Exclusive Vote: How much should the Blazers pay Meyers Leonard

If you were the Blazers GM; how much would you be willing to resign Meyers Leonard for based off what you know today? Lets assume a 4 year fully guaranteed contract with no options. Vote for the most you would be willing to pay.

My answer for Leonard this summer is similar to what I would have been willing to offer Wes Matthews post-ankle injury last summer. 12m/1yr, 20m/2yrs, 27m/3y, 32m/4y.

Channgin Frye signed a 4 year, $32 million deal. I think Leonard could be about as good as Frye, so I'm fine paying him 4 years, $40 million. Anymore than that and we're grossly overpaying him.

should be on a contract that fits his contribution, aka not more than aminu or davis 6m per or let him walk

PtldPlatypus said:

My answer for Leonard this summer is similar to what I would have been willing to offer Wes Matthews post-ankle injury last summer. 12m/1yr, 20m/2yrs, 27m/3y, 32m/4y.

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yikes

PtldPlatypus said:

My answer for Leonard this summer is similar to what I would have been willing to offer Wes Matthews post-ankle injury last summer. 12m/1yr, 20m/2yrs, 27m/3y, 32m/4y.

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Good thing your not the GM!

I would like to get him for 8 mil per. But with the new salary cap realities, I might be OK with 10 mil per based on potential.

I am sure a lot of you can make a strong case that he won't get much better, but I don't think he is close to reaching his ceiling. He just turned 24 and for a big....... that is still young.

I went for $6 million. 4 years $24 million.

Pinwheel1 said:

I would like to get him for 8 mil per. But with the new salary cap realities, I might be OK with 10 mil per based on potential.

I am sure a lot of you can make a strong case that he won't get much better, but I don't think he is close to reaching his ceiling. He just turned 24 and for a big....... that is still young.

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He's older than Crabbe, Vonleh and Harkless.

He's a couple months younger than CJ and 18 months younger than Dame/Aminu.

He might have small improvements but at this point he's 90% developed.

BigGameDamian said:

Good thing your not the GM!

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you're*

And he said willing, not that he would.

Good thing you're not a GM.

See how that works?

I said 6 mil/yr, tops. Was tempted to do 4/12.

Hopefully someone overpays him, and it's not us.

I'm sure a BGD-run club would max him.

Draco said:

He's older than Crabbe, Vonleh and Harkless.

He's a couple months younger than CJ and 18 months younger than Dame/Aminu.

He might have small improvements but at this point he's 90% developed.

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Yes he is taking longer to develop than we would like and l would lose zero sleep if they do not resign him. But he is still better than I ever thought he would be. I think he is closer to 70% developed than 90%. He just needs to keep getting better defending centers and he will deserve his 8-10 mil salary. Those are crazy numbers but that is what back up centers will be getting.

I'm not totally clear - are we paying him to stay or paying him to go away?

Put me in the Not-A-Fan category. Doesn't bring enough or show enough growth, IQ, etc. to justify him taking away a spot from someone else who also has potential such as Cliff Alexander.

Yeah, Cliff is younger and more raw and hence, doesn't get the time but I just don't see any reason to keep Leonard other than for sentimental value (and after some of his plays my sentiments are less than complimentary). I see him as a perpetual mid-to-end-of-bench role player good for another 5-8 years in the league but nothing worth paying much for.

Thus, I guess that puts me in the "just don't sign him" group.

Gramps...

Pinwheel1 said:

Yes he is taking longer to develop than we would like and l would lose zero sleep if they do not resign him. But he is still better than I ever thought he would be. I think he is closer to 70% developed than 90%. He just needs to keep getting better defending centers and he will deserve his 8-10 mil salary. Those are crazy numbers but that is what back up centers will be getting.

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If I'm paying $10 million per year for a backup center he needs to be proven. If I'm paying $10 million per year for potential there needs to be legit starter upside.

I look at this as not just the cost of signing Meyers, but what is the lost-opportunity-cost of signing him. By signing him and having him take a spot on the roster, take playing time, etc. over someone else, what are we potentially giving up?

I was willing to give Meyers his rookie contract to show he deserved more. With all the change from last year to this year, I have viewed this year as his make-it-or-break-it opportunity. In my opinion, he has shown nothing that can't be had elsewhere for the same or less money and from someone with potentially more upside.

I'll go away now. Beat that horse - twice for good measure.

Gramps...

I couldn't vote in the poll because no options and 4 years doesn't work for me...3 years with a team option 3rd year....9 mill a year, take it or leave it and this is only if he doesn't improve drastically from here until free agency...

Draco said:

He might have small improvements but at this point he's 90% developed.

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This notion is just silly to me. And believe me, I'm on the dump Meyers bandwagon. I'm just wondering what formula you're using to get to 90%. If it's just age then your formula is flawed.

Meyers has been an accurate 3 point shooter. He's had stretches of solid man to man defense against big centers. But he has major weaknesses. He's way to slow to defend PF's or mobile centers. His slow feet are a problem on help defense even in favorable matchups; a center needs to help when the opposition attacks the rim. His offensive skills aren't as beneficial as his percentages suggest because he takes so few attempts. He may increase his attempts over time but I think it's primarily his slow release and slow basketball IQ which won't drastically change.

