I guess we have differing opinions of "afford", but to use a personal example, I wouldn't say I could afford a car if I needed to sell my house to obtain the funds.
But that's not really an accurate example is it? It's more like selling a used and broken bicycle that you were going to replace anyway. You overstate the importance of Gordon to this team. Sure he is a starter- but only because our best option in years past has been Rivers. Now we can start either Pondexter or Tyreke at the two guard and both are cheaper. In a vacuum would you trade Eric Gordon and a 1st for Deandre Jordan straight up? I would.
I know the team isn't eternally capped out, but they could have been buyers on the free agent market these past 2 years, and instead they will get a bunch of cap space at the same time as everyone else, and there is literally nothing in Demps' past that indicate he will use it efficiently.
They were buyers -they put together an elite starting lineup which was only held back by injuries. Its painfully obvious that Gordon isn't part of the long term future, nor has been for years. So they set themselves up both to be competitive when he is here, and to have guys still on contract improving while he is gone.
You say you haven't seen Dell show you anything - just look at how Asik was acquired last year through manipulation of non-guaranteed contracts when we didn't have the capspace. They signed Melvin Ely months in advance to make something like that happen. How about orchestrating a sign and trade for Ryan Anderson for Gutavo Ayon? Or Signing Tyreke to a declining contract into his prime? You're telling me you wouldn't pay Tyreke 10 million a year when Parsons and Hayward got 15? And Alex Burkes got 11? How about getting guys bench guys who contribute out of nowhere? Cole, Cunningham, Pondexter, Roberts, Ajinca, Babbit - etc. He has done plenty.
I really don't comprehend the logic you are using to say that Gordon's role on the Pelicans and current contract don't have an effect on his decision to accept a buyout.
Because Gordon doesn't have a choice in the stretch provision. Its different than a regular buyout.
Golden State was able to dump salary because their starters weren't signed to deals that overpay them relative to the cap.
That is not true. They attached picks to move them to Utah and everyone knew they were desperate for cap.
How can you say the Pelicans haven't been short-sighted? Had they held tight when they drafted Davis, they could have had him, Nerlens Noel, and Elfrid Payton this year for a grand total of $11.3 million.
Well for starters, they were never going to draft Noel. Never. That was Philladelphia's pick. Nor does Noel fit here with what Davis needs. Secondly, the only reason the second pick even fell to 10 was because they were decimated by injuries. You can't do the tank method when Davis is that good already. And lastly, neither of those guys have done anything in the NBA yet. Davis is an MVP level player right now. They were just rookies. And would you look at that, the Pels have all their picks and tons of money coming off the books right as Davis is ready to contend and a young core that is on the books.