darealjuice wrote:Completely forgot that Siakam tore his labrum and is out until around December. Hard to see him being traded for anything worthwhile before the trade deadline, and that'd be if he's playing well.
Noel is going somewhere with cap space and playing time, ideally at starting role. It doesn't make sense for us financially to give a center $10M to play 15 minutes per game, and it doesn't make sense for him career-wise to accept a bench role after doing well as a starter after Robinson went down. He's too young to turn down money and playing time for a small chance at winning a ring.
I'd expect us to be mindful of the way we use our money. We used the MLE on Crowder last year, so if we're using it this year I'd anticipate it being on a player with a similar level of contribution. The only spots that really have minutes available are power forward and center if we're able to keep Payne. Mikal, Crowder, and Cam combined for about 85 minutes per game at forward last year, leaving around 11 minutes at power forward and 15 minutes at center assuming Booker doesn't play any small forward. I would be surprised if we used the MLE on someone that couldn't fill those minutes in the rotation. It would also mean Stix isn't playing again this year, not that it matters much.
Sidery pointed out a path to getting just below the luxury tax this year, and I do expect that to be part of the goal while filling out the roster considering future salary and luxury tax implications. It shouldn't be a problem to make that happen though.
Bobby Portis is the only guy on the market that I think can fill those 26 or so minutes for us and do it at a high level. Would he leave Milwaukee? Would he sign for the MLE? Not sure, but I would love it if it happened.
