TimberKat wrote:A lot of interesting points. Let's tackle a few here:
2. Notice Suns are dropping their mid salary guys. They trade and drop everyone except max salary Ayton, supermax Booker, and KD. Then turns around and trade a 30M contract (Chris Paul) for a supermax Beal. Heat let go Strus (16M per year) and Vicent (10M per year) who aren't exactly stars; only to get ready to add supermax Dame. So if we learn anything from the new CBA, it's how best to add supermax contract to the roster and not trade away your supermax guys (if you feel they help you win).
3. We lockup Towns for 5 years could be great news. By year 4, his supermax contract will look like a regular max contract because the cap increase 10% annually and his contract increase 8% annually.
4. If KAT is over the hill at age 27, then why do we think Ant's timeline is when he is 27? Let's assume Towns doesn't get any better, his plateau stats would look like 2021-2022: 24.6pt, 9.8RB. If he keeps it up until 32, that is HOF material for a poor defender. Chris Webber, Chris Bosh or Kevin McHale aren't able to carry a team but are great HOF supporting casts.
5. Chris Bosh avg 22 to 24 pts per game in TOR. He never avg more than 21 in MAI. So do we say LBJ eats into his game and must trade him to get draft picks so Heats could be good after LBJ and DWade's timeline are done?
7. It's not about replacing Towns. It's what can you add to make a deep playoff run now. So go get AD, SGA, or other stars. If those aren't available, Towns is by far the better options. You need at least 2 players that demand double team to win a NBA championship.
2. The suns can't give Ayton away for free. The Wizards didn't get a single 1st round pick or rotation player on a decent contract back for their supermaxed star player. Teams with spending space under the tax are going to have a big advantage when it comes to adding middle tier players to their supporting cast. Teams with tax problems are going to be letting go/salary dumping some of those same guys for nothing. That is my takeaway from the new CBA.
4. KAT is going to make 35% of the cap starting in 2024. The difference between his 8% raise and the 10% raise in the cap is miniscule, and that's assuming the cap keeps going up and we don't have another financial crisis or WWIII.
5. My point was that when you add too many star players together, particularly 2 big men like KAT and Rudy, they will eat into each other's value.
Trade value and on court production. You hope that sacrifice raises the value of the whole enough to put you over the top.
It's very hard to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts the more valuable parts you keep adding.
Sometimes that has worked, Garnett/Allen Celtics are an example.
Usually works best with veterans on the downslope of their career who are more willing to sacrifice to win.
But to borrow a metaphor from one of my favorite shows, Legion, you can't unmake soup once you've made it.
Miami gave up pretty much nothing for LBJ and Bosh, they were free agents.
We tossed a whole bunch of ingredients into the soup when we traded for Gobert that are never coming back.
Gobert and Towns, 2 guys best suited for the same position, aren't going to have the same trade value after playing 2 years next to one another. It's going to be very painful if we have to try to unmake the soup.
That's why best case scenario is that the soup that we made works out.
7. Agree any KAT trade would need to help us win now, but also must help us win in the post-Gobert window.
Disagree on caliber of player that requires.
2 younger Mike Conley-level players who fit really well and make ~20 mil or less might be even better long term for us if they fit around Ant and Jaden better. We particularly could use a young point guard.
