Agreed. His contract while not great is only two addition years plus it's much cheaper compared to the $295 million Jaylen Brown supermax type deals out there for the elite SF. Ayton plus Bruce Brown at the MLE would be an awesome free agency.
Another guard is a great signal to Dame? Not seeing it. But this is all moot because there is no way that a top UFA guard is choosing Portland over everyone else. And we can't even afford him for the reasons you mentioned.
Bruce Brown Naz Reid Harrison Barnes Jackson Hayes Vet minimum targets: Dillon Brooks Meyers Leonard Skylar Mays
We have one point of attack defender on the entire roster and we don't have as much crowding if you believe Ant will be moved. I'm pretty sure he won't be paid more than MLE money but maybe you're right that he wouldn't want to come to Portland. I still haven't seen better FA options being mentioned...
I think you need two lists. One for targets if Dame stays and one for if Dame leaves. I don’t want Brooks anywhere near our young guys if Dame is gone.
Dario Saric was a FA name tossed around even before the season ended. Hiring an undersized OKC bench Center who isn't all that good, sounds very much like a Joe Cronin move.
If you get Barnes you're asking Grant to guard SFs and that's a recipe for disaster unless Barnes is coming off the bench which I doubt. Is Naz Reid better than Daniel Gafford who I'm pretty sure can be had with a trade exception to take salary off the rebuilding a Wizards. I don't think much of Hayes but he has good size. Brooks is not a minimum contract guy but he would add another really good POA defender. Not seeing great options in FA other than Brown.
If it's for the vet minimum I don't really care, he can be traded/cut/bought out. The first 3 guys I listed are MLE guys and I'd be happy to add them with taking either fork in the road. Even if we go young it's nice to have vets. They don't need to be stars, just a role player to help lead the way is good.
Those are some good targets you list, sure if we get one maybe it changes the MLE target. MLE targets and especially vet minimums aren't supposed to be great free agency options. MLE Bruce Brown, Malik Monk, Hartenstein were great additions. Jeff Green was actually a great vet min addition. We just need some players that have a chance to be a bench guy like that. We aren't going to get a starter in free agency and shouldn't try to.
Probably the only way is if we can unlock the full MLE. Yeah I agree he prefers Denver, but he very likely may leave for double the money. Denver being in the tax can't pay him any more.
There's not a lot of great fits, that's certainly true. With Barnes, I think you shrug your shoulders and try to make it work. I'm not super big on Naz Reid, but I also don't agree that Gafford could be had for the TPE, feels like he's part of their rebuild to me (but if that's not the case I'm all in on that one!) I like the idea of Brooks because he was a Duck great, so maybe coming home gets him to chill out a bit, but even if not, every team needs a little bit of crazy -- we haven't had that since Collins left. Hayes, as I said in another thread (or maybe earlier in this one) feels like all upside on the cheap -- if he's the main guy we're trying to sell Dame on then we're fucked haha. He's a goofball, and hasn't really done much in his career and again, would not be an addition that you're throwing a signing party for, but he's a long + athlete who doesn't need shots and a defensive fit for what Chauncey is looking for in his Cs.
I think they can pare off some of dead weight ( Jordan, Ish Smith, Reggie Jackson, Thomas Bryant) . All UFA. If you replace them with rookies or G League players with half those numbers you can free up enough money to get him around 3 Years 45 Mil. ( 13, 15, 17 mil.)
You fail at the salary cap. None of those moves lead to the impossible result you suggest. The Nuggets only possibility is to dump a starter or convince Bruce to be underpaid next year with a huge payoff in later seasons. I'd be very wary if I was his agent, as the Nuggets in future years may be reluctant when they get closer to the 2nd apron.
Wish Poeltl didn't expect so much per year, think would be a good fit here, especially if get rid of Nurk.
I’d be all over Hayes, he’d get a real opportunity with our current roster. I think he’d be a fan favorite very soon.
I thought I remember Hayes initially being part of the CJ trade but our FO didn't want him because of his off court issues or something like that. Edit: Ah yes there was something in 2021: Hayes was arrested on July 28, 2021 and resisted arrest by the Los Angeles Police Department. Officers were investigating a radio call that involved a domestic dispute between Hayes and his girlfriend. Hayes shoved an officer into a wall and was treated for minor injuries before being taken into custody.[25]
https://www.si.com/nba/2022/01/25/j...estic-violence-battery-against-police-charges Looks like a bunch of misdemeanors. Verbiage ranges from "battery of a police officer" to "scuffle". Some of it was DV, but again, with them being misdemeanors it's hard to know how serious it was... a google search of "jaxson hayes legal" over the past year doesn't turn up much, so it seems like he's through the worst of it? Guessing the team would do more due diligence than I just did though, haha.
