11-30-2021, 09:17 AM
(11-29-2021, 07:02 PM)cow Wrote: Caruso is my litmus test for the contract and I wouldn't pay Jalen more than him. Jalen's a better scorer, Caruso has a better all-around game and doesn't come with the same athletic limitations. MBT have had a really bad habit of overpaying rotational guys (Powell, WCS, Bullock) and they need to buck that trend.
Brunson is in a completely different league than your rotational examples (Powell, WCS, Bullock). I agree all of those guys are overpaid, and you can make the argument that THJ is overpaid, but he is a better comparison to Brunson than those guys.
Caruso is an interesting comp. He is the opposite of Brunson in that he is a net negative on the court offensively but very good defensively. I would have been happy to pay him the MLE (made more sense than Bullock). I'm not sure that Caruso has a better overall game. Brunson is a better scorer, self creator, distributor and rebounder. The only thing Caruso is better at is defense. And the reality is this league pays for offense more than defense.