I'd let Leonard walk if he wants max

Phreak50 · Post #1 » by **Phreak50** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 2:26 pm

Controversial, I know.

I love his game, what he did for us in the playoffs and what his future holds.

But right now, he does not deserve max. Against some of the other max players, sure. But in terms of who the Spurs are and who they have been with their players and contracts, I don't think it's the right thing to do.

Giving him more than anyone bar Robinson and Duncan have had? Sorry, that's not earned yet.

I'm hoping this is just a media thing, needing something to write about and he really isn't asking for max from the Spurs.

truwizfan4evr · Post #2 » by **truwizfan4evr** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 11:39 pm

He's your future that's why.

Black_Jack21 · Post #3 » by **Black_Jack21** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 3:51 am

Give him what he wants...
He's been touted as the spurs future since his rookie season.
Finals MVP out played LeBron 3 out of 5 games.
Steadily improving every year, great humble guy.
We can't afford to let him walk.

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UDRIH14 · Post #4 » by **UDRIH14** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 3:58 am

Black_Jack21 wrote:Give him what he wants...
He's been touted as the spurs future since his rookie season.
Finals MVP out played LeBron 3 out of 5 games.
Steadily improving every year, great humble guy.
We can't afford to let him walk.

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why didnt you count t he finals games of 12/13 he held his own against lebron
how aout the h2h matchups against he thunder, he held his own against durant and minutes on westbrick
how about those defensive assignments on players that was torching parker? or when he had to switch to his own player cause parker was gettin torched again...

remember u spend 6 years looking for a bowen replacement
remember when the spurs also spent 6 years looking for a parker backup (diff case but just like above)
when the right candidate comes along, you shouldnt be playing more stupid games after wasting time and moneyd developing a player to learn the system, remember it takes 2 years to master pops system and we dont want to go through another 2 seasons waiting for any incoming player to start paying off dividends when the spurs are clearly in win mode now with whatever is left in duncans tank

Donald Kaufman · Post #5 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 1:53 pm

When I first read that Leonard is chasing the max, I would agree that he's not worth it. Then I sat back and actually thought about it. I mean, Kawhi has become pretty overrated in the past year or so, and I'm a fan of his game. But he's not a top 20 player, despite what the lame rankings at ESPN would have you believe. Not yet.

I look at the numbers and that doesn't scream max player to me, but those numbers are held down a bit because of the system. Right now we're 10 solid players deep as a unit, no one plays more than 30 mins a night. Eventually, as Manu and TD, and later Parker, move on Kawhi will be the focal point. Those numbers will increase.

Black_Jack21 · Post #6 » by **Black_Jack21** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 2:11 pm

The way I see it we are investing in the future. Leonard now isn't probably not worth a max deal. But the player he can become if he continues to improve like this is definitely a max level player.
Esp considering our Big 3 is on it's way into a highly successful sunset.

However Parsons and Hayward picked up near max money and Leonard is better than both of them. So maybe we are under rating his worth on the open market.
I think as a primary option Leonard could average somewhere near PG13's numbers

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franktony · Post #7 » by **franktony** » Thu Oct 30, 2014 2:09 am

Yeah, that would be very dumb and knowing how smart the SAS FO is, I don't see that happening at all.

Max contracts for players coming off rookie contracts are not a big deal and that's what most people don't get when they mention max contracts. You don't need to be the new Lebron or the new Duncan to get a max contract coming off a rookie contract. Most promising young players get a max or something close to it these days.

Giving 15m+/year to a promising young player like Kawhi is nothing, especially considering his impact on both ends, what he has done so far and how great his work-ethic is.

The contracts that most teams need to worry about are the ones when the player is already 30+ y/o and he is getting 20-25m/year. That's the max that can drag down a franchise if the player is not worth it. Those Arenas, Rashard Lewis, Joe Johnson type of deals.

I'm not even a bit concerned about Kawhi staying in SA. His agent is simply doing his job.

Donald Kaufman · Post #8 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Thu Oct 30, 2014 2:45 am

Max contracts differ depending on the amount of time a player is in the league though, right? A LeBron/Kobe max is not the same as a max offer that Kawhi could get. I could be wrong, but I'm sure I read that somewhere.

Anyway, the Spurs can wait and see. If Kawhi gets an offer from another team we can just match it. No need to panic right now.

2Mas · Post #9 » by **2Mas** » Thu Oct 30, 2014 5:29 pm

franktony wrote:Yeah, that would be very dumb and knowing how smart the SAS FO is, I don't see that happening at all.

Max contracts for players coming off rookie contracts are not a big deal and that's what most people don't get when they mention max contracts. You don't need to be the new Lebron or the new Duncan to get a max contract coming off a rookie contract. Most promising young players get a max or something close to it these days.

This. Leonard's 16m out of 84m of the team salary isn't worth it?

It's not like he can get the Melo/Kobe max for 25+m a year lol.

