What does an RJ extension look like?

[FrozenEnvelope]

I'd give RJ whatever Herro gets.

[cgf]

5 years ~130M

[HarthorneWingo]

If RJ believed in himself, he should take a team-friendly deal with an opt-out after 3.

[DowNY]

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=GWiaxd7NsNHXoxiR9vY_rg

[thebuzzardman]

I'd give RJ whatever Herro gets.

Split the difference between Herro and Garland?

Like, more than Herro, but not by a lot, but less than Garland?

[thebuzzardman]

My guess? 5 years/ 155

Player option after year 3

[NoDopeOnSundays]

I think $15 million for RJ would be a substantial overpay for RJ, though at least not a crippling one. My biggest issue is when people call for him to get $20, $30 million a year - let alone a max extension. This has disaster written all over it.

You're just completely out of touch with reality though, Doug McDermott is getting $14 million, Marcus Morris is at $16.3 million. $15 million which you claim would be an overpay is less than a host of players like Levert, Joe Harris, Duncan Robinson, Eric Gordon, Hield, Bogdan, Gary Trent, etc.


Rj based on his age, current numbers, position, and potential starts at $20 million, anything less is a joke. You saying $10 million earlier means you haven't even looked at who is making that kind of money, because that's not much more than Cedi Osman.


Be better.

[robillionaire]

I'd give RJ whatever Herro gets.

Split the difference between Herro and Garland?

Like, more than Herro, but not by a lot, but less than Garland?

I wouldn’t pay him what Herro gets since Herro is the better player who contributes to deep playoff runs and won 6moy showing he can be a team player instead of chucking for 20 and if anybody has a problem hearing that get up with Chanel and he will give you all the juicy stat details!!!

[thebuzzardman]

I'd give RJ whatever Herro gets.

Split the difference between Herro and Garland?

Like, more than Herro, but not by a lot, but less than Garland?

I wouldn’t pay him what Herro gets since Herro is the better player who contributes to deep playoff runs and won 6moy showing he can be a team player instead of chucking for 20 and if anybody has a problem hearing that get up with Chanel and he will give you all the juicy stat details!!!

The "RJ is selfish" propaganda is one of my favorite things.

[Jimmit79]

Why hasn't volde gotten extension yet could it be he's getting traded? I hear Toronto would be happy to have him.

[Chanel Bomber]

I think $15 million for RJ would be a substantial overpay for RJ, though at least not a crippling one. My biggest issue is when people call for him to get $20, $30 million a year - let alone a max extension. This has disaster written all over it.

You're just completely out of touch with reality though, Doug McDermott is getting $14 million, Marcus Morris is at $16.3 million. $15 million which you claim would be an overpay is less than a host of players like Levert, Joe Harris, Duncan Robinson, Eric Gordon, Hield, Bogdan, Gary Trent, etc.


Rj based on his age, current numbers, position, and potential starts at $20 million, anything less is a joke. You saying $10 million earlier means you haven't even looked at who is making that kind of money, because that's not much more than Cedi Osman.


Be better.

McDermott is severely overpaid, and not a player I would want on my payroll to begin with. So I wouldn't use him as a standard or benchmark for RJ - NBA teams do hand out bad contracts. I wouldn't want Levert on my team for a substantial amount of money either - except if I were looking for wing depth to bring off the bench, but definitely not for his current role or salary.

I don't value RJ's contributions at more than $10-11 million a year. If you account for upside due to his age, I would not be appalled at a $15 million a year extension, although I would consider that an overpay and a largely uninformed bet on the future. But it wouldn't be unreasonable.

But I wouldn't spend $20 million on a player who does nothing well but shoot wide-open C&S 3s and defend well in isolation, which is only one aspect of defense. It's not enough.

If he is valued by some teams around the league as a $25-$30 million player, I think the best use of the asset would be to trade him now for a player who - unlike him so far in his career - is demonstrably impactful or for assets that do not carry as much as risk as a $100 million extension e.g. draft picks. Otherwise, I would just wait to extend him after year 4 and make a better informed decision on his future with the team. Maybe he will have proven that he's worth $20 million then. I'm not ruling it out.

Extending him now (for $20 million or more annually) would be jumping in a pool head first, drunk and in the dark with 0 knowledge on the depth of the pool.

