Post#987 » by TrueLAfan » Thu Jul 4, 2019 6:05 pm
Okay, since we’re waiting to hear about Kawhi, here’s my plan for something else we should do. Get ready to laugh.
Offer Luol Deng a 1 year/$2.5 million deal. Hilarity ensues!
Except it’s kind of a great idea, IMO. It counts as essentially nothing against our cap; $2.56 million is a vet minimum contract for a player who has played over 10 years—and only the amount for a second year minimum player counts against team cap space. So the league would actually pay over a third of Deng’s salary, and he'd count for close to a minimum player amount on our books.
And he’s a good locker room guy. Last year in Minnesota, he worked with younger players, and they were pretty upfront about how much they appreciated it. They also mentioned how he was always at practice early and hustling. That rubs off. It also kinda fits in with our current team culture and players.
Plus—and here’s the wild thing—he can still kinda play a little. He’s not the guy who averaged 13 and 6 in 33 mpg with Miami for a couple of years … and he’s not the guy who averaged 9 and 4 in 24 mpg in 10 games in February. Wait—he is that second guy. He’s old now and is more of a PF—but he still works hard and can play and defend both forward positions. Picking up a guy like that who could give us 500-1000 quality minutes, maybe a few more, at positions we could use help at for a minimum level salary would be a smart move.
And, c’mon. Deng would love to stick it to the Lakers. That’s a plus in my book too.
