MagicMatic wrote:Well, Detroit is completely in neutral with Blake and Drummond’s contracts. Washington has been burdened by Mahinmis for years. Adams, while important to OKC, neither stretches the floor or provides the value needed from his contract because he’s overpriced and they could use help in other areas.
Detroit has a franchise caliber player in his prime locked in for 2 more years. If Griffin hadn't gotten injured in the final weeks of the season, Detroit would have had the 6th seed and made more noise in the playoffs. Next summer they'll have +$60m in cap space. They have numerous expiring contracts to use at the trade deadline or this summer to upgrade their back court. That's hardly stuck in neutral.
Mahinmi was signed in that summer of cap inflation, not that it matters. The Wizards cap has been locked up because they used up 3 max slots on Wall, Beal and Porter...none of those guys are bigs. Next year Wall's super max contract kicks in, and alone that deal eats up 40% of their cap. Mahinmi's contract isn't even remotely close to being the source of their cap issues.
Adams is the primary anchor to their defense - that's at least 50% of their success...plus his screen setting plays an enormous role in the offense as it creates the space their ball handlers need to get separation and get into the paint. That's as critical - if not more - than being able to hit 3's. Plus, he's a solid vertical spacer as a PnR roll man for years.
MagicMatic wrote:Here we have come full circle to the crux of the argument. Is it on Vuc that the system doesn’t work offensively? No. Does that mean we have to continue to commit to him because he’s the only option? Also no.
You don't throw away the ingredient that is working to fix the problem. Not only do you waste the asset, but you don't fix the problem. That's lose lose.
MagicMatic wrote:The point is that we lack the talent that will be hard to come by.
It will be exponentially harder if you don't retain the key asset. Cap space is NOT an asset for a small market team in rebuild. Go back and look at past free agency's to see how small market lottery teams fared. That's how small market team's end up overpaying scrubs like Channing Frye, Jeff Green, Biyombo etc. That's the caliber of free agent and $ that's available to teams in that situation.
On top of that, being in a losing context is the absolute worst condition for developing young players. Look at the best youth development franchises in NBA: Spurs, Utah, Denver, Milwaukee, Indiana, Toronto, Boston, Miami...all of them focus on maintaining a competitive context for a reason.
MagicMatic wrote:If you are in the middle of the pack you are looking at late lottery we currently have #16. We are likely still going to be overpaying in free agency or not even in the radar for stars.
What you call middle of the pack, is actually a developmental stage that is necessary for teams to go through. That playoff (and playoff push) experience was enormously valuable to the development of both our young players but also our young vets (like Fournier, Birch and Vucevic) who had never experienced it in key roles. That's how you develop players.
A couple of summer's ago at the Sloan Analytics Conference there was a panel composed of RC Buford (Spurs GM/PBO), Kevin Pritchard (Indiana GM), Mike Zarren (Boston's analytics guru/As. GM), and SVG. During that panel they discussed player development through the filter of analytics. ALL of them, stated that the absolute most effective method - and statistically proven way - to develop players is for them to play in meaningful games (playoff/playoff push).
The Magic core don't get those type of meaningful reps by letting Vucevic go. The FO knows that, its why they stated that resigning him is a priority.
We'll see how the market plays out, but my guess is that both sides want to make it work. Some team could see a similar benefit to their core and throw a wrench into the negotiations, but the market hasn't been demanding big money for C's for a couple of years now.
MagicMatic wrote:Lastly, trades are based in value on return. Who would that be on this roster? Players that would bring back the most value are Isaac and AG. Those are the ways to improve the team from this current position.
Actually all trade transactions occur in unique circumstances. Sometimes its teams deciding to dismantle rosters, others its teams looking for one more ingredient, teams avoiding luxury tax, etc etc etc. All that is made even more unique because each team has a unique city/market condition.
MagicMatic wrote:Are you saying you would rather trade either of them and continue to build around Vuc? Or are you saying you would rather resign Ross and Vuc, and roll out the same lineup, knowing it still doesn’t work offensively.
The Magic are not building around anyone. Retaining Vucevic doesn't mean you are building around him. It means you are retaining the asset that you have developed.
"Rolling out the same lineup" isn't static.
There will be internal development from Isaac because he is still in the sharp incline zone of his development. The time when young players develop new skills and sharply improve on their existing ones.
There will also be an influx of raw but undeniable talent potential from Fultz and Bamba. At minimum that's improved depth.
The young vets (Gordon and Fournier) are still on their peak ascent stage. Usually players don't develop new skills once at this stage, but it is when players hone the skills they already have and begin to maximize their productivity.
Vucevic's 3pt shooting should continue to improve...he's already said that's going to be one of the things he works on in the offseason and Clifford also said that he'd like Vucevic to be able to take +5 3PA's per game next season.
On top of that the Magic will add two more young players with their picks. So far, Weltman and Hammond have selected well in my opinion; and their history in Milwaukee and Toronto adds to my comfort zone.
Those are all assets that as long as the team continues to stay in a competitive context will continue to improve or maintain their value. That's the asset cache for the next stage of the team, either as a trade asset or as key ingredient to reaching that stage. Gradual sustainable growth.
I dont see any spare assets we could give for him, and the earliest would be december ?
