any level, me.

If you say you'll pay the tax if you're a contender, and if you define what you mean by "contender" as having proven yourself to be a EC finalist two years in a row, then that makes some sense to me.

For all my optimistic thinking that we'll only get better this season, there is a plausible floor in which we disappoint with a first round exit, and yet without having exercised some prudence, would be paying tax.

And here's the other thing.

The GM earns or doesn't earn his right to go to the owner and say, "I'd like for you to let me spend more of your money" in the future by being or not being prudent at a juncture like this.

And that's especially important in this relatively new era where teams are prone to do buy-outs after the trade deadline, sometimes releasing some high quality talent into the marketplace. You want your GM to have won his owner's confidence at a time like that. We've not had that concern, of course. But we certainly intend to have it now.

 

[MarylandHawk]

2 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I think if there was a player really worth signing that significantly upgrades what we already have and it takes us over the cap, we would.  We have $5.5 million left of our MLE exception to spend - there isn't a real difference maker worth that to justify going over.

So if we use the MLE does that mean we won’t pay the luxury tax?  So wouldn't that mean we have about 7 mil to spend before paying the luxury tax?

[JayBirdHawk]

1 hour ago, MarylandHawk said:

So if we use the MLE does that mean we won’t pay the luxury tax?  So wouldn't that mean we have about 7 mil to spend before paying the luxury tax?

We are $1.8 million under the LT.

We have $5.5 mil left of the MLE...we can use up to $1.8 mil of it to stay under the LT...or just sign a vet min player for $1.6 mil.

[swanlee]

They are being sensible and keeping all options open and again expressing money is no object when it comes time that we have a legit shot at the title.

[NBASupes]

No need to be in the LT this year when we are a lock to be in it next year

[bleachkit]

So where exactly does the luxury tax go?

[JayBirdHawk]

4 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

So where exactly does the luxury tax go?

50% goes to the league, the other 50% is divided equally amongst the non-tax paying teams.

[JTB]

7 hours ago, macdaddy said:

I agree we don't need to sign anyone but not liking the GM saying we're not a contender the season after we went to ECF with an injured squad.  WTF?

You had an issue with that? lol 

i certainly didn’t and appreciate Schlenks honesty.

it was completely unexpected for this young roster to make it deep in the playoffs and unexpected that Trae would have a historic playoff run his first attempt at it.

It’s a perfect scenario for schlenk yes because it showcases his excellent drafting this far but he’s been around the league long enough to know not to get carried away with this quick instant success….again it’s great that it happened and we all believe they will only add to this but as hardcore nba fans WE also know that young teams in the playoffs typically do not do what the Hawks did this past season so it’s fair for schlenk to say “ok prove to me again you can make it deep in the playoffs….give us another ECF appearance ”

I think it’s completely fair because while I do believe hawks could certainly make it deep again in the east it’s of course not guaranteed and apparently by schlenks rule of thumb you only pay luxury tax when you’re a guarantee to make it deep in the playoffs aka “title contender”….nothing wrong with that. Doesn’t mean he don’t believe in them he just understands how nba history works.

[sillent]

10 hours ago, warcore said:

I'm fine with them not wanting to pay the tax this year and it doesn't worry me one bit. They're just being smart. They know they will be in the tax next year and the penalty gets worse and worse for repeat offenders. Let's put off that repeat offense another year to keep the band together. 

I will say though, I believe we can give that last spot to Deuce Coop and still be under the tax.

Exactly. I think ultimately signing Sharife to a cheap 3yr deal is the move and why we are definitely leaving that spot open.

That also leaves us room to sign another cheap two way contract that can temporarily fill a need.

We honestly don't have many needs if any at this point. We're arguably the deepest team in the league already and it would be smart to keep our options open.

 

[Gray Mule]

We don't need anything.  Good.  We have money.  It's burning a hole in our pocket.  Please, let's go out and spend all of it!  Don't worry about tomorrow!  I'll not be happy until we spend every cent!  Let's go!

[macdaddy]

11 hours ago, JTB said:

You had an issue with that? lol 

i certainly didn’t and appreciate Schlenks honesty.

it was completely unexpected for this young roster to make it deep in the playoffs and unexpected that Trae would have a historic playoff run his first attempt at it.

It’s a perfect scenario for schlenk yes because it showcases his excellent drafting this far but he’s been around the league long enough to know not to get carried away with this quick instant success….again it’s great that it happened and we all believe they will only add to this but as hardcore nba fans WE also know that young teams in the playoffs typically do not do what the Hawks did this past season so it’s fair for schlenk to say “ok prove to me again you can make it deep in the playoffs….give us another ECF appearance ”

I think it’s completely fair because while I do believe hawks could certainly make it deep again in the east it’s of course not guaranteed and apparently by schlenks rule of thumb you only pay luxury tax when you’re a guarantee to make it deep in the playoffs aka “title contender”….nothing wrong with that. Doesn’t mean he don’t believe in them he just understands how nba history works.

It's not whether what he said is true or logical.  It's that fact that he said it publicly.   Our goal this year should be a championship.   If you go to the conference finals your next year's goal shouldn't be to just get to the conference finals again.   I mean we're trying to get better right?   

And the whole 'you have to go deep multiple times before thinking  you're a contender' is just stupid.   The Warriors were bounced in the first round the year before they won it all.   Bucks were nearly swept in the second round last year.

I know this is a young team but they raised the bar last year.   If you're not thinking big then you ain't going to get there.