Looking at the Drummond trade, the market for centers is not high right now. We could get Whiteside back for a decent price tag, plus we have his bird rights. First take the option on Ariza, resign Melo for cheap...he wants to end his career here, Hood will take his option, resign Whiteside after everyone else.
To use your own logic against you with JA's worth not being the same as how much cash she actually has, saving $2 million dollars doesn't mean that she actually keeps that money. With these types of businesses there are so many things that influence the books and for years teams had been claiming lost revenue when that wasn't really the case. Besides, two home games against the Lakers would be worth around $5 million in revenue especially considering that would probably be the cheapest two Lakers tickets for fans wanting to see them in the playoffs this year. I know every time we've played GS there have been fans that have said it's cheaper to fly up to Portland, stay the night, and get tickets than it is to stay at home and go to a game. If the team was going for it they could've explored trades that got them a player back in the Skal deal. You just mentioned 3 rotational players that have been terrible in terms of winshares too yet a buyout candidate would have little to no impact on any results? There's no way to possibly know that.
Why in God's name would we want Whiteside back? We've been mediocre since he got here, while the Heat have been hugely improved. Coincidence?
As long as we are all just speculating..... I don't think that Ms Allen cares about the money. I think Olshey couldn't get a deal done cuz he loves his assets too much. I'm not talking about Whiteside, he was valuable only to facilitate a trade. But Anf, Trent and Little. Sooo, the only thing Olshey could boast about was saving some money. He isn't the kind of guy who says "we wouldn't have signed Skal anyway" so he just talked about the money.
Neil has been great at the draft and bargin bin trade/free agent pickups. I dont trust him to make a good blockbuster trade or big free agent signing. Yes internal improvement will be the key.
Trading Skal saved cash in the bank this year. An NBA team appreciating in value while having a paper loss is an unrelated phenomenon that doesn't impact current year cash.
So Meyers is better than Whiteside? The Heat had a ton of roster changes, and other good seasons in recent years with Whiteside. I dont think Whitside is an above average starting center. But I do think he's a useful role player. He would be great to lead the bench. If the market demands $20million for him or he is set on a guarantee as a starter let him walk. If he wants to be a rotational player paid a fair wage keep him.
Dwight Jaynes said before the game he doesn't think Whiteside will be back next season. He thinks he'll command too much money.
I get that a lot of people don't like Stotts nor CJ. But Common you can't tell me CJ & Stotts are happy the way this season has turned out. Can't tell me they haven't been trying to fight to stay in the playoff race. NO might have to look at it a different way to 'sell tickets' and make it seem like he's doing his job... But common. Even Meyers Leonard cared.
he's been great in the bargain bin and at dumpster diving for sure. He was at the head of the line when another team simply wanted to dump a player, for one reason or the other. That's how he got Lopez, Maynor, Harkless, Napier, and Nurkic (maybe a little more luck than targeting with Nurk). His only bust in that market was TRob, and that was mainly because he essentially traded 4 second round picks for him I think he's been good at drafting, not great, but in a way, what elevates his drafting evaluation seems connected to that bargain bin mentality. That being he's been really good at finding perimeter talent in the 2nd round. His 1st round record is a lot more debatable and may only be average, depending on what happens with Zach, Simons, and Little. But finding Barton, Crabbe, Layman, and Trent in the 2nd round is a damn good performance. That makes it a little ironic that he's so willing to spend 2nd round picks for so little return in trades
Let's call it addition by subtraction. In the modern game outside shooting is arguably much more important than it used to be for a center. Plus I think Whiteside is at least as bad as Meyers at defending anywhere other than at the hoop. Fair point. I am pretty much 100% certain Whiteside will never see himself as a role player.
Then let him go to a team offering such. When he only gets MLE offers it will humble him, he can come back to the Blazers on a reasonable deal or be out of the league.
