Signed By Indiana - The Jeremy Lamb Thread

[Braggins]

It really sucks that the franchise put so much effort into successfully developing Lamb into a good NBA player and they're likely going to lose him because of Batum's awful contract ruining our cap.

[Hornet Mania]

Lamb is going to get low-balled badly because no one watches Hornets games. To make matters worse, there's the possibility we're heading towards a 'correction' this free agency after the 2016 fiasco where teams will become more stingy about paying $$$ to role players. Allegedly a lot of teams around the league are going to offer max deals and low offers, nothing in between. Lamb could end up squeezed.

If Lamb ends up getting low-ball offers (less than $10m per year) I would absolutely bring him back. Anything $15m+ per year is not affordable and it makes more sense to just start Bacon and see what happens.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

It really sucks that the franchise put so much effort into successfully developing Lamb into a good NBA player and they're likely going to lose him because of Batum's awful contract ruining our cap.

So, yeah. But that kind of thing happens to lots of teams. I'm not thrilled about the prospect of losing Lamb, but it kind of is what it is.

I also don't view this as just a Nic problem, though he's clearly at the top of the bad contract pyramid for the team. Nic + MKG + Biz + Cody + Marv when put together are insane cap wise. I think that either Nic or any two of the others would need to be traded for space under the tax threshold to get Lamb back. Honestly would take Lamb over any of them right now.

Got to say though, that if Mich pulled off resigning both Kemba & Lamb I would have to give him major kudos.

[JGib23]

If I was Kemba I would apply some pressure to the team.

I'd approach Mitch and MJ and say look, I understand the cap situation. I know that you have Bird Rights for both Jeremy and myself, If you want to prove to me that you are serious about winning, then you resign both of us. Sure, you will pay the tax for one season but, you can avoid the repeater tax next season as Biz, Marvin, and MKG expire. If you really want me, prove to me that you are willing to do what it takes to build a winning team... Letting an efficient player leave because you are cheap, doesn't prove that.

[Splitta]

If I was Kemba I would apply some pressure to the team.

I'd approach Mitch and MJ and say look, I understand the cap situation. I know that you have Bird Rights for both Jeremy and myself, If you want to prove to me that you are serious about winning, then you resign both of us. Sure, you will pay the tax for one season but, you can avoid the repeater tax next season as Biz, Marvin, and MKG expire. If you really want me, prove to me that you are willing to do what it takes to build a winning team... Letting an efficient player leave because you are cheap, doesn't prove that.

I agree with JGib that MJ should bite the bullet and pay the luxury tax this year if none of the bad contracts are traded. He signed off on the bad contracts and should accept the responsibility. Kemba/Lamb with the young guys should be a decent foundation for a quicker rebuild.

[BigSlam]

Money/contracts aside (that will be phase #2 of this question) rank, in order, who you think would be the best fit as the starting SG for us next season:

Jermey Lamb
Malik Monk
Dwayne Bacon
Terrence Ross
Rodney Hood
Wesley Matthews
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Alec Burks

[Splitta]

Money/contracts aside (that will be phase #2 of this question) rank, in order, who you think would be the best fit as the starting SG for us next season:

Jermey Lamb
Malik Monk
Dwayne Bacon
Terrence Ross
Rodney Hood
Wesley Matthews
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Alec Burks

I would go with Rodney Hood but Lamb would be a close second

[LofJ]

If Bacon makes another leap like he did last season the team won't miss Lamb at all. I'm really excited to see what he will do next season.

[SWedd523]

It really sucks that the franchise put so much effort into successfully developing Lamb into a good NBA player and they're likely going to lose him because of Batum/Bismack/Marvin/Cody/MKG's awful contract ruining our cap.

fixed

They can put a full lineup on the floor of overpaid medicore players. How many other teams can say that?

[Lwcasu]

If I was Kemba I would apply some pressure to the team.

I'd approach Mitch and MJ and say look, I understand the cap situation. I know that you have Bird Rights for both Jeremy and myself, If you want to prove to me that you are serious about winning, then you resign both of us. Sure, you will pay the tax for one season but, you can avoid the repeater tax next season as Biz, Marvin, and MKG expire. If you really want me, prove to me that you are willing to do what it takes to build a winning team... Letting an efficient player leave because you are cheap, doesn't prove that.

I agree with JGib that MJ should bite the bullet and pay the luxury tax this year if none of the bad contracts are traded. He signed off on the bad contracts and should accept the responsibility. Kemba/Lamb with the young guys should be a decent foundation for a quicker rebuild.

I second this. The contracts clear by next year and Lamb is the only other guy we developed besides Kemba.

How much cap space do we have?

