“Another stated goal is to dump off some salary and reduce the luxury tax bill,” said Kyler in his report.
Now with Irving’s exit imminent in the organization’s future, new general manager Koby Altman will be responsible for re-wiring the circuits and build toward the future, giving this team a chance to make potential acquisitions down the road.
Among the main candidates to be bundled up in a trade are Tristan Thompson, who received a whopping extension in 2016 and now has three years and $52.4 million left in his contract and J.R. Smith with three years, $44.2 million remaining (just $3.87 million of $15.68 million guaranteed for his final year).
Some minor potential packages include Iman Shumpert (two years, $21.3 million remaining) and Channing Frye (one year, $7.4 million left) — two commodities that haven’t panned out where it counted the most during the NBA Finals.