After tweeting that he was going to be a Raptor, Matt Barnes’ deal has hit a snag according to Marc Stein of ESPN and other major sites.
Originally, it was going to be a sign-and-trade with Orlando for a 2 year deal in the $10 million dollar range.
Calling Barnes ‘one of the most coveted free agents left’ Stein now reports…
“But the limited sign-and-trade options available to Orlando — Barnes’ last team — could scuttle the deal, according to sources close to the situation.”
To get more specific…
“Yet no such deal could be assured as of midnight, raising the possibility that Barnes would have to accept new terms to sign with the Raptors or that other teams that have been chasing Barnes will get another shot at him if the deal collapses.
Since Toronto recently spent the bulk of its $5.8 million mid-level exception to sign Linas Kleiza, it doesn’t have the available funds to sign Barnes outright to a deal that starts in the neighborhood of $4 million.
The Magic, though, are prevented by salary-cap rules from starting a sign-and-trade deal for Barnes at higher than $2 million, because Orlando doesn’t have Barnes’ full Bird rights after employing him for only one season.”
Boston, L.A. Miami, and more recently Cleveland, were among the finalists for Barnes’ services before Toronto jumped in with the bigger payday that the plucky defender was looking for.
I would say it is still a very long shot that Boston ends up with Barnes.
Toronto ended up losing out on Tyson Chandler and Boris Diaw earlier in the month, when Charlotte pulled back and went with a deal with Dallas at the last second. May their misfortune this time be Boston’s good luck.
I have a hard time envisioning the Magic helping the Celtics get Barnes to use against them, so he probably goes elsewhere. The Cavs have the money. And Toronto may figure out a way to get Barnes anyway.
