S&T With New Orleans: The Devonte Graham Thread

[Hornet Mania]

Graham for $20m is too rich for my blood. At that point the best thing to do would be trying to work out some sort of compensation in a sign + trade.

[JDR720]

20m for a guy who shoots 37% is a bad contract. Considering he will never start for us, unless for injured players, it is a horrible contract.

I think he is worth 10-12. And I feel I'm being generous. Solid backup PG's aren't difficult to come by.

[BigSlam]

Read on Twitter

Um

That feels like a statement of personal opinion rather than a statement of fact - so I think it needs to be taken with a (massive) grain of salt.

Either way, I’m a fan of Tae’s but paying him anything close to $20mil per is just nuts.

[yosemiteben]

I hope the market demands $20M so we can S&T him. I would never give him anywhere close to that money.

[driveandkick]

Read on Twitter

Um

That feels like a statement of personal opinion rather than a statement of fact - so I think it needs to be taken with a (massive) grain of salt.

Either way, I’m a fan of Tae’s but paying him anything close to $20mil per is just nuts.

Especially considering I don’t see a way he starts here anytime soon

[euphorbus]

Read on Twitter

https://www.nba.com/hornets/hornets-extend-qualifying-offer-devonte-graham

Graham has his qualifying offer in the pocket.

[LofJ]

Any chance we can get him at 60/4 or below?

[yosemiteben]

Any chance we can get him at 60/4 or below?

We damn well better.

I like Graham a lot, but north of $15M per for me is too much given his limited skill set.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Devonte' absolutely has holes in his game, but the guy does things that are super valuable in today's NBA. As posted earlier, Hollinger rated him as worth something like $20 mil a year. I don't think he gets that, given the other FA point guards on the market, but it's something to keep in mind when thinking about his next contract.

I hope the team brings him back on a friendly deal, but we'll have to see what other teams offer him too.

[wilson115]

Tae put in the work to outdo expectations then showed he was a pro giving up his starting spot to LaMelo. Him as the leader of the second unit takes a lot of pressure off all the youngsters on the roster. Really wanted Monk to stay but, the cap being what it is, this is objectively the right decision. Hope Mitch signs him early, someone's bound to show up with an overpay if it drags out.

[SWedd523]

I'm not willing to pay him anywhere near 15 per year, much less 20.

[JDR720]

I'd pay TJ McConnell 10 million per year before I'd pay Graham 15 million. In fact, I'd probably take TJ either way.

Paying a backup PG starter money is dumb and borderline insane. We aren't even talking about a 6th man of the year candidate, then maybe it can be reasonable. Graham may not even be a top 5 backup.

[Bassman]

I'd pay TJ McConnell 10 million per year before I'd pay Graham 15 million. In fact, I'd probably take TJ either way.

Paying a backup PG starter money is dumb and borderline insane. We aren't even talking about a 6th man of the year candidate, then maybe it can be reasonable. Graham may not even be a top 5 backup.

Agree. Graham became a one dimensional 3 chucker, which surprised me. But, he hit a wall. He couldn’t seemingly get past the way teams defended him, so he fell back to jacking up 3’s most of the time. If he was a more complete PG he would justify a bigger salary, but let someone else take that chance (if they do) and don’t match for a bigger mistake.

[yosemiteben]

I'd pay TJ McConnell 10 million per year before I'd pay Graham 15 million. In fact, I'd probably take TJ either way.

Paying a backup PG starter money is dumb and borderline insane. We aren't even talking about a 6th man of the year candidate, then maybe it can be reasonable. Graham may not even be a top 5 backup.

Agree. Graham became a one dimensional 3 chucker, which surprised me. But, he hit a wall. He couldn’t seemingly get past the way teams defended him, so he fell back to jacking up 3’s most of the time. If he was a more complete PG he would justify a bigger salary, but let someone else take that chance (if they do) and don’t match for a bigger mistake.

I don't think he's a chucker at all, he's an excellent facilitator. His usage was 21.0% last season, fifth on the team and barely above PJ.

[Robot Rock]

The problem is, we are guaranteed to downgrade if we let him go. We went from Jeremy Lin as our backup PG in 2016 to Ramon Sessions and Briante Weber in 2017. "But Cho," yes, I'm aware. But letting people go out of arrogance that "we can win with (whoever)" is not and has never been a winning strategy for this franchise.

[Diop]

Meh, Lin was coming back until he was offered a starting spot at Brooklyn.

[yosemiteben]

Briante Weber, damn haven't heard that name in a bit

[luciano-davidwesley]

I'd only overpay him if it's a one year deal or team option for the second. I'm not handcuffing the future to Devonte "can't create his own shot" Graham.

[Benjamin Linus]

I like Tae but wouldn't want to overpay for him. If we lose him who would you want to replace him with? I really don't like adding guards and forwards to this team that can't shoot. It kills our drive-and-kick heavy offense when non-shooters like Wannamaker or Martin are out there so I'm not crazy about adding someone like McConnell or Payton. Are there any good, affordable FA PGs that can actually shoot? Kendrick Nunn (would he be any cheaper than Tae?) Lou Williams? Frank Jackson?

[Rich4114]

I like Devonte as a backup PG. I don’t like him as an expensive PG being paid starter money considering his only asset is as a three point shooter and ball handler. He’s a poor defender, doesn’t have a mid range game, ineffective in the paint, small, can’t finish around the rim, etc. He can be clutch and he works the pick snd roll game well. But $15-$20m per???? Please no.