Post#53 » by Ell Curry » Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:16 pm
My definitely going to be wrong guess at our quiet off-season in which we keep the powder dry for the 2021 off-season. Masai was pretty patient here before the Kawhi deal and I'm not sure something big and wonderful will present itself this summer.
1. Gasol stays for one year on a big amount. Still need a 5 to guard Embiid and Jokic types and he's a leader and even when he looked like **** his plus minus numbers weren't bad so worst case ontario you get 20 minutes of him, 20 minutes of a faster 5 and then 8 minutes of smallball a night type thing.
2. Ibaka signs a 3-4 year deal elsewhere. I don't think the market here is very strong so something like 48/3 and though that seems kinda low to fans, Masai doesn't match it, but maybe we do offer 20M for 1 year type of thing instead if Gasol doesn't stay for a similar deal. Ibaka has made 100M less than Gasol over his career and this is his last big contract and he's a nice compromise option for a GM who wants a 5 but also can't risk his more traditional coach being willing to play a 2nd or 3rd non-shooter.
3. Van Vleet leaves for an absolutely massive contract in NY or Detroit, like 120/4. He's arguably the top UFA once Anthony Davis stays with the Lakers and there's money out there and some team with a horrific culture will see a 26 year old Van Vleet as a player/coach type still young enough to be damn good at 28-29 when they think they'll be good. He's only made 19M so when we offer 80 and some team offers 120, well that won't do it. Some talk of a sign and trade will happen but yeah the money will decide this one. Fred showed he cares about politics and 40 extra million I mean he could fix a section of Rockford with that money.
4. RHJ stays, because the market for non-shooters isn't great and he had a nice regular season here and with Ibaka not coming back, maybe there are more minutes this time.
5. We sign a center with the MLE. Plumlee, Baynes or Len makes sense.
6. We also get a backup PG somehow. I love Davis but he isn't ready to take over running an offense, his pick and roll synergy numbers show that and his shooting numbers will drop at some point probably so making sure he can hit corner 3s and crash the boards and defend with consistency should be the main priorities with him. Maybe an exception or small trade brings this PG in. Chiozza looked intriguing, seems like a Masai type. Could also be with the 29th pick or some cheap 3rd PG we think is actually a solid #2 just on a mess of a team like Arcidiacano or Napier or
7. Finally, Masai looks at the roster and sees that we're a 50 win team but don't have enough playmaking and iso game to have a puncher's shot at winning the East but won't **** up the cap space. Bill Simmons called these irrational confidence guys. Someone like uh Demar, Jordan Clarkson, Carmelo, Eric Paschall, Jerome Robinson, Dillon Brooks or another chucker who can get hot for 20 minutes and create 1 on 1 makes sense. I've always been a Melo hater but honestly he makes a ton of sense for a 1 year deal if we bring back the same team and want another forward to play in a frontcourt with Siakam and OG and just be able to hit a few midrange isos and post ups when we're holding teams to 95 points and just need 96 to win.
Gasol/Boucher/Baynes
Siakam/RHJ
Anunoby/Melo/Watson
Powell/Davis/Thomas
Lowry/Chiozza
are the main 12
Bolder but less likely predictions:
1. Van Vleet turns down 120 from a terrible team, 80 from us and finds a 100M offer from a decent team who sends us back something in a sign and trade. Spurs make sense what with their collection of big guards who aren't great shooters if we want to further the bringing back Demar and a pick idea, but there are multiple others. Dallas loves small guards for one.
But ultimately it's to Nash the Canadian he goes. KD and Kyrie pushing for a trade like FVV sign and trade for Levert or even for Dinwiddie and detritus makes a ton of sense. With the latter, they get a lineup of Allen/KD/Harris/Kyrie/FVV with Levert as 6th man and we get a year of Dinwiddie as our iso scorer at end of games or when we're stuck and retain cap space in 2021 along with maybe a young player like Claxton, Musa or Kurucs or a pick from Brooklyn.
2. Rest is similar
Gasol/Boucher/Baynes
Siakam/RHJ
Anunoby/Davis
Powell/Thomas/Watson
Lowry/Dinwiddie
and we go 12 deep and win 55 games with Boucher seamlessly replacing Ibaka and Dinwiddie giving us a little more juice but none of Fred's defense or shooting or other skills. We lose to the Celtics again with a slightly worse defense but slightly better offense. Maybe we make a deadline deal this time for a forward for cheap that doesn't hurt us cap space wise from a Western Conference team that did not expect to miss the playoffs like Melo or Danuel House or Dort (would cost a pick or decent young player) or Paschall.
3. Giannis is traded elsewhere and instead of cap space we focus more on going after a talented player who Masai thinks will make the leap and whose team has no idea what to do with him like Oladipo or a new GM replacing the guy who drafted him hates like Marvin Bagley.
Where's the D?