Freeland signed a relatively small contract. Its not like he is Hedo or Gordon or someone like that. Would be nice to have his 3m off the books this summer but really its not really a big cap killer contract. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
I don't know. The difference between 13 million and 16 million in cap space seems huge to me. 16 million could get either a top star or two good rotation guys. 13 million falls short for me.
I want no part of Ellis as a starter. He is going cost upwards of 8 mill a year with very bad defense and would isn't exactly and efficient scorer. Him or Kevin Martin would be great as a sixth man off the bench but neither one would make me want to give up Wes unless we had a decent defensive SG somewhere in the rotation to replace him. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
I think the same reason people think Batum is? Matthews plays the passing lanes well and Batum chases down guys on the break. Neither are good defenders though
Ellis is #4 in the NBA in steals, so his defense isn't "bad" IMHO. He's the type of player we need. He can create his own shot, runs the floor better than anyone on the current squad and generally keep the pressure on the opposing team.
Get Nic/Wes on a team that has defensive presence at C and more discipline, and you've got one of the best SG/SF defensive combos in the league. As a team, we are so bad on that end, it's sad. We look like high schoolers without a definitive plan as to how to guard guys-- it's all helter skelter and on the fly. No individual can succeed in that environment. As for EG? lol. He has played 102 of his last 225 possible games and is clearly tanking his way out of NO with his garbage play. He recently got into a shouting match with Monty and wearing out his welcome quick. Not the kind of guy we want here, especially when he has beef with our GM.
If the goal is a title then yup, looks like a pretty fair (some will obviously say harsh) assessment.
EG is the ultimate buy low player. He's coming off of injury and working his way back into form. If the Pelicans are desperate to dump him we could swap Matthews and Freeland for him. High risk high reward. Playing it safe has gotten this team into the lottery far too often.
Would definitely be high risk, high reward. However, if we sent Matthews and Freeland for Gordon, see if Phoenix would do Leonard for Gortat to help their rebuild along. We can package Jeffries and Sasha's non-guaranteed deals to make it work. We'd fill out our starting lineup, use up our cap space, but still have the MLE to use, I believe. Can retain Hickson and Maynor as bench pieces if we so desired, and throw the full MLE at a scorer off the bench. Lillard/Maynor EG/FA/Barton Batum/Claver Aldridge/Hickson Gortat/Hickson Have the MLE and our lotto pick still to use. Go BPA with the pick, maybe another big off the bench?
I'd have Lillard, Batum, Aldridge, Leonard in the keepers group. Though all except Lillard I'd be willing to move for the right deal. All others are trade bait. I'd try to resign Maynor and Elliot Williams and bring them back. I'd draft BPA, targeting Shabazz, Plumlee or Robinson III with #12 I'd love to try to trade for Monta Ellis or Terrance Ross - either could push Matthews to the bench and a more healthy career.
Don't think team gets a MLE if having cap space. They do get a room exception for about $2-$3M/year to offer once cap space is used up. Otherwise, it's just veteran minimums. Hickson will be too expensive for us to keep, unless we use our cap space for him which IMO would be foolish.
Yeah but then you turn around and say sign Evans. Are we talking Tyeke? Do you really think he is a piece on a championship team? I assume you have him slotted to come off the bench. I think I would rather have Wes come off the bench. He may not be ideal, but I really do not understand the love around here for Evans. Every time I watch part of a King's game he is non-existent. Last night ... a whopping 1-7 . I don't get it.
I like it! Hickson wont work though; but there are plenty of combo pf/c available. Then the cap space can be used to get another backup center and the rest for another sg.
We would eat up the cap space in the two deals, enough to where we would have the mle. We would be retaining jj and maynor with bird rights.