[Spree2Houston]

5yr/ 360 million

[dakomish23]

Nobody is higher on RJ than me.

He has not proven that he should get a max or near max extension.

I’ll add the caveat that proving it already is not the logic sometimes with these extensions. It’s based on projecting that they’ll eventually outplay the rookie level max.

Idk https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/a-long-road-in-memphis-the-rise-of-mike-conley/

[Governor Dudley]

Oh my boy getting his bag stop playing.

And will sign it on Leon back while he on all fours.

Dudes in here saying he's worth 10 mil and other hilariousness. RJ will get similar to what Garland just did.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

[NoDopeOnSundays]

I think $15 million for RJ would be a substantial overpay for RJ, though at least not a crippling one. My biggest issue is when people call for him to get $20, $30 million a year - let alone a max extension. This has disaster written all over it.

You're just completely out of touch with reality though, Doug McDermott is getting $14 million, Marcus Morris is at $16.3 million. $15 million which you claim would be an overpay is less than a host of players like Levert, Joe Harris, Duncan Robinson, Eric Gordon, Hield, Bogdan, Gary Trent, etc.


Rj based on his age, current numbers, position, and potential starts at $20 million, anything less is a joke. You saying $10 million earlier means you haven't even looked at who is making that kind of money, because that's not much more than Cedi Osman.


Be better.

McDermott is severely overpaid, and not a player I would want on my payroll to begin with. So I wouldn't use him as a standard or benchmark for RJ - NBA teams do hand out bad contracts. I wouldn't want Levert on my team for a substantial amount of money either - except if I were looking for wing depth to bring off the bench, but definitely not for his current role or salary.

I don't value RJ's contributions at more than $10-11 million a year. If you account for upside due to his age, I would not be appalled at a $15 million a year extension, although I would consider that an overpay and a largely uninformed bet on the future. But it wouldn't be unreasonable.

But I wouldn't spend $20 million on a player who does nothing well but shoot wide-open C&S 3s and defend well in isolation, which is only one aspect of defense. It's not enough.

If he is valued by some teams around the league as a $25-$30 million player, I think the best use of the asset would be to trade him now for a player who - unlike him so far in his career - is demonstrably impactful or for assets that do not carry as much as risk as a $100 million extension e.g. draft picks. Otherwise, I would just wait to extend him after year 4 and make a better informed decision on his future with the team. Maybe he will have proven that he's worth $20 million then. I'm not ruling it out.

Extending him now (for $20 million or more annually) would be jumping in a pool head first, drunk and in the dark with 0 knowledge on the depth of the pool.

Chanel, you're not being reasonable or realistic, the fact you think he's not worth $10 million and that $15 million is a substantial overpay tells me you haven't actually looked at what 2/3s make. Here's a list of the small forwards and shooting guards making between 12-21 million.


Gary Harris - $12.3 million
Josh Hart - $12.9 million
KCP - $14 million
Luke Kennard - $14.4 million
Kevin Huerter - $14.5 million
Lugentz Dort - $15 million
Malik Beasley - $15.5 million
Norman Powell - $16.7 million
Gary Trent Jr. - $17.5 million
Bogdan Bogdanovic - $18 million
Guan0 - $18 million
Joe Harris - $18.6 million
Caris Levert - $18.8 million
Eric Gordon - $19.5 million
Timmy - $19.6 million
Buddy Hield - $21.1 million
Mikal Bridges - $21 million
Bojan Bogdanovic - $19.5 million
Kelly Oubre - $12.6 million
Will Barton - $14.3 million
Davis Bertans - $16 million
Doug McDermot - $13.7 million
OG Anunoby - $17.3 million
Duncan Robinson - $16.9 million
Marcus Morris - $16.3 million

Reggie Bullock makes $10 million per while Royce O'neale makes $9.2 million per, and you're really going to sit here and tell me that RJ would be overpaid at $20 million? Half the guys listed above make RJ look like Kyrie when it comes to getting to the rim, the other half can't pass, and most of them can't defend.

OG is the only value contract there, and he got that 4 year $72 million coming off a 10.6ppg season. Seriously, in what world do you think a 22 year old with a good work ethic that had a 20ppg season isn't going to get the bag? Everyone around the league seems to like RJ, posters from other teams, even guys notoriously down on the Knicks like him, except Knick fans on here. It's the strangest thing, especially since most of the arguments are under the premise that he's never going to improve.

