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Playoff Roster Deadline & "Unintended consequences" with Luxury Tax rule

Responding to the thoughtful post by Steve and focusing on the luxury tax rule component - The obvious consequence is that teams who made the decision to be in tank mode will lean towards buyouts of large contracts for playoff contributors. In addition, playoff contenders will start to expect availability of good players due to increased # of big buyouts and will be more inclined to pay more for a piece that could move the needle. The players and players' agents understands that dynamic as well, and they will be more likely to push for buyouts as well to put themselves into a winning environment (assumption here is perceived playoff contributors are likely also guys who care about winning) in exchange for net even or a small deficit in pay.

The feedback loop goes back to the tanking team, who now knows that there is a market who's willing to share in on the cost of an expensive player and have better leverage in negotiating down the buyout amount. Which means that eventually playoff contenders will need to be ready to shore up more $ than current to pay more for these buyout candidates.

All this means that the Playoff Roster Deadline is going to be just as big as the trade deadline. It'll be an even bigger test to a GM's mettle to understand the competitive landscape and behavioral impact on players, being cognizant of team needs and be sharp with the timing of player acquisitions where the team has the most leverage. It takes a savvy GM to be able to coordinate all of the above, and to me Doc has been proving that he might just be that guy so far. The fact that he did it before the market matures (getting Davis and Granger, presumably on the low end of $s) makes it an even more impressive feat.

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