As much as people like to fantasize about Leonard being gone, I'd bet money that after his finish last season that Olshey wants to keep him on for at least one more year, especially with Nurk out. Big men take time to develop, and the Blazers have a lot of capitol invested in Leonard. I don't think they are quite ready to dump him.
you're underestimating; C's: Al Horford DeAndre Jordan Jonas Valanciunas Robin Lopez Nikola Vucevic Kosta Koufos Dewayne Dedmon Boban Marjanovic DeMarcus Cousins Kyle O'Quinn Willie Cauley-Stein Nene Hilario Brook Lopez Ekpe Udoh Amir Johnson Zaza Pachulia JaVale McGee Tyson Chandler Nerlens Noel Joakim Noah Kevon Looney Enes Kanter Salah Mejri Pau Gasol Andrew Bogut Greg Monroe Tyler Zeller and PF's: Taj Gibson Thaddeus Young Julius Randle JaMychal Green Nikola Mirotic Al-Farouq Aminu Anthony Tolliver Marcus Morris Mike Muscala Dragan Bender Ed Davis Mike Scott Marquese Chriss Dante Cunningham Jonas Jerebko Bobby Portis Noah Vonleh Christian Wood Richaun Holmes Kenneth Faried Markieff Morris Alan Williams there are going to be a whole bunch of big men signing for cheap. And some teams with cap-space may be making toxic offers to RFA's I guess the good news is if the Blazers 'lose' Aminu and Kanter, there will be some decent vet minimum alternatives, not to mention the tax-MLE
Looking at that list of centers, Kanter should get paid. The only ones in his age/skill bracket that should get paid similarly/more are Vuc and Jonas. Horford will get paid as well. The rest are either in the latter stage of their career and/or not as good.
The only team that can sign him today is the Blazers to an extension. The other teams have to wait until July 1st.
Well, ya. What's the significance of 4/48? Ain't no way I'm giving him that contract after Nurk got 4/45
The drop off from Kanter to someone on that list who makes the minimum is not huge, especially if the team isn't sure Kanter will fit with them as well as he did with Portland.
If the blazers are actually looking to replace Aminu in the starting lineup, it makes little sense giving him anything more than maybe the equivalent of the tax MLE. Pretty sure he’ll get more than that on the open market. Sure, they could theoretically dump salary later to dip under the tax, but I can’t see them justifying such a move unless they were out of contention. Aminu is probably gone imo.
That's not true and I'm still not following. You mean based on his caphold? Why does that mean anything? We can give him any contract we damn well please. There is no eligibility concept.
I like Kanter a lot. I want him back on this team and think he will be back. Like you, I think he should be near the top of this group, but I don't think that's close to a universal perception ... which I think benefits the Blazers. Horford's getting paid, and so in Vucevic and probably Boogie. Brook Lopez, WCS, Greg Monroe ... all probably seen as on par with Enes. And then you have guys like Looney and JaVale McGee who could be more attractive to certain teams just based on things like youth or athleticism.
I disagree, Kanter is a lot better than a minimum guy. He’s probably one of the five most efficient low post scorers/rebounders in the league, and is only 26 years old so he should fit multiple timelines. I would be shocked if he got anything less than double digits (per) as a lot of the teams with significant cap space this summer could/should be in the market for centers. Dallas, Boston, Lakers, Sacramento, Clippers just off the top.
What that doesn't take into consideration is how high Kanter or a center would be for the teams with all that cap space. Lakers and Dallas probably looking to make a bigger splash in free agency, which would consume much of their cap space in the process. Clippers might be in a similar boat. Possibly same for Boston, which also has to factor in a potential playoff series in Toronto where Enes might not be able to play. And is getting a big deal from Sacramento really that valuable?
I might be wrong about this, but I'll give it a shot: right now, Aminu is under contract so any new contract would fall under the restrictions for an extension. The limits for the 1st year salary of the extension would be either 120% of his current salary, or 120% of the average salary. I think the average salary is higher right now than Aminu's 7M. Might be close to the MLE after July 1, Aminu is no longer under contract so full-Bird rights apply and he's be eligible for 30% of the cap
Yeah, what @wizenheimer said applies in that we don't have his Bird Rights until he's an actual free agent on July 1st. If you could sign your own free agents prior to July 1st why wouldn't all teams do that?
