Vivek refuses to tank

[gswhoops]

Even with his value in the toilet rn, that Ja trade is short at least one first.

People keep saying that, but which team, specifically, is beating this offer? He wants an extension. He wants an offense in which he is the focal point. He's going to want a roster built around him as the focal point.

Even if you ignored all the off-court issues and questions about his attitude, and looked only at his production and availability, how attractive is that scenario?

I think there's plenty of teams that would be interested in a buy-low opportunity where the upside is a fringe MVP caliber player who's only 26 years old.

Rebuilding teams (Utah, Brooklyn, Washington) could decide to roll the dice on Ja to accelerate their rebuild or just put butts in seats

Fringe playoff teams (Chicago, Toronto, Portland, Dallas) could think he's the guy to put us over the top. Hell even some solid playoff teams like Miami or LAC could decide he's worth the risk to take them to the next level.

I don't think he returns a Gobert-esque haul for the reasons you mentioned, but I think there'd be a fair number of teams willing to beat an offer that's essentially salary filler and one mediocre 1st.

[jbk1234]

Even with his value in the toilet rn, that Ja trade is short at least one first.

People keep saying that, but which team, specifically, is beating this offer? He wants an extension. He wants an offense in which he is the focal point. He's going to want a roster built around him as the focal point.

Even if you ignored all the off-court issues and questions about his attitude, and looked only at his production and availability, how attractive is that scenario?

I think there's plenty of teams that would be interested in a buy-low opportunity where the upside is a fringe MVP caliber player who's only 26 years old.

Rebuilding teams (Utah, Brooklyn, Washington) could decide to roll the dice on Ja to accelerate their rebuild or just put butts in seats

Fringe playoff teams (Chicago, Toronto, Portland, Dallas) could think he's the guy to put us over the top. Hell even some solid playoff teams like Miami or LAC could decide he's worth the risk to take them to the next level.

I don't think he returns a Gobert-esque haul for the reasons you mentioned, but I think there'd be a fair number of teams willing to beat an offer that's essentially salary filler and one mediocre 1st.

I don't think the Bulls or Portland will be interested. I suspect those rebuilding teams you listed plan on tanking this season, and might circle back after the draft, but not before.

I agree regarding the Raptors, Clippers, and the Heat, but then we need to talk about what buying low means, what type of salary they're sending back, and how insistent Ja's camp is on getting a max or even maxish extension. The last part could really limit, if not destroy, Ja's market.

It was not that long ago that if you had said Ingram would have to settle for $40M per and it would be with the Raptors, I don't think anyone, least of all Ingram, would've believed you. Jimmy Butler is a much easier player to plug into existing lineups, but his list, coupled with his extension demands, made him untradeable until hours before the deadline when he relented on both fronts.