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I don't know about you, but when it got to the end of the game, I forgot about how well Kevin played on both ends of the floor. An extremely efficient offensive game. I'm not going to say he was great defensively, but he gave great effort, especially contesting shots. He even recorded a block!

Good point Klomp. There has been very little made of a few nice vet performances, not the least of Kevin's. I was pleased with Love's defensive energy. His offensive game looked silly with a nice baseline flip and all those threes. His drive that drew a foul was pretty ugly though.

Beasley called his own number a lot, but I just felt like I was watching him again last year pre-ankle injury. I really love his ability to just rise up and J in someone's eye. Here is "looking" at you Delfeezy.

But I was most pleased with Darko. I really felt that he looked more active.

Don't forget about Love, Beas, or strides being made by Darko.

Beasley was talking trash to Delfino all game. He did play like a ball-stopper, but with that kind of a favorable match-up that's acceptable. It's all about mutch-ups for Adelman.

Speaking about Love though, what does everybody think about his worth? Does he deserve a MAX?

How'd Love look defensively?

shrink wrote:How'd Love look defensively?

Much better, a lot quicker and hasn't lost any strength. Bogut had nothing on him. So far he looks like he can defend centers.

Tirion wrote:Speaking about Love though, what does everybody think about his worth? Does he deserve a MAX?

$13 .. so we might want to give him max to keep him happy.

Love isn't that dominating #1 scorer that I'd want in a max deal player, but he does so many different things so well, that he can be just as instrumental to team victories .. if he's paired with a true #1. He has size, which you can see that the NBA pays for, and looks to play some center this year. and his attitude of constant improvement through hard work should be inspiring to our other young players.

I don't think heavier impending lux taxes are going to push salaries down in 2012 either.

Kevin' has definitely stepped it up again over this off season. I had always wondered about his longevity given his body. He has answered that concern this year. He looks like a man. His defense looks better due to his slimdown. His rebounding is moving above the rim. He is a smart player. You want him on the floor at all times. Sign him for whatever it takes.

Considering the deals that were given out this summer it will be hard to not offer him the max. It's not like we wouldn't get a nice return for him in a trade after a couple years if we felt he was no longer worth it.

I don't want to give him the max, but I've somewhat warmed up to it because of the everything he's accomplished during the summer.

Kwame Brown just signed a $7M, one-year deal.
Nick Young seeking $9M?

With these signings and others, I'm guessing the top third of the nba will be asking for Max deals. I'd have no problem giving that to Love...it's paying tons to scrubs that you have to watch out for.

shrink wrote:How'd Love look defensively?

I'm not going to call him a great defender yet, but he showed much more effort on that end. It's obvious that the offseason weight loss has helped him.

If we don't give him the max, someone else will. But if Nene and Marc Gasol command that kind of coin, love certainly does. I think it's a foregone conclusion he gets the max at this point. Hopefully Kahn realizes that before it's too late and extends him before the season starts.

Dude had another gear without the extra weight. A lot quicker closing out, more effort challenging shots. If he plays that way all year he will be much improved defensively.

Last year he always seemed so gassed on the defensive end. I know he didn't play his usual minutes, but I like what I saw.

Steve_Holiday wrote:Kwame Brown just signed a $7M, one-year deal.
Nick Young seeking $9M?

With these signings and others, I'm guessing the top third of the nba will be asking for Max deals. I'd have no problem giving that to Love...it's paying tons to scrubs that you have to watch out for.

I'm actually fine with the 4-5 million for 4 year deals Kahns been dolling out his entire time here. They are long deals, and sometimes a tad bit overplayed, but are still easily movable contracts. I cringe at first (like the Hollins and Sessions deals), but then they get moved so it's okay. I just hope Beasley doesn't ask for the Max, or AR for like 7-10 million.

With Kevin's desire to get better every off-season and his ability to be a team leader, I don't think it's a stretch to think he can have the same impact on a game as Dirk. Thus, I'd be happy to give him a Dirk-like contract.

Breakdown777 wrote:I'm actually fine with the 4-5 million for 4 year deals Kahns been dolling out his entire time here. They are long deals, and sometimes a tad bit overplayed, but are still easily movable contracts.

I completely agree with you. JJ Barea and Darko contracts aren't killing us, no matter how much they get ripped by some in the media.

Yeah. Kevin Love defence was very impressive last game. His lost of weight brought him the quickness to be a much better defender. I honestly thought he was going to struggle with the lost weight, but he actually looks a lot better than he did last season.

I think the more Love is able to play center this year the better this team will fare. Thinking about him, Beas and Dwill as a frontline is sure tempting.

The max is $13.6 mil right?
Obviously someone is going to give him that. There's zero chance he doesn't get a max offer in free agency. So if we're going to keep him, we might as well extend him for 4 years this year. He gets a "max extension" and we avoid the 10.5% raises and 5 years guaranteed we'd have to pay him next year.

What about the franchise player designation?

it's only 7.5% raises.
If we give him a 5 year extension now we have to give him the max 5 yrs - about 79 mil.
If we give him a 4 year extension it's about 4-62.

If we wait until he hits restricted free agency we can give him 5 yrs without giving him the max.
We have until the season starts to extend him or we have to wait until july 1st to talk extension.