Season Speculation, Trade Ideas & Discussion Pt. 6

[bwgood77]

Brook Lopez and Isaiah Thomas (especially Thomas) are having a down year, they are not getting $25M. They are gonna be happy if they get $15M even for just a one year contract.

Thomas is 29 and has health concerns, not sure if he can be same Isaiah from a year ago. Brook Lopez will be 30 in March and he is really slow. I just don't see them as a big adquisitions anymore.

Lopez averages 11.9 points and 3.9 rebounds.
Isaiah averages 14.7 points and 4.5 assists.

KCP got $18M on 13.8 points and 2.5 assists
JJ Reddick got $23M on 15 points and 1.4 assists

GMs threw big money at them on 1-year contracts. It would make sense for the Suns to do something similar to help the team win next year but not tie-our-hands in the 2019 free agent market.

I was going to respond the same. I think IT will be lucky to get a contract in the $10 million a year range....maybe for one year he gets a tad more, but I doubt it. Most of the teams with cap space are rebuilding teams. If Philly can't get a big name MAYBE they wouldn't mind having a guy like IT, but I think most teams will steer clear. I don't really see any type of bidding war.

I'm sure most any team would take Redick or KCP over IT.

[bwgood77]

Im getting the impression these big money short term deals will become more popular with FOs. Chunking out a guaranteed $100-125 million over 4-5 years is mighty risky.

To an extent I agree. It's just a rare circumstance where teams have 25 to 30 million in cap room to throw at a guy for one year.

It's usually going to be a team that has cleared out a bunch of space to go after a max guy but don't get a max guy but want to give it a shot again the following year.

[bwgood77]

Ummm...when exactly was Payton ever an UFA???

Or are you talking about fans, because that's completely irrelevant, since no one here makes any decisions for any teams, and as seen over and over, rarely correctly evaluate a player's value/worth correctly via trades or during FA signings, with the exception of knowing that LeBron, Curry, Durant, Westbrook, Harden, etc., are worth the Max.

So, on one hand, you are somewhat right, because of what I just said. We think it's a great deal based upon our perception of his Value, a former Top 10 pick had for the 40th Overall pick. Seems like a great deal.

But on the other hand, I think you are way off base, because he's never been on the open market for UFA, so how do you know that 'most people didn't want him for free'...that's never been an option.

He's saying no one mentioned going after him the summer in RFA. At least, I'm guessing. Someone may have though. This is different though, because we get a try out period this way to see how he fits with the team before maybe giving him (or matching) an offer.

Full-on agree. It gives him a chance, as well. what I mean, is, he gets to see the guys, interact, feel what we are building here, recognize how big a part/role he can play, etc. That won't likely keep him from signing an RFA deal should one come his way, but if it doesn't, he'll get a sense of what we are about if we offer him a deal., which I can't see us not doing, unless he plays like Ulis.

I've seen you talk a couple times as if he might take a RFA deal elsewhere and it sounds like you think we can't keep him if we want (though not sure if that is what you are thinking). We can match any deal he signs with another team and he has to stay with us. Unless you are just saying he might find a deal out there that is too pricey for us to want to match. Of course we may not want to keep him either.

I'm guessing there won't be much demand for him considering all the teams with cap space have point guards and most of them could have easily traded for him if they wanted to by beating our offer.

[bigfoot]

Im getting the impression these big money short term deals will become more popular with FOs. Chunking out a guaranteed $100-125 million over 4-5 years is mighty risky.

To an extent I agree. It's just a rare circumstance where teams have 25 to 30 million in cap room to throw at a guy for one year.

It's usually going to be a team that has cleared out a bunch of space to go after a max guy but don't get a max guy but want to give it a shot again the following year.

Remind me beside KCP and Redick who else has gotten big one year contracts like these?

[bwgood77]

To an extent I agree. It's just a rare circumstance where teams have 25 to 30 million in cap room to throw at a guy for one year.

It's usually going to be a team that has cleared out a bunch of space to go after a max guy but don't get a max guy but want to give it a shot again the following year.

Remind me beside KCP and Redick who else has gotten big one year contracts like these?

I don't think there are many. But it's probably going to start happening a lot more now for a couple of reasons. Teams will not want to clog their cap for years and players and agents will not find the long term money they are looking for, so they will be willing to play one year deals and try the market the following year. Rich Paul will probably tell all his clients that can't get what he demands to take a 1 year deal because they can get more next year (KCP, Noel playing on QO).

[bigfoot]

It's usually going to be a team that has cleared out a bunch of space to go after a max guy but don't get a max guy but want to give it a shot again the following year.

Remind me beside KCP and Redick who else has gotten big one year contracts like these?

I don't think there are many. But it's probably going to start happening a lot more now for a couple of reasons. Teams will not want to clog their cap for years and players and agents will not find the long term money they are looking for, so they will be willing to play one year deals and try the market the following year. Rich Paul will probably tell all his clients that can't get what he demands to take a 1 year deal because they can get more next year (KCP, Noel playing on QO).

