VFX wrote:fendilim wrote:
Wouldnt blame the kcp signing. I mean, sure it hasnt turned out well for us since his shots arent falling.
But we’re also playing without suggs, who was our starting pg last year when we were top 5 in the East. Even had a winning record with Suggs this year (20-15), bulk of that didn't even have our best player (Banchero) playing. Not saying Suggs is the answer, but we would be getting a different results with when Suggs is playing alongside KCP.
Other option in the offseason was Tyus Jones, who, since getting the opportunity as starting pg, has really nothing to show for. 2 seasons as starting PG for Wiz and Suns, respectively, ended up as lottery teams both years.
Wcj WAS a good contract? I agree. And his new contract isn't?
Let's be fair here, the good contract you are referring to is when the MLE was still at 10 million per year and he was given 135% of the MLE as a starting salary then decreasing every year.
The only difference with this year's extension is the contract doesn't decrease lower than the MLE and lower than previous year. But if you look at the amount (18 million starting salary for the new contract extension) WCJ only received 117% of the MLE on the 1st year, 115% the second year and 112% the final year. So the rate from 1st to 2nd then 2nd to 3rd actually decreases. Just not as astronomical as the first extension. I'm just using MLE as a yardstick (closer to league average starting salary projection).
Honestly, it is not that bad of deal, since we basically signed him to a deal closer to the MLE. Nothing more than 2.5 million per year compared to the MLE.
We re-negotiated Isaac's last year and gave him an extension. Did he get a raise? Yes. But it was because we had to reach the salary floor and there was none left to pay the extra salary to.
As a matter of fact, his deal is a bargain considering that it is HEAVILY PROTECTED and he wont even receive MLE money starting the 2nd year of his extension. We've basically extended him to a contract with the expectation already that he will forever be back 2nd stringer. As absurd as it sounds, the cap was built to increase every year so the salaries are just hilariously big. Glad I don't own an NBA team. lol
Hindsight 20/20, Isaac's contract wasn't designed to make him to be highest paid player on this team for the last 3 years. The contract was given to him when we were still playoff team and had Vuc and Gordon who were making at least 20 million per year. Isaac's deal was supposed to be the 3rd or 4th highest paid player when his 1st extension kicked in. Isaac is a victim of the front office not being able to move on from him. lol
Jett’s game hasnt translate as expected. Too early to tell still. But time is definitely ticking on him.
Hindsight 20/20, I'm pretty sure management would have done some things different.
But hey, we'll likely need to hire a psychic to know what to do, and what not to do.
I used MLE as yardstick for projection because that is the closest salary exception compared to the average salary of players in the league.
The average salary of NBA players in 2024-2025 is, according to google AI, at 11.9million (same as WCJ) and MLE is 12.8 million year. Last year was 9.7 million and MLE was 12.4million
A lot of this is running cover for lack of making decisions anytime before this past offseason. All of these decisions you are somewhat defending as rational level-headed choices start to crumble when you ask about seeking any other alternative to the status quo.
Suggs being out doesn’t negate the KCP signing. It reinforces why it was bad actually. Anyone that has watched Suggs knows he not a point guard. It’s not really a valid argument as to why he was slotted where he was toward the end of last season. The offense was still bad.
Replacing Gary Harris with KCP was the rationale.
That has nothing to do with acquiring a point guard. It means Weltman looked at the roster, and lack of ball movement, and said GREAT! More of this please. You don’t need 82 games of data to know a Suggs/KCP pairing doesn’t solve poor ball movement from last season compared to a Point guard/Suggs backcourt. Weltman tripled down on his point forward fantasy and it failed.
You gave 2 examples of point guards. There are more than 2 guys in the league that are better than Corey Joseph and Suggs at orchestrating an offense.
It’s a bad faith argument at this point. It doesn’t matter what Weltman intended. It was a stupid signing.
What you fail to grasp in the Carter argument is depreciating asset value. Wendell Carter isn’t an amazing Center. His contract prior gave him more value than it does now. Is he massively expensive? No. But he WAS a more attractive asset for the reason that he now is paid as a starting Center when he wasn’t before relative to his production.
Orlando is paying 3 Centers a good amount of money now to a team without a real point guard. Thats the bottom line when you bring up Carters deal as some kind of non- overpay. Unfortunately for Carter, whoever is in the Front Court next to Paolo has to do a lot more than what he provides.
All arguments on Isaac are null and void about him being some kind of bargain after this season. He can’t play more than 17mpg. He plays behind a guy that plays nearly every minute of every close game. You could tell me Isaac signed for vet minimum and id say it’s still an overpay half the time for the production he gives for half a season. It’s definitely been too much from the organization relative to what he’s actually accomplished for the amount he’s earned here.
Isaac and Carter were here before Paolo and Franz were drafted. Now on multiple contracts, people feel the need to justify them as opposed to literally any other better option at either position because Weltman has failed to land any better alternative. Frankly, it’s sad. You cannot tell me there aren’t better fitting players across the landscape of the league outside of sheer convenience. That’s insane. Weltman is either lazy, incompetent, or terrified of making real decisions.
