I'll be pleasantly shocked if we re-sign Oden for as little as $7M per year. Doing so would make the decision to keep him pretty easy... It's likely to take a $10-12M annual commitment, IMO.
Gotta resign Oden if possible. The dice roll is worth the price. But I'd add a long-range threat to the forward/center rotation. Seriously, I'd add someone like Radmonovic or Frye. Both are players who play up near the perimeter, and can draw a forward away from doubling LA. If only we could also have 2008 LMA to go with 2011 LMA... the two of them would be perfect together!
I don't think a big who spreads the floor is so important if we got a SF who actually did their job and stretched the floor. One of the biggest reasons this is so important, is because the SF on this team are not holding up their end of the offense. Most teams don't even bother to guard Batum until he gets the ball. The only other true SF beside him, doesn't sniff playing time. It wouldn't be super important if Andre had an outside shot, but he doesn't. So that means the 2 and the 3 have to spread the floor and hit shots. Dante is doing a good job at hitting that quick pop jumper when he gets it. He just lacks size to battle bigs on many nights.
Put me down as another yes please! on the chance that Greg could be resigned for 4 years at 7M per I've zero concerns about a healthy Greg fitting with LA. Those are two talented Bigs that would give every team fits trying to match up against STOMP
$7 million a year for a 10% chance that Oden develops into a real player??? Those are extremely long odds, my friend.
No way. That's crazy talk for a guy who has been injured for the last 4 years and missed 2 whole seasons.
We know he has the talent. We do not know if he can get to the place where he takes care of his weight and overcomes the health issues - which is, quite frankly - much shorter odds than getting a superstar in any other way.
Which means you're 100% guaranteed to lose him, so why not explore trade options like in the original post? Letting Oden go for nothing would be a complete disaster. Getting a Buck Williams in return makes it much easier to stomach.
Complete disaster from what? As compared to him being a total bust that he currently is? We don't even know if there is anybody who will bother to try to trade for him, or if there are any teams that would even offer him money. The team should always be trying to improve itself, and take whatever route is needed to get to the goal. Also note, no where in my statement did I say don't trade him. I just said I wouldn't offer him any money more than that to stay here. IMO offering Oden a contract is about the equivelent of putting a second albatross around the teams neck for the next half decade. So for me it is either offer him a minimal amount or hit the road jack. We already are going to be eating Roy's contract for the next 4 years. How do you think this team will do if Roy and Oden both end up out of the league, but we are paying 20 million out of our cap for them every year for the next 4 years?
Marketing and lost potential in the form of Durant. Oden has to be turned into something for it to not be one of the all time disastrous picks. He's hardly a total bust. He's been a top quality NBA center during the brief time he's been healthy, and I'm sure most of the GM's are aware of that. Oden is marketable even when sidelined, and true centers are such a commodity, someone will offer him bucks if we don't. Better to let someone else gamble on his health and flip his star potential for a player that fits better and plays more.
