Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[The Jom]

Having had a couple of days to reflect on the moves, a few thoughts:
1) PJ, for all his question marks and inefficiencies, is a more skilled player than Green, DFS, or GW. We've lacked skilled guys around here lately. This is a good thing.
2) PJ as he is now is overpaid, which gives great credence to the "Mavs got fleeced" narrative. Why did we have to give a FRP for a guy who got more than market value last summer?
3) PJ is undersized for the sort of starting PF we're looking for.
4) His skill level should serve to make things easier for Luka.
5) Bottom line on PJ is that there had better be a big Luka bump, and a lot of hard work to learn to play effective and efficient defense.
6) Many are also grousing that Gafford is overpaid. I know many here simply hate centers, but the bottom line is that Lively has shown how effective it is to have a strong center with Luka.
7) Gafford may be a backup, but he's very, very good as far as that sort of role goes. Think of all of the money we've shelled out on Powell and Maxi.
8) Seems to me that Gafford would be very effective next to Maxi or PJ. Maybe not so much Lively or Powell.

Man do I ever disagree with this. PJ is a bargain contract. He merely needs to revert to the form of his first 4 years (before this half one) to be a terrific addition. You can only call him undersized by squinting hard so you miss his wingspan, standing reach, and vertical leap. Calling Gaff’s $12mm an overpay also seems crazy. In 2019 dollars, that’s only about 8.