Milbuck wrote:Bucks2585 wrote:cinematographer wrote:
KHRIS MIDDLETON IS A BETTER SG THAN BRANDON KNIGHT
I MEAN THE ACROBATICS YOU WENT THROUGH THERE. I MEAN ****, MAN
Is he though? Hes a better shooter, Ill give you that. But again. Whats wrong with Knight playing the Goran Dragic role and Middleton playing the Gerald Green role? Both got over 28+ minutes per game last year and were on a near 50 win team. They both had an impact. Hell, Jason Terry/Manu was the ultimate 6th man of the year. If they started Jason Terry, would their success have been that much different? Would the Spur have been a terrible team if they started Manu instead of Danny Green(current reference)? If Manu started, the Spurs still would have been awesome like they always have. And if Manu started, he still would have been playing the same MPG. Maybe slightly higher, but would him being on the court have tremendously disrupted their chemistry? Probably not, because he probably still would have played the same MPG. Knight I feel is the same way. I dont care if he is a PG. I dont care if there is a better SG than him. The 25-35 MPG he plays, he has value because of what he can do. And if thats the case, why not pay him?
I could care less about whose better either way. What matters is both are good players with clear roles in the NBA. So why give away good players for anything less than a star? Middleton is a 3 and D guy. Knight is a combo guard. They are valuable players because both are pretty good at it. Hell, even if Middleton and Knight get extended to a big deal that we dont agree with, theyll both aways have a role. Because they have clear roles and clear skills that matter in NBA. If we disagree with the contract, fine. They still have role that has value to teams thats allows them to be tradeable.
The problem is that Jabari and Giannis are locks in the two forward spots going forward, and if we're to accept that Knight is not a PG and needs to be playing as that Ellis-like hybrid guard at the 2 spot, then Middleton is the odd man out. Which I think limits this team to an extent, because Middleton is just straight up a better option at the 2 than Knight. He's got great size for the position whereas Knight doesn't, he's a better shooter/off-ball/lower usage player than Knight which means he's better suited to play alongside Jabari/Giannis who need their touches, and most importantly, he can be a great defender and contribute to the long scrambling defense we employ whereas Knight would be at a size disadvantage nearly every night.
So then we come to the critical question.....
is Knight going to be okay with coming off the bench as a 6th man, and not just as a 6th man but not even as a point? And by some surprising chance that he is, is it worth paying what we might overpay to keep him here, to keep him as a spark off the bench? Instead of spending that money elsewhere, say, for a big man somehow?
The main problem with your premise. Why is Jabari a lock for the staring forward spot?
I get that were all high on him. Hell, I agree, I think he earns the starting SF spot next year. But the fact is, hes coming off a significant injury in addition to showing concerns his rookie year defensively. If Jabari earns the spot next year, then he deserves it. But Im not ready to hedge all our bets on him. Not with the fact that we have good players in Knight and Middleton who could just as easily start at SG and SF with Giannis at PF. Good players find minutes. Knight, Middleton, theyll still play if signed. Hell, if Dudley leaves and we resign both Middleton and Knight, Middleton can slot in for some of Dudley's minute and still get his 25+ minutes per game. If Middleton is a better starter, than Knight off the bench making a similar hit on the cap towards Jason Terry, who signed a 6 year, 50+ million dollar contract will come off the bench. The point is, theyre good players. Dont just get rid of them because you think the money is too much. A good player is always an asset. We can still trade Knight on a deal for $12 million per year because he remains a good player. In fact, your pigeon-holing Middleton and Knight. Sign Knight because hes a good scorer. Sign Middleton because hes an amazing shooter. They will always have value because of that. And no matter the contract, theyll have value.
Ill even bring up Sanders. He was great at defense and rebounding after he got his extension. A complete liability on offense. Yet people were fine with him making $11 per year at the time of his signing. Because he had a role where he would get significant minutes. Regardless of whose the starting SG, etc., Knight and Middleton will have a role where they get significant minutes. And Im fine with extending them because of that.
You made my day. The definition of overpay. Dudley and Ersan are enough, better and cost less. 
