The Official Jaden McDaniels Thread

[twolves31]

The Vassell contract has 11 million in incentives that are unlikely to be paid out, bringing the contract to 5 year 135 million. For those that want to give him a bigger contract than others, what do you think about giving him a contract that has a lot of incentives baked into it? Something like 5 year 125 million and an additional 20 million in incentives if he makes all defensive 3 years in a row. Something like that, I'm not sure what the rules are as far as how much incentives you can attach.

[minimus]

The Vassell contract has 11 million in incentives that are unlikely to be paid out, bringing the contract to 5 year 135 million. For those that want to give him a bigger contract than others, what do you think about giving him a contract that has a lot of incentives baked into it? Something like 5 year 125 million and an additional 20 million in incentives if he makes all defensive 3 years in a row. Something like that, I'm not sure what the rules are as far as how much incentives you can attach.

I guess TC (and Gupta) should be as creative as they can since McDaniels contract is not max, and can be negotiated.

[KGdaBom]

The Vassell contract has 11 million in incentives that are unlikely to be paid out, bringing the contract to 5 year 135 million. For those that want to give him a bigger contract than others, what do you think about giving him a contract that has a lot of incentives baked into it? Something like 5 year 125 million and an additional 20 million in incentives if he makes all defensive 3 years in a row. Something like that, I'm not sure what the rules are as far as how much incentives you can attach.

Interesting about unlikely to be met incentives.

[TimberKat]

The Vassell contract has 11 million in incentives that are unlikely to be paid out, bringing the contract to 5 year 135 million. For those that want to give him a bigger contract than others, what do you think about giving him a contract that has a lot of incentives baked into it? Something like 5 year 125 million and an additional 20 million in incentives if he makes all defensive 3 years in a row. Something like that, I'm not sure what the rules are as far as how much incentives you can attach.

Interesting about unlikely to be met incentives.

A lot of NBA contract are like that. So, 20 mil base. If he makes DPOY, extra 5mil, scoring title another 5 mil. Team wins NBA title another 5mil. So it's 35mil a year contract. We can now all agree and move on

[shrink]

The Vassell contract has 11 million in incentives that are unlikely to be paid out, bringing the contract to 5 year 135 million. For those that want to give him a bigger contract than others, what do you think about giving him a contract that has a lot of incentives baked into it? Something like 5 year 125 million and an additional 20 million in incentives if he makes all defensive 3 years in a row. Something like that, I'm not sure what the rules are as far as how much incentives you can attach.

Interesting about unlikely to be met incentives.

Good points guys. I’ve always been advocating incentive-laden deals for younger players and players who have injury-plagued careers. Of course it’s safer for a player to get their money fully guaranteed, but I think if the incentives are for more (and less) than the typical contract, then the team gets insurance and the player can get a bonus for exceptional play. For example, if Jaden would typically get 4 years, $110, I would like to see an offer of $100 mil with $20 mil in incentives. I particularly like defensive incentives and team-based incentives.

One of the benefits here for the team is that unlikely incentives don’t count towards the cap up front. An incentive is unlikely if it didn’t get met last year. So even though I feel Jaden is likely to make an All Defense team this year, it can be considered an unlikely incentive in a new deal. I have to admit though, since this is an extension, the incentive might switch to “likely” when the deal kicks in next year. But overall, it provides insurance for the team.

I think for a player like Jaden, the loss of guaranteed money might be worth the sacrifice if he can make even more by meeting incentives. Moreover, contracts are a source of pride and validation for nba players, so his agent can crow that he got $120 mil when the deal releases, and not mention the incentives immediately (like Vassell’s agent did). I think these deals help both parties.

[KGdaBom]

The Vassell contract has 11 million in incentives that are unlikely to be paid out, bringing the contract to 5 year 135 million. For those that want to give him a bigger contract than others, what do you think about giving him a contract that has a lot of incentives baked into it? Something like 5 year 125 million and an additional 20 million in incentives if he makes all defensive 3 years in a row. Something like that, I'm not sure what the rules are as far as how much incentives you can attach.

