thebuzzardman wrote:NoDopeOnSundays wrote:The problem I have with the team construction is that they are passing on cheaper talent (draft), while paying the premium for guys who are just decent to good. Like Hart is a nice player, but is he worth 4x as much as Caleb Martin (3 years $20 million)? Hart got outplayed by Strus who was making $1.8 million at the time, so it's already happened where someone making a fraction of what he makes outplayed him. The problem with guys like Hart & DDV is that the ceiling is pretty low and you will run into instances where there's a guy who makes 1/2 as much having a greater impact on a series.
The only way these type of deals make sense is if Hart and DDV ultimately end up as starters, where they'd have a chance to outplay their contracts. Hart has zero shot of being worth that money as a bench player, you can try and talk yourself into it, but the reality is that when you get into the playoffs there will be some random Bruce Brown type guy who is on a value deal or someone on a rookie deal that is absolutely killing your high priced role player.
We currently have 3 guys on the team who outplay their contracts, which is Grimes, Brunson and for the time being IQ. We've also painted ourselves into a corner where the guys we'd need to trade are pretty much RJ, Grimes and IQ + a boatload of picks for this mythical top 10 player. At which point they'd have to be the right fit with Brunson, because he is really the player that matters most on the team. The team build approach they're using puts a low ceiling on your team, and you need a hailmary type trade, which isn't out there.
And now Strus is making about halfway between Donte D and Hart but for another team.
Eventually decent players get paid.
Miami will likely replace his production, but not every team is Miami.
I get it. Value guys are nice but they eventually get paid. It's not a given that each team replaces them cheaply each time.
Knicks probably overreached a little to retain guys in pursuit of some stability but it happens.
Gee. I wish we could get back to 6 years ago. Those were GREAT teams.
Continuity breeds success when the talent grows up together. Starting over every year with another crop of rookies doesn't help you. At some point you have to decide if you have good players and pay them or start all over again.
And nobody thought Brunson was this good. We got a star from another team dumb enough to let him walk. One of the guys we retain could be another Brunson for us. Instead of being the Mavs and letting IQ walk, pay him and see what happens.
If a Top five player is available we've got the ability to trade and still have a solid roster to support them. That was always the play.
The advantage is you can still become a contender whether that trade happens or not. Our talent has lots of room to get better.