Wojbomb: Layman given qualifying offer, becomes RFA

Bazemore, Little and Trent are SFs....Jake is really a power forward...Baze is only 6'5...Wes Mathews sized guy....Jake is a lot bigger....I think Jake will initially school Little until the NBA game slows down for him...Jake has the strongest lower core of all the guys on your list in my view...Jake needs to improve his lateral quickness on defense and his help defense in general..on offense I think he just needs Chief's minutes to thrive if that's the direction..the little Jake saw the floor late season Stotts seemed to pair him with Mo pretty often or ET

 

I sure wouldn't go as high as hoopsjock at 7M, but I'm not as impressed with Layman as most are.

what I saw was Layman had a good stretch of BB; then he was scouted. Teams started taking away his back cuts and stopped leaving him wide open on the perimeter. And he regressed...a lot. I suppose you could argue that Stotts jerked him around and that may have had an impact on his production and confidence. Still, his inconsistency is a concern. Of course that's the case for just about every role player

I guess 5M on a 2 or 3 year deal with a team option. Prefer the 2 year deal because of next year's cap situation

a lot of this summer's moves hinge on how much tax Jody Allen is willing to pay. I have no clue. Right now, Portland is only 1 or 2 million below the tax line with 11 players. Using the full tax-MLE and re-signing Layman for 7M, then using a couple of vet minimum deals could yield 25-30M in tax. That seems high but if there was year to pay that tax, next season may be it with the injuries to Golden State and the dissension in Houston. I imagine Olshey can assure JA Portland would be under the tax line next season. Signing Layman would make that more difficult

I'd also look at guys who might sign for minimums this summer: Tervor Ariza; Wilson Chandler, Jeff Green, James Ennis, Mike Scott, Jonas Jerbko. Having one of those guys for 3-5M less could be a better option

the other side of that could be having Layman on a small, team-friendly contract could be a decent trade piece

 

You keep insisting that Jake is a power forward, but what is that based on? Last year he spent 95% of his minutes at either SF or SG.

 

I'm not insisting anything....I don't think I've posted about Jake since before the playoffs actually...but he's not a 2 guard from the sample size I've seen and he was playing the SF....I'm addressing our current lineup and the fact that Chief's minutes might be available if he signs elsewhere....nobody will convince me Layman has ever been suited to playing the 2 guard

 

I wouldn't exceed 3 million. I'm not sure he is an NBA rotational player. Even if he is I don't think he has starter upside. I'd rather keep 2020 cap clean then gamble Laymen value greatly exceeds $3 million.

 

If we re-sign Jake on a cheap deal, there's a good chance he either builds trade value by the deadline or waives a towel for another season...he has to make a defensive leap though in my view. I like his game a lot and would keep him around if the price is right. Meyers sure helped his trade value at the end of the season....somebody might want him at the deadline

 

If we're in the luxury tax that $5-7 million will cost Jody Allen over $20 million next season! I'd rather use that money when it's a more certain benefit, so no let Layman walk in that case. I don't want the team to have to drastically cut salary and give up assets because we are way over the tax.

 

I’m sure Jake wants to get this handled soon. Getting married soon.

 

I can't believe Woj is tweeting about this. How connected is he to Neil?

 

since they were starting out they've been friends.....Neil is well connected throughout the league but Woj is actually his buddy

 

or a firecracker.

 

It's NBA news and that's what Wojo does.

 

You should throw him a bachelor party at your house! ….oh wait...….

 

I did mention that $7 million as a short term contract. If Jody is willing to pay it might make sense to kind of hedge our bet with Layman. Offer him in the range of $5-7 million this year with a team option for the same amount the next year like you said. If he continues to be inconsistent we let him walk at the end of next year or his contract would basically be an expiring to be used in other deals. If he becomes a full time rotational player then that amount might be a bargain for him the following year or once again he becomes a trade asset at the draft.

 

All indications are that Jody has been willing to be a tax team. Unless they do something really big (or stupid) we probably won't be in the tax the following season anyway.

 

Yeah but I can’t imagine Layman getting more than a 3/13 on the open market.

 

It's limo Uber time...nobody needs to park anymore..

 

I like Jake. But i want a consistent Jake. And i dont know if thats the fault of Stotts or Jake that he cant be. Id like to see what he can do with a season of rotation minutes.