He certianly has the most potential to be on the injured list year in and year out. I think a good rule of thumb is if a player misses more games due to injury than actually plays when his extension comes up to not extend him. In fact I will now add that to my other two rules 1. Never draft an American born white center in the lottery 2. Never draft or sign a player from Syracuse 3. Never extend a player that has missed more games due to injury than played
I'm not a cap or money guy, but why extend them? Is there going to be a bidding war for any of them if we don't? Every one of them is replaceable if there is. Chances are they'll be back, if we want them. I'd rather have the $7mil to play with.
You know, it's funny, people keep citing that percentage but I never seem to see him make a three pointer. Ever.
When I look at that list, one thing jumps out at me... it's extremely lucrative to be 7' tall. Man, there are some grotesquely overpaid centers on that list. Even guys that totally suck and rarely play pull down $3 - $4 million a year. DeSagana Diop, who scored a grand total of 31 points last season, on the worst team in NBA history, is making over $7.3 million this year. And, Kwame Brown must have the best agent ever. He's already made almost $60 million in his career, and has convinced the 76ers he's worth almost $6 million more over the next to years. This makes me all the happier that we drafted Meyers Leonard with the 11th pick. With halfway decent centers being hard to find, and even completely horrible back-up journeymen commanding ridiculous salaries, drafting a young guy with great size and athleticism seems like a good investment. Meyers is going to make less over the next three seasons combined than Diop will make this year. Looks to me like we got a bargain. BNM
I would like to invoke the Greg Oden rule on Williams. If a player has a season-ending injury two years in a row, you can no longer talk about his "potential" until he logs a full season of play.
He has a REALLY quick release. You need to pay closer attention. Blink, and you'll miss it. Or, maybe you're one of those guys who stops watching during garbage time... BNM
I sure watched him break a shit ton of them in summer league. It's funny, because if someone like Nolan Smith does well in summer league, it means nothing because it's summer league and its shit competition. When someone does completely terrible in summer league (IE Babbitt), it means nothing because...... I'm not really sure. I never got a real answer on that one.
Only Nolan on extension. I'd look to keep Babbitt, but not extend his deal now, and I'd cut elliot today if we needed the space. Oh, but he has a 48" vertical!!! bleh.
Tough call. To date, none of them have justified their draft position, which means unless they improve, they are overpaid. Elliott has, by far, the most potential. Unfortunately, he also has the most potential to get injured. And while he's not the highlight film dunker Elliott is, I see Will Barton filling a similar role for a lot less money. At this point, I think I'd pass on extending all of them and see how they preform this season before committing any more guaranteed money to any of them. Yeah, you risk losing them if they blow up and get offered more money elsewhere, but that seems like pretty small risk. BNM
Results so far: 21 total votes 8 people want $$$ -------- 9 people want to keep Smith 6 people want to keep Williams 2 people want to keep Babbit
No interest in Nolan or Luke. I'd take the option on EWill on potential which we've seen flashes of. 2 big injuries but I'm still willing to take a flyer on him because he'll be cheap, however one more injury and it's time to cut him loose. But if Barton looks really good I'm okay with getting rid of all 3.
I want to wait until Oct 31 to vote for everyone but Williams. Why make a decision until you can gather as much evidence in the time allowed as possible? I'm ok with releasing Williams. After Roy and Oden, I'm tired of my franchise waiting around multiple seasons for a player to get healthy.
I said pass on all three, but I don't hold strong convictions on that. I don't see any of them blowing up, and I don't see any of them as unreplacable. However, Babbit has a true NBA skill (just one) and it's something that really helps movement, so it's a close call on him. Nolan seems like a decent backup, but I really don't see any chance he can improve enough to become a very good back up. Elliot just saddens me. I want to forget that he and Oden were ever Blazers.
Ditto. Let the market decide their worths. And have I mentioned that Babbitt can't shoot? I voted to extend none.