When the Cleveland Cavaliers traded Zydrunas Ilgauskas to the Washington Wizards for two-time All-Star Antawn Jamison, everyone in the NBA had the impression that the Wizards would negotiate a buy-out with Ilgauskas for salary relief, allowing Big Z to return to Cleveland for a potential run at an NBA championship.
Unfortunately for the big man, while Z's "heart is in Cleveland" (according to his agent), his $11.5 million expiring contract still belongs to the Wizards.
And the Wizards, who just shipped out their two best, non-suspended players for cap relief in the past week and a half, made one more savvy move just before the trade deadline: They shipped Dominic McGuire to the Sacramento Kings for a 2010 second-round draft pick, which brought them comfortably under the luxury tax line for this season.
Suddenly, Z's best bargaining chip—the "waive me or you're costing yourself millions in luxury tax dollars" argument—had been neutralized.
The ball is firmly in Washington's court now, and if they don't waive Big Z by March 1, he won't be allowed to rejoin a team for their playoff run.
I'm just playing devil's ad ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Bryan Toporek
If Z Can’t Return To Cleveland, Was Jamison Trade Smart For Cavaliers?
February 22nd, 2010 by Bryan Toporek Leave a reply »
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