Salary Dump 2010! New Orleans Trades C Hilton Armstrong To Sacramento

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Sactown Royalty: Kings Spend Their In-Season Cap Space On A Three-Month Rental

Over at Sactown Royalty, SB Nation’s Kings blog, Ziller asks “Is Hilton Armstrong what the Kings need?” His answer: probably not, but it’s possible the front office sees something in Armstrong that he doesn’t.

However, the greater concern for Ziller is that the Kings used a key asset — in-season cap space — to get Armstrong. Sacramento was one of the few teams in the league that could take back additional salary in a trade, which would have come in handy as teams over the luxury tax (like the Hornets) traded away even better players than Armstrong. But because of the Armstrong trade, the Kings no longer have that ability, and Ziller wonders whether Armstrong was the proper player on which to use that asset.

The cost here, really, is a decent little trade chip called “Sacramento’s in-year cap space.” Oklahoma City used its cap space to get Eric Maynor in his first season on a four-year rookie deal. Sacramento used its cap space to get … a three-month Hilton Armstrong audition. A first or early second round pick would certainly seem to be more valuable than the Armstrong audition. Flexibility in the trade market would certainly seem to be more valuable, as well. With a full month left until the trade deadline, one can only imagine the Kings actually see something they like in Armstrong and have decided risking losing the free audition isn’t worth sitting on the valuable cap space another five weeks. Or perhaps the front office is that frustrated with the frontcourt’s defense that inserting Armstrong looks like a quick fix. We’ll see.

Jan 11 2:22p by Mike Prada - 0 comments

Original Story

Salary Dump 2010! New Orleans Trades C Hilton Armstrong To Sacramento

In what was something of a predictable move--at least on New Orleans' end--the Hornets have agreed to send Hilton Armstrong to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for a "future second round pick." This is the NBA equivalent of "just pay me back five bucks and we'll call it even." New Orleans has been hemorrhaging money for years, and with a team that's underachieving yet again, the ownership seems determined to at least avoid the luxury tax this year.

From Yahoo's Adrian Wojnaroswki, who broke the news:

The Hornets have traded forward Hilton Armstrong and cash to Sacramento for a future conditional second rounder, sources tell Y! Sports. Obviously, the move is a salary dump on Armstrong's $2.8 million salary. This gets Hornets within $500K of luxury tax threshold.

As for Sacramento, the acquistion of Armstrong helps shore the front line. Though he's widely been considered a disappointment since entering the league as a lottery pick out of UCONN, it seems Sacramento is betting the a change of scenery might prompt a change of fortunes for the 6'11 big man.

He's got good size and decent athleticism, so perhaps pairing him with Sacramento big men like Spencer Hawes, Jason Thompson, and Jon Brockman, could help spark the young big man. But really, at $2.8 million, with an exciting team, it makes sense for the Kings to take a gamble on a young big man, hoping to get lucky.

And at $2.8 million, with an expensive roster plodding toward the lottery, it makes sense for New Orleans to give up on Armstrong and try to at least salvage some financial dignity.

The NBA: Where these transparent contract dumps are the only kind of trade we know anymore.

1:31p by Andrew Sharp - 0 comments