2021-2022 AROUND the NBA: GSW Champs [ARCHIVED]

[DanSchwartzgan]

This is why I said paying Gobert that money was a mistake. You just can't pay a center max money unless what they give you on BOTH offense and interior D is so good that it's worth the hit on perimeter D. That's Jokic, Embiid, and probably Towns.

Gobert is one of the names I'm keeping an eye on for this summer.  He's a salary match for THJ + Powell.  That contract is daunting, but it might play a role in holding down the outgoing compensation needed in terms of picks.  There is a chance things get ugly in Utah come playoff time.  It would be opportunistic.  It would also be VERY expensive.

It is kind of easy to project Gobert here as being better than Gobert there.  He's just a much better version of Powell at both ends.  One difference between Gobert being able to stay on the floor here versus in Utah is Dallas just has better defenders.  We can go small if absolutely necessary and still hold our own better than Utah can.  The question isn't whether Gobert can guard the perimeter when a team goes small.  The question is whether his team can punish the opponent who tries it.  Gobert has a massively positive impact on winning when he's on the floor.  There are very few players like him.  

I listened to Stein's latest green room yesterday.  He made an interesting point about Dinwiddie (next season) and Bertans (the season after that).  He pointed to Bledsoe as a "quasi-expiring" deal (Hollinger's term).  Portland turned Bledsoe into Norman Powell because money could be saved in the trade spread in the current season and the next season based on the spread between the non-guaranteed amount and than the ongoing salary of the player being traded for.  The best time to use this technique is at the TDL.