Drexler doesnt have a lot of love around here anymore. But I wont be mad if LMA leaves us for HOU. LA and NY yes anywhere else no.
Uh we hold the leverage. LMA would have to go there for mid-level exception if we don't trade him. And we wouldn't to HOU (since they are in the west) unless we got a sweet deal.
Dallas can't even touch the money that we could offer him. I just don't see it happening, unless they want to work out a trade.
I don't think LMA can afford to leave 30 million on the table. He didn't have the massive contract that some guys had after their rookie season. This is his one chance at a big payday.
Lamarcus has made some comments that the media has spun to be "not encouraging", but they just as easily could be encouraging. Game day questions from Broussard Q: Will Portland be your #1 choice when offseason starts? A: We'll see. Q: Is this series going to affect your decision? A: Not at all. In reality he didn't answer the 1st question, could it be discouraging? Sure... It also could mean just what it says.. Maybe yes, maybe no. The 2nd question to me is the bigger one. Lamarcus is seeing the bigger picture rather than the at that point 2 games where they were down Wes, Aaron and Kaman. THis biggest quote I have seen in terms of feeling good about Lamarcus staying came last night. "This team is a lot better than we've shown" He is acknowledging that he believes in this team and is saying "we". I think his heart and mind are still here... And here will fill the bank account better.
We do hold the leverage but the pressure to get something for your start is so great that everyone eventually caves. Its the whole why lose him for nothing if you can get something for him mentality. I would much rather just say F it and let LMA leave then help him get more money or to a destination he can't get just through FA.
Look, whether or not he's leaving... This whole "he's leaving 30M on the table" argument is BS. First, he "left 55M" on the table when he didn't sign an extension last year. He's already betting on himself. As (I think 3RA1N1AC?) someone pointed out earlier, he's not at the 10+ vet level, so this year is a bad one for him to take a max (lower % available, smaller cap, etc). If he did the LBJ thing and took a 2yr deal with a player option for year two, and then maxed out next year, he'd make more over the next 5 years (even signing with LAL or DAL or wherever) than he would in POR signing a max this summer. No matter what happens this summer, if he's available next July 1 (even if he tears an ACL, heaven forbid), someone is showing up on his door July 1, 2016 with a SuperMax (35% of the insane salary cap, rather than 30% of one that might be 2/3rd the size) offer that is significantly higher than what he could sign for this summer.
Why sign for 2 years when he could sign for 4? With the opt out after year 1. 4 years is security in case the worst happens.
Your scenario only has a chance of happening with a team like DAL or SAS who actually has cap space to sign him outright (for less but still a lot). HOU would never happen unless we got a sweet trade offer as they can't give him more than MLE. He can threaten all he wants to just sign with them and we will say then go ahead. Enjoy MLE! We wouldn't cave (in this instance).
For the Mavs to clear enough room they have to let every FA on their roster go and convince Monta Ellis to not opt in. To offer LA the max they'd have to convince their FA's to take a huge pay cut. Dallas isn't a real threat.
Morrey is one of the few GMs that I dont doubt can create near the cap space needed if LMA wanted to go there. It would require, most likely, the give away of future 1sts to Philly and possible other teams in a multiteam deal but Morray could do it.
