Smart (4,54 mil $, one of the leagues most versatile defenders, poor shooter, can handle but not penetrate)
Bradley (8,81 mil $, elite on-ball defender, complementary scorer, 3&D guard, injury prone)
Thomas (6,26 mil $, primary scorer/creator, gets to the line, defensive liability)
Our great guards keep me/us thinking what will come through once their cheap contracts are up. All are good, all are underpaid and we have to make decisions. While it is emotionally demanding to let some core players go, sometimes it is necessary to improve the team for the long term.
My hope/vision is pretty simple. I want to exchange them with better players that fit their roles while covering their weaknesses and to have them on a long term contract. I am hoping to do it within 1 year from now.
The first one we start with Marcus. It is because we will need to create a max space to sign GH, the best FA of the summer. We almost can't take any salaries back, so maybe a pick in this draft could do it, hopefully in the 12-15 range (2-2,3 mil$) if we include some more goodies, like this year's 2nd rounders (that we already or something similar. I am thinking that
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/OG-Anunoby-93246/ fits his role perfectly. Let's admit it, Marcus is pretty replaceable right now. We don't need his PG skills as we have the trio of IT, Fultz (I imagine) and Rozier to do it. His shooting can't help us and 3 PGs are enough, that is not counting in Demetrius. Smarts defensive versatility is probably the most valuable part of his game, but we could fill that void with other players.
Ok, We signed GH (30 mils $ for the 1st year), with a max or just near the max long term contract. We are all happy and can't wait, but...
We have a good chance that Indy will trade Paul George before he becomes FA. It might happen during the summer, it might happen at the trade deadline. Some teams can make a run with our assets, but will probably fail in the contender box that we check. We package Avery, Zeller and BKN 2018 for Paul George after we get some sort of a guarantee of him coming back. When the season is over, we resign him, as our ownership has no problem with the tax paying.
Smart – Gordon Hayward
Bradley – Paul George
Thomas – On the roster (Fultz)
After the 2017-18 season, we see where IT is healthwise and decide is Fultz ready and good enough. I don't know about you, but I would be pretty happy with this turn of events. Maybe that is the best perspective to take is not as parting with our great guards, but as exchanging them for players universally regarded as better and for long term contracts.
Topic: AB/Smart/IT contracts (Read 558 times)