Free Agency Thread -David West to Spurs for free

[BMatt07]

I don't understand this notion that Monroe is using the Bucks for leverage, it makes absolutely zero sense. He's one of the most coveted free agents in the NBA this off-season, and he will get a max deal from whichever team he goes to. What exactly is he leveraging?

[Bucks4Milwaukee]

If Monroe truly wanted to be a Buck he would've signed sometime yesterday, using Milwaukke & Portland for leverage.

If every team is offering him the same max deal, there would be no need to use a team as leverage.

Then there would be no need to wait if he really wanted to go to Milwaukee.

Unless of course he didn't really consider us going in, but after the interview has liked us most...you still have to decide if it's right. If what he said about being the missing piece is true, were the team for him.

[Newz]

I don't understand this notion that Monroe is using the Bucks for leverage, it makes absolutely zero sense. He's one of the most coveted free agents in the NBA this off-season, and he will get a max deal from whichever team he goes to. What exactly is he leveraging?

I also don't get the leverage angle. What is that conversation like?

"We offer you the max amount we can offer you." - New York
"I want more or I will go to Milwaukee!" - Monroe
"... We literally cannot offer you more money. We are offering you the most money that we possibly can." - New York
"DON'T MAKE ME GO TO MILWAUKEE!!!!" - Monroe

[jakecronus8]

If Monroe truly wanted to be a Buck he would've signed sometime yesterday, using Milwaukke & Portland for leverage.

Yep. And the panic move(s) we make after we strike out could be epic. Welcome back to the Kohl era folks. Thank god we lucked into Giannis and to a lesser extent Jabari.

And what "panic moves" have the Bucks made since the new ownership took over? Why would you assume this?

Maybe not panic moves but stupid moves that don't jive with the slow rebuild plan they've sold us. Bayless, Kenyon, Vasquez don't exactly scream rebuild. To me they scream make the playoffs. A battle cry we've heard countless times under the previous putrid regime.

[Siefer]

Marc Stein on Mike and Mike saying that we really wanted Chandler and we set his contract and Phoenix matched our offer.

Gross.

[JimmyTheKid]

If Monroe truly wanted to be a Buck he would've signed sometime yesterday, using Milwaukke & Portland for leverage.

Yep. And the panic move(s) we make after we strike out could be epic. Welcome back to the Kohl era folks. Thank god we lucked into Giannis and to a lesser extent Jabari.

We have yet to make a single "Kohl era" move since Kohl sold the team. How about saving these ridiculous posts for AFTER we make a Drew Gooden/John Salmons/Carlos Delfino/Stephen Jackson/Corey Maggette/JJ Redick type move?

I'm going to go way out on a limb and predict you, and the other usual suspects, will somehow equate the new regime to the Kohl era regardless of what happens in free agency. If the Bucks don't sign anyone of note it'll be "I thought Jason Kidd was going to attract free agents..." If we land a Schwartz guy, it'll be "Schwartzy-meddle this and Schwartzy-meddle that." And if we do land a Greg Monroe or Robin Lopez, you know, guys in the prime of their careers, you'll say the contract was too expensive or we signed the wrong guys.

Jason Kidd and LED won't win over a certain contingent until we win a title. Which seems fair.

[Ron Swanson]

I'd be down with Koufos on a reasonable 2-3 year deal, or a similar contract for everyone's favorite analytics darling Kyle O'Quinn.

I don't think Monroe is worth the current max even under a rising cap. Just don't see it and I never have with the guy.

[MikeIsGood]

If every team is offering him the same max deal, there would be no need to use a team as leverage.

Then there would be no need to wait if he really wanted to go to Milwaukee.

Maybe it's a big life decision and he wants to take a little bit of time to think about it?

This board has no chill

[newerabucks]

Yep. And the panic move(s) we make after we strike out could be epic. Welcome back to the Kohl era folks. Thank god we lucked into Giannis and to a lesser extent Jabari.

And what "panic moves" have the Bucks made since the new ownership took over? Why would you assume this?

