Normally, I would not pay it to him. But I also think that they have no real other option (I don't think that they get much better with a trade).
The 200 million dollar man was a -24 last night. Love to have him on the Blazers for about 15 million per season. But certainly not 40 million. The guy couldn't even hold on to the ball last night. Someone sent me an article that said Mann scored 30 0f his 39 points with Gobert as the primary defender. That is bad coaching though.
You are right that this is too much money (and to be honest I would also think about it 10times before I give him such a contract). But on the other hand I do not think that they would get an adequate compensation if they let him go (I doubt that some of the better players would go to Utah and then you have to start some kind of a rebuild if you trade him and you become irrelevant again). At least I'm a little bit torn between both options in such a case.
No I get it, having him on the team from a marketing standpoint is prop just as important as what he contributes on the court. With small ball being the trend and guys like Batum playing center and drawing him away from the rim is his demise. Clipper's out coached the Jazz with this.
If Shaq or Hakeem came into the NBA today I'm not sure they'd even be a starter. The game is now all 3 pointers and scoring 140ppg.
Young Shaq was so athletic that he could legit defend the perimeter. Hakeem was also very very quick. I think he could have actually be an exceptional big in the current NBA. The funny thing, to me, is that Jokic is basically Sabonis without Sabas' defense.
