(06-24-2023, 03:40 AM)Dundalis Wrote: What do you mean the best we could hope for? Kyrie has NO leverage. I offer him 3 max. If Kyrie says no, what's he gonna do? He can whine and moan, but he doesn't have options. No one with max cap space is giving him a 4+ year max deal. I'd start with 1+1 as opener then offer him 2 years with a team option for a 3rd, and he can take it or leave it, and see if he can find a team with max cap space thats not a bottom feeder, but will actually want to spend max money on a 30 year old headcase PG for 4-5 years. I think he will have the same luck as Wood getting the money he wants.I say what I mean. I also didn’t say “best we could hope for”, I said “best we should hope for”. There is a difference with the change of words and I mostly choose my words carefully due to responses like this.
I actually think this team could do fine without Kyrie. Depending on further acquisition's I think this team could be better than the one that went to the WCF. People acting like this team is done if Kyrie doesn't sign seem to be missing that we were on a contending trajectory without him. If he doesn't want to take a shorter term deal, if we could swing a S&T, I'd be completely good with that, even if the return aren't ideal fits. It would likely be assets we could more easily flip down the line. I love the fact that Cuban and Nico are making sure they state that despite wanting Kyrie, we will be fine either way. To me means they are not just gonna give Kyrie what he wants.
I haven’t seen anything that has Cuban and Nico talking so flippantly about resigning Kyrie, can I get a source on that? Everything I see is eerily similar to what they said about Brunson last year.
Following Cuban as long as we have, we know Kyrie’s being retained is his strongest need for the team. I believe his confidence in retaining Kyrie is what has helped him relax the reigns a bit (as FGump recently talked about) on micro managing things.
I also believe keeping Kyrie is more important than you are making it out to be. No one is interested in Luka playing hero ball and wearing himself out at the end of the season yet again (well, maybe you are).
I also am pretty much certain that the FO is not going into negotiations with the take it or leave it attitude you are expressing. Kyrie will have at least 1 other option going into the negotiations or his agent (mother) isn’t doing their job. We already know Hou is a possibility, there could be another team to emerge, never know. You may think, fine, let him go there. I have no doubt our FO does not share that sentiment.