Expansion Draft Scenario -- Who would you protect?

[tmorgan]

Meeks is hardly overpaid at this point, although I agree he's not a likely expansion target.

6 mil a year doesn't buy you more than a 7th man in this market (except Tim Duncan... it's good to be the Spurs), and that's what Meeks is.

[ImHeisenberg]

Protected:
1- Drummond
2- Jackson
3- KCP
4- Morris
5- Stan Johnson
6- Ilyasova
7- Jennings
8- Baynes or Meeks

The first seven were easy, who they'd protect with the final slot is debatable.

Stanley behind Morris. Really.

The order doesn't matter. It was just the order in which it came to me.

[The Penguin]

Meeks is hardly overpaid at this point, although I agree he's not a likely expansion target.

6 mil a year doesn't buy you more than a 7th man in this market (except Tim Duncan... it's good to be the Spurs), and that's what Meeks is.

It's important to understand expansion teams aren't working with full salary caps. When Charlotte came in their first year the cap was set at 66% of the full cap for them ($46.2 mil instead of $70 mil now) and the second year it was 75% ($52.5 mil in today's dollars). It would be very surprising to see them spend $6-7 mil on guys like Baynes and Meeks, both potentially on the wrong side of their primes and neither a starter.

Jennings could be more reasonable and when I left him unprotected it was debatable. When healthy, he's a starting PG in the league, given his expiring deal it wouldn't be unreasonable for an expansion team to grab him, see if he's their starting PG if healthy or potentially spin him in a trade.

[313 Professor]

Protected
1. Andre Drummond
2. Stanley Johnson
3. Spencer Dinwiddie
4. Darrun Hilliard II
5. Kentavious Caldwell Pope
6. Reggie Jackson
7. Marcus Morris
8. Aron Baynes

Ilyasova was tough but we have Stanley & Morris who are more versatile I think. Baynes' 4-5 versatility gave him an edge. Jennings as a limited defensive 1 coming off an achilles injury WITH Dinwiddie & RJ HAS to go. The 1-2 versatility of Dinwiddie/Jackson + the surplus of young guards (KCP, Hilliard) got him the boot. In real life I hope he heals though, but at this point you never know.

Dinwidde 3rd.. really.

Young promising player on a rookie deal. Same with Hilliard.

[tmorgan]

Meeks is hardly overpaid at this point, although I agree he's not a likely expansion target.

6 mil a year doesn't buy you more than a 7th man in this market (except Tim Duncan... it's good to be the Spurs), and that's what Meeks is.

It's important to understand expansion teams aren't working with full salary caps. When Charlotte came in their first year the cap was set at 66% of the full cap for them ($46.2 mil instead of $70 mil now) and the second year it was 75% ($52.5 mil in today's dollars). It would be very surprising to see them spend $6-7 mil on guys like Baynes and Meeks, both potentially on the wrong side of their primes and neither a starter.

Jennings could be more reasonable and when I left him unprotected it was debatable. When healthy, he's a starting PG in the league, given his expiring deal it wouldn't be unreasonable for an expansion team to grab him, see if he's their starting PG if healthy or potentially spin him in a trade.

Meeks is 27 (28 before the season starts) and Baynes is 28. I know 30's is pretty old for the NBA, but "wrong side of their primes" can't be used on these guys, can it?

In a re-think of my top 8, I might actually leave Baynes and Meeks unprotected and keep cheaper guys that could actually be targets. I don't believe in Hilliard enough to bother with him, but I like Tolliver enough to want him around, and Bullock has potential.

[The Penguin]

Meeks is hardly overpaid at this point, although I agree he's not a likely expansion target.

6 mil a year doesn't buy you more than a 7th man in this market (except Tim Duncan... it's good to be the Spurs), and that's what Meeks is.

It's important to understand expansion teams aren't working with full salary caps. When Charlotte came in their first year the cap was set at 66% of the full cap for them ($46.2 mil instead of $70 mil now) and the second year it was 75% ($52.5 mil in today's dollars). It would be very surprising to see them spend $6-7 mil on guys like Baynes and Meeks, both potentially on the wrong side of their primes and neither a starter.

Jennings could be more reasonable and when I left him unprotected it was debatable. When healthy, he's a starting PG in the league, given his expiring deal it wouldn't be unreasonable for an expansion team to grab him, see if he's their starting PG if healthy or potentially spin him in a trade.

Meeks is 27 (28 before the season starts) and Baynes is 28. I know 30's is pretty old for the NBA, but "wrong side of their primes" can't be used on these guys, can it?

In a re-think of my top 8, I might actually leave Baynes and Meeks unprotected and keep cheaper guys that could actually be targets. I don't believe in Hilliard enough to bother with him, but I like Tolliver enough to want him around, and Bullock has potential.

I said potentially, but Meeks if coming off an injury that cost him an entire season and Baynes hasn't shown he's more than a rotational big. It's getting late for them to dramatically change their career arch.

[Warspite]

You wouldn't need to protect any player with a long contract.

[Pharaoh]

Dre
RJ
SJ
KCP
Morris
Baynes
Hillard
Ilyasova

[bkseven]

Protected
1. Andre Drummond
2. Stanley Johnson
3. Spencer Dinwiddie
4. Darrun Hilliard II
5. Kentavious Caldwell Pope
6. Reggie Jackson
7. Marcus Morris
8. Aron Baynes

Ilyasova was tough but we have Stanley & Morris who are more versatile I think. Baynes' 4-5 versatility gave him an edge. Jennings as a limited defensive 1 coming off an achilles injury WITH Dinwiddie & RJ HAS to go. The 1-2 versatility of Dinwiddie/Jackson + the surplus of young guards (KCP, Hilliard) got him the boot. In real life I hope he heals though, but at this point you never know.

Dinwidde 3rd.. really.

Young promising player on a rookie deal. Same with Hilliard.

Promising. Really.

[bkseven]

Protected:
1- Drummond
2- Jackson
3- KCP
4- Morris
5- Stan Johnson
6- Ilyasova
7- Jennings
8- Baynes or Meeks

The first seven were easy, who they'd protect with the final slot is debatable.

Stanley behind Morris. Really.

The order doesn't matter. It was just the order in which it came to me.

[313 Professor]

Dinwidde 3rd.. really.

Young promising player on a rookie deal. Same with Hilliard.

Promising. Really.

Other than bricking one too many open 3's, what did Dinwiddie do last year in-game to NOT be considered promising? We had some positive +/- games when he came in, he ran the offense well, he played well vs. Rose & Wall, and he played well down the stretch. He showed good shooting touch in college and he has had good touch on the ball on the misses too so the shooting woes should turn around.

At 845k, I'm definitely making it a high priority to protect him. As a rookie coming off an ACL injury he can only get better.

[bkseven]

Young promising player on a rookie deal. Same with Hilliard.

Promising. Really.

Other than bricking one too many open 3's, what did Dinwiddie do last year in-game to NOT be considered promising? We had some positive +/- games when he came in, he ran the offense well, he played well vs. Rose & Wall, and he played well down the stretch. He showed good shooting touch in college and he has had good touch on the ball on the misses too so the shooting woes should turn around.

At 845k, I'm definitely making it a high priority to protect him. As a rookie coming off an ACL injury he can only get better.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/dinwisp01.html