Pavlovic Buyout Completed

[Covert Rain]

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2009/09/14/20090914spt-sunspavlovic.html

The buyout that will save the Suns $500,000 more than they stood to save on simply waiving the guard.

Suns may save on Pavlovic buyout

by Paul Coro - Sept. 14, 2009 02:33 PM
The Arizona Republic

The wait on the expected waiving of Sasha Pavlovic turned out to be worth it for the Suns.
The Suns and Pavlovic, acquired from Cleveland in June in the Shaquille O'Neal trade, agreed to a buyout that will save the Suns $500,000 more than they stood to save on simply waiving the guard.

Phoenix made the O'Neal deal for Pavlovic and Ben Wallace with the potential savings in mind. Wallace stood to make $14 million this season but accepted a $10 million buyout from the Suns and signed with Detroit. Pavlovic had only $1.5 million of this coming season's $6.95 million salary guaranteed him, but has accepted a $1.25 million buyout, giving the Suns an extra $250,000 savings in salary and another $250,000 saved from the it would have cost. Pavlovic sought a buyout to explore interest from other teams, which start training camps in two weeks.

The buyout is pending league approval.

O'Neal will make $20 million this season and has a $21 million number for luxury tax purposes, due to a trade kicker he received when the Suns traded Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for him in 2008.

With that, approval of the Pavlovic buyout would mean the O'Neal trade saved the Suns $18.5 million in salary and luxury tax. The Suns used some of that this summer to re-sign ($3 million) and add free agent Channing Frye ($2 million), whose signings will cost another $5 million in luxury tax.

Phoenix is unlikely to add any players to its roster for the regular season. It has 13 players, the league minimum, under contract and will be a luxury tax payer again, meaning any signings would double a newly signed player's salary in cost to the club.

 

[Mainstreet]

Now if the Suns only had their 2010 unprotected first round draft pick back, they could package it with a player like Tucker or Dudley and save even more money (sarcasm).

Really the Suns are all about money these days. I wonder how far they are still over the LT. I would think they have to be nearing break even.

 

[overseascardfan]

Are ticket prices going down? If not, they should since Sarver is saving a chunk of change.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Now if the Suns only had their 2010 unprotected first round draft pick back, they could package it with a player like Tucker or Dudley and save even more money (sarcasm).

Really the Suns are all about money these days. I wonder how far they are still over the LT. I would think they have to be nearing break even.

Really, just money? I thought it was all about "flexibility."

 

[TJ]

In other news, the sky is blue, the grass is green and Sarver is cheap.

 

[TucsonDevil]

We all saw this coming... still, it is hard to watch.

 

[elindholm]

This doesn't bother me. Pavlovic sucks, so he wasn't going to help the Suns, and it's not as though he'd bring anything back in a trade either.

 

[leclerc]

Thing is we gave up Shaq to get him (and Big Ben). Shaq was still useful. We got the short end of that deal (as well). Good thing we're not the Memphis Grizzlies though. Poor guys...

 

[Bufalay]

Earl Clark better be good. Following the Suns has been really boring for about two years now. Everything has been predictable. All off-court news has to do with buyouts and money. Earl Clark seems to represent our only hope of seeing something worth watching this year (and maybe even next).

 

[JS22]

Aren't the Suns still over the cap?

If so, I still stand by my opinion that they're not cheap....just horribly, horribly, mismanaged.

 

[Rab]

I think in one of Coro's really recent blogs, it said we're still being taxed $4.8 million in LT penalties.

 

[Covert Rain]

Earl Clark better be good. Following the Suns has been really boring for about two years now. Everything has been predictable. All off-court news has to do with buyouts and money. Earl Clark seems to represent our only hope of seeing something worth watching this year (and maybe even next).

I am with you Bufalay. Clark might be the only bright spot here. The teams moves are more about money then basketball. Even the recent signing were made with budget being a major factor.

 

[Griffin]

Thing is we gave up Shaq to get him (and Big Ben). Shaq was still useful. We got the short end of that deal (as well).

We gave up Shaq not to get Pavlovic but rather his contract so that we could terminate it. Same with Big Ben. If the Suns could have bought out Shaq instead for the same amount, I'm sure they would have done that instead. When you make basketball moves that are purely motived by financial benefits, you are bound to end up on the short end from basketball standpoint.

 

[LV-Suns]

Pavlovic already signed with the Wolves. 1 year, $1.5 mill.

 

[PoolBoy]

Aren't the Suns still over the cap?

If so, I still stand by my opinion that they're not cheap....just horribly, horribly, mismanaged.

exactly. Terribly managed.

 

[Yuma]

Aren't the Suns still over the cap?

If so, I still stand by my opinion that they're not cheap....just horribly, horribly, mismanaged.

I totally agree! It would NOT be about money right now, if they had been better managed from the start and be under the LT line now. People are saying Sarver is cheap, but how can you be cheap and be PAYING a LT? It's about using that money wisely. Looking at the roster we have now, and what we could have had. We have been reacting to one bad decision after another. Arguably, we could have used draft picks and built through the draft, but with free agent moves and trades we made, arguably we couldn't afford to make the draft picks. It takes cap space to afford first round picks, and very few people realize that. They made such bad mistakes, they couldn't afford to use their first round picks. That's mismanagement big time, imho!

 

[JCSunsfan]

I totally agree! It would NOT be about money right now, if they had been better managed from the start and be under the LT line now. People are saying Sarver is cheap, but how can you be cheap and be PAYING a LT? It's about using that money wisely. Looking at the roster we have now, and what we could have had. We have been reacting to one bad decision after another. Arguably, we could have used draft picks and built through the draft, but with free agent moves and trades we made, arguably we couldn't afford to make the draft picks. It takes cap space to afford first round picks, and very few people realize that. They made such bad mistakes, they couldn't afford to use their first round picks. That's mismanagement big time, imho!

He operates in panic mode. He takes on long term financial obligations to save short term payouts. Nothing looks like there is a plan except saving money in the moment.

Oh, except when he is trying to dump disgruntled players.