Gyp Rosetti
Banned
Sorry, I've been out for a couple days.
I went back Friday and quickly calculated 2014 comittments at $68mm using $20mm for Lawson and McGee combined. Close enough to your $66. Either way, it's too far over the cap to make that Denver team relevant.
You didn't say 68M though. You said 71M+. And that's a fairly substantial difference from the 66M I mentioned. Either way, I'm not sure why you think this figure is so high considering, like I said, it's in the middle of the pack as far as NBA salary spending goes. You seem way too hung up on this number.
Like I said in the OP, Denver probably sees themselves giving up too much in the 2 draft picks. I don't see losing Afflalo as that big of an issue because they'll have $14,100,000 to replace him this summer if the cap stays at $58,000,000 (which it won't) and they pick up Mozgov's contract ($1.5mm guaranteed; $3.14 total). They could end up with around $17mm to spend. They could also take Kevin Martin in the trade if they didn't feel confident finding someone on the market. I sent him to the Jazz as a short term negative to the Jazz. If Denver wants him they can have him. If nothing else, they get a tradeable expiring to shop around.
You talk about dumping salary, like Afflalo, and then in the same breath talk about the 14-17M in cap space they'll have and how that could be spent in the summer signing someone or picking up someone like Kevin Martin. Do they want to save money or not? Obviously Martin would expire and thus would save them long-term money but signing someone? It's going to be next to impossible to get the value that Afflalo offers at his price tag.
Regardless of how lopsided this trade may be, there is definitely a scenario to work with here. I.E. Jazz could agree to take on Harrington and Anderson's contract for those two high draft picks. I'm not a fan of that but I bet Denver would jump on it. Their fans want to dump Harrington somewhere and amnesty Anderson for the cap room. You could also swap arround Afflalo for Chandler or Gallinari to make it more palateable for Denver, and they should dump Gallinari the first chance they get. They don't need two small forwards anyway.
Regardless of how lopsided it is? Really? They don't need two small forwards anyway? Really?!!! Great, their fans want to dump Harrington. Then trade him to someone with cap room for next to nothing. It happens all the time. And amnesty Anderson. But you don't have to trade away two 1sts and their best wing to get that done. And you may be able to void Anderson's contract at some point (depending on its' language) based on his current legal situation and just amnesty Harrington. But rashly trading two 1sts or even one and Afflalo to save money is dumb imo.
If the point is for Denver to shed salary but still remain competitive, I think, as you mentioned, they should look to dump Gallinari on someone. Gallinari is probably still quite attractive to some teams given his age, despite his hefty salary. He's not even close to worth his salary imo but GM's are always too dumb to realize that. Afflalo is worth his or is damn close. If I'm Denver I look to trade Gallinari for the best expirings (not Martin though as they have AA) and possibly even best pick I can get.