[Chanel Bomber]

You're just completely out of touch with reality though, Doug McDermott is getting $14 million, Marcus Morris is at $16.3 million. $15 million which you claim would be an overpay is less than a host of players like Levert, Joe Harris, Duncan Robinson, Eric Gordon, Hield, Bogdan, Gary Trent, etc.


Rj based on his age, current numbers, position, and potential starts at $20 million, anything less is a joke. You saying $10 million earlier means you haven't even looked at who is making that kind of money, because that's not much more than Cedi Osman.


Be better.

McDermott is severely overpaid, and not a player I would want on my payroll to begin with. So I wouldn't use him as a standard or benchmark for RJ - NBA teams do hand out bad contracts. I wouldn't want Levert on my team for a substantial amount of money either - except if I were looking for wing depth to bring off the bench, but definitely not for his current role or salary.

I don't value RJ's contributions at more than $10-11 million a year. If you account for upside due to his age, I would not be appalled at a $15 million a year extension, although I would consider that an overpay and a largely uninformed bet on the future. But it wouldn't be unreasonable.

But I wouldn't spend $20 million on a player who does nothing well but shoot wide-open C&S 3s and defend well in isolation, which is only one aspect of defense. It's not enough.

If he is valued by some teams around the league as a $25-$30 million player, I think the best use of the asset would be to trade him now for a player who - unlike him so far in his career - is demonstrably impactful or for assets that do not carry as much as risk as a $100 million extension e.g. draft picks. Otherwise, I would just wait to extend him after year 4 and make a better informed decision on his future with the team. Maybe he will have proven that he's worth $20 million then. I'm not ruling it out.

Extending him now (for $20 million or more annually) would be jumping in a pool head first, drunk and in the dark with 0 knowledge on the depth of the pool.

Chanel, you're not being reasonable or realistic, the fact you think he's not worth $10 million and that $15 million is a substantial overpay tells me you haven't actually looked at what 2/3s make. Here's a list of the small forwards and shooting guards making between 12-21 million.


Gary Harris - $12.3 million
Josh Hart - $12.9 million
KCP - $14 million
Luke Kennard - $14.4 million
Kevin Huerter - $14.5 million
Lugentz Dort - $15 million
Malik Beasley - $15.5 million
Norman Powell - $16.7 million
Gary Trent Jr. - $17.5 million
Bogdan Bogdanovic - $18 million
Guan0 - $18 million
Joe Harris - $18.6 million
Caris Levert - $18.8 million
Eric Gordon - $19.5 million
Timmy - $19.6 million
Buddy Hield - $21.1 million
Mikal Bridges - $21 million
Bojan Bogdanovic - $19.5 million
Kelly Oubre - $12.6 million
Will Barton - $14.3 million
Davis Bertans - $16 million
Doug McDermot - $13.7 million
OG Anunoby - $17.3 million
Duncan Robinson - $16.9 million
Marcus Morris - $16.3 million

Reggie Bullock makes $10 million per while Royce O'neale makes $9.2 million per, and you're really going to sit here and tell me that RJ would be overpaid at $20 million? Half the guys listed above make RJ look like Kyrie when it comes to getting to the rim, the other half can't pass, and most of them can't defend.

OG is the only value contract there, and he got that 4 year $72 million coming off a 10.6ppg season. Seriously, in what world do you think a 22 year old with a good work ethic that had a 20ppg season isn't going to get the bag? Everyone around the league seems to like RJ, posters from other teams, even guys notoriously down on the Knicks like him, except Knick fans on here. It's the strangest thing, especially since most of the arguments are under the premise that he's never going to improve.

The vast majority of these players is - in my view - either overpaid or better than RJ. Which is not to say that he will never become better than some of those names.

You bring up Bullock. Well, I think Bullock is a more valuable player to have on your team than RJ. Bullock is a better defender, and is at least as good or better at the only thing where RJ makes a positive contribution offensively (C&S 3s). Now, it's entirely possible RJ becomes a better basketball player than this current version of Bullock. He does have a higher upside. But this perceived upside rests upon everything else: shot creation, where he's terribly inefficient and actively hurts the team; playmaking, which he does have some talent for but simply has not been willing to tap into; and defense, where he has been non-impactful and seriously disappointing so far in his career (outside of ISOs).

