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Originally Posted by fleury
Did he pass on the supermax by doing that? I could be wrong about this but I believe he only let the full duration of his contract run out by playing out his last season (with the Raptors). He'll still get his supermax if he stays with the Raps, no? Anyway, I think this guy is a little different than most - he knows the value of a dollar. He apparently is frugal enough where he drives a 20 year old car, so I don't think giving up $30 million is going to be in the cards. I'm sure though that he has a preference in LA with the Clippers, so I do wonder where it'll come to a head - I tend to think he'll go with the money where after two seasons of future team mediocrity he may ask to be dealt. The reports are that he values winning so who knows what's going on, but the bottom line is he won't be able to give up a boatload of money with a decent Raptors team currently.
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Supermax is only open to players who are still with the team that drafted them or traded for them during their rookie contract. Once he left the Spurs, the supermax is off the table.
The difference is that the Raptors still have bird rights, and that allows them to offer not only extra year, but also 8% annual raises rather than the regular 5%. So a non-bird contract that starts at $30 million only goes up to $36.4 by the fourth year. A bird max starting at $30 million would go up to $44 million by the fifth season.
Is it a factor? I don't know. I get the feeling that comfort and winning are the big deals for Kawhi, and he looks really comfortable with the Raptors right now. I think if he can get to the finals, he stays. Conference finals, toss-up. Less than conference finals, probably leaves.