http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=23874241 Around the 28 minute mark. Also said he "turned down a LOT of money in October." We never heard this one before. Says he won't get more than MLE in this FA market and will take his chances as a UFA next summer. I've been saying for a while that we need to offer him a deal slightly above MLE and we have a chance to get him. Around 10-12 mil/yr for 3-4 yrs should do it.
I think I like Collins as a PF more than a C, centers are actually trending back to more large workhorse types and while Zach is a good defender, idk if his body ever develops enough to hang with guys 20-30 pounds heavier than him for 30+ minutes.
Then we better sign him this summer, because we won't have the cap space to sign him as a UFA next summer. This may just be bluffing from his agent to get the Blazers to up their offer. The market is soft for centers and as a RFA, the Blazers are basically bidding against themselves. Hopefully, both sides can agree on something reasonable this summer. BNM
I think this is great news. He is right about RFA. We still have the possibility of offering him a reasonable contract if we want, which he should probably take. But, if he is convinced that he can be that good and dominant, then show it over the next year. This gives us another free test drive year. If he doesn't show big improvement, then maybe you let him go and move Collins to his spot. I would also imagine that this makes it easier and more likely we resign Ed?
This is actually kind of what I expected. He hit rfa in possibly the worst summer ever for traditizonal big men. I wouldn’t be too suprised if he is making Meyers Leonard money next year and playing 4 times the minutes. Either that or he takes the qualifying and has a prove it year, I would much rather sign him long term for cheap.
True (Darius Miles and Meyers Leonard say, "hi"), but in this case, I'd rather be bidding against ourselves this year than bidding against everyone else next year. BNM
You included the one (Miles) I figured most people would forget, but ya can't leave out Roy, Turner, and to a lesser extent Harkless.
We can still go over the cap to resign him next year, can’t we? If we offer him $30M / 3 years he will probably take it. This isn’t Summer 2016 anymore, he would have got a max then of course. I never really believed he would be anywhere near max this year. The only team I can see offering him a big deal now are Atlanta and I doubt they do it (Dallas will lock their plans on Capela and Cousins IMO).
Turner wasn't our own RFA. Harkless isn't really overpaid, just inconsistent. Even still, he had better seasons than both Carmelo ($26 million) and Batum ($22 million). And Roy was Roy. Not sure they fully anticipated his sudden early retirement. BNM
I hope he does take the QO, and we do not extend him. That will keep him hungry and aggressive all season to earn a bigger contact next off season. Get out the mops, there is going to be a lot of blood spilled in the paint. Just joking, about the blood.
He's not taking less money than Meyers Leonard. His pride won't allow it, especially not if he turned down more in October.