VUK1 wrote:1. If another team offers say 11M a season, but the Wolves only offer 10M - is he forced to leave even if his personal preference is to stay? can they strike a deal now for next season? How exactly does the RFA process work? What if the Wolves offered a 4yr 40M deal but another team offered a 1 year 16M for example?
No. He can accept whatever contract he wants. However, if he accepts another team's offer, no matter the price, Minnesota has the right to match the offer. If we match, he's ours and we pay whatever contract terms he agreed to with the other team.
VUK1 wrote:2. Why is there such major concern that Pekovic will be offered the Max or close to it? the reason for this question is that from what I can tell the main threats (teams with Cap room and no Centre position) are Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte and Portland.
Fans of both Portland and Charlotte seem to be majorly concerned about maintaining cap flexibility to be able to keep their recent rookies/prospects and neither seem to want Pek locked into a long-term deal. Their interest is more in length and shot blocking which is not Pek
Dallas and Atlanta both might be waiting to see what happens with Dwight Howard. Dallas especially seems to keep offering 1 yr deals to be in the game for the major free-agents.
Atlanta i dont know what their plan is - im guessing this team is the greatest threat regarding offering a Max deal.
I guess what im saying is that is it really a sure thing that Pek's contract is going to kill the Wolves Cap and be max level ? Am i missing out on another team that could offer the Max?
His maximum will start somewhere around 13 million, so it isn't too far-fetched to see someone offer that. If a team badly wants him, they have to take in mind that they may need to overpay so that our front office will question whether its worth it to pay him that much. Many times, RFAs are paid more than they "deserve."
As for what teams will do, it's hard to say. Portland doesn't have any more of their own to lock up other than Lilliard, but that's way down the line. There's also the factor that the two front offices don't really like each other, though that's somewhat blown out of proportion.
It really comes down to how badly a team wants to add a center this offseason. This year's FA center crop is loaded, so it's hard to guess what might happen. We just have to be prepared for anything!