Dan Z wrote:DuckIII wrote:Dan Z wrote:
He'll have leverage if another team steps in and offers him a decent deal. If not, then I agree with you.
No doubt about it. But all we can do today is make predictions. That scenario is now far less likely.
And despite that, Pat was already in a position in which he still needed to build on the strong stretch of games he had post-Lavine in order for us to reasonably fear that scenario. And rather than building on it, he got injuries to both feet separately, his play clearly declined, and now he's undergoing season ending surgery.
Another thing to keep in mind regarding leverage is that the Bulls don't have many options at power forward if he leaves. Who would start next year? Torrey Craig (if he opts in to his contract)?
I don't know the cap well enough, but if PW leaves, and they re-sign DDR, does that mean they might have enough money to re-sign Drummond? Or no? If not, that means they need a PF and a backup C. They could draft one, but I'd rather they go BPA rather than worry about positional needs.
Having said all this...they shouldn't sign PW to a bad contract simply because they have no better options.
Well, there's a 40% chance that BPA in the draft will be a 4/5, and without Patrick they could use the MLE to sign a guy. Plus there is Phillips, Craig if he opts in, and the plausibility of trading Caruso, Zach, or Vuc in a deal that brings back a 4/5.