Maybe not panic moves but stupid moves that don't jive with the slow rebuild plan they've sold us. Bayless, Kenyon, Vasquez don't exactly scream rebuild. To me they scream make the playoffs. A battle cry we've heard countless times under the previous putrid regime.

Yeah, they really mortgaged a lot of their future w/ that whopping 2-year/$6 million deal w/ Bayless and those massive 10 day contracts w/ Kenyon Martin. We're in such a deep hole because of those moves that I don't how we'll ever dig ourselves out of it. As far as Vasquez, that Clippers' pick is the most overrated and overvalued fargon asset on this board...

[WRau1]

Lol, go through this list and count the number of players that have played on our team. It's hilarious. Kohl is awful.

http://basketball-players.pointafter.com/stories/5042/2000-nba-draft-re-pick-terrible-awful?utm_medium=social.paid&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=ao.sp.fb.dt.5042#1-Michael-Redd

[xTitan]

If Monroe truly wanted to be a Buck he would've signed sometime yesterday, using Milwaukke & Portland for leverage.

If every team is offering him the same max deal, there would be no need to use a team as leverage.

Sure there would, he might want to get to a specific team or market....if you don't sign on your first round of initial offers, assuming they are max, you are waiting for dominoes to fall hoping you can get to the team/market you want

[jakecronus8]

If Monroe truly wanted to be a Buck he would've signed sometime yesterday, using Milwaukke & Portland for leverage.

Yep. And the panic move(s) we make after we strike out could be epic. Welcome back to the Kohl era folks. Thank god we lucked into Giannis and to a lesser extent Jabari.

We have yet to make a single "Kohl era" move since Kohl sold the team. How about saving these ridiculous posts for AFTER we make a Drew Gooden/John Salmons/Carlos Delfino/Stephen Jackson/Corey Maggette/JJ Redick type move?

I'm going to go way out on a limb and predict you, and the other usual suspects, will somehow equate the new regime to the Kohl era regardless of what happens in free agency. If the Bucks don't sign anyone of note it'll be "I thought Jason Kidd was going to attract free agents..." If we land a Schwartz guy, it'll be "Schwartzy-meddle this and Schwartzy-meddle that." And if we do land a Greg Monroe or Robin Lopez, you know, guys in the prime of their careers, you'll say the contract was too expensive or we signed the wrong guys.

Jason Kidd and LED won't win over a certain contingent until we win a title. Which seems fair.

Ha! Some nice jumps you made there.

We haven't made one single Kohl era move? Bayless, Vasquez for multiple picks, falling over ourselves to max out an above average soft big in Monroe, bringing in 93 year old Kenyon Martin, trying to re-sign Knight. The only thing I'll give credit for as non Kohl would be moving Knight when you knew you weren't re-signing him.

[Diggr14]

I can't recall a single "overachieving" team playing defense at the level we played. Our defense is real and expecting a leap offensively from younger players isn't an unreal expectations. Middleton isn't a one year wonder, he just finally got the opportunity to shoot the ball with Knight gone.

They said the same thing about the 4 guys I mentioned previously. 14 million isnt terrible (5 years is), but I would have preferred they S&T Middleton to another team in a deal such as the Stauskas deal + a unprotected 1st and a contract to absorb. I definitely would not sign a significant big after that. I'd let Parker and Giannis have a bigger role and let this team grow similar to how OKC did it. A high 1st in 2016 would have been nice... because if we went the route I suggested, we would be looking at one to couple with Giannis + Parker. That in my estimation is how you build a championship team. What they just did in my opinion stunted the long term success of the franchise to get a few more wins now. I just think it's fools gold to expect a solid 5 years out of Middleton or even expect a solid positional defender at the 5 position (assuming we get Monroe). Yes, it is a playoff team. No, it will not beat the top tier teams in the East in a 7 game series... that is what we should be building for.

wut, seriously want to give away a 23 year old who is one of the best 3 and d players in the league for that .. So we can get Stauskas ( yuck ) and a 1st who probably won't ever be half as good as Middleton.. You think that's gonna build a championship team?

