Orium wrote:Bensational wrote: Nene's 4 year contract is a killer, but he is still a decent player, and he could very well remain as filler for a s&t.
This is where you lost me. That's an Otis mistake if I've ever seen one.
no, an Otis mistake would be to take on big contracts that extend beyond critical free agency periods, or extend beyond the contract of the cornerstone of the franchise. we don't have a cornerstone, and of the upcoming FA crops of 2013/14, there aren't any superstars that we realistically have a chance of signing at this point.
without that deal, we're looking at roughly $14M cap space this summer, if we cut Hedo and Harrington. and we're looking at $23 - $31M cap space in 2014/15, depending on whether or not we decline Jameer's option.
if you made the deal, we're going to be $3M over the cap in 2013/14, and have $6 - $14M cap space in 2014/15 (depending on Jameer) - and that's without making any trade to offload BBD or Afflalo. still enough to chase a near max FA.
by making this deal, you're sacrificing $17M of cap space in those offseasons, but is there a player that you'd pick up with that money instead that would be more valuable than Beal? Josh Smith, Monta, Al Jeff, Millsap, Tyreke in 2013/14. None of those guys are good enough to build a team around, and they'd be locked into a long term deal. LBJ, Wade, Bosh, Melo, Dirk, Wall (restricted), and more in 2014/15. They've either got no interest in coming to a rebuilding Orlando (big 3/Melo), or they're too old (Dirk), or they're not good enough to build a team around (Gay).
and whilst most of these guys perform much better than him now, a) you'd have to convince them to come here, b) Beal has the potential to be much better in 2 seasons time, and c) having Beal on the team as a tradeable asset is better than having cap space and hoping to use that to absorb a talented player. Houston has made it clear that the quickest way to get ahead is to stockpile talent. if that comes at the expense of Nene preventing us from signing a 2nd tier player long term, then so be it.
Nene is overpaid, but then so are the majority of big men these days. he's actually paid only slightly over market rate, to be honest. if we're looking to swing a s&t, or even a trade for a disgruntled star, then a player like Nene could do well to fill out numbers and provide a decent player. he's certainly not on the Hedo and Arenas scale of players being overpaid for their (lack of) impact. he wouldn't be easy to move, but as a solid big man, he's going to hold his value a lot longer than former stars who were paid like stars.
blue and white wrote:why try and get beal when you can just get his even better clone in ben mclemore? or better yet bazz?
this would be, arguably, my biggest apprehension. i'm not sure whether or not I value these guys over Beal at this point. i guess that would come down to Hennigan's scouting reports, and his abilities as a GM to decide whether or not they're better prospects.