Except Philly didn't clear out space. They just had a lot of young players and didn't have a SG. Signed a veteran for big money but one season only to wait for the next free agent period. My guess they go after Tyreke Evans.

[alldayeveryday]

Kentucky lost again. Calipari, come on down. (No idea if he would be a good coach in the NBA)

[bigfoot]

After tonight's game against the Nuggets not only do we get to see how Payton fits but also Triano. Coach finally gets the fair shot he deserves with a legit option at PG. These next 25 games will give us a decent assessment of both Elfrid and Jay and their long-term fit.

[bigfoot]

Suppose Payton continues to play like he did tonight against the Nuggets. What would you pay him??

[Kerrsed]

Suppose Payton continues to play like he did tonight against the Nuggets. What would you pay him??

As little as we have to on a 4 year contract (3 Guaranteed + 1 Team Option).

[Revived]

Kentucky lost again. Calipari, come on down. (No idea if he would be a good coach in the NBA)

If he can draw all his former star players here then it’s worth it.

[carey]

I want to make a quick point about Capela. I'm sure the point has already been made but I'll make it again for posterity. Take this video for instance. It's a great scoring game for Capela. 23 points and a monster 25 rebounds. What you'll notice is that all of his points come in 2 ways. 1) Off pick & roll finishes and 2) Putbacks. The big problem here is he needs an above average pick & roll PG to be successful at #1 which makes #2 rather meaningless if you're going to pay him $20M a year and not give him an elite PG to spoon feed him all day. Because he has virtually no offense of his own. We spend that kind of money on him and we'll regret it by Christmas unless we're trading for Wall.

Watch on YouTube

[carey]

Suppose Payton continues to play like he did tonight against the Nuggets. What would you pay him??

As little as we have to on a 4 year contract (3 Guaranteed + 1 Team Option).

4/32 with year 4 a team option.

[AtheJ415]

Remember when people wrote off Jackson and Bender as busts?

[Mulhollanddrive]

Payton is a backup PG option so you'd have to say less than $10m.

[AtheJ415]

I want to make a quick point about Capela. I'm sure the point has already been made but I'll make it again for posterity. Take this video for instance. It's a great scoring game for Capela. 23 points and a monster 25 rebounds. What you'll notice is that all of his points come in 2 ways. 1) Off pick & roll finishes and 2) Putbacks. The big problem here is he needs an above average pick & roll PG to be successful at #1 which makes #2 rather meaningless if you're going to pay him $20M a year and not give him an elite PG to spoon feed him all day. Because he has virtually no offense of his own. We spend that kind of money on him and we'll regret it by Christmas unless we're trading for Wall.

Watch on YouTube

I don't think we need Capela with what Bender is showing at the 5. If we draft Ayton the 5 is solved regardless, but Bender's play allows us to just use Sauce as the backup and go after a more versatile option than Capela in Gordon if we want to mini-max somebody. Gordon has defensive potential, and if you add him to Bender, Jackson, Payton, that's a lot of athleticism if you can get a defensive coach who will get them adjusted. Orlando probably matches, but I think at a point they may choose a sign and trade over just paying him a huge salary. Moving Payton does make it more likely they keep him, but you never know.

[AtheJ415]

Payton is a backup PG option so you'd have to say less than $10m.

The market just isn't there for PGs. I mean look at how few teams will actually have $10 mil to spend on a PG to begin with. I would be shocked if Elfrid gets more than $7 m on average. Also, if he wants to start, we are one of the few who could give him that type of opportunity, so he may take a discount. I would offer $5-6 m and go to $7 after negotiation with a team option or something. Or simply just let him go get an offer since we have the RFA rights. I don't think there will be a big one coming even if he lights it up the rest of the way.

[carey]

I amend the offer to $5M/yr or $8M/yr if he shaves his head thereby immediately boosting his shooting percentage from the field by 5%. I swear to God if the difference between me shooting a bit better from the field was millions of dollars I'd have shaved that **** 4 years ago.

[DirtyDez]

I amend the offer to $5M/yr or $8M/yr if he shaves his head thereby immediately boosting his shooting percentage from the field by 5%. I swear to God if the difference between me shooting a bit better from the field was millions of dollars I'd have shaved that **** 4 years ago.

Are you telling me that millennials care more about their appearance than their jobs?

[carey]

I amend the offer to $5M/yr or $8M/yr if he shaves his head thereby immediately boosting his shooting percentage from the field by 5%. I swear to God if the difference between me shooting a bit better from the field was millions of dollars I'd have shaved that **** 4 years ago.

Are you telling me that millennials care more about their appearance than their jobs?

By no means am I making a blanket statement about millennials, but you'll never convince me his hair doesn't effect his shot. It's like shooting with a baseball hat on. There's no way you can shoot with proper mechanics and not hit the bill of the cap (or in his case his wonky hairdo) thereby affecting the shot.

Also, please note it's not a racist thing or an out of touch older white dude thing. My favorite player in the NFL this year was Alvin Kamara who has a septum piercing, gold teeth and dreds. It would make no difference if his hair were 2 feet tall if it didn't effect his play.