I'd love to have a legit volume shooter like MPJ on the team but its just not a fit with our current construction.
I'm just not a fan, he is an airhead on offence, constant injury concern and a poor defender that wants the max. Rui would probably settle for MLE money which will be 1/3rd of MPJ's contract.
i've always felt like mpj was super overrated, and nothing that happened last year shifted my thinking at all. he can't defend anyone (and often doesn't try to), he can't drive or pass. he's a big shooter. he's better than rui because he rebounds a little better and can shoot on the move, but he's worth maybe a little more than half his salary, and that's IF he could stay on the floor. reaves is a bona fide three-level scorer who is a better defender than mpj. it's not close for me.
Nets are massive idiots if they are paying Reaves a max deal. At least the Lakers have his bird rights and the only real pain would be a luxury tax situation or one where they possibly can't trade him because his contract looks overpaid but what reason would the Nets have for signing Reaves? He's not in their timeline because Nets aren't competing any time soon and Reaves isn't exactly going to carry them in the playoffs either as a 1st option guy.
The change of the lottery odds may have influence. They can't be that bad and AR makes them better but not enough for the play-in. They also have nothing else to do with their cap space. Then, it's not a crazy to bet that AR can have a similar growth like Brunson had when he got the keys to a franchise. AR played at an all-star level (hell, even at MVP level) earlier this year and the Nets have nothing to lose. I would just be surprised if AR took it though
they sort of don't have a timeline. they just need guys who can play, and reaves can play. and as pika said, we're fresh off watching brunson get a finals mvp. when ny signed brunson, i'd argue he'd shown less than reaves, actually. i can see why a gm would consider reaves a potential nash/brunson pickup. and if all you gamble is cap space when few true superstars EVER hit the market anymore...who cares?
It would make significantly more sense for them to sign guys like Ayo or Peyton, who won't fetch nearly as much as Reaves, and then pump their values and look to trade them for 3-4 1sts or something when those dudes inevitably play lights out. Similar to what OKC did where they essentially just pumped the values and production of their star players and then traded them for picks to rebuild. Can't really pump Reaves value more than what it is, especially at that contract.