OP :crazy:

Post #10 » by **Nolan** » Thu Oct 30, 2014 6:20 pm

He's the future of this team and he's a max player.I'd love to get him for slightly less but I doubt that happens.

imagump1313 · Post #11 » by **imagump1313** » Thu Oct 30, 2014 11:40 pm

The cap is going to skyrocket for the next TV deal so give him the max now. It will seem like a steal later on.....

Post #12 » by **-Sammy-** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 12:54 am

Forgive my ignorance, as I don't keep up with the numbers side of league business that much, but what will the difference look like between signing him to a max deal today vs. doing it next summer? Will a max deal in 2015 be that much bigger than it would be for him now?

Because if not, it certainly seems like the smart thing to do is let him prove he can play at that Finals level for an entire season.

Post #13 » by **Nolan** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:27 am

BombsquadSammy wrote:Forgive my ignorance, as I don't keep up with the numbers side of league business that much, but what will the difference look like between signing him to a max deal today vs. doing it next summer? Will a max deal in 2015 be that much bigger than it would be for him now?

Because if not, it certainly seems like the smart thing to do is let him prove he can play at that Finals level for an entire season.

It won't be any bigger and I agree with you that this is the smart move for the team. Let him prove his worth, worst case scenario he has a so so season and someone gives him a max offer.

co_laper · Post #14 » by **co_laper** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 10:37 am

Agree he does not deserve the max, but young players are paid based on potential. Kawhi has loads of it and thats just the price you pay to keep it. Ill definitely pay kawhi the max. Though at the same time if kawhi is asking for max, theres no reason for the spurs to give it now. Just wait until this summer to give it to him as long as it doesnt damage their relationship. It would give kawhi extra incentives to play better this year knowing its contract year and hes got to have a better year to get more teams offering him max deals.

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co_laper · Post #15 » by **co_laper** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 4:35 pm

Alec Burks just got 4 year 42 mil. The money going around the league is really starting to get crazy because of this new TV deal.

Please just give Kawhi his money.

Post #16 » by **Nolan** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:17 pm

co_laper wrote:Alec Burks just got 4 year 42 mil. The money going around the league is really starting to get crazy because of this new TV deal.

Please just give Kawhi his money.

I like Burks but that looks like a massive overpay right now. The Jazz now have a ton of money committed to three guys (Hayward, Favors, Burks) who aren't even close to being all star level players. I'm not exactly sure what their plan is.

Post #17 » by **-Sammy-** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:16 pm

Nolan wrote:I like Burks but that looks like a massive overpay right now. The Jazz now have a ton of money committed to three guys (Hayward, Favors, Burks) who aren't even close to being all star level players. I'm not exactly sure what their plan is.

I think it's because they know they're relatively unlikely to attract a superstar-level FA to a small-market team in that city, and they aren't quite bad enough to fall far enough in the lottery to draft a surefire prospect. They maybe figure they'll try to build a contender by stocking up on solid players instead.

Still, it seems like they're overpaying for them at this point.

Post #18 » by **Nolan** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:15 pm

BombsquadSammy wrote:
Nolan wrote:I like Burks but that looks like a massive overpay right now. The Jazz now have a ton of money committed to three guys (Hayward, Favors, Burks) who aren't even close to being all star level players. I'm not exactly sure what their plan is.

I think it's because they know they're relatively unlikely to attract a superstar-level FA to a small-market team in that city, and they aren't quite bad enough to fall far enough in the lottery to draft a surefire prospect. They maybe figure they'll try to build a contender by stocking up on solid players instead.

Still, it seems like they're overpaying for them at this point.

Yeah that seems to be their strategy but it won't work well for them if they keep handing out massive deals like this for no reason.

UDRIH14 · Post #19 » by **UDRIH14** » Sat Nov 1, 2014 2:37 am

the talk of losing kawh is highly unlikely...

the player not many are mentioning are danny green who probably could get deals above 10m which would probably be above what the FO thinks for him...

Phreak50 · Post #20 » by **Phreak50** » Sat Nov 1, 2014 3:02 am

Unless he improves a lot once again, Spurs won't pay max for him. That's why they're waiting. They know he isn't worth it now.

It's tough to build a franchise around the type of player he is and if the Spurs had trouble over the years attracting big names to join the best PF to ever play the game, they'll have a lot more trouble convincing others to join someone like Leonard.

Having watched the game for over 20 years, I'm disappointed just how easy players have it these days. You score 30pts once and suddenly the word 'great' gets thrown around. You are the best player on an otherwise average team and that guarantees you get a max deal.

The standard may have been set but I never thought Kawhi would be the type to compare himself to others in the market and demand he be paid the same. And I'm extremely confident the Spurs as a business certainly won't be following that sort of lead.

Yes he is a very good player and yes we damn well need him here, but the principle of paying max for where he is right now just doesn't sit well.