Philadelphia has cap room. They also have Andre Miller. Charlotte will have cap room, but the undoubtably, and Felton's presence of course increases this part, of Charlotte looking at Emeka Okafor. Memphis has cap room, and Mike Conley, Javaris Crittenton, and Kyle Lowery. Seattle might have enough cap room, but I doubt it (there draft pick will count against cap room). After that they might not have any more cap room than the Mid Level Exception anyway. In otherwords Sacramento has every bit the bargaining power with Beno as does every team around the League. Which is a nice feeling for a change.

Based on the above numbers I would bet that at least one team out there would offer Beno at least the full MLE (one example - Miami!). We can do that, too. But unless something else happens that $6 million contract will be the equivalent of an $8 million contract after the luxury tax kicks in. Would the Maloof's be willing to pony that up for Beno?

My point is that I feel that we are mistaken if we feel that we can sign Beno for $4 million. As I often say, I could be wrong. But based on the numbers I can't see Beno not getting at least a full MLE.

You and Pookey both make good points.  I'm fairly sure Beno will go to whomever gives him the best offer, but hopefully he has some of that SpeedRacer attitude and is grateful to the Kings for giving him an opportunity to show what he's capable of and will sign for some portion of the MLE. After all, the Kings are the team who believed in him enough to sign him fast off the waiver wire and gave him his opportunity.

signed,
Hopeless Optimist  

That being said, if Petrie and the Malloofs are seriously considering signing him to a longer term (3+ year) deal, how important, really is a few millions dollars in lost in LT money?

I say this because if you keep Ron Ron, it would certainly appear that you have decided to try to win games while waiting for some of the big salaries come off the books. At that point your options are wide open.

If you don't resign Beno, you not only hurt your future, but you suddenly have a team that can not win games. If you pay a few million extra to keep him, and you put together an exciting team that can win games, you easily recoop what money you lose on the tax. Especially considering that if you keep Ron Ron, you trade Salmons for an expiring, so you really only pay the tax for a year or so.

And you quite possibly could have a playoff team next year, which would more than cover your costs. I don't think that is pie in the sky thinking. If we had the current team playing the way they are now, at the beginning of this year, I think we could have snuck in.