Except that we can only offer him up to 105% of the league average salary. If he plays very well then another team with cap room could sign him for more.
True, but the analysis has been that the market is artificially depressed by the amount of summer 2016 money still out there. The quantity of one-year deals signed this summer are based on the expectation that with next year's cap increase (additional $8M projected) and some of the 2016 deals expiring, the free agent market will be much stronger. Of course, 2020 will be insane, but that's a different story. I think it's likely that a MLE-sized exception will be enough to keep him, although it's always harrowing where UFA's are concerned.
My hope is that we play him as first guard off the bench, he has a good year, and he re-signs with Portland out of loyalty to the team that developed him.
Wade is too valuable at this point to pass on. He will either be here as the backup PG with the hope we can resign him next year, or a part of a trade package.
Why in the hell would we even consider getting rid of the best defensive guard this team has seen in a long long time? Especially with the 2 defensively limited guards we have. Ridiculous!! He should be running the team when Dame sits, Period. Not Turner or CJ etc.
Yeah, the only way he'd take that little in the 2nd year is if we could bump his pay up this season as a favor. The only way I see that being possible is if we somehow cut some salary in a trade that would allow us to use the full-MLE or the BAE but that would hard cap us so I'm not sure it's worth it. I think it would be wiser to just use the MLE in 2019 to keep whoever is better between Baldwin and Curry.
Well, as @tester551 pointed out, the early bird rights on Baldwin will allow us to offer him MLE-level money without having to use our MLE to keep him, so we could conceivably keep both.
To be clear, there are two separate exceptions that can be used. It's not an either/or situation necessarily (although tax payments (ownership) may dictate that it is). Theoretically, Curry could be resigned using the MLE up to ~$8.75M *AND* Baldwin could be resigned using the Early Bird Exception up to ~$9M.
Yup, good points. I don't think we have to worry about this. The last time I was worried about something like this it was when we signed Festus Ezeli and I learned then not to be concerned too much in the future.
If almost 9 MIL a year isn't enough for Baldwin then he should move on. He isn't going to "blow up" to get an offer more than that imo.
So much speculation, and what if. There is an entire season to play. Lots can happen between now and contract time. The kid is playing his heart out for us. You can not ask for more than that.
I actually think Baldwin is the backup PG and Curry will play a lot of 2., but it will be similar to Dame and CJ on the court together, where they will take turns bringing the ball up and initiating offense. The bigger question to me is where Stauskas fits in. I think they aren't playing a traditional SF. I think we are going to play small even more than we have, and I suspect Stauskas was signed to have a more consistent shooter at the 3.
Exactly, one thing I do know is WB highly values tutoring under Dame. And similar to Nurk, probably has much love for the organization after being cast aside.
Yes, the numbers don't quite add up. It's easy to see that Olshey wanted to bring in more/better shooters for the second unit, but without a trade there are not enough spots. Assuming starters are: Dame, CJ, Harkless, Aminu, Nurkic Then the second and third best players at each position (my assumption) PG: Baldwin, SG: Curry, Trent, Simons SF: ET (not my pick, but reality); Stauskas PF: Collins, Layman? C: Leonard?, Swanigan? Green is likely guaranteed rotation time Red is likely out of the rotation for the time being Seems like one or two of Trent, Stauskas and Layman is going to be unhappy with no minutes. I didn't green Baldwin because of Olshey's talk about ET running the second unit. I would put Baldwin there, but if ET is running the show then you could see Curry and Trent/Stauskas as supporting shooters. If you traded ET and/or CJ, then everything fits nicely.
I think Trent is a 3 in this system. And I do think there'll be a trade, but I get the feeling it might be Harkless that's getting dealt.