This year Meyers has been a net negative contributor on the court. We could've signed and played an average 10 year veteran PF for the minimum and had better production. That wasn't the point of this season as we wanted to see what piece were a core long term fit with Dame. We now know CJ is major key piece, Crabbe has been effective at times, Plumlee has a role, and Meyers isn't a core piece.

Dame is scheduled to earn a max contract, supermax if he is All-NBA. CJ likely gets a max or near max extension, Plumlee will be eligible for an extension this summer. We have a lot of cap room in a few months but if we pursue an upgrade at a forward spot and keep one of Hendo/Crabbe that space will be allocated to players very quickly. We might be out of cap room in just over a year with these named players and one free agent.

Plumlee and Davis have been a highly effective center duo this season. Meyers isn't as effective as either. If there's an injury or trade it would be useful having Meyers on the roster so there is a spot for him as a third string option. If we had a large hole at center and backup center there would be more incentive to pay a couple million extra to keep Meyers. But since we have no clear role for him it doesn't make sense to pay him more than cautious prices. It will be more useful to have cap space flexibility for starting and backup forwards. So if its a cheap $4 million per year, 4 years $16 million deal keep him. Maybe he just signs his $4 million one year qualifying offer which is fine too. If it costs more to keep Meyers we should let him walk. The cap space can be better used for a forward with either starter upside or proven backup production.

No idea what Meyers is going to get next summer. The old adage that big gets paid will likely hold true for him, especially given the new salary cap. That said, I don't know of many guys his size who play less like a big man than he does. Good guy with a nice shooting stroke, but he's not an interior presence at all. He can hurt teams with big centers by drawing his man away from the hoop like he did in the Detroit game, but he frustrates you by passing on open looks and by not playing solid D around the hoop. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get the money that PtldPlatypus was talking about, but I wouldn't be crushed if it was another team paying it to him.

GrandpaBlaze said:

I look at this as not just the cost of signing Meyers, but what is the lost-opportunity-cost of signing him. By signing him and having him take a spot on the roster, take playing time, etc. over someone else, what are we potentially giving up?

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That is a valid question. Another question is do you want to lose an asset for nothing. He does not have the value of a LMA, but he still has value to teams who want a big who can spread the floor. Can we trade him later for another asset?

I guess it will come down to who Neil thinks he can sign instead of Meyers. If his hand is not forced by another team then he can wait. If his hand is forced then you know Meyers has value, and you might want to match it and include him in a trade later on. (or keep him if he is helping the team win)

I want our team to sign either Larry Sanders or Whiteside as a starting center. Slide Mason to the bench as b/u center. Then we have a need for some scoring at PF. Vonleh can become that - if we are patient. Or we could try to sign one.

Leonard is (IMO) going to get a nice contract ($10-13M/yr) from someone. I predict we let him walk if we get out main target. We match his contract if we don't.

My hopes are for either Sanders or Whiteside and Harrison Barnes at SF. Can we get both? Don't know. But would love to see this lineup: Lillard - McCollum - Barnes - Vonleh - Sanders/Whiteside as starters with.....
Roberts - Crabbe - Harkless - Davis - Plumlee as main bench.

I max him if he gets a Chris Kamen buzz cut for the rest of his career.

Where is Swish3 with the max offer?

$4M no
$3M maybe
$2M yes
$1M only poll option I'd do, so it got my vote

Wow, I read the thread, which is inhabited by crazymen. As I posted, I'd hesitate above $2M per year, thinking of the better players we could get for that amount. Best post, after reading crazy posters who were seriously offering crazy numbers:

GrandpaBlaze said:

I'm not totally clear - are we paying him to stay or paying him to go away?

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I thought I was being generous with the cap going up but 27 for 3 years with a team option makes him a really good trading chip for next season's trade deadline..blame Mark Cuban for driving the prices up on role players

I allowed for it going up by waffling at $3M instead of $2M. That would give him a nice raise over what he contributes. When his career ends after his next contract, he can spend that loot bragging to his friends, "Ha ha, I sure snookered Paul Allen on that contract."

The main consideration, IMO, is whether or not other teams are offering deals. If he's receiving offers--after the unimpressive season he's had so far--then that suggests he'll probably have decent trade value as well.

I'm also basing my reply on the likelihood of us using our capspace to obtain an impactful player--via either free agency or trade--which I believe to be relatively low.

So no, I no longer envision him as our COTF, but I believe we would be remiss to waste an asset, even one we don't plan on keeping long-term. No, I would not want to match a long term deal at 8-figures/year, but something MLE-size wouldn't be at all unreasonable.

PtldPlatypus said:

I believe we would be remiss to waste an asset, even one we don't plan on keeping long-term.

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I once had a car. I liked that car a lot. However, there came a time when, although it was still an asset, it made more sense to get rid of it (I gave it away to someone looking for a "project" car) than to invest more money into it.

I'm not saying Leonard is in that same category, he may have some value around the league but based on is less-than-stellar play this year, I'm not sure putting any money into an asset with potentially declining value is a wise decision.

Only Olshey knows what kind of offers he was getting for Leonard (if any) and so I'll trust what he does, but I'm not far from being willing to "give" that asset away (i.e., let him walk without getting anything back) rather than investing more money into him.

Gramps...

*Don't resign at any price!