This. I stole this post from here: https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2022837 But it's highly relevant.
what value do you think is there for a guy on an expiring contract earning 27 mil, who doesn't really make teams better?
It's why the kings are who they are. Letting Bogdanovic (and Giles) walk without getting anything in return is just stupidity. Now they're stuck with Buddy Hield who doesn't want to be there and are severely devoid of talent. And on top of that they want to bring in Hassan, who does neither fits in stylistically with their pace, nor the age of the guys they want build around?
Of course that is all true and my only contention with DJJ at the full MLE was I thought there were better options out there. (Favors/Crowder/Harrell/Ibaka/Saric) all signed for the MLE or less. Now mabye Neil either didn' go after them or they just wouldn't come here and we may never know. But when I compare what some of the other teams got for their MLE vs what we got, that seems at least a legit question. Also, very few teams had cap room this year so IF Jones were to shoot 35% as mentioned above, there were only 1 or two teams that had cap space left after Draft day deals. About the only option for being more expensive because he was a better shooter would have been Miami with whatever Bird rights they had on him.
I would bet they just didn't want to come her. They just spent months in a bubble, why would they want to come to a rain forest?
There's only two guys in that list of players that would have made any sense. Favors is a center, there's no room for him here with Kanter and Nurk. He can't play PF, Utah tried and failed. Same with Harrell. Saric was an RFA....what's the point offering the full MLE when the Suns gave him that contract anyways? Would have been matched. He also sucked at PF, he only started playing well when the Suns played him as a backup center. Ibaka - fine, but he's also more of a center at this point, and he would have had to choose us over the LA teams and Toronto. Not likely. Only one there that is maybe a possibility was Crowder, but he got a larger deal and a larger role in Phoenix, but fine I'll give you that one.
Trade him when, back at the deadline? Drummond was traded for a second round pick and he's better than Whiteside. So he had the value of a third round pick? As flawed as Whiteside was we needed his minutes at that point last year.
The fact that he had to take the minimum shows how much interest there was around the league. Speaking of minimum, I bet the "loyalty" shit with Melo is all a ruse. The guy didn't have any offers besides the minimum from us.
Olshey said Melo had plenty of opportunities to fill a similar role with other teams this offseason, opportunities that weren’t there when he first signed with Portland. Maybe it’s bs, but I wouldn’t be so sure.
I'd rather have Whiteside on a minimum deal than Giles. But theres no way he would've happily taken that role here or accept a string of DNP... he had to go. I wouldn't be surprised if he complains and gets released from Sacramento. Shocked the rest of the league is getting smarter on these types of players. This used to be the type of player shitty run franchises such as the Knicks would always sign.
Hassan was absolutely useless off the bench, and now you want him as 3rd string insurance? Sounds like a nightmare for team chemistry. So glad we got off this guy.
Maybe, Melo severely rehabbed his image last year. I just find it so hard to believe another team would want him besides New York.
Sure, if you ignore my second sentence..... I was saying if Whiteside would happily accept such role, but obviously he would not and thus he needed to go. If he had the drive of Joel Pryzbilla.... but he doesn't, he's a stat padding poor attitude guy. He has amazing physical talent.
Detroit, Charlotte, Atlanta, Sacramento, Minnesota, Washington all seem like they might have signed him. They've all made vastly worse signings. Plus its only a vet minimum... not a huge deal to cut him if it goes bad.
I remember some people on this board were against the signing because of this narrative that he was a cancer, but it wasn’t true then and it’s not true now. He was always a good teammate. I remember everyone on the Knicks loved him, especially Porzingis. The only coaches he had issues with were assholes (George Karl) and it was when he was younger. If he rehabbed anything it was that he could still play. I don’t really see any parallels between Melo and Whiteside. Melo is good for the locker room, showed up to the bubble in shape, embraced a different position, and hit clutch shot after clutch shot. Whiteside just moped around once Nurk came back. He’s an idiot, because if he would’ve just embraced his role, he could’ve gotten more money, because if he played as a backup the way he did as a starter, he’d be one of the most valuable bench bigs in the league.
Giles is a better player. Kanter is a better player. Stats be damned. Drove me so insane with his lazing around on our team. How he never sprinted off picks or just stood lead footed on defense. He coulda earned a better contract had he shown up in the bubble. He played like one good game and pouted the rest of time. Good riddens.