For the thousandth time, I don't think RJ will never improve - I think he will. But the question mark for me is that he's coming from so far behind in efficiency, that I don't know if even significant improvement will be enough for him to become a difference-maker, particularly as a shot creator, and especially since scoring is the only aspect of the game (besides ISO defense) he seems seriously invested in.

And I don't doubt that RJ will get the bag. It only takes one desperate organization to drive the price up. Which is often how the weakest of organizations end up with bad contracts. I just think it's unlikely he will be worth what he will be earning if he does get the bag and if some teams do value him at that number, barring a significant leap in year 4 - which is why I advocate trading him or waiting until year 4 where we will have more information about his progress.

Just because a majority of people hold one opinion doesn't mean that they are right. A majority of people thought KP was a future superstar, and I never saw that. Every concern that Spencer Pearlman voiced about RJ before the draft has materialized by the way, at least by my standards, so I suspect he would not be overly excited as a talent evaluator to pay him $20 million a year, but I don't know for sure - just a suspicion.

[Luv those Knicks]

Why hasn't volde gotten extension yet could it be he's getting traded? I hear Toronto would be happy to have him.

A LOT of teams would be happy to have RJ. Good player, hard worker, good teammate, and in the right situation, could probably be very effective, but as far as extending him, it's a valid question what he's worth. A lot of max players end up not helping their team that much. As for RJ, his win shares are kinda low. (16th in his draft class and 37th in win-shares per 48), his effective FG% is low. There are valid questions what he's worth.

Brunson for example, last year - player efficiency rating 17.1, win-shares 7.5
RJ - player efficiency rating 13.7, wins-hares 2.3

Knicks got Brunson on a good contract, but it's not at all clear to me that RJ should get a bigger deal than Brunson and basically every number mentioned in this thread is bigger. I'm not sure he's worth it.

Also . . . I'm not crystal clear on how the cap works, and RJ is young and can get better. But do the Knicks have to lock him up this year? Can they extend him next year? I don't see why not. Or, they could explore trading him for a vet who wants a trade from their team. Not the worst option, or, maybe extend him now when he's going to get less than the Max, or wait and see how he plays this year. I don't think there's a 100% right answer here.

I have no idea what Leon is thinking, but I'm sure he's keeping his options open. I don't think this is the Knicks team of 15 years ago, eager to hand out max contracts just because they can. Amare was not worth a max deal. He was fun to watch, but overpaid. Spree, Houston - both overpaid, though Spree was closest to earning his salary. Marbury, overpaid. None of those players could carry a team. All of them were overpaid.

I don't know what RJ should get, but I wouldn't offer him that much right now. I'd offer maybe 5-118 with an opt out and his agent probably turns it down.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

McDermott is severely overpaid, and not a player I would want on my payroll to begin with. So I wouldn't use him as a standard or benchmark for RJ - NBA teams do hand out bad contracts. I wouldn't want Levert on my team for a substantial amount of money either - except if I were looking for wing depth to bring off the bench, but definitely not for his current role or salary.

I don't value RJ's contributions at more than $10-11 million a year. If you account for upside due to his age, I would not be appalled at a $15 million a year extension, although I would consider that an overpay and a largely uninformed bet on the future. But it wouldn't be unreasonable.

But I wouldn't spend $20 million on a player who does nothing well but shoot wide-open C&S 3s and defend well in isolation, which is only one aspect of defense. It's not enough.

If he is valued by some teams around the league as a $25-$30 million player, I think the best use of the asset would be to trade him now for a player who - unlike him so far in his career - is demonstrably impactful or for assets that do not carry as much as risk as a $100 million extension e.g. draft picks. Otherwise, I would just wait to extend him after year 4 and make a better informed decision on his future with the team. Maybe he will have proven that he's worth $20 million then. I'm not ruling it out.

Extending him now (for $20 million or more annually) would be jumping in a pool head first, drunk and in the dark with 0 knowledge on the depth of the pool.

Chanel, you're not being reasonable or realistic, the fact you think he's not worth $10 million and that $15 million is a substantial overpay tells me you haven't actually looked at what 2/3s make. Here's a list of the small forwards and shooting guards making between 12-21 million.


