04-25-2021, 01:02 PM
(04-25-2021, 12:33 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: You know, he has been this bad for a while and it hasn't kept him from getting big money before. I'm not sure about max money, but my guess is that another bad team will pay him for the rebounding numbers.
"he has been this bad for a while and it hasn't kept him from getting big money before".... Are you sure he was bad when some team chose to give big money?
Coming off rookie scale, after averaging 16 pts 15 rebs, with a PER of about 21-22 every year, and somewhat iffy defense that was hoped would improve, the same team that drafted him 9th gave him a max deal. No one was really surprised. If you think he was known to be "bad" in those first 4 years, so be it, but not sure that was the thought around the league.
In the 5 years since, no one has given him a new deal for max money. Or big money. Or any new deal. It's become apparent his defense isn't going to improve because it's just not important to him. His turnovers have skyrocketed. His teams don't win. Both DET and CLE have moved on from him and his desires for such a deal, although that hasn't dissuaded him, apparently. But I think his market isn't likely to exceed MLE by much, if at all (and not sure he's even worth that).