His stock is plummeting. Obviously they put him out there and this was the best offer. They can't wait any longer for two reasons. One, his stock could drop to nothing. Two, and more importantly, they can't have his salary on the books while they wait around, at least not beyond this season. They need to clear room (Fultz, Reddick) for the bumps in salary to Butler and Harris.

To look at what they invested in him is a falsehood. So much has happened since then and it was the previous regime. "They could have had Tatum" seems dubious since they probably would have drafted Jackson and obviously passed on both guys for the upgrade to Fultz, who apparently they had no idea was a basket case on various levels.

I don't think you can pan this deal. It isn't great return but there was no way to recuperate what they invested and probably not any way to do much better at this point. They have a core of four guys who are very good and are doing what they have to do to get them signed. Fultz is no longer part of the plan so they got what they could and kept it moving. The only thing to lament here is that they didn't make a move with Fultz this past summer when his stock was higher.