demar's fine, but he is about to be 30, is an inefficient midrange scorer and a weak defender, and this team had clearly maxed its potential and gone as far as it were going to go with him as their best and highest paid player.

he's an all star, but he's an east all star. there's a difference. i doubt he makes it out west. george didn't even make it last year and he's a better player.

i think the disconnect is that people are looking at demar and his contract as an asset. ie "they could/should have gotten more". imo it was a burden to shed. he's going to begin to decline soon, given his recent playoff performances he's prolly already being paid more than he's worth, and it's not like he's going to be looking to give any discounts on his next deal. his production vs salary are going to be completely out of whack sooner than later. great time to move on.

i figured they'd try to move him. only surprise for me was they didn't have to attach OG or siakam to do it. that honestly shocked me. that alone is a coup.

the 1st will convey next year. so mid or late 20s. big whoop. that and poeltl were low on their asset totem pole, keeping those other guys was key.

smart GMs know when to cut bait. they also know that there are shades of grey between full rebuild and full win-now, and that it's possible to transition between the two over the course of several offseasons.

sure they still have other contracts to move if they do decide to pivot to a full rebuild. but so what. that's like saying you shouldn't quit smoking because you also have other bad habits. so? smoking is the worst habit, why not start there.

that team as constructed really had one more run left in it. now they can do it with a better roster, and they increased their long term flexibility. and who knows, if they make the finals maybe he stays. and they're still in a good space even if he doesn't.

A+ from me.