Gary Harris - $12.3 million
Josh Hart - $12.9 million
KCP - $14 million
Luke Kennard - $14.4 million
Kevin Huerter - $14.5 million
Lugentz Dort - $15 million
Malik Beasley - $15.5 million
Norman Powell - $16.7 million
Gary Trent Jr. - $17.5 million
Bogdan Bogdanovic - $18 million
Guan0 - $18 million
Joe Harris - $18.6 million
Caris Levert - $18.8 million
Eric Gordon - $19.5 million
Timmy - $19.6 million
Buddy Hield - $21.1 million
Mikal Bridges - $21 million
Bojan Bogdanovic - $19.5 million
Kelly Oubre - $12.6 million
Will Barton - $14.3 million
Davis Bertans - $16 million
Doug McDermot - $13.7 million
OG Anunoby - $17.3 million
Duncan Robinson - $16.9 million
Marcus Morris - $16.3 million

Reggie Bullock makes $10 million per while Royce O'neale makes $9.2 million per, and you're really going to sit here and tell me that RJ would be overpaid at $20 million? Half the guys listed above make RJ look like Kyrie when it comes to getting to the rim, the other half can't pass, and most of them can't defend.

OG is the only value contract there, and he got that 4 year $72 million coming off a 10.6ppg season. Seriously, in what world do you think a 22 year old with a good work ethic that had a 20ppg season isn't going to get the bag? Everyone around the league seems to like RJ, posters from other teams, even guys notoriously down on the Knicks like him, except Knick fans on here. It's the strangest thing, especially since most of the arguments are under the premise that he's never going to improve.

The vast majority of these players is - in my view - either overpaid or better than RJ. Which is not to say that he will never become better than some of those names.

You bring up Bullock. Well, I think Bullock is a more valuable player to have on your team than RJ. Bullock is a better defender, and is at least as good or better at the only thing where RJ makes a positive contribution offensively (C&S 3s). Now, it's entirely possible RJ becomes a better basketball player than this current version of Bullock. He does have a higher upside. But this perceived upside rests upon everything else: shot creation, where he's terribly inefficient and actively hurts the team; playmaking, which he does have some talent for but simply has not been willing to tap into; and defense, where he has been non-impactful and seriously disappointing so far in his career (outside of ISOs).

For the thousandth time, I don't think RJ will never improve - I think he will. But the question mark for me is that he's coming from so far behind in efficiency, that I don't know if even significant improvement will be enough for him to become a difference-maker, particularly as a shot creator, and especially since scoring is the only aspect of the game (besides ISO defense) he seems seriously invested in.

And I don't doubt that RJ will get the bag. It only takes one desperate organization to drive the price up. Which is often how the weakest of organizations end up with bad contracts. I just think it's unlikely he will be worth what he will be earning if he does get the bag and if some teams do value him at that number, barring a significant leap in year 4 - which is why I advocate trading him or waiting until year 4 where we will have more information about his progress.

Just because a majority of people hold one opinion doesn't mean that they are right. A majority of people thought KP was a future superstar, and I never saw that. Every concern that Spencer Pearlman voiced about RJ before the draft has materialized by the way, at least by my standards, so I suspect he would not be overly excited as a talent evaluator to pay him $20 million a year, but I don't know for sure - just a suspicion.

The vast majority of the guys on that list are not overpaid, they are paid market value, you seem to be operating from a place where the cap was $85 million and these teams have no idea what these guys make relative to similar players. The reality of the NBA is that those guys are paid exactly what they're worth, the 2 and especially the 3 are the hardest positions in basketball to find, because guys that size with any amount of perimeter skills get paid. You do not determine market value, the market does, and it has spoken loud and clear. Saying RJ isn't worth $10 million is pretty ridiculous and isn't even really a good faith argument.

You can feel that way about Bullock, the reality is that the Mavericks would drive him and any non Luka player + picks to the airport tomorrow if they could get RJ, but that would be a stupid trade on our part despite you saying he's more valuable. You can say for the thousandth time you think RJ will improve, your arguments seem to say differently. Everything I read from you is about what he is right now, as in he shouldn't be paid right now because he's not super efficient right now, even though we all know teams pay in part based on potential as well. I want to see what you say about DeAndre Hunter too, because he's eligible for an extension and the Hawks are doing a lot of these moves with retaining him in mind, he is objectively a less talented & older player than RJ.



