If Lance Stephenson is worth 7-9 mil, how much for Bradley?

[rondohondo]

Chris Mannix was on the c's pregame show the other day and said he was talking to gm's and they were saying Bradley is worth 7-8 mil a year

[BleedGreen1989]

I still don't think Bradley gets 7-8 million per year. He's not getting a Jeff Green size deal because small for his position and he's a restricted free agent.

Now if he does get an offer sheet in might be in that range only because a team is trying to pry him away in RFA, but honestly I don't see the team with cap space that's going to commit that much money to Bradley.

If someone puts out a ~7 mil per offer sheet for Bradley I think Danny lets him walk.

Agreed.

I'm nervous giving Bradley $5mill per for an extended deal, let alone going into the $8-9mill range.

[indeedproceed]

Chris Mannix was on the c's pregame show the other day and said he was talking to gm's and they were saying Bradley is worth 7-8 mil a year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5j4DIellR4

[More Banners]

If I'm Danny, and thank goodness I'm not, I knock on Stephenson's door with the $10M TPE in my pocket for a 4 x $10M contract. 

The prospect of having Stephenson and Green on the wing with Rondo dishing and Sully and KO gladly moving the ball around is just too pretty in my dreams.

And as 3rd guard in that scenario, I'd probably rather have Crawford than Bradley, honestly.

[Fafnir]

I still don't think Bradley gets 7-8 million per year. He's not getting a Jeff Green size deal because small for his position and he's a restricted free agent.

Now if he does get an offer sheet in might be in that range only because a team is trying to pry him away in RFA, but honestly I don't see the team with cap space that's going to commit that much money to Bradley.

If someone puts out a ~7 mil per offer sheet for Bradley I think Danny lets him walk.

I just don't see what team is going to commit that much to him. That's bigger than the JJ Reddick deal.

[Fafnir]

If I'm Danny, and thank goodness I'm not, I knock on Stephenson's door with the $10M TPE in my pocket for a 4 x $10M contract. 

The prospect of having Stephenson and Green on the wing with Rondo dishing and Sully and KO gladly moving the ball around is just too pretty in my dreams.

And as 3rd guard in that scenario, I'd probably rather have Crawford than Bradley, honestly.

I'd be shocked if the Pacers let him walk, but who knows.

[More Banners]

If I'm Danny, and thank goodness I'm not, I knock on Stephenson's door with the $10M TPE in my pocket for a 4 x $10M contract. 

The prospect of having Stephenson and Green on the wing with Rondo dishing and Sully and KO gladly moving the ball around is just too pretty in my dreams.

And as 3rd guard in that scenario, I'd probably rather have Crawford than Bradley, honestly.

I'd be shocked if the Pacers let him walk, but who knows.

Me too, but how much can they afford?

[obnoxiousmime]

Chris Mannix was on the c's pregame show the other day and said he was talking to gm's and they were saying Bradley is worth 7-8 mil a year

I think the difference is Stephenson has the potential to be the third best player on a contending team while Bradley isn't even a guy you would ever do the "X best player on a contending team" statement with.

I'd definitely be willing to pay 2.5 million more for Stephenson if the character issues are behind him.

[indeedproceed]

If I'm Danny, and thank goodness I'm not, I knock on Stephenson's door with the $10M TPE in my pocket for a 4 x $10M contract. 

The prospect of having Stephenson and Green on the wing with Rondo dishing and Sully and KO gladly moving the ball around is just too pretty in my dreams.

And as 3rd guard in that scenario, I'd probably rather have Crawford than Bradley, honestly.

I'd be shocked if the Pacers let him walk, but who knows.

Me too, but how much can they afford?

I actually think if we keep Rondo, Lance Stephenson is a waste of money.

On of Born Ready's best contributions is his ability to pass the ball as a second primary ball handler. So, you can have a weak pure-point (but talented player) like Westbrook, Lillard, etc.., and Stephenson can makeup for a bit of that deficiency while also filling all the duties of a normal 2.

But with Rondo, we need a guy who knocks down shots, defends, and will work to get open. We don't need another high-level passer necessarily, and we especially don't need to over pay for a skill we don't need.

[More Banners]

Chris Mannix was on the c's pregame show the other day and said he was talking to gm's and they were saying Bradley is worth 7-8 mil a year

I think the difference is Stephenson has the potential to be the third best player on a contending team while Bradley isn't even a guy you would ever do the "X best player on a contending team" statement with.

I'd definitely be willing to pay 2.5 million more for Stephenson if the character issues are behind him.

The thing with Bradley is that it comes down to who the buyers are. 

If teams can pretty much only use the MLE or MMLE on him, barring  a S&T, and he's not the piece a not-there team would splurge on, his salary ceiling is pretty much capped at $3-5M.

With Stephenson, teams will be looking for someone to fill a bigger role.  The question becomes how close can he get to the max, or at least a better-sounding $10+M deal (so he can say '8 figures').  There seem to be quite a few sucky teams that might compete for him, raising his price, with Indiana looking to keep him, most likely.

Stephenson, I think, has closer talent and mentality.

We have a spot for him to fill for sure.  Perhaps having him would allow us to more easily keep Bradley as 3rd guard over Crawford.  That would probably be ideal as having the best 1-2-3 guard talent we're likely to come up with any time soon, and with legit contender possibility.

[Moranis]

I can't see giving Bradley or Stephenson that sort of money on this team.  As such, I would try to trade Bradley during the season for someone I think makes more sense long term.

Maybe something like this:

Waiters, Bennett, Bynum, Jack

for

Green, Lee, Bass, Bradley, Bogans

Boston upgrades (imo) at SG with Waiters, gets a real PG in Jack (to start now and be the third guard when Rondo is back), and takes flyers on Bynum and Bennett.  Losing Green is tough, but given the rest of the trade I think it would be worth it.

I don't think much of Waiters or Bennett so I wouldn't want to do this deal. Waiters has played a lot worse than Bradley this year and is only a year younger.

Bennett is looking like a a complete bust right now, a tweener who is out of shape and has health issues hurting his attempts to get fit.

A lot worse?  Waiters is scoring more on the same attempts in less minutes.  He is a much better passer than Bradley, though Bradley is clearly a better defender.  Waiters is in a worse situation with ball hogs and terrible attitudes and what seems to be far worse coaching.  He is a year younger with better size and a much better contract situation.  I think Waiters could be a legit scorer something I don't see in Bradley, and I believe that is a harder trait to fill than what Bradley brings.

Bennett has been playing better of late.  He clearly got off to a rough start, but he actually hasn't been horrible.  Still never should have been the 1st pick in the draft, but he is at least looking like a NBA player of late, and with his clear talent and athleticism I think he is worth a flyer.  Same thing with Bynum, worth a risk I think and I've always liked Jack and think he would be a very solid player for Boston.

[Moranis]

If I'm Danny, and thank goodness I'm not, I knock on Stephenson's door with the $10M TPE in my pocket for a 4 x $10M contract. 

The prospect of having Stephenson and Green on the wing with Rondo dishing and Sully and KO gladly moving the ball around is just too pretty in my dreams.

And as 3rd guard in that scenario, I'd probably rather have Crawford than Bradley, honestly.

I'd be shocked if the Pacers let him walk, but who knows.

Me too, but how much can they afford?

Granger and Stephenson make 15 million this year, so I would say they could easily afford 15 million between those two positions next year, leaving plenty of money for Stephenson and whomever they get to replace Granger (or just Granger on a much cheaper deal).

[indeedproceed]

If I'm Danny, and thank goodness I'm not, I knock on Stephenson's door with the $10M TPE in my pocket for a 4 x $10M contract. 

The prospect of having Stephenson and Green on the wing with Rondo dishing and Sully and KO gladly moving the ball around is just too pretty in my dreams.

And as 3rd guard in that scenario, I'd probably rather have Crawford than Bradley, honestly.

I'd be shocked if the Pacers let him walk, but who knows.

Me too, but how much can they afford?

Granger and Stephenson make 15 million this year, so I would say they could easily afford 15 million between those two positions next year, leaving plenty of money for Stephenson and whomever they get to replace Granger (or just Granger on a much cheaper deal).

Dont forget that Granger is expiring, I doubt they bring him back.

However, they extended Paul George to a max extension, so that also complicates things. They really can't afford to over-pay Stephenson. They need to get this one right.

[Who]

$3-4 million for Bradley

[obnoxiousmime]

If I'm Danny, and thank goodness I'm not, I knock on Stephenson's door with the $10M TPE in my pocket for a 4 x $10M contract. 

The prospect of having Stephenson and Green on the wing with Rondo dishing and Sully and KO gladly moving the ball around is just too pretty in my dreams.

And as 3rd guard in that scenario, I'd probably rather have Crawford than Bradley, honestly.

I'd be shocked if the Pacers let him walk, but who knows.

Projected luxury tax threshold is 75.7 million next season. Pacers are at 65.7 guaranteed according to Hoopshype. However, I've seen differing estimates about just how much guaranteed salary the Pacers are on the books for.

For example (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1849707-nba-teams-who-should-poach-lance-stephenson-away-from-indiana-pacers):

The Pacers will have about $67 million on the books (so long as Luis Scola's $4.8 million dollar deal becomes guaranteed) before factoring in Stephenson. The projected luxury tax line is $75.7 million, so if the Pacers want to stay under that line (and they do), Stephenson can be offered a deal starting at around $8 million next year.

There's a strong chance that number may be reduced, however. If Paul George makes the All-NBA team like he did last year, he'll be eligible for a $3 million dollar salary bump next year, which would cut the amount Indiana could offer Stephenson to about $5 million.