Umm... I don't get why you don't understand my logic...
Why pay for a center who only has a ceiling as a really good back up? Hes not a starting center.
Because no NBA team is made up entirely of starters, and no players in the NBA would ever play for free.
Hence paying for a back up center is kind of a requirement...
And honestly, if Zeller wanted 8-10 mil or more, I would let him walk.
For $10M I would also let him walk.
For $7M - $8M a year (over 3 -4 years) I'd probably do it, since that's basically a MLE deal with this rising cap. Tyler Zeller on a MLE deal is pretty solid value.
And we don't have any other centers? So what? You would be content with paying a guy 8-10 million and ruin our cap flexibility, who has absolutely no chance of starting on any contending team?
First of all, last I checked we project to have almost NO money committed to players beyond this year. We probably would have been under the apron, forcing us to spend money just for the sake of spending money. Re-signing Jerebko and Crowder may have helped with that, but adding Zeller on a cap-friendly deal certainly won't brake us. We are going to have cap space to burn, and if you can get solid players on solid deals, you do it.
Regardless of whether we manage to secure a big name player next off-season, having a few strong bench players is always nice.
Again I'd be a bit hessitant at $10M, but at $8M it seems like a safe move.
Plus in all fairness, look at what Cleveland were reportedly offering Tristan Thompson...a guy who does nothing well bar rebound. I'd rather pay $10M for Zeller than $17M for Thompson.
Finally, Zeller might have more upside than people think. He has legit size for a center, he can score efficiently around the basket, runs the break well, has a very consistent midrange jumper, is a skilled P&R finisher, gets to the line at a good rate (and shoots a good percentage there), has great hands, is a pretty good passer, and is a solid rebounder, He doesn't have the upside to be a star, but he I wouldn't be surprised to see him develop into a solid starter - especially if he can learn to hold his own on defense.
About the only offensive skill he lacks is three point range, but given his impressive touch from midrange it wouldn't surprise me to see him develop that part of his game as well.
I look at how far he's come from 2013/14 to 2014/15 and I feel like he's really made some big strides in the space of one season. No reason to believe he won't continue to get better as a player.