Game 19: Oklahoma City Thunder (12-6) vs. Dallas Mavericks (11-7) | 8:00pm CST

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Williams played 25 minutes a game from the bench on a contender. That is easily worth the MLE which is basically what they are both getting paid. 

Is it though?  Williams was making 2.6M a year when playing those minutes which if you look at recent champs kind of aligns with the correct value vs position in the rotation.  He was playing 27 minutes a game that 2022 playoff run but I would argue that with what we're paying him and how our roster is built to where he needs to be playing closer to a full quarter of nba playoff basketball more.  Same goes for Josh in a sense, either him or DJJ will probably be playing close to 36 a night during the playoffs depending on who wins that spot out over the regular season.  Can we truly be a contender with those two in those roles is the big question mark going forward.

Here are the 6 thru 8 men in the playoff rotation for the most recent champions, their minutes and their salary:

2023 Nugs
6 - Bruce Brown - 26.5 - 6.5M
7 - Jeff Green - 17.2 - 4.5M
8 - Christian Braun - 13 - 2.9M

2022 Warriors
6 - Kevon Looney - 20.4 - 5.2M
7 - Otto Porter Jr - 19.5 - 2.4M
8 - Gary Payton II - 16.9 - 1.9M

2021 Bucks 
6 - Pat Connaughton - 23.7 - 4.9M
7 - Donte DiVencenzo - 23.3 - 3M
8 - Bobby Portis - 18.3 -  3.6M

2020 Lakers 
6 - Alex Caruso - 24.3 - 2.7M 
7 - Kyle Kuzma - 23 - 2M
8 - Markieff Morris - 18.3 - 1.8M

Last 4 years show that a championship bench unit in total gets paid less than what one of either Grant Williams or Josh Green make.

Now I'm not saying that the idea that you need to spend money on your starters and find hidden gems for your bench is some ground breaking discovery.  Nor am I trying to say that this is the only way to build a roster with your money (the 2019 Raptors break this rule pretty quick).  What I'm saying is if over time we realize that Grant Williams and Josh Green are proven to not be high minute getters in the playoffs for us to be contenders, the solution may not just be moving them to the bench finding replacements simply because of the restrictions their salaries put on roster construction.  It's a tricky spot to be in because the front office is going to have to decide quick on these two if they are trying to be a contender in the Kyrie window.  With Williams and Green still young, you can talk yourself in to them developing into the sort of players you're paying them to be.  If you lose that bet though then you don't have the talent to be a contender AND those assets lose a ton of value in the process.  I think you got to see how these two do for an entire season for sure but I just wouldn't be surprised if some tough decisions around those two happen a lot more quickly than we expect if they don't live up to the front office's expectations.

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PJ isn’t a ton bigger than Williams, but he can do more with the ball in his hands and he is the better rebounder. 

I'd throw in much better rim protector and roller as well.  Rim protection was one of his main positive traits heading into that 2019 draft.