Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

I'm okay if we go with Batum over Barnes. I still like Barnes more for the fit, but at least Batum is more with what I believe we need going forward then going with Demar would bring.

 

We'd be signing him to a max contract and 5 years and I agree with you that signing a player to that money and length of deal better be able to help us if and when we get back into the playoffs. I'm not convinced he can do that for us yet.

I am glad Demar is still playing so we can get more time to watch him.

 

You are! Maybe dismissive? Basically the same thing: you're dismissing the draft class as if they're all a bunch of stiffs and I don't agree. I think those names are every bit as valuable as Barnes if not more in some cases. Barnes would be lucky to be as impactful as Gordon at this point.

I don't think I'm overrating or underrating anyone. I think all of those guys probably will get the max regardless of their actual values. I like Millsap and Hayward as guys who will "fill the gaps" by making the right plays at the right time even if they're not able to carry a team themselves. Barnes has similar ceiling potential, but has shown so little over four years it's just hard to say whether he'll reach where those two are even now. DeRozan is probably the only one of those four who has proven he can carry the team in high leverage situations, but he's got some serious holes in his game. All four will undoubtedly get the max, but 21 million is definitely overpaying for potential.

I've actually been one of Barnes' biggest supporters all season long. I like him a lot. I think he's got all the right tools, but I don't know if he's got it all together in his head or not. Is he the kind of guy who will certainly step up when the occasion calls for it? He hasn't shown that yet. Part of that could be because he's on a team so great he doesn't need to or it could be that he's just never going to be that guy. If we pay him 21 million dollars, we desperately need him to take that next step and I'm just not sure anymore whether or not he will. One or two standout games in the playoffs can help regain my confidence in him.

I never said that at all! All I said was he's proven this season he's not worth a max contract. He'll probably get one (maybe even from us) but he's proven he's not worth 21 million dollars. He and Whiteside had similar needs to prove themselves this season and Whiteside has proven he IS worth a max while Barnes has done more of the same. Harrison's numbers every year since his rookie season are almost identical. He's improved markedly in only two areas: three point percentage and assist to turnover ratio. In fact he was better statistically last season than this one. Again: I like him, just not for the max. Ideally we should be able to get him away from Golden State for less than that.

I'm with ya. I hope so. This season though with Andre Iguodala missing a good chunk of games Harrison wasn't able to establish himself. I was waiting for him to have a breakout moment, but it never really happened. He's still a multi-talented kid, but I wonder if he has an aggressive enough mindset to earn that kind of payday. He's a good rebounder, defender, athlete, and he can shoot a bit but does he have the mentality of a max contract player? He hasn't even shown Gordon Hayward level aggression on a consistent basis.

I don't want to roll over space though. I want good value guys on good contracts. If you can get Noah for 3/27 million that's a great deal in the new CBA. Or maybe instead the Lakers go with something like 2/28 million with an out next summer so he can go get a long-term deal worth more cash and the Lakers preserve enough cap space to go after another big FA next summer. I expect Mitch to be creative this summer with deals a lot like he did with Lou's which is a great contract. We can't afford too many Hibberts (although I expect probably one so we can preserve enough space for Westbrook next season). First step is getting that pick though. I think that pick gets us Butler if we want him badly enough. That pick is a great way for this summer's rebuild to step it up a notch. Otherwise we're in a much tougher spot.

I understand what you're saying and I'm saying it'll take more effort than that. Mitch Kupchak is a good GM and he deserves credit for his successes as much as his failures. I know we've been skating through summers, but I think that's in large part due to a number of factors that Mitch couldn't control at the time. The team was obviously built around Kobe retiring and that lead to de facto tank jobs. I think Mitch hedged his bet knowing that the team was going to be really bad having to build around Kobe and his enormous contract. Now that the albatross around the neck is gone, I see a lot more creativity in the summer although we should probably expect some form of Hibbert-ing this summer if/when we miss on a couple free agents. As hard as it is to sell FAs on a rebuild, it was even harder to sell them on feux-competitiveness. Now with the right combination of players we'll be ACTUALLY competitive on most nights especially with a new coach.

I guess I'm just a little more optimistic on that front. I fully understand that many players will get maxed out that won't deserve it, but I think a prudent team can have a great summer. While we miss out on Durant, we still have so much cap space that we can keep working other angles too. I have faith we'll figure something out. Heck, we might be the lucky ducks that get one or even two of the actual "max" level guys out there. I think we will be.

 

Pincus backing up the fact that the Lakers were fine to de facto tank missing out on the Isaiah Thomases of the world the last couple years... He didn't say it, but I think that mentality changes now with Kobe gone and Walton in as the coach.

 

Also some more Magic gold:

 

@Earvin Magic Johnson

We agree but:

 

Actually he's not an owner anymore (sold his shares to Patrick) and he's not on the official payroll so it's not technically tampering!

 

Hm. It could be an honorary position with no monetary benefits?


edit- Darius Soriano brought up the same point to Pincus:

 

I'll have to listen to them this afternoon, but honestly I kind of figured something like this is going on. The confidence they've shown the last week with Luke (and conversely, Luke's confidence in THEM) show me they've got something brewing. There's more than meets the eye here.

That FA could be someone low on the totem like Deng or Noah or it could be something great like Whiteside or Horford... We'll just have to wait and see.

I do have a growing confidence that good things are coming though.