I agreed with Fred initially because I'd like to believe I'd do it (take less) if I was in that situation, but who knows if I really would. It's easy to say when you're not making anywhere near that amount of money on what you'd do if you did.
If I was on this team/in this situation, as I really like guys on this team (Steph, Dylan and also De'Aaron) and since I know how hard they work, I'd like to believe I'd take a pay cut if it meant keeping the team together (sort of like how Tony said he could have left and gotten more money elsewhere, but he wanted to stay and keep the team together, however, in Tony's case, he wasn't the best player on the team so it's not like he could demand the max every time). If I were to do it, it would also depend on the other guys taking a pay cut too (If none of them agreed to, then I definitely wouldn't do it either - it'd have to be a prearranged agreement). Fox already didn't take a pay cut, so that already would make me pause on a pay cut (Maybe he does take a big one on his next contract to stay - not sure if it's possible mathematically, though?). I'd only ever consider it for specific players if I really believed in them and got along great with them. I wouldn't do it for just anyone. It'd be like a 5% type of thing where I'd only do it for a tiny percentage of people.
Basically, with this team, I'd only do it if it meant keeping Steph and Dylan together. If I were Victor, I'd also need to see how they perform/go in the playoffs first too. I really don't know, though, as I probably wouldn't do it when it came down to it. There's just too many factors when you start thinking about it. Like Kobe said, the team makes way more money off of him than what he's making/getting from them, so why should he feel bad or take a pay cut. Kobe really changed my opinion when I heard him say something along those lines. Then you also got to trust the team to do the right thing and a lot of them don't (Having said that, the Spurs are one of the rare teams I might trust to do that).
Giving up money assumes that the team will use it wisely to get better teammates, but that’s not always how it works out. Sometimes it just leads to overspending on someone like KAT
That's the point, I think I'd only ever consider if for keeping a team together like Tony did with the big three. I don't think I'd do it on a promise of the team going out and getting players to add to the team as what if it doesn't work out or if they couldn't get the player? You gave up the money for nothing. I'd only consider it to keep an established/great core together. Anyway, no idea, take all I said with a grain of salt as I may not do it if I was really in that situation.
