RebKell's Junkie Boards

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Part 2

https://herhoopstats.substack.com/p/wnba-2022-roster-salary-cap-breakdowns-part-2


The Sparks have made a real mess of their roster. The team's not any good and they can't really do anything to make it better.

_________________
I'm a lonely frog
I ain't got a home

[ucbart]

[Richyyy]

[Queenie]

"Dump Chiney" seems like the obvious part of any Sparks plan. If you really still need to pay her, she'd probably be just as effective as a sideline reporter. Or in whatever role lets her dress pretty, since for all her Stanford brains, showing off her outfits seems to be what she puts the most effort into.

_________________
Ardent believer in the separation of church and stadium.

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[DFWub2018]

[Queenie]

[Stormeo]

[Richyyy]

[Rock Hard]

[Stormeo]

[Richyyy]

If a player got hurt while playing in the WNBA and ultimately had to retire from it, they'd probably get all their guaranteed money. The only questions would be whether it would all end up on the cap, and how much insurance would cover. But I'm more thinking a catastrophic or chronic injury (the example I had in mind was Delle Donne, not Chiney). A general inability to stay healthy like seemed to be the case with Chiney I doubt gets deemed a 'career ending inury' by an independent doctor. So they might agree a buyout, or she might show up and give it a go again like this year while collecting her checks.

I would also mention that occasionally contracts aren't protected for everything. Sometimes teams might protect themselves if there's a known element or preexisting condition that could be expected to cause problems. (ETA: Not saying I know this to be the case with Chiney - I don't remember if there were any caveats to her protection)

_________________
Independent WNBA coverage: http://www.wnbalien.com/

[ucbart]

[PickledGinger]

[root_thing]

[female-buckets]

Here's my crazy idea for Seattle and Tina Charles. This is inspired by the fact that Charles just seems like a Storm player. She's a cool focused New Yorker. What's more Storm than that?

1. Keep the Stewie/Russell combo. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
2. Create the Ezi/Charles combo. That's a starting-calibre duo. Who cares whether they're starting or not, right?
3. Both combos play easy minutes. Healthy fresh post players all game long, all season long. If Stewie's ankle is really truly okay and she wants MVP stats, she can slide over to 3 to play minutes with Ezi/Charles. Imagine trying to defend against Stewie, Ezi Magbegor, and Tina Charles. What a nightmare. Are you gonna risk putting your bench in against them? Or run your starters to death? Either way, the Storm wins.
4. Secure backcourt essentials Bird, Loyd, and Prince. The Russell-Loyd-Prince friendship is the social core of the team. You can't win championships without heart.
5. Bird can play easy minutes even if her relief is mediocre because Tina Charles will fix everything. So anyone else can come and go to secure the big 6+Prince.
6. Sweep 2022 post season with the deepest frontcourt in WNBA history.
7. Charles gets 6th woman, a championship ring, and fond memories.
8. Seattle fans get Tina Charles' lovely photography of all our favorite players.
9. Storm retains status as most-hated team for winning too much.
10. If this can't fix our rebound deficit, nothing can.

Why not Stewie/Charles and Ezi/Russell? Because that's boring. It's easy for opponents to plan rotations around that. I'm also not convinced that Stewie/Charles is better than Stewie/Russell.

Last year we tried a 6th woman strategy with the most stubborn player in the league. That backfired horribly. Well, why not do it again with a player who likes trying new things? Like winning a championship? Tina's an eclectic person so I think she might go for it.

[DFWub2018]

[female-buckets]

[DFWub2018]

[root_thing]

I took a closer look at the Seattle situation and it does seem like they have a realistic path toward signing an expensive free agent as well as keeping Russell. However, they have to get all their ducks in a row and it requires some sacrifice. The biggest sacrifice will come from the 12th player because she won’t have a job anymore. The Storm will have to go with 11 to make this work. Secondly, they have to drop Prince’s $115k contract and replace it with something closer to the veteran minimum of $72k or even lower. After that, if Stewart, Bird, Loyd are willing to take around $200k instead of $228, then you can get a max player while paying Russell $165k. It would look something like this:

Stewart.............. 200,000
Bird................... 200,000
Loyd.................. 200,000
Free Agent.......... 196,267
Russell............... 165,000
KL Samuelson....... 72,141
Magbegor..............60,471
Burke...................72,141
Herbert Harrigan....73,211
#9 pick................ 66,306
Vet on Minimum.... 72,141

Total .............. 1,377,678
Salary Cap....... 1,379,200
Free Cap Space........1,522

It’s hard to say what Russell is worth in the open market. Looking at players with a similar history of being pseudo starters, last winter Achonwa got an average of $160k while Brionna Jones had to settle for $120k after signing late. Powers received the maximum of $190,550 while Cheyenne Parker signed for slightly less at $185k. The average for those four players is roughly $164, so I penciled in Russell at a roundish $165k.

Obviously, small amounts can be shifted around. For instance, if the free agent took $180k, you could let the Big 3 make $205k or give Russell $180k. You can squeeze out more money by using more minimum salary players, but I figured that a team contending for a championship would want some experience on the bench. However, the option is there if you need to give the Big 3 more money. Anyway, I think this breakdown provides a basic framework that is realistic -- assuming everyone is willing to give a little bit.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[Randy]

My scenario would give them a little more room: Trade KLS, or Burke, or #9 to the Mystics for Clark. Clark makes 183. This would be a salary dump for the Mystics but they don't really need Clark unless they are positive that EDD is healthy and that they will be contenders. I wouldn't bet on that happening. Storm need Clark more than a random FA, while the Mystics probably need to start a rebuild. (Clark needs to show she's healthy by overseas play.)

[root_thing]

There's also a lot of slush money I forgot to mention. For instance, I always wondered how Laney got more than max when she didn't sign with her old team. It turns out NY gave her an extra $19k "Time Off Bonus." So, you've got stuff like that and the mysterious marketing money. Also, teams receive bonuses for each round of playoffs, so that's another reason to sign with a good team. Last but not least, we have everyone's favorite tournament -- The Commissioner's Cup! If Seattle gets in again, we know they will prioritize getting everyone their extra bucks even if it means sacrificing a couple of regular-season wins.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[female-buckets]

[craigmont]

Stewart and Loyd aren't taking any pay deals. It will take whatever the max dollar is to keep them, and one of them will be cored.

No way do the Mystics take one of those trades for Clark, they just signed her. I don't know anything about a situation with Loyd, but it makes more sense that AC wanted to be closer to home and liked the validation of being a sought-after free agent after working so hard to just stay in the league.

[female-buckets]