Salmons is a pretty good player, but I don't think he's worth more than the MLE.
I agree. He is inconsistent, and I think just a bit overrated. I honestly don't know if he is a significantly better player than Tony Allen (the funny thing is I used to make this argument as a knock on Salmons, but now it shows how far Tony has come).
I do think he would be stupid not to opt out though, given the CBA. I think he will opt out, and sign with some bad team for the MLE, and will end up disappearing into obscurity.
What will be really interesting for the Bucks will be what they do with Redd. That is a valuable expiring contract, particularly since if he plays, he should be productive, and otherwise, there is a good chance it is covered by insurance.
If there are teams looking to get rid of contracts this summer, that could be very valuable.