From what Wheels was saying last night (and a lot of the Zeroes have been saying also all summer) is that the Blazers were very happy and impressed by the job he did on Marc Gasol in the playoffs. They think he's grown leaps and bounds (obviously) and has the tools to get even better defensively. I'd love to have Paul George, but find another way.
There was an article last week about George not being happy with them moving him to PF in Indiana so that's a factor
Shoot. I must have been remembering the old CBA's exception. Well, let's get 'er on the table for the next CBA!
I wonder if it would be possible for them to give him a raise this year, in exchange for taking a bit less in future years. This would be a great year to do that since we're under the minimum salary.
No word yet on the Meyers Leonard extension. Do you think the Blazers will lock him up, or let him go become a restricted free agent? Has he shown he deserves a big contract with his preseason play?
I don't know what extension he's eligible for but I'd gamble that signing him now will be cheaper than signing him later. Any Salary cap/free agent implications if they do?
I think you get it done even if he only becomes a solid starter. This team desperately needs to form a foundation of players and signing Meyers would do that. Plus, your saving yourself money in the long run. This is pretty much a slam dunk move!
Signing now properly would save alot of money but than you might be stuck with him if he doesn't pan out too. I don't mind paying him the money if has a great year so I would wait. Same for Harkless because he is in the same boat as Myers.
I doubt they sign him to an extension now. His cap number will be lower next year when free agency starts giving us more room to work with. Then after using up the space, we could go over the cap resigning Leonard/matching whatever he gets on the market.
I agree. To put some numbers to it, Meyers currently makes $3,075,880. His qualifying offer (cap hold) next year is $4,210,880. If we use John Henson's signing as an indicator of the 'market value' for Meyers, he's expected to be in the 4 yr $44M range. $11M per year. If we sign Meyers to an extension now, that $11M would be our CAP hit, instead of the $4,210,880 qualifying offer. The Blazers 'lose out' on about $7M of potential cap space to attract free agents. Does 'losing out' on that potential $7M of CAP space really mean anything? Looking at next year, the Blazers will have about $32M of CAP space available if they don't sign Meyers to an extension. That's assuming the CAP increases to about $89M. The Blazers will have about $25M of CAP space if they sign Meyers to an extension. The estimated max contracts for next summer for a 7-9 yr NBA vet, is 30% of the CAP, $25,033,157. So either way, the Blazers would still have enough CAP space to offer a free agent a max contract next summer. But by signing Meyers to an extension now, they would be losing out on the option of signing a free agent in the $7M range. It certainly would be nice to have that 'extra' $7M in CAP space. But if they don't sign him to an extension and he ends up having a break-out year (good and bad), then the Blazers may be looking at matching an offer next summer that is significantly more than the estimated $11M. Risks both ways.
Actually, kinda looks like Coon #38 indicates that his cap hold, even with the QO offered, will be 250% of his 2015-16 salary. With salary of 3,075,880, that would give a cap hold of 7,689,700. Still significantly less than the 10-11m we're looking at if he's extended, but also significantly more than the QO.
I mean, it's not like we will let him go; he's 7'1" with a legit range out to 24 feet and a 50/40/90 player that upped his PER 6 points last year. He's staying. When we re-sign him is just a matter of taste.
Good catch. And it looks like the est ave salary for 2015-16 is $5.7M. So 250% of his previous salary ($3M) would be about $7.5M. That matches up with what is shown in the 'Cap hold' section of this page. So if Meyers' cap hold is about $7.5M, and his estimated salary would be about $11M, then locking him up early uses up about $3.5M of CAP space that we could potentially use for a free agent. Not worth holding out. If we can get him for around $11M, then I say they do it now.
Both of these are on point. If we can get Meyers to sign for around $11M, Blazers are better off to resign him now. With as much money as will be on the market next year, it is VERY likely that Meyers will find someone willing to pay him much more than that.
I doubt he will ever be a 50/40/90 player again if he plays more than he did last season. I think it's a bit disingenuous to call him that without mentioning how little he played.
