Dell Demps had to decide the futures of Greivis Vasquez, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Xavier Henry this week. Were his choices off the mark or a stroke of genius?
At Hornets247 we have had October 31st circled on the calander for quite a while. It is a significant date not only because it is the night of the Hornets season opener, but because it also is the deadline for the decisions Dell needs to make concerning the futures of Greivis Vasquez, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Xavier Henry. The NBA’s new CBA stipulates that teams have until that date to decide on whether or not they want to pick up team option’s for the following years on rookie scale contracts. In other words, Dell needed to decide by Wednesday whether or not he wanted to guarantee those guys deals for the 2013-14 season.
Vasquez was a no-brainer because his salary is so small for the ’13-’14 season ($2.15 mil). Henry was a no-brainer in an inverse way, as his option was for $3.2 million and he had yet to show that he is even worth the league minimum in the NBA. Al-Farouq Aminu was the decision that Dell had to go back and forth on, but in this writer’s opinion, he made the right call by declining the option. Here’s why:
Grant Hill 1.95 million
Matt Barnes 1.2 million
Jeremy Evans 1.8 million
Antawn Jamison 1.35 million
Ronnie Brewer 1.1 million
These are just a few of the backup small forwards who were signed this offseason and their corresponding salaries for 2012-13. Four proven players who, though older, had far better seasons than Aminu last year and one young athletic talent who has shown at least as much in the league- all of whom were signed for less than half of the option that Dell chose not to exercise. Looking at the market, Dell saw that he would be vastly overpaying and despite Aminu’s “potential”, he decided to implore logic rather than faith.
Dell comes from the San Antonio Spurs school of business, so in retrospect, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that he was so shrewd in making this decision. The Spurs drafted James Anderson 20th overall in the 2010 draft, but declined his third year option last year and went with a second round pick in Danny Green instead at the swing position. It doesn’t matter where you were drafted or what potential you supposedly have to the Spurs. For them, it is about production and whether or not your cost matches that production. Demps evaluated Aminu with the entire market in mind and the cold hard math said that they would be able to re-sign Aminu or grab somebody better to play backup SF for half the price next summer.
Moving forward, the Hornets now have nearly 11 million dollars in expiring deals between Aminu, Henry, Roger Mason, and Hakim Warrick that they could use at this year’s trading deadline or they could decide to let all those guys (and Rashard Lewis) fall off the books. With Vasquez, Rivers, Davis, Gordon, Anderson, Miller, Thomas, and Jason Smith’s 2013-14 salaries factored in, the Hornets figure to be about $22 million under the cap going into next offseason ($17 million if they pick up their option on Robin Lopez). When you factor in cap holds, including one for a first round pick, the Hornets should have the ability to offer up a max contract to a guy coming off a rookie deal like a Ty Lawson or a Steph Curry. And if they get creative or release Lopez, they could have enough room to make a super max offer to guys like Iguodala, Josh Smith, or even Chris Paul.
Picking up Aminu’s option would make all of those things much harder. They would have had to dump a guy like Smith or trade their draft pick in order to get back in the position to offer max deals with Aminu on the books. So, does this mean that we are witnessing the last few months of Aminu as a Hornet? Not necessarily. The Hornets could decline this option and offer him a contract that offers more total money over multiple years like they did when they declined Jason Smith’s option before giving him a 3 year, 7.5 million dollar deal.
The future of Aminu and the Hornets is unknown, but one thing is for sure- Dell gave himself maximum flexibility and didn’t overpay for an unknown product, and for that he gets our undying devotion and our trust.
11 responses to “In Demps We Trust: Dell Makes the Right Call on Player Options”
Dell is very shrewd. I have confidence he will have the Hornets in a position to contend in a few seasons. DellMonty is one heck of a unit.
Your comparison to Jason Smith’s situation is spot-on: Dell declined Jason’s option (which worried me about bringing him back) and then signed him to a perfectly reasonable deal that appeased both sides (Jason gets security of 3-year deal, Hornets pay their 3rd/4th big a reasonable $2.5 mil per). IF Aminu plays up to potential this year we can still be 1st in line to give him deal in off-season. But there are other guys out there, whether via free agency or trade (I liked your Wilson Chandler mention in the podcast: Denver can’t pay everybody as much as they’d like to, and with Corey Brewer playing his best ball I could see Denver re-signing him and putting Chandler on the trading block) that we could get to man the 3 with Darius Miller. The most important point is we have options
I don’t care what people say Demps should get GM of the year he’s so smart. It’s pretty obvious X is going to be moved. Monty pretty much stated out that Miller has out performed him. I think it’s smart for Dell to decline Aminu’s also like you said he can always sign him to a Smith type of deal if he’s productive enough, which I hope he is. Let’s be honest, no one is going to sign Aminu to a max deal so we could get him back at a reasonable price lol. I’m really hoping Lawson doesn’t sign an extension with the Nuggets and we steal him. Having him and Gordon is mind blowing! Both guys are real quick and both can provide 20 points a night PLUS both are good passers too. I really can’t wait 2 days for the season! Start it tonight!
This would be awesome for the future.
sign W.C. , trade for a center, & draft a PG in next years draft.
Or
Sign for CP3, trade for a starting type SF, & Draft for a center!
I know more options but it will sound like a broken record.
Actually if you go look at draft options next year for the 6-9 region (where we will likely be picking) SF is the most likely.
You’ve got Muhammad, Mitchell, Poythress and McAdoo who are all likely to be top 10 picks at this point (top 3 in Muhammad’s case)
Kabongo is really the only solid PG and right now i’d say the two best C’s, Zeller and Adams, will both be gone in the top 5.
So really, we want to go after a guard via trade or free agency. Our 4 man big rotation is solid and versatile enough that our number one option should definitely be a strong ball handling guard who shoots 38+ from three and is a solid defender. (Jrue Holliday anyone?)
This should light a fire under Aminu’s butt or he is out the door… X hasn’t shown he is worth the trouble… If not a breakout next few months… we won’t miss either…
I’m sure this is 9 forms of heresy, but are CP3’s knees worth a super-max contract?
Polls! Who was the best name, the surprise and the disappointment of the Hornets in the preseason?
Options:
Best name – Davis, Anderson, Vasquez, Monty (coach)
Surprise – Lopez, Roberts, Aminu, Miller
Disappointment – Rivers, Henry, Gordon, Smith
Invite 247 friends to vote on the link below! Thank you!
http://brazilianhornet.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/voces-decidem/
I love that Dell never makes any of the wall choices. For the most part, you could at least logically defend his moves. Rarely does he come off as unreasonable or delusional.
ty lawson signed a 4/48 extension today
[…] In Demps We Trust: Dell Makes the Right Call on Player Options It is a significant date not only because it is the night of the Hornets season opener, but because it also is the deadline for the decisions Dell needs to make concerning the futures of Greivis Vasquez, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Xavier Henry. The NBA's new … Read more on Hornets247 […]