08-07-2021, 10:42 PM
(08-07-2021, 10:40 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I tried to point this out a couple of days ago. Dragic at $19mm can play and can be a big expiring deal at the TDL. The other option is to pay $19mm and have neither of those things. Even the play where Dragic takes a $9.5mm discount and signs here for the MLE means Toronto is spending $10mm for nothing. Why not pay the $10mm spread for something. They knew the position they were in when they agreed to the deal. I don’t think they made a mistake. But no one knows if the $19mm expiring deal will be useful until he can no longer be used as a trade chip or S&T chip (next summer).
Well if Toronto did the Powell trade, they´d still be spending $10M for nothing. Sorry it had to be done.
The Raptors don´t buy him out, cause they believe Cuban will cave in. Cuban has shown himself to be a complete beta in the market that´s regularly played for a fool by inconsequential players like DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and Danny Green. The Mavs have also backed themselves into a corner by missing out on all the available playmakers.
Is there a FA out there that is anywhere near the level of Dragic? Schroeder and that´s it. Hart/Diallo are the next most interesting players, but they are not PGs and they are RFAs, too.
The next available PGs are barely better than Hinton, Terry or Burke. So ultimately the Mavs will need a trade or use Burke, Terry and Hinton as their secondary playmakers. DSJ might be the best available PG out there from the North American market, considering his familiarity with at least a few players on the roster. The overall best option is seriously Shane Larkin, who has become a legit superstar in European basketball.
Knowing all this, of course Ujiri will just sit on this for at least 2-3 months. He is no rush for the moment. Toronto even holds the RFA rights to Nando DeColo.
I´d do the same.