Absolutely. 3-4 more years of SG with quite a bit of upside at limited pay. Plus the added benefit of another 1st... and our own first being in the top 10 in a nice 2016 draft. In my opinion going all-in on Middleton is going for it 3-4 years too soon. No need to push our chips into the middle now... we should be building through the draft with more top 5-10 picks. A 5 year deal with a guy at basically max money for a guy who has 1 good season under his belt... is not the long play (which is what we should be doing).

[Jez2983]

I don't understand this notion that Monroe is using the Bucks for leverage, it makes absolutely zero sense. He's one of the most coveted free agents in the NBA this off-season, and he will get a max deal from whichever team he goes to. What exactly is he leveraging?

I also don't get the leverage angle. What is that conversation like?

"We offer you the max amount we can offer you." - New York
"I want more or I will go to Milwaukee!" - Monroe
"... We literally cannot offer you more money. We are offering you the most money that we possibly can." - New York
"DON'T MAKE ME GO TO MILWAUKEE!!!!" - Monroe

Unintentionally you raise a valid point. Obviously there are loads of additional aspects to deals that never see the light of paper. New York is in afar better position to offer such enticements. People are lying to themselves if they think it doesn't happen.

[jakecronus8]

What pisses me off most is the line of BS we were given when LED bought the team that they were going to slowly build the team and how we should be patient, blah blah blah.

[paulpressey25]

I'd be down with Koufos on a reasonable 2-3 year deal, or a similar contract for everyone's favorite analytics darling Kyle O'Quinn.

I don't think Monroe is worth the current max even under a rising cap. Just don't see it and I never have with the guy.

We aren't getting KOQ. He's a restricted free agent. Based on yesterday we'd need to offer him 4/$40 to get Orl to even think about not matching.

[xTitan]

Maybe Monroe wants to play in Portland and is waiting to see if LA goes back there

[DutchManDanFan]

I think Monroe is just waiting for LMA . If Aldridge stays with Portland (unlikely), Monroe might go there. LMA to the Lakers (possible), Monroe goes as well. If LMA goes to the Spurs (most likely) then it could very well be the Bucks.

[Matches Malone]

If he wanted Portland so bad, wouldn't he just sign there before LA makes a decision? If he's waiting for LA to go back, that just seems like Monroe is Portland's fall back plan. Not sure if Greg would be happy being another teams 2nd option.

[WRau1]

They said the same thing about the 4 guys I mentioned previously. 14 million isnt terrible (5 years is), but I would have preferred they S&T Middleton to another team in a deal such as the Stauskas deal + a unprotected 1st and a contract to absorb. I definitely would not sign a significant big after that. I'd let Parker and Giannis have a bigger role and let this team grow similar to how OKC did it. A high 1st in 2016 would have been nice... because if we went the route I suggested, we would be looking at one to couple with Giannis + Parker. That in my estimation is how you build a championship team. What they just did in my opinion stunted the long term success of the franchise to get a few more wins now. I just think it's fools gold to expect a solid 5 years out of Middleton or even expect a solid positional defender at the 5 position (assuming we get Monroe). Yes, it is a playoff team. No, it will not beat the top tier teams in the East in a 7 game series... that is what we should be building for.

wut, seriously want to give away a 23 year old who is one of the best 3 and d players in the league for that .. So we can get Stauskas ( yuck ) and a 1st who probably won't ever be half as good as Middleton.. You think that's gonna build a championship team?

Absolutely. 3-4 more years of SG with quite a bit of upside at limited pay. Plus the added benefit of another 1st... and our own first being in the top 10 in a nice 2016 draft. In my opinion going all-in on Middleton is going for it 3-4 years too soon. No need to push our chips into the middle now... we should be building through the draft with more top 5-10 picks. A 5 year deal with a guy at basically max money for a guy who has 1 good season under his belt... is not the long play (which is what we should be doing).

Middleton has already shown the ability to be one of the best 3&D guys in the league and a perfect 3rd banana to Giannis & Parker. So we're supposed to give up on a 23yr old perfect fit for a pick that MIGHT be but most likely won't be as good as Middleton? I don't get it.