i know im likely going to get ripped for this, but if we had CP3 instead of Rondo, our team would be significantly better. we wont lose much on D and we'd gain so much more on offense.
In 08-09 CP3 put up 23/6/11 and had a PER of 30. Last year he put up 16/4/10 with a PER of 23.7. While you can't believe everything you read on the internet there are questions about whether he's going to regain all of his explosiveness or not. Make sure you know what you're getting if you trade for him.
16/4/10 with a PER of 23.7 is still better then Rondo.
If he picks up his player option, you're gonna have to pay Paul 34 million dollars over the next two seasons. You'll only have to pay Rondo 33 million over the next three.
I'd agree you don't hold onto Rondo just because he's a bargain, but the Chris Paul of this past regular and post-season is not worth that kind of money, especially given that more restrictive salary rules are almost a certainty.
Mike
Nobody won a title because their player was "a bargain"
Paul is worth that type of money.
I'd say that teams have been able to build championship teams through good management of the cap, and other teams knock themselves out of the running for a number of years through not having "bargains".
I would rephrase it a little. I would say that for most teams to take advantage of their opportunities to become championship teams, they needed to manage the cap well.
I don't think managing the cap is nearly enough. You need to be able to identify the right players, and make the right moves at the right times...and get lucky.
But I have seen plenty of teams ruin opportunities by not properly managing the cap...
Paul gets paid 17m/yr and he's top talent, arguably the best PG in the league and definitely in the top 3. mismanaging the cap is one thing, but paying CP3 franchise player money 17m is not an example of that. and if we have the Big 3 (and had CP3 last year and the two years before that), it wouldn't matter what his salary was. Even if he was getting paid the MLE, we'd still be over the cap.
and besides, if CP3 doesnt pick up the player option and chooses to restructure his contract after this coming season to sign an extension, we still have a chance of signing DH12 as an FA (because won't we have CP3's bird rights or something?). someone's going to have to verify this theory.
Oh, I agree. It is never a mistake to pay a legit star like Paul max money.
However, the Hornets are a great example of a team who have not managed the cap well, and because of that have done a lot to squander Paul's abilities.
They have consistently overspent on role players, and then, when they realized they couldn't afford them, have had to dump quality players, and have not been able to get the kind of guys to put them over the top.
Overpaying guys like Chris Paul is not what puts teams in trouble. It is overpaying guys like James Posey...particularly if your owner is not willing to/unable to afford to pay the luxury tax.