Interesting about unlikely to be met incentives.

A lot of NBA contract are like that. So, 20 mil base. If he makes DPOY, extra 5mil, scoring title another 5 mil. Team wins NBA title another 5mil. So it's 35mil a year contract. We can now all agree and move on

Sounds like a $20 Million a year contract to me for most players.

[younggunsmn]

The problem with incentives, however likely, is that they bring with them uncertainty when trying to forecast your future payroll.
When you are right up against and trying to prevent going into the luxury tax, this is a huge problem because you pretty much have to pencil them in as being earned.

Gobert has 2 million in incentives for this year for example.
A cursory look at our current cap situation, with us being ~ 2.5 mil below the tax line and unwilling to fill that 15th roster spot, shows that our front office has likely had to account for those when planning their cap.
We aren't likely to dip into that space until after the all-star break when we have an idea if he will meet those incentives or not (one incentive is 1 mil if he makes the all=star game).

That's 2 million in lost spending power had those incentives not existed.
This can have negative conequences, limiting your moves, like 2 years ago when bonehead Rosas had us so close to the tax that we couldn't sign a backup center for 2 months while our team dealt with injury problems.
That same situation could manifest this year, althogh the 3 2-way deals will help, but we are limited to 80 games from them until we fill that 15th roster spot.

This is not a concern for the Spurs, who are rebuilding.

You may save real life money when incentives are not earned, you are not going to get back the salary space under the tax you had to set aside to offer those incentives though.

If incentives are a thing a player asks for to get a contract over the finish line, I can see it.
If I'm a GM however, I'm much more inclined to simply guarantee a lesser portion of what those incentives would be if earned.

[younggunsmn]

The Vassell contract has 11 million in incentives that are unlikely to be paid out, bringing the contract to 5 year 135 million. For those that want to give him a bigger contract than others, what do you think about giving him a contract that has a lot of incentives baked into it? Something like 5 year 125 million and an additional 20 million in incentives if he makes all defensive 3 years in a row. Something like that, I'm not sure what the rules are as far as how much incentives you can attach.

An "unlikely" incentive can be anything a player has not met in the past.
Like All-Star game, 40% 3pt shooting, All-Defense, All-NBA, 20 PPG, playoff appearance, MVP, finals appearance, etc for Vassell.

That doesn't mean he will never meet them.

Same thing if we offered them to Jaden. The ability to not have to count them into our cap "room" because they would be unlikely doesn't offer any value to us as an over the cap team.
would still have to account for them when figuring the luxury tax at the end of the year.
Projecting them as not earned when figuring our payroll would essentially be rolling the dice.
That might not matter much in '24 or '25 when we will likely be into the tax anyway.
But it will be HUGE in '26 and '27 when we will absolutely have to be out of the tax to avoid repeater penalties.

[younggunsmn]

My prediction, McDaniels gets a straight 5/150, no incentives.
26/28/30/32/34/

[TimberKat]

My prediction, McDaniels gets a straight 5/150, no incentives.
26/28/30/32/34/

You keep trying to take us to the second apron Another reason they keep only 14 players is to have some flexibility going into the season and see where we may need someone. Maybe due to injury reasons.

If we offer a 20mil contract and 5 mil incentive for making NBA all defensive team. The extra 5 mil is count toward next year's cap right? So, we may not keep Brown and save the 5 mil or pay taxes if we want to keep the team.

[Klomp]

Read on Twitter

Percentage of the cap is the key....I believe it's right in line with the Bridges contract at the time of signing.

[shrink]

There’s a picture here with Jaden smiling. I see why he doesn’t do it much - he looks like a murderer!

https://hoopshype.com/2023/10/05/mavericks-vs-timberwolves-start-time-where-to-watch-whats-the-latest-4/

EDIT: they took that pic down!

