Our sister site, letsgotribe.com, has an interesting article regarding trades, salaries, and the leverage of the 10-5 player veto option. Jay points out (at length, I might add) that many people forget that there are two sides to the balance sheet on a player contract. The ability to recognize this was an often overlooked skill of our last GM, whose Harvard education was portrayed as a liability in the local press (as was his ability to use a computer).
It's a thought-provoking piece, and is a good reminder that there are a lot of details to examine in a trade.