06-10-2021, 08:56 AM
I have lost confidence in a KP for-sure trade (was 99/1 like two days ago) but I am back to 50/50 he stays or goes. It's still early, we don't know if there's going to be a market or not. More teams are going to lost in the playoffs and want to make changes which adds to the shuffling of NBA rosters.
KP and his brother are not dumb, they see the headlines. Also the disadvantage of having your brother as an agent is that you have none of the typical agent leverage one would normally have. If KP changes agents to like Schwartz or something then he would gain a lot of leverage. Also remember agents are good about working the media to get positive articles about their guy. Again there is no Rich Paul type agent behind the scenes getting a pro-KP article written. So it's all been bad news.
All that to say KP understands he has very limited ability to force a trade. He is not a Rondo type that would tank his value to get traded. I think if there really is no market (as we are led to believe) then Rick/KP could come to an arrangement this summer to get him more involved in the offense. He still got 16 FGA a game in the regular season so its not like he's not getting shots but I think they could work on getting him better looks in the flow of the offense. Other roster moves could help in this regard. The biggest change is moving KP back to PF. He had a good statistical year so if he