[Mamba4Goat]

Jaden McDaniels not being in ESPNs top 100 and not having any votes for best defender, best perimeter defender, or most versatile defender in the GM survey is lunacy. Apparently he’s the most underrated player in the NBA.

[TimberKat]

Jaden McDaniels not being in ESPNs top 100 and not having any votes for best defender, best perimeter defender, or most versatile defender in the GM survey is lunacy. Apparently he’s the most underrated player in the NBA.

ESPN's rating is based on what they can do now, not potential a few years out. I think he is right around the 100 best players around the league. Somewhere between 90 to 120. There are 30 teams in the NBA, at 100 is like the 3rd or 4th best player on a team.

[NebWolvesFan]

Jaden McDaniels not being in ESPNs top 100 and not having any votes for best defender, best perimeter defender, or most versatile defender in the GM survey is lunacy. Apparently he’s the most underrated player in the NBA.

ESPN's rating is based on what they can do now, not potential a few years out. I think he is right around the 100 best players around the league. Somewhere between 90 to 120. There are 30 teams in the NBA, at 100 is like the 3rd or 4th best player on a team.

We don't know yet if McDaniels is in the top 50. Unlikely, but I listen to a lot of ESPN Podcasts and they all talk up his praises. And if he's not, good, let leverage in his contract negotiations.

[twolves31]

Jaden McDaniels not being in ESPNs top 100 and not having any votes for best defender, best perimeter defender, or most versatile defender in the GM survey is lunacy. Apparently he’s the most underrated player in the NBA.

ESPN's rating is based on what they can do now, not potential a few years out. I think he is right around the 100 best players around the league. Somewhere between 90 to 120. There are 30 teams in the NBA, at 100 is like the 3rd or 4th best player on a team.

We don't know yet if McDaniels is in the top 50. Unlikely, but I listen to a lot of ESPN Podcasts and they all talk up his praises. And if he's not, good, let leverage in his contract negotiations.

Vassell isn't on ESPN's top 100 list either, and he got a good sized contract.

[TimberKat]

ESPN's rating is based on what they can do now, not potential a few years out. I think he is right around the 100 best players around the league. Somewhere between 90 to 120. There are 30 teams in the NBA, at 100 is like the 3rd or 4th best player on a team.

We don't know yet if McDaniels is in the top 50. Unlikely, but I listen to a lot of ESPN Podcasts and they all talk up his praises. And if he's not, good, let leverage in his contract negotiations.

Vassell isn't on ESPN's top 100 list either, and he got a good sized contract.

I can see JMcD ahead of Grant Williams, Jalen Williams, Quickley, Hart, Jalen Green, Scoot Henderson (how's he got #78 without playing a single game? There is only 21 players difference from him to Zion?). Cade Cunningham, Holmgren, Barrett, Jerami Grant are too high also. There is definitely some NYC bias. Sorry to disappoint some of you that Gobert is ranked highter than both Lopez put together. Andrew Wiggins would not be at #54 if he plays for Minnesota. Where is Bertans in these ratings

[KGdaBom]

ESPN's rating is based on what they can do now, not potential a few years out. I think he is right around the 100 best players around the league. Somewhere between 90 to 120. There are 30 teams in the NBA, at 100 is like the 3rd or 4th best player on a team.

We don't know yet if McDaniels is in the top 50. Unlikely, but I listen to a lot of ESPN Podcasts and they all talk up his praises. And if he's not, good, let leverage in his contract negotiations.

Vassell isn't on ESPN's top 100 list either, and he got a good sized contract.

Holy sheet. Vassell didn't make the top 100? Tough list.

[Dewey]

Jaden not in the top 100 and Wiggins #54 is all you need to know about ESPN competence. Lord knows how they rank them. I agree that a Wiggins in MN is not too 100

[minimus]

I dont care about all these tops, projections etc. Winning is all that matters now.