Re: Warriors Remain Unwilling To Trade Brandin Podziemski In Lauri Markkanen Deal

[Pickled Prunes]

Markkanen is a Siakam level player, the difference being that Markkanen just got there and Siakam has proven it for a while. IND just got Siakam for three 1sts and matching salary, a wildly overpaid Bruce brown and scrubs.... and most people thought IND overpaid.

Meanwhile, Pod was an important part of the GSW rotation. 5th in MPG. 5th in PPG. 4th in AST. 2nd in REB. He isn't Jordan, but giving up a rotation player is tougher than giving up a pick. It's someone that is useful today, for the winning you talk about. It means you are upgrading your roster rather than adding to your roster, and those are two very different things.

Siakim cant shoot and Lauri 20mil salary this year will keep GSW out of the luxury tax which is good and gives them the oppurtunity to reset while still trying to contend. I think lauri is a little overrated right now but holding the deal up on pod is ridicolous by Mike gsw are done and thats ok too..

It's crazy to me that people think Lauri is overrated. 25 and 8 the past two years on 64 TS% getting all of the defensive attention and doing it primarily off-ball. If he played in a bigger market and was a little more flashy everyone would be talking about this guy. If anything he's underrated.

I don't think he is overrated. I think some people (for example: anyone that believes a team should offer the kitchen sink to get him) are overrating him. He's a good player, but he's not 27yo KD. There needs to be a cap to what you are willing to offer for him. GSW missed the playoffs without Lauri, and Lauri has never made the playoffs himself... so the end result would be a financially encumbered team with no picks, fewer young prospects, and if they are lucky, a 2nd round exit. It was wise to draw a line in the sand.

This is what people don't seem to be taking into account. Podz averaged 9/6/4 as a rookie. It took Lauri 6 years to come into his own and he is almost certainly better than Podz will ever be, but Podz will almost certainly improve more over the next 4 years than Lauri will. Lauri was also about to get a max and Podz is locked in the next three years at about $4m per. Even if they kept Lauri at his $20m-ish number, Podz cost 80% less this season and >90% less the following two seasons.

Keeping that in mind, here are their Per36 numbers:
Podz 12/8/5 on 11 FGA's
Lauri 25/9/2 on 18 FGA's (Very doubtful he gets that many FGA's in GSW>)
So, exchanging Podz for Lauri nets you 13/1/-3 and cost you three picks, a swap or two, $100m+ over the next three years, whatever other depth you lose in matching salary... and you still aren't close to being a contender.

Mike D was wise to draw that line in the sand, even if some fans don't understand why.

[Jax_23]

You might overrating Markkanen a little bit. For the bulk of his career he has played below expectations on bad teams. He is now a one-time all-star on a bad team. He had one winning season in CLE where he was the 4th or 5th option. It really isn't about the players UTH wants included in the deal. It's about the players AND the picks. I'm sure Mike D. is saying that they can't have all the picks AND the players of their choice. Picks or players, but not both.

Ainge has been known to destroy the opposition in trades. He probably leaked this out himself. I'm proud of Mike D. for standing firm.

If anyone or anything is being overrated it's 1st round picks league-wide and these solid but unspectacular young players. 1st round picks especially have exploded in value the past few years and I'm not sure why. Even a late 1st rounder is treated like gold nowadays, it's wild.

Markkanen averaged 25 and 8 the past two years with a 64 TS% as the best player on a bad team which means he was getting like 95%+ of the defense's attention. That's absurd production and efficiency. He's one of the best off-ball players in the league and he seems like he would be an ideal fit as a #2 guy on a contending team because he doesn't need the ball to thrive. Next to Curry he'd be like a 7-foot Klay, which is scary to think about.

So if anything you got it backward, Podz + picks are the ones being overrated a bit. Not hating on Pods, he's a really nice young player, but I'd bet everything I own that neither he Kuminga, nor any of the proposed picks will ever become as good as Markkanen currently is. Probably not even close if we're being real

Markkanen is a lowkey player though and he plays in a small market, so he doesn't get talked about and it's easy for people to overlook and therefore underrate him.

Sorry, Klay was an elite shooter and defender who has a 108-50 record in the playoffs. Lauri has been in the league for 7 seasons and has a playoff record of 0-0. He has a lot to accomplish before he can get into the Klay Thompson conversation.

his teams sucked

[Pickled Prunes]

If anyone or anything is being overrated it's 1st round picks league-wide and these solid but unspectacular young players. 1st round picks especially have exploded in value the past few years and I'm not sure why. Even a late 1st rounder is treated like gold nowadays, it's wild.

Markkanen averaged 25 and 8 the past two years with a 64 TS% as the best player on a bad team which means he was getting like 95%+ of the defense's attention. That's absurd production and efficiency. He's one of the best off-ball players in the league and he seems like he would be an ideal fit as a #2 guy on a contending team because he doesn't need the ball to thrive. Next to Curry he'd be like a 7-foot Klay, which is scary to think about.

So if anything you got it backward, Podz + picks are the ones being overrated a bit. Not hating on Pods, he's a really nice young player, but I'd bet everything I own that neither he Kuminga, nor any of the proposed picks will ever become as good as Markkanen currently is. Probably not even close if we're being real

Markkanen is a lowkey player though and he plays in a small market, so he doesn't get talked about and it's easy for people to overlook and therefore underrate him.

Sorry, Klay was an elite shooter and defender who has a 108-50 record in the playoffs. Lauri has been in the league for 7 seasons and has a playoff record of 0-0. He has a lot to accomplish before he can get into the Klay Thompson conversation.

his teams sucked

People use that same excuse for LaVine, but those two had four years together. Are you telling me that two max-worthy, foundational players couldn't finish higher than 11th in the lEast?

I don't see either of these players as max-worthy or foundational. Markkanen is clearly better, but both would be a good fit as a 3rd/4th option in GSW. The problem is expecting their numbers as a 1st option on a bad team to travel to their new team as a 3rd option on a good team. REB & AST should remain steady and FG% should go up, but FGA and PTS would likely drop considerably. You don't go all in for a 3rd/4th option unless you are as close as BOS was last summer, particularly when going all in means throwing in a young player that might grow into your 3rd/4th option with time.

I am not as high on Podz as some are, but I understand why there was a line in the sand.