Dorian Finney-Smith Discussion: Gone To H-Town

hmmm...i read that as maybe we're worried he picks up the option?

and as much as i like DFS, him walking isn't as devastating as many other things because i think it opens the door for received S&T/full mle scenarios.

first apron is 195, and i think without DFS's salary, we're at 176ish?

so while my hope is that DFS just signs a 3/40 extension or something, i don't know that i'd want to jump off a bridge if he walked.

as i said before we traded for him, he's been trending down (basically since he left dallas) and isn't getting younger.

all that said, i think he's luka's guy, and we'll keep him.

 

Hah, I was thinking 3 year, $40 as well.

That's good value for him and just about what we need.

Also, a horrible impression to trade Luka's buddy away before he signs an extension.

Even then, there's not many 3/D wings in the open market so he's one of the better options.

 

Coming off the Bron's thread...we may be holding onto extending DFS in case Bron opts in too, so we get max cap space next year. I would probably still re-sign DFS even if Bron walks, but would have to see the numbers to confirm if DFS salary considerably hinders our flexibility next year if Bron walks

 

The more I think about it, would it really be so bad to let DFS go if we were able to say...split the full MLE between Capela and Lopez? Or use it all on NAW? Neither of those suggestions may be realistic, but it creates options to fill multiple holes. It won't break my heart to not keep a 32 year old DFS for 3 years around $13-14M per which is what I'm guessing he's looking for.

 

Does this give us a new and better plans A and B …. first with say NAW or that surprise “center” Pelinka may be scheming to try to woo here (both) of them to play with Luka, LeBron and Lakers under new winner type alpha ownership … and 2nd now with DFS allowed to see if he can get better elsewhere and then see if Lakers want to match?

 

Koloko isn't surprise he's already somewhere in El Segundo

 

Quinn is correct, but if you can use the full MLE to shore up the Center position with 2 guys, then you keep all your remaining trade assets to use on a wing.

 

He was THE difference in the season and acquiring him turned the defense into the top defense we saw on the back side of the season.

Shocking how soon people forgot this and are willing to flush him.

There is not an available upgrade on the market. If there was, that's a different conversation. If we replace his role via trade and use the NTPMLE elsewhere, also different conversation. But letting him walk in this market... not great.

 

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So, sounds like we want him back but it's a matter of meeting on a price and years.

Gap has to be notable otherwise the reporting through this would be different.

 

i haven't said i'd be happy for him to walk. just that i can imagine scenarios wherein he walks, and we're not devastated.

and man, if someone gives him the full 4 year mle...i just don't think i match that.

yeah, sounds to me like his agent was trying to squeeze us for something at or above the full mle for 3-4 years, and we were like...yeah i don't know about that...

guessing our offer was two years, close to his current salary, with a team option on the third. agent said screw you guys, memphis will give us 4 year mle. and now it's a bit of a game of chicken.

anyway, this isn't like caruso. DFS is much older and has been declining already. you don't want to be on the hook when he's 35, imo.

 

Theoretically I can too, but not in this market. A lot has to break our way and so far nothing has this summer except on draft night.

I wouldn't give him 4, either. I think we're probably at 2 years for x price. They're at 4 for y price. Hopeful we meet at 3 years for z price. For him to opt out after surgery tells me they have interest already and just how weak this market is. I can see one of the teams going after NAW miss out and pivot to DFS.

With today's roster, we need him more than he needs us. That's a position I never like to find ourselves in.

I just am taken aback by the general discourse once he opted out -- not just here... twitter is (always) worse. Free agency grass is greener, but this free agency is like concrete with grass blades popping up in sporadic cracks.

 

I feel like a team will have to give him a bonkers offer for him to walk—or we’d have to have damaged the relationship beyond repair in initial talks.

right now I’m thinking it’s a bit like that time Odom threatened to take less money from Miami, but still ended up here.

edit: btw, tying the lebron thread and this thread together--does anyone think we might have just offered DFS one year? maybe at a higher salary than his current one?

i just feel like the "they're trying to build for the luka future but i want to compete now" stuff is coming from somewhere. and maybe it's just that we didn't offer lebron a 1+1 at the max and that was it. but it could be that it's clear we're trying to be as flexible as possible next summer.

that said, i don't know for sure that i favor this route. the prime target here would be JJJ, for whom memphis is supposedly trying to reconfigure their whole cap situation to avoid him walking.

but it's also the last year reaves will be cheap, so the FO may be eyeing it as a re-tooling point. i don't know; just trying to understand what's happening. we'll hear all about it in a couple weeks i'm sure.

 

Damn

 

how does houston have the money?

edit: oh, the waived landale gave them just enough for full MLE.

we'll see what rob has up his sleeve. it's not like we couldn't have known that DFS might have an MLE market.

 

This would make a lot of sense.

Theoretically, Jokic could force a trade next summer. He would be 1 year away from a PO or walking. With LeBron coming off the books, Lakers could threaten to clear more space and just sign Jokic the following year and Denver gets nothing. I know, extremely unlikely, but still, there is a remote possibility that Jokic and Lakers could force a trade in 1 year. We wouldn't have enough assets for a normal Jokic trade, but we would have 2 FRP's, and if Jokic forced it hard enough, it could theoretically be a low enough price that the Lakers could meet. Unlikely, but you never know - it's probably less unlikely than getting Luka was in the first place.