More Money, More Problems (for the team that's paying)

Childress isn't anywhere near as good as those guys, so overpaying him would have just been crazy. He isn't even a James Posey, who can say that he has two rings that he contributed heavily to. The decisions that get NBA teams in the most trouble are with guys who are less than franchise level players. Giving KG $100 million isn't what hurts you; it's that $50 to $80 million that you give to guys who are supposed to be his number two and three guys when they aren't any better than a sixth man, or when you give a hustle player. like Brian Cardinal $30 million. Now I know you Hawks fans out there are upset; Childress is gone and Josh Smith might be next. But I agree that you just can't pay these guys more than they should get. There is literally no one left on the market, restricted or unrestricted, who warrants huge dollars right now. If they did someone would have signed them already. The guys who deserve the money were the ones you heard about early on. What's left are good complimentary players, maybe the second or third best player on a contender.

Now all that being said, the economics of the league have a lot to do with the guys from th 200 class (Okafor, Deng, Gordon, Iguodala, and Smith) remaining unsigned. Too many teams are both capped out and too close to the luxury tax to offer these guys the kind of money they could have gotten just five years ago. Would you pay the luxury tax, dollar for dollar, for any of those guys I just mentioned? If you would, I have some nice oceanfront property in Nebraska for you.