Yeah, and you know that's not happening because that would be peanuts. This is his last chance at a big contract.
I agree with all of this ( and many other posts on this subject as well) I kind of have a soft spot for Dwight after he told Kobe and the Lakers to go fuck themselves. (What's not to like about that) But Dwight is not worth his potential max. Will his ego allow him to take less? I think he would benefit from going to a small market like Portland, with a close knit group. But would he fit in? Or does he need to be with a more veteran group? Aminu would be a a decent fit at PF next to him. Especially defensively. Crabbe at the SF.....spreading the floor.
If we could convince him to take less, say $20 million, then we might have enough cap space to still go out and make a pitch to a power forward. Or at least enough space to take back some extra salary on a deal involving Plumlee.
If you can convince Dwight to take 20 million and then decline Leonard's QO it would leave us with close to 13 million left in cap-room. That is definitely enough for a pretty good player. There wouldn't be enough minutes to go around if you signed Dwight and someone else and then brought back Leonard anyways.
Can Aminu be a full-time'4'? Would he wear down because at times he would have to guard big PF's like Aldridge, Blake, Jefferson? Can Meyers develop consistency and enough of a low-post move to abuse 6'7" SF's when they switch out on him or go small? Does Ryan Anderson fit in this equation anywhere? He would certainly space the floor.
Can you sign both Dwight and Anderson? Would Anderson accept whatever is left over after you sign Dwight?
13 million is probably enough for these stretch forwards: Mirza Teletovic Jon Leuer Ersan Ilyasova Marvin Williams Terrence Jones That's pretty damn underwhelming to be honest. Marvin Williams is probably the most steady of the bunch but he's on the older side so I don't want to give him a long term contract. Are any of these guys a clear upgrade over Meyers? Not sure....
I am not sure there are very many full time PF's out there. One that can guard the perimeter and D up inside against bigger/ physical forwards. So either way you need two different types at this position. Meyers IMO is a back up Center on D, and a spread 4 on O. Anderson will get more than 13 million. Not sure he is worth the money he will get. As much as it pain me to say, if we got Dwight, we should dangle Plums and filler to Atlanta for Millsap. But this is all just fantasy IMO.
Anderson is plan be if we can't get a top FA like Whiteside, Dwight or Horford. I think he's a nice fit, but we still need to add interior toughness with a Biyombo or Mahinmi.
Marvin Williams brings a lot of the same things that Ryan Anderson does, and will come for cheaper. He also has northwest ties (from WA) in case we need another thing to lure him.
Anderson....please no. Any player that is going to start next to Lillard and CJ has to be a positive on defense, to make up for those two defensive short comings. Hiding one guy is bad enough, we have to hide 2. Anderson means we have to hide 3. We're not winning a title like that.
We all saw David West take less money to go to what he thought was a winning situation, maybe we could talk Ryan Anderson into 13 mil or however much if we get Dwight.