2020-2021 ROSTER TALK: Archived

[ItsGoTime]

We need a legit #2 and #3. There is no point to signing Portis and Batum right now. Those are finishing moves. They are players for teams, who have an established big three. Our best case is that we have a #1 in Luka and a #3 in Porzingis (on a max contract with injury risks always looming). All our focus should be on getting the #2 immediately, or making moves that get us closer to a #2 at the next TDL/summer, which means asset acquisition.

Right now Luka and DFS are the only fixed spots and even next summer, they only account for $42M in total salaries. Everybody else besides Porzingis becomes an expiring contract next summer or is on a rookie deal. So there is enough breathing space under the cap to make major moves. Of course that flexibility goes out of the window, if we start handing out 48/4 to players like Portis and Batum, plus 80/4 to Norman Powell.

I don't agree with the team and situation we are in right now that we need a #2 and #3. We need to walk before we can run. That means we need 5 starters which is what I've been hoping we would do for at least 2 years now. We have 2-3 right now with Luka, KP and DFS who could be a starter or bench player. 

I proposed Jackson, Batum and Portis all as MLE type targets for other teams that if we offer just over that, it takes many teams out of the running for them. That is more money than we would have with all the usual suspects outgoing, so one of them has to be a SnT or we need to find some $2-4M more. 

Honestly, there are so many MLE target names in this year's FA, it doesn't have to be these specific 3 names. I put a list out there quite a few pages back of 14 names of FA players that I wanted 3-5 of based on contract sizes. Found the list:

I think a nice upgraded offseason would be getting 3-5 of the following players with minimal outgoing from the current squad (not in order):

OPJ
Batum
PJ Tucker
RJack
Korkmaz
Holmes
Caruso
THT
McConnell
Theis
Portis
Snell
Graham
JaMychal
Adding to this list: THJ (at a $12-14M starting contract)

I think that is a list of players that most of them are upgrades to the players we have on roster now. Some of them are side grades with better fitting skillsets. Not all of them are MLE type targets (some more, some less), but most of them are which is why I think we can get 3-5 of them with the money we would have. Mix and match based on the salary they require and lose a few of our guys based on the incoming skillsets.

Would love to SnT for some of them with some of the guys we have on roster. JRich, Powell and Burke are top of the list for outgoing in a SnT. Depending on what is incoming, the rest of the roster is available sans Luka and KP IMO. Once we start looking at trades though, we don't have to stick to this list, that list becomes all teams' better for us than you players.