JB7 wrote:dTox wrote:Los_29 wrote:
OG doesn’t deserve that kind of money. Knicks are fortunate they had Brunson and Bridges on great value contracts. A bad contract is a bad contract regardless of how well they did. OG also struggled in the playoffs. Efficiency was way down.
And yet, he helped them take out the Celtics, this is what they paid him for. Even with a healthy Tatum, they had Boston on the ropes. The money didn't hurt them all that had because both Brunson and Bridges took discounts, they planned everything out pretty well, that's what good front offices do. And they are the likely favorites to reach the finals coming into the next season. Context matters when it comes to contracts, for the Knicks, OG was worth it
I wouldn't call the Knicks situation a very well managed situation. They are $30M into the tax this season, with only 12 players signed. They are considered a top 2 team in the East, only because of Tatum and Hali's injuries.
And next season they are already $5M into the tax, with a roster currently of 9 players. And that is with them using their connections to get Brunson and Bridges to take discounts for now. I'm sure Brunson is getting paid a lot more once he opts out 3 seasons from now.
And they don't have much available to trade to try and improve this team now. All they can do is trade one FRP at a time, when they become available.
They were going to beat Boston even with a healthy Tatum, so I wouldn't lock Boston in as the better team coming into the season, also doubt Boston was going to retain one of Holiday or KP because they were in the repeater tax category, under the second apron. Since when did a team rely on more than 12 players in the playoffs? At most we saw were 10 man rotations, so that doesn't necessarily mean it's all that bad they have 12 players signed. Brunson opting out 3 seasons from now, falls in line with OG's contract ending, so it works out because no one is about to pay a 32 year old OG that much money again. They have shored up their bench vs last year, their current bench looks like this: Where they have the likes of Jordan Clarkson, Mitchell Robinson (who missed almost the entire season last year), Miles McBride, Guerschon Yabusele (one of the best signings of the offseason), PJ Tucker, and Delon Wright, this is a vastly superior team just because of their improved depth compared to last year (where they had Landry freaking Shamet playing crucial playoff minutes). There's always going to be injuries in the NBA, doxing the Knicks' because of Boston/Pacers being injured is no diff than doxing the Raptor's championship because GSW was missing KD/Klay, it's unfair, and shouldn't be held against them, winning it all has some factors of luck built into it. Being only $30 mill over the tax for a team with a top end talent of: Brunson, KAT, OG, Bridges, Hart, Robinson, and Yabusele, is actually pretty good.
RJ as a Raptor / yet he's the burden here?
