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The Hawks gained some cap space, but they weren’t "cutting their losses". The Hawks acquired Walker in a deal for Jason Terry (didn't like that trade as a Hawks fan). Some other throw ins were involved, but it was essentially Walker for Terry. They got Walker because he going into his last year of a big contract (cap space). They didn't expect to rebuild with him, everybody knew they weren't interested in extending or resigning him. So they really weren't cutting their losses, because they didn't lose anything in getting him (in their mind that is, they wanted to get Terry's long contract off the books and pick up cap space).
The Hawks never intended on having Payton play for them, and Boston had to give up some expiring contracts to pick up Walker for the stretch run. Since Walker is also in his last year, they must have gave up what eventually calculates to more cap relief. Reportedly, Atlanta happily paid the remainder of his contract and released him. Mainly, because they didn’t want a distraction or the selfishness that accompanies Payton (You can bet the farm that Payton wouldn't have reported and made a stink about it if they wanted him to report). Secondly, they are fighting for the most ping-pong balls in the lottery, and getting rid of Walker also frees up playing time for their young talent (4 rookies on the roster). The league did mention something about looking into that concept in the future, because of the one-sidedness of a deal like that. With Atlanta happily buying out his contract, it really doesn't call for banning Payton or anything drastic. It's a matter of perceived value in the trade.
munchen, Boston did give up something in the trade, they gave up cap space. Also, this isn’t really a way to “make a super team”. Foremost, a team would have to be willing to buy out a contract of a good player and release him. You rarely see this happen. Secondly, a team wouldn’t buy out a contract, or even take on a contract, of a player they didn’t plan on keeping, if he had a high salary. The reason it worked with Payton was because he exercised a one-year 5 million option this past summer (modest salary for a starting point guard) when he was still with L.A. If he hadn’t taken a pay cut two years ago to go to L.A., he would have signed a contract paying him at least 8 million per for a few years. The deal wouldn't have went down if that was the case. In summary, good players aren’t paid 5 million per year, so you won’t see a “super team” built using this strategy in the future.
dylanmarsh, you are probably right, Atlanta won't be able to lure in any big free agents. They were unsuccessful last year with Kenyon Martin and Dampier. In addition, the free agent class isn't that deep.
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