08-16-2021, 12:37 PM
(08-16-2021, 12:08 PM)sefant Wrote: Paying Lauri 15 mil a year (> TPE money), while giving up Maxi screams Seth Curry part 2. Luka better comes back after the summer looking like Ben Simmons, if the plan is a Lauri/KP FC. Start both and hope defense is better than the Blazers?
He had 2 down years in a row. 15 mill is an overpay. Handing out contracts based on potential is dangerous. You are giving up a starter for a development project, who drawn as much interest as Dennis Schroeder in free agency.
Personally i dont think DFS should play full time starting PF. If the idea is to bring Lauri of the bench.
Aren´t we overrating "starter" Maxi Kleber a bit? I know all the good stuff he does, but he also averaged 1.0 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.5 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.0 BPG shooting 9/11/100 (one FT) over the last four play-off games in the Clippers series. Those are numbers that would make Andre Roberson look bad.
A trade does leave us with the TPE that we can use to trade for a player at the deadline, that would be bought out otherwise. Say Favours wants to keep his whole 9.8M salary and in a vet min buyout the Thunder still have to pay him like $7M. If the Mavs offer the Thunder the TPE + $6M in cash, they save $3.2M. I think that´s a pretty easy decision to make for the Thunder. Call me crazy but Markkanen/Favours > Kleber. Assuming Dragic really wants to come here after a buyout, our play-off team could look like this:
Luka/Dragic
Bullock/Brunson
DFS/THJ
Powell/Markkanen
Porzingis/Favours
Mix and match, whatever you need. I don´t know, but that looks like a team that might have a chance to compete for the title, if everything goes perfectly. It´s certainly a team that is not immediately dead and buried in the 1st round again, if Porzingis suffers another injury.