Saw a thread on here about free agents we can pick up right now, but what about when the new guys hit the market this summer. What do we need? Who might we lose? Who's available? How does our payroll look? Any experts want to enlighten us on what our plan and targets should be......or do we just let it bake?
I had a list of guys for when we were doing our first podcast... but really, there's nothing we can do till the end of the year. The trade deadline is really our first priority, IMO.
basically, (barring any major movement in trades) even with Mo's opt-out, we'll be over the cap but below the lux tax. We'll have the "non-taxpayer" MLE (5.305M starting salary that can be split up) and the Bi-Annual exception (2.077M), in addition to veteran minimums.
as for who we could lose, we've already picked up the options for Leonard, Robinson and Lillard. So they're going to be here.
Is anyone from Seattle's defense available? Those boys are a big deal. A Legion of Boom, if I dare say. Fun game up north.
2014 Free Agents - HoopsHype I like this site, and while it's not an easy to read list, it shows current salary and other info for each player. Point Guards Shooting Guards Small Forwards Power Forwards Centers
Sadly I thought backup SF was locked up when we got Wright. Is there hope for this guy? He's better than this, right?
I still think he's good, he's just never played in this small of a role before. Going from 20+ MPG to 7-11 MPG and maintaining the same level of production is probably difficult as a shooter.
AK47, Pau Gasol, Danny Granger, Jason Smith, Shawn Marion, Trevor Ariza, Emeka Okafor, Spencer Hawes, Channing Frye, Jordan Hill in that order. Some probably go for more than MLE but any of them could end up settling for that amount. Not sure where I'd rank Mo but I'd definetely pick a number of those guys first and with CJ playing more backup PG I think a defensive big or defensive wing should be the priority.
NeO will need to be careful with handing out a multi-year MLE offer though, we have new contracts for LA, Wes and Lopez due the following summer the same time as Dame can sign a max extension. We might need to hold back and only sign a free agent to a two year contract. We should structure the contract as Cleveland did with Bynum so it has higher trade value during the season.
Agreed, which is why I think defensive oriented back-ups are more attractive: aside from a 6th man or 2 (Mo/CJ). Portland doesn't need the bench to build on leads to win games. They need to maintain the lead they have or keep the deficit from getting worse.
The non-taxpayer MLE can be used to sign one or many players. It can be used to sign players for 2, 3, or 4 years. Lots of flexibility.
I'll also be interested what we do with Meyers and TRob's rookie contracts in this comming summer. Do we guarantee them for another season? We may need to think about parting ways with them as we did with Nolan Smith.
Yes but if its more than 2 years it could push us into the luxury tax when all our starters are on their next contracts, that may only be something we want to do if its a player clearly worth more than the cost of their contract. Usually that is not the case with MLE free agents.
*Ed Davis: Underused PF who has shown flashes of being a very good defensive player. *Lance Stephenson: Mini-LeBron has the skillset that is tailor-made for Lillard. Though, he's playing himself into a near max deal, or at least what Batum received. *Kyle Lowry: Upgrade over Mo Williams on both ends of the court. *Steve Blake: Cheaper alternative to Mo Williams. *Mo Williams: Has he shown enough to stick around?
