There is much more context to it than this though. Cleveland had to restructure Cooper the moment they got him because he’s on year 3 of a 100m$ deal. On the flip side, rookie contracts cannot be dissolved by new deals as per the CBA, therefore Brown must play out his rookie contract before the extension kicks in. That means he’s still making Pennies this year, and likely also a low salary cap hit year 1 of the extension due to guarantees. It won’t be until 2024 when AJ Brown starts affecting our cap flexibility. If AJ brown was on a big contract right now, we likely don’t trade for him, as the salary cap hit is too severe. We paid for some level of salary cap freedom, versus Dallas who had to drop Cooper one way or the other due to his salary cap hit.
On top of that, Cooper is 3 years older than Brown. He only just turned 24. Because of the restructure that was necessary in absorbing Cooper’s contract, it’ll be harder for Cleveland to move on from Cooper anytime soon, and he’ll be in his 30’s when the contract ends.
All of that plays a factor.