We agreed to a longer than typical deal with Mann too, but IIRC it was after Summer League when he first showed his mojo.
EDIT- It was a 4 year/$6.3M deal with team options on last 2 years, signed after Summer League.
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/mensbasketball/2019/07/10/florida-state-fsu-mens-basketball-nba-terance-mann-mfiondu-kabengele-la-clippers-contracts-seminoles/1697349001/
TucsonClip wrote:Luke is guaranteed 3/$41.2 mil, year 4 is a team option and there are $8 mil in unlikely incentives.
I think we'll see the more complete version of Luke this year. He looked extremely timid, knowing he could get benched for a month at any second.
I think this is the first year for Luke's contract? 3/$41.2M is not as bad as the topline numbers originally announced given $8M is in incentives. I mean if the incentives are based on relatively high targets, then pretty sure the Clippers would be happy to have Kennard actually hit them and earn the extra dough.
He was more assertive in the playoffs, so I would think that should translate into the regular season this year. Start with a green light attitude on 3's, and then hopefully expand from there (some). If he plays well then I think he becomes a somewhat positive trade asset, where we might find a good trade that improves player fit on both teams.
The deal makes a little more sense to me in hindsight- whether it's Kennard, Mann, or the new rookies our goal is cost containment and not to lose guys early after a breakout season. When you do that you have to trust your player assessment and accept the risk of having some guys not live up to those contracts. As a cap-constrained team, it's not going to prevent us from signing significant FA's but can cost Ballmer some extra luxury tax, and he's obviously agreed to this strategy. I think as a whole it is a good one for us.
We now have Mann locked up for another 2 years, and maybe can leverage that into another cost-controlled early extension.
