I agree that we need another starter, and that that starter should be a guard. What player would best fit our team? Jrue Holiday. Somebody that can defend the point of attack, handle the ball, pass, and shoot.
But, we're not getting Jrue Holiday, and I don't think there's a single player that fills all of those buckets.
https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/available/_/year/2026
There are a few guys that at one time would have been a good fit, but most of them are on the downside of their career. I put Beal in that category.
The best FA option I can think of that may be available for the Full MLE is Collin Sexton. I think he'd be interesting. We wouldn't have a ton of money to upgrade up front if we used the MLE, though, and still wanted to stay under the tax.
The guy we should go after is Christian Braun. The Nuggets are deep into the tax. Hauser makes half the salary and would be a good fit for them with all the open looks Jokić can create for him. Trading out Hauser for Braun, using the TPE, keeps us under the tax. Braun is more of a secondary ball-handler than a primary one, but I still think he checks the boxes as another option to make things happen with the ball when things start to break down.
The biggest risk with Braun is he is coming off an awful year shooting (under 31% from 3), but he missed a lot of time with injuries and was still playing through it when he returned. He was a 38% 3-point shooter for his career entering the season on nearly 500 attempts, so I am going to chalk this one up as an anomaly. It is a noteworthy risk for someone about to start his 5-year extension, however.
But the Nuggets just had an even more disappointing finish to the season than we did, and are over $12 million into the tax with 10 players on the roster. Someone is getting moved, and Braun feels like a candidate to be shipped out.
I'd stay away from Braun, I worry that Jokic elevates roles players by being such an elite offensive hub. Braun is due to make 21+mill next season and I do not think its unreasonable to say he may be on the same level of a player as Schierman.
Yeah, he signed for something like 5 years, $125 million, right?
Denver fans weren't impressed by his shooting, defense or effort this past year. It's hard to tell how much of that is due to injuries.
My feel is that it was a lot more of the injury than they give him credit for. He tore some ligaments in his left ankle and came back too early (6 weeks), played a few games, and then had to miss another 3 weeks after that. And then in his second game back after missing effectively 3 months, he played 43 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back. The Nuggets were missing a ton of players and struggling, and I think Braun was rushed back and overplayed because of this. As a result, his production and energy both suffered. To his credit, he played through it and did not miss another game until sitting out the last two of the season to rest for the playoffs, but he was done no favors.
Christian Braun just turned 25. He was in the rotation of a championship team as a rookie, and a starter for a contender in his 3rd year. He is coming off a dud of a season, no doubt, but that is why he is a buy-low option. His salary is not a Payton Pritchard bargain, but it is also not awful. He could very easily outplay his contract. I think he will be moved for a price we could pay, and if we are not the ones to get him, I expect us to rue that decision.
Also, regardless of who we get, I think all of our best options involve trading Hauser and using that salary reduction to get more out of the Simons TPE. He is good but we have enough other guys at his position that we should trade him for a true starter. That could be the Braun deal as I have proposed, or sending him out in a sign-and-trade for a restricted free agent like Tari Eason, Peyton Watson, Walker Kessler, or Mark Williams. We have about $13 million to use on one player while staying under the tax. If we trade Hauser while acquiring that player, we now have about $24 million to spend, which moves us to a very different tier of player.
Topic: Hypothetical Offseason / Mostly questions that im pondering (Read 2700 times)