Let's keep it real with Kristaps, the knee injury derailed his career, there is no telling what he would have been if that had not happened. His issue isn't ability, it's availability mixed with him being robbed of what really made him unique, which was the mobility to play the 4 at that size, once he tore his ACL that was gone and he absolutely had to transition to playing C which hes' not good at. Also, the Mavs waited for year 4 with Brunson, how'd that turn out for them?

[HarthorneWingo]

I'd give RJ whatever Herro gets.

Split the difference between Herro and Garland?

Like, more than Herro, but not by a lot, but less than Garland?

Buzz, RJ hasn’t even made the All Star game once and we’re going to give him $30M per year?

[Chanel Bomber]

Chanel, you're not being reasonable or realistic, the fact you think he's not worth $10 million and that $15 million is a substantial overpay tells me you haven't actually looked at what 2/3s make. Here's a list of the small forwards and shooting guards making between 12-21 million.


Gary Harris - $12.3 million
Josh Hart - $12.9 million
KCP - $14 million
Luke Kennard - $14.4 million
Kevin Huerter - $14.5 million
Lugentz Dort - $15 million
Malik Beasley - $15.5 million
Norman Powell - $16.7 million
Gary Trent Jr. - $17.5 million
Bogdan Bogdanovic - $18 million
Guan0 - $18 million
Joe Harris - $18.6 million
Caris Levert - $18.8 million
Eric Gordon - $19.5 million
Timmy - $19.6 million
Buddy Hield - $21.1 million
Mikal Bridges - $21 million
Bojan Bogdanovic - $19.5 million
Kelly Oubre - $12.6 million
Will Barton - $14.3 million
Davis Bertans - $16 million
Doug McDermot - $13.7 million
OG Anunoby - $17.3 million
Duncan Robinson - $16.9 million
Marcus Morris - $16.3 million

Reggie Bullock makes $10 million per while Royce O'neale makes $9.2 million per, and you're really going to sit here and tell me that RJ would be overpaid at $20 million? Half the guys listed above make RJ look like Kyrie when it comes to getting to the rim, the other half can't pass, and most of them can't defend.

OG is the only value contract there, and he got that 4 year $72 million coming off a 10.6ppg season. Seriously, in what world do you think a 22 year old with a good work ethic that had a 20ppg season isn't going to get the bag? Everyone around the league seems to like RJ, posters from other teams, even guys notoriously down on the Knicks like him, except Knick fans on here. It's the strangest thing, especially since most of the arguments are under the premise that he's never going to improve.

The vast majority of these players is - in my view - either overpaid or better than RJ. Which is not to say that he will never become better than some of those names.

You bring up Bullock. Well, I think Bullock is a more valuable player to have on your team than RJ. Bullock is a better defender, and is at least as good or better at the only thing where RJ makes a positive contribution offensively (C&S 3s). Now, it's entirely possible RJ becomes a better basketball player than this current version of Bullock. He does have a higher upside. But this perceived upside rests upon everything else: shot creation, where he's terribly inefficient and actively hurts the team; playmaking, which he does have some talent for but simply has not been willing to tap into; and defense, where he has been non-impactful and seriously disappointing so far in his career (outside of ISOs).

For the thousandth time, I don't think RJ will never improve - I think he will. But the question mark for me is that he's coming from so far behind in efficiency, that I don't know if even significant improvement will be enough for him to become a difference-maker, particularly as a shot creator, and especially since scoring is the only aspect of the game (besides ISO defense) he seems seriously invested in.

And I don't doubt that RJ will get the bag. It only takes one desperate organization to drive the price up. Which is often how the weakest of organizations end up with bad contracts. I just think it's unlikely he will be worth what he will be earning if he does get the bag and if some teams do value him at that number, barring a significant leap in year 4 - which is why I advocate trading him or waiting until year 4 where we will have more information about his progress.

Just because a majority of people hold one opinion doesn't mean that they are right. A majority of people thought KP was a future superstar, and I never saw that. Every concern that Spencer Pearlman voiced about RJ before the draft has materialized by the way, at least by my standards, so I suspect he would not be overly excited as a talent evaluator to pay him $20 million a year, but I don't know for sure - just a suspicion.

The vast majority of the guys on that list are not overpaid, they are paid market value, you seem to be operating from a place where the cap was $85 million and these teams have no idea what these guys make relative to similar players. The reality of the NBA is that those guys are paid exactly what they're worth, the 2 and especially the 3 are the hardest positions in basketball to find, because guys that size with any amount of perimeter skills get paid. You do not determine market value, the market does, and it has spoken loud and clear. Saying RJ isn't worth $10 million is pretty ridiculous and isn't even really a good faith argument.

You can feel that way about Bullock, the reality is that the Mavericks would drive him and any non Luka player + picks to the airport tomorrow if they could get RJ, but that would be a stupid trade on our part despite you saying he's more valuable. You can say for the thousandth time you think RJ will improve, your arguments seem to say differently. Everything I read from you is about what he is right now, as in he shouldn't be paid right now because he's not super efficient right now, even though we all know teams pay in part based on potential as well. I want to see what you say about DeAndre Hunter too, because he's eligible for an extension and the Hawks are doing a lot of these moves with retaining him in mind, he is objectively a less talented & older player than RJ.



Let's keep it real with Kristaps, the knee injury derailed his career, there is no telling what he would have been if that had not happened. His issue isn't ability, it's availability mixed with him being robbed of what really made him unique, which was the mobility to play the 4 at that size, once he tore his ACL that was gone and he absolutely had to transition to playing C which hes' not good at. Also, the Mavs waited for year 4 with Brunson, how'd that turn out for them?

I didn't say the vast majority is all overpaid. I said the vast majority of these players is either overpaid or better than RJ (the latter in some cases justifying the size of their contract). There's a difference.

I disagree that players are necessarily paid what they are worth. Market value doesn't necessarily equate to actual on-court value, if not there wouldn't be bad contracts in the NBA. The primary reason behind this "dissonance" is - I believe - the reality that the NBA is a zero-sum game, and the least desirable franchises, or the least competent ones, will overvalue players and overpay them, either out of desperation or out of improper talent evaluation. That's how DeAaron Fox got a max deal from the Kings.

There have been two separate conversations about RJ's present and his future. Regarding the present, some posters think he's a good player, or that he played well this year - and I disagree with that assessment, with overwhelming statistical evidence that would tend to back my position. Regarding the future, some posters think he's destined to become a star (a primary or a secondary) and that he should be paid accordingly - and while I believe he will improve, I also disagree about that assessment, as I think (after looking at historical comparisons of players with a comparable statistical output at age 21 or after 3 seasons) his absolute ceiling is 3rd option on a contender, similar to KCP, Antoine Walker, or Jrue Holiday (without the elite defense), if things do work out, which is not a given.

Hunter was a bit disappointing this season. I'd pay him in the same range as RJ, in a vacuum, though similar to RJ I would want to see more from him in year 4 before signing him to a big-money extension. The Hawks can afford the risk of overpaying him more than the Knicks do with RJ because they already have a franchise talent though - and the Knicks don't. If RJ is the player who holds the highest perceived value, then perhaps he could help land that franchise talent, or a foundational piece. Which is why I would consider trading him, whether for an established star or for draft picks. The Hawks should consider doing it too if there were offers of that nature for Hunter.

I think I'm fine with either one of these players getting $15 million a year, as it's not franchise-crippling even in the worst case scenario, and it's not an unreasonable gamble, but I would consider that an overpay. Perhaps more importantly, that's a use of an asset that shuts down other doors i.e. trade opportunities that could actually allow you to seriously climb up the talent ladder in the NBA.

I disagree about KP. One factor that people forget to mention with regards to his athleticism (in addition to his injuries) was the weight gain, which he needed in order to play the 5, the position he was destined to play in the NBA, because he didn't have the mobility to guard on the perimeter with the league shifting towards 4-out and 5-out offenses. The weight gain also reduced his athleticism significantly. I never thought KP had superstar talent with or without injuries anyway. He was inefficient scoring the ball for a big (as a featured player), he couldn't post up to take advantage of his size, and he never passed the ball (he has improved in that area but nobody will mistake him for a playmaker). You have to pay attention to those things.