SQ8 Timing of the Roster Reduction

As much as we of the blogosphere are all antsy about cutting the roster to 15, it seems to me that this development will, and needs to be, a training camp occurrence. For one thing, this might be a self-solving problem (rather like the Darwin Award winners previous presence in the gene pool). Say Jared Sullenger plods into camp at 285 or 290 pounds, or someone raises the hood on Perry Jones III and finds, not a low motor, but no motor at all. Problem solved! Better yet Hinke calls offering Nerlens Noel for two players, two Celtics' firsts, and two seconds (O.K. which two players wouldn't you be willing to send?) Or, God forbid, one of our players is diagnosed with a condition that prohibits them from continuing their career. See where I am heading with this? Eighty-eight days from now, this may be a moot discussion (admittedly an interesting moot discussion at this time of the off-season is pretty much golden!), but since senseless discourse is about all we have available at the beginning of August, let the (cow)chips fall where they may.

It makes absolutely no sense to talk about cutting a player when you can take a one-month free look, so lets put off that tirade until near the end of camp. Similarly I choose not to contemplate serious hypothetical medical conditions “just for fun” so that option is off limits. So let's for the moment limit ourselves to that several-for-fewer trade that actually helps (both) teams. The problem is that any attractive target is also pretty valuable to their current team. Things could change but, once again, that is much more likely during camp than during the next 60 days. O.K. there could be an inopportune motorcycle, skate board, or hang gliding incident (athletes doing stupid stuff in the off-season is not unheard of) that alters a teams outlook.

I'd say Dallas is about one mishap to a major player away from cashing out their chips and starting the inevitable overhaul, so who have they got that we might possible want? I think it would have to be Dirk going down to initiate a fire sale (after all losing DeAndre Jordan didn't push them over the edge), and the only possible target I see is Chandler Parsons. Chandler's pulling down $15M+ so it's going to take a wad of youth to match salaries. Nah I just don't see Parsons as a huge value given his salary and likely cost.

I've tried to conjure up a scenario in which Utah's Hayward, Tobias Harris of Orlando, or Harrison Barnes of the Warriors might be available, but I'm just not having any luck. Similarly Valanciunas of Toronto is beyond my imagination. All these players are too valuable to their current teams to be made available in any circumstance I can come up with. Now if Cousins chokes his new coach and threatens his new GM—but then is he so far off the deep end that there is any reasonable chance to rehab him?

Nah, I think we are in for a wait. Until a player removes himself, or until something shakes out in preseason, we'll just have to take heart in the fact that camp will be hyper-competitive. Then again, there is something good to be said for players having to earn their roster spots (and playing time) the old fashioned way—they'll have to earn it.

58 days until training camp

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