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

[Scott41theMavs]

Isn't Harris's desirability almost entirely linked to his contract? It's not like he can't play.

I've hated the idea of him, on that awful max deal he's had forever. But he is a solid starter, so if he's paid like that (or even paid LESS than that price range), it seems like he would be a plus.

I see him as the mirror opposite of PJW (and perhaps a case study in how NBA pricing works). The value in TH is that he gives you solid (but not great) scoring on a fairly consistent basis, and he's not awful on defense. So you get some fairly reliable help on one end, and hope he also makes plays on defense so that he's approaching two-way.

In comparison, I think I could fairly write a PJW evaluation with the same words I used for TH, but just switch ends of the floor. 
"The value in TH PJW is that he gives you solid (but not great) scoring defense on a fairly consistent basis, and he's not awful on defense offense. So you get some fairly reliable help on one end, and hope he also makes plays on defense offense so that he's approaching two-way." I think the value for them is about the same, just with different pluses and minuses.

I think that's a fair comp, and that it also demonstrates how salary skews greatly to offense. The point being, since anyone halfway decent on offense gets the max anyhow, you are better to pay about the same (the max) for someone like Luka and Kyrie, and then you can fill in around them with players whose price tag is modest because you don't need offense to be their strength.

That having been said, would love to have TH too, if he was priced like PJW or less (although I don't see any way to acquire him). But I think he'll go for way more money than I would want to pay, because teams like to pay big for players who can score.

Love your contributions to the board, F Gump, and always look forward to reading your stuff. In this case, however, methinks you are grossly underrating PJ's defense. He's been golden for the Mavs.