Yeh and it looks as if he can make plays for others also. Here is a blurb from Draft Express from the summer league after his one year with Spurs: "Simmons is a strong and athletic guard, and although he finished 2nd in Utah in scoring at 22 points per game behind teammate Kyle Anderson, he is at his best with the ball in his hands making plays for others. He has excellent vision and uses his ball handling abilities and size to clear space and make passes over the top of defenses. Simmons is a dynamic athlete in transition and a capable spot up shooter off the ball, knocking down a career best 40% on 50 attempts with the Spurs last season. He has also proven to be a factor on the defensive end, using his strength and quickness to guard multiple positions on the floor. "- Source: http://www.draftexpress.com/article/The-Top-Five-Performers-at-the-2016-Utah-Summer-League-5634/ ©DraftExpress
Simmons is an athletic freak but times I have seen him he can tend to play out of control and Pops obviously wasn't all that enamored with him at times either. Consistency seems to be an issue as well as he can give you 25 one night and then 5 the next. He might be worth inquiring about but he's also on a reasonable contract so not sure Orlando is looking to move him. Rodney Hood would be one I would think should draw some interest from Portland as well.
We'll see, I'm sure several teams will offer him the tax-MLE (the max we can offer) or even the full-MLE so signing him might be tough.
I can’t see Hezonja getting more than the tax MLE, but I don’t think he fits what we’re looking for. Never been in the playoffs. Not proven in any role.
Actually now that I think about it, Mario should go to Europe for two years, ball out, and then hit the market again when there’s more money available around the league.
I've been biased for MKG since I wished he would drop so that we could get him and Dame 6/10 in the draft. C'est la vie. But he makes exactly 13M, which is exactly the TPE (from my last memory of the calculations). He fits the mold of "former lotto picks that haven't unlocked everything, for whatever reason," that our front office seems to like. He is not an awesome 1v1 defender (like Kawhi or Gobert), but a bit more like Draymond where he just sees things happening and the defense is better somehow with him out there. By a lot. CHA probably isn't stoked about paying him Meyers Leonard money. If we roll with Dame/CJ/MKG/(Collins or Aminu)/Nurk, we have 3 big scoring options, a safety valve and 3 great team defenders. Now, will Cho's replacement give him up for free (or throw in something?!) ? Unsure.
Minus any kind of outside shot. MKG hasn’t developed into the kind of defender I thought he would. And his offense is offensive.
Yeah it has come to the point in todays NBA game that every player (other than maybe the center spot) needs to be able to shoot or they are very much limited to a role player off the bench. I am not trying to imply defense is an over rated skill, because it is extremely important, but there is a huge separation in terms of importance between offensive and defensive players IMO.
Unfortunately, getting a wing only helps us if he replaces Turner's negative output: https://stats.nba.com/vs/#!?PlayerI...17-18&SeasonType=Regular Season&PerMode=Per36