Who do you want to go after assuming Leonard, Crabbe, and Harkless all come back, and Portland doesn't suck enough to get their hands on Simmons, jaylen, or Ingram? - Could Olshey get a meeting with KD? - Max Harrison Barnes?
Whenever I've seen the warriors play the Blazers, I've never really noticed Barnes. I think he's numbers look good because he's on a good team. 68% of his 2pt shots are assisted. I was thinking maybe Al Horford. But in 2017, you've got Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka coming up.
Kevin Durant would never ever come here after we told him he's not good enough for the 1st pick. These guys hold slights like that very serious with their competitive mindset. Shit even without that he wouldn't give us the time of day..
They aren't Allstars but I've been excited to root for them. If we sign two more guys like that, make other solid moves, have improvements from our current young players we will be in a great position. You don't have to hit home runs to build a contender; we already got the big allstar. A series of singles would get me excited. Adding one superstar seems more about luck than quality roster building.
How Meyers, Crabbe and Harkless finish the season could be a big part of our free agent strategy. We also can give CJ and Mason extensions. If we make a playoff push and those guys have starter upside they all could command big dollars in free agency. In that scenario maybe we sign one MLE level free agent but otherwise we wouldn't have much salary room beyond just keeping our young core. But if we sign them for cheaper deals or let someone walk we'd have more money to spend. I think a max level free agent is very unlikely in any scenario. But we might follow the Hawks strategy from a few years ago aiming to sign a few potential Millsap and Korvers. Neil seems like he'd rather not sign a player than sign the wrong overpaid one. I will be shocked if Durant leaves; he will sign a one year deal with a player option like LeBron. Then enter free agency with Ibaka and Westbrook in 2017. That will give Durant 10 years experience where he will be eligible for $50 million more on a max contract.
Quality moves can build a roster but Superstars win Championships. In the last 30 years, I see one team (2004 Pistons) that won without a Superstar.....and that Superstar usually had at least one if not two stars around him. The Warriors did it through brilliant drafting of Curry, then Thompson and then Barnes and Green in the same year. Portland is building some nice core pieces but Dame needs some 'Star' help. Just a couple more losses instead of wins and we'd be right in the thick of the Ben Simmons race.
What superstars won a title for the team that drafted them as a top 4 pick? Duncan is the only one I can think of and that was 20 years ago. They were an anomaly being a 50win team the season prior. You can't build a contender by being one of the worst teams in the league.
All I meant by my statement is that it doesn't matter who we WANT to sign, the highest caliber player we'll be ABLE to sign are guys like Davis/Aminu. And guys like that aren't going to get us very far, which is why we need to focus on trades and drafts in order to get us to where we want to be.
Yeah I agree fans need to check their expectations if their thinking about Allstars or MVP signings. But doesn't mean we can't get a great signing in free agency. Wes Matthews was a nobody. As I said before Millsap, Korver had little interest. Pau Gasol on the Bulls could only get $9 million offers. Those are unheralded players when they signed; they exceeded expectations and performed as Allstars. That is the type of signings us fans can hope for and isn't completely unrealistic. The team needs to make proper evaluations and get a bit of luck. But that is also the case with the draft, trades or any player acquisition tool. Most fans focus on names of what players have been. The success of the Blazers will depend on what the players they keep and acquired will do going forward.
If we're going to bring up a restricted FA like Barnes or a big like Whiteside, why wouldn't we try for Drummond? With some of the guys possibly on the market, Drummond actually might fly a tad under the radar. I mentioned in another thread how a good young big with some foresight and a smart agent could see value in playing on a team that had great guards like Dame and CJ, especially the way those two are starting to create more for their teammates. Drummond would be pretty close to an ideal fit if you could work it out somehow, especially if you get Leonard back, too. He have the whole paint to himself with a bunch of shooters around him.
Drummond is getting the max; him and Detroit have effectively agreed to it. Zero chance we can sign him. Barnes isn't a lock to be retained at the max though I'd expect they do. Whiteside is an unrestricted free agent.
Drummond will be an RFA and Detroit would match any offer and he's a max guy in any case, and its been reported he agreed not being extended so Detroit could have more capspace next summer, bottom line he will stay a Piston and it would be a wasted effort pursing him
Yup, there's zero chance of signing Drummond, unless he tries to force his way out of Detroit like Monroe did. If that were to happen, they might do a sign-and-trade.
I thought that by NOT agreeing to an extension that automatically made him an UFA next season? Is that not true? I know that he said he's committed to DET, but LMA said something similar about a year ago. However, I actually think Drummond is sincere. Still, until it's done it's NOT done. We can all hope that things turn sour for DET over the course of the season, and that Drummond leaves in free agency. But if he's indeed an RFA that all but seals the deal.
No. The only way that he can become a UFA is if he accepts the qualifying offer, which is usually a one year offer. That's what Monroe did.
Monroe was different because the Pistons didn't offer him the max when he was a restricted free agent.