[Braggins]

It really sucks that the franchise put so much effort into successfully developing Lamb into a good NBA player and they're likely going to lose him because of Batum/Bismack/Marvin/Cody/MKG's awful contract ruining our cap.

fixed

They can put a full lineup on the floor of overpaid medicore players. How many other teams can say that?

I singled out Batum because he costs almost twice as much as Marvin/Cody/MKG do individually and hes borderline unplayable and the worst of the four imo. Marvin/MKG/Cody are all getting paid like 5 mil per year more than they should, whereas Batum is getting paid like 15+ million more than he should.

Batum is the only one of the four thats on an absolutely egregious contract. The other contracts only look so bad in conjunction with the others because they compound the issue, whereas Batum's contract would be an absolute albatross in any context. You could remove one of Marv/MKG/Cody from the books and our cap situation would still be a bit dicey. Removing Batums would almost completely fix the cap situation on its own.

[Liver_Pooty]

I highly doubt Lamn gets lowballed. Executives and scouts pay attention around the league unlike most fans.

[Braggins]

I highly doubt Lamn gets lowballed. Executives and scouts pay attention around the league unlike most fans.

There is also a ton of money in the market this offseason with very few quality players to use it on. Lamb should benefit quite a bit from the specific circumstances of the free agent market this summer.

[LofJ]

Lamb has the same agent as Kemba. Jeff Schwartz is going to get paid this summer.

[driveandkick]

Lamb is getting $20m/ year. Write that down

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Money/contracts aside (that will be phase #2 of this question) rank, in order, who you think would be the best fit as the starting SG for us next season:

Jermey Lamb
Malik Monk
Dwayne Bacon
Terrence Ross
Rodney Hood
Wesley Matthews
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Alec Burks

I did the stats comparison for these guys. I don't want Monk or Hood. Burks, Matthews, & KCP are all OK, but none of them really compared to the best two names on the list: Ross ... and Lamb.

Lamb had the best VORP, the best BPM, the best WS/48, and generally the top or second best offensive and defensive numbers. Lamb's biggest "weakness" was his relatively low 3PA & 3P% vs some of the other guys. As the best overall player Lamb takes that group in a landslide. Ross & Matthews might shoot better. Burke passes better. But Lamb should be worth more.

Bacon is clearly not great vs some of these other guys, but he's also, by far, the least experienced of all the non-Monk players. He showed clear improvement in multiple areas from year 1 to year 2. If he gets a bit better at shooting 3s and can bring his defense back up to it's year 1 level then he wouldn't be bad as a starter. Monk is better now, and I think that you have to sign Ross if he's an option cost wise, but outside that Bacon would be fine.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Lamb is getting $20m/ year. Write that down

That wouldn't shock me at all. It will be a huge overpay though. I see this as happening if the Knicks strike out.

[BigSlam]

Money/contracts aside (that will be phase #2 of this question) rank, in order, who you think would be the best fit as the starting SG for us next season:

Jermey Lamb
Malik Monk
Dwayne Bacon
Terrence Ross
Rodney Hood
Wesley Matthews
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Alec Burks

I did the stats comparison for these guys. I don't want Monk or Hood. Burks, Matthews, & KCP are all OK, but none of them really compared to the best two names on the list: Ross ... and Lamb.

Lamb had the best VORP, the best BPM, the best WS/48, and generally the top or second best offensive and defensive numbers. Lamb's biggest "weakness" was his relatively low 3PA & 3P% vs some of the other guys. As the best overall player Lamb takes that group in a landslide. Ross & Matthews might shoot better. Burke passes better. But Lamb should be worth more.

Bacon is clearly not great vs some of these other guys, but he's also, by far, the least experienced of all the non-Monk players. He showed clear improvement in multiple areas from year 1 to year 2. If he gets a bit better at shooting 3s and can bring his defense back up to it's year 1 level then he wouldn't be bad as a starter. Monk is better now, and I think that you have to sign Ross if he's an option cost wise, but outside that Bacon would be fine.

Great, thought provoking analysis Vandy.

Now, what if these were the contracts (average per year + number of years) associated to each player. How might that impact your thinking?

Jermey Lamb = $12 mil per year - 4 years
Malik Monk = $4.5 mil per - 2 years
Dwayne Bacon = $7 mil per year - 4 years
Terrence Ross = $12 mil per year - 4 years
Rodney Hood = $8 mil per year - 3 years
Wesley Matthews = $5 mil per year -2 years
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope = $12 mil per year - 3 years
Alec Burks = $9 mil per year - $8 mil per year - 2 years

[Liver_Pooty]

Bacon is the best when you go by amount of contribution vs contract.

[Snidely FC]

My list would be

Dwayne Bacon
Rodney Hood
Jeremy Lamb
Terrence Ross
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Malik Monk
Wesley Matthews
Alec Burks

with or without contracts