FanPost

Despite Front Court Upgrade Need, removing Mahinmi or Jason will become Wizards front office Priority #1

So you want the Wizards front court to improve? Please take a back seat to Ted Leonsis's #1 Priority:

GET UNDER THE LUXURY TAX

Ted has declared in the past that he will never pay the luxury tax. Well the trade deadline is fast approaching on February 8 and Ted's sergeant Ernie Grunfield WILL MAKE THAT HAPPEN.

According to hoopshype.com the Wizards payroll this year is at $124.5 million. The luxury tax line is $119.3. So the Wizards need to shave $5.2 million, or they will pay a tax bill over $7million. With the Cap set at $99million, the Wizards would pay a staggering, in Ted Leonsis world, $32million over the set cap. (Ted isn't the owner of the Clippers who can afford to throw away money).

Why do I believe that Ted will not pay the luxury tax? An owner who is so desperate for money that he sells 2nd round draft picks for $2million to $3million, instead of making an investment in the team by taking a player, or if there is actually no one you like in the 2nd round to trade that pick for a future 2nd rounder (happens every draft) seems to really need money. I do not believe this type of owner is willing to pay that tax to stay competitive.

Thanks to djnnnou he confirmed that the CBA States that if you trade for a player his WHOLE SALARY gets charged to the new team. So we need to trade Mahinmi OR Jason Smith to be under the Luxury Tax.

Although $5.2million is the exact amount of Jason Smith's salary this year, if traded the prorated rate would be 66%, 54 out of 82 games. Jason would still count for $3.4 million on the Wizards books. $1.8million still needed to go. A huge deterant for any team is the player option, which Jason will almost 100% take, of $5.5million next year.

Ian Mahinmi's $16million contract will become the main focus. Trading him at the deadline would free $5.44 million which is coincidentally a little more than what's needed to get under the Luxury Tax line.

Trading Mahinmi is going to take a lot of skill of General Manager Ernie Grunfield. The $32million owed over the next 2 years is going to be a daunting task.

The sad part is that there is absolutely no way this can be done without using future 1st round draft picks, Kelly Oubre (our only young upsided player) and/or our super sub in Mike Scott (just for the rest of this year).

The hope is that another team see's value in Ian Mahinmi. For the Wizards sake, Ian has 14 games to prove that he would be a wise investment for another team.

Good luck Ted and Ernie!

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.