I wonder if all the people trashing getting Evans or Gallo trashed getting IT last year as he isn't a "superstar." But he's still very good and better than anything else we have.
Right now it seems like we are building a team like the Hawks last year - no superstar but a great a around team - at least until a star becomes available.
I personally would rather add Evans or Gallo which would greatly make our team better.
That's the point though. You want to add guys who make us more like the Hawks, and tie up cap room with medicore guys that are never going to be stars.
You can't compare IT to Gallo or Tyreke because of his awesome salary. Would anyone want IT if he were being paid $15 million a year or 18 million a year? Hell no. He's a bargain. Tyreke and Gallo are not. They're good, but not great players, and we are overloaded at every position with guys like this right now.
I agree with the IT salary part. That was the icing on top. We also have Crowder and Bradley at team-friendly deals. But we gotta keep in mind the cap is rising and we don't want to be like the 76ers and not be spending money. This doesn't mean to spend it terribly either. BUT I think Evans is worth the money and so is Gallo - based on the new salary cap. Even with one of them we would still have money to add two max players.
Well it's a difference of opinion then. I understand your frustration, I feel it too. We need some boss's on this team. Some leaders of an All Star caliber.
To be honest, the only realistic targets that will realistically be available soon, will be:
Harrison Barnes
DeRozan
Dwight Howard
Barnes is my favorite of all three of them. He can switch with Crowder in the 3/4 small ball line up and is 23 years old. He needs a bigger role and his shooting will help our stretch offense.
Derozan does what Barnes doesn't, and vice versa. He gets to the hole and free throw line, while Barnes is only starting to add this to his game. We are bottom 10 in the NBA in efficiency. Derozan's 8-9 free throws a game would really help us move into the top 10-12.
They are both efficient scorers, and while Derozan is a genuine 'closer', which is what we need, Barnes requires less usage to get his efficient points.
Howard is our best shot at a top 10 big man and he' missed a lot of time in Houston with that back injury. He'd be a massive upgrade over Amir Johnson on both ends though, and would only require about 10 million more per season.
But yeah, to answer your original topic question, I think Harrison Barnes will be our number one target. Danny Ainge loves him. He tried to trade for him twice, including when he he tried to trade Paul Pierce for Barnes. I think Ainge is going to throw the bottom level max at Barnes, which will be $21 million. It sounds huge but the cap is going to rise to $107 million by 2017-18 so he'd be less than the 20% of the total cap with room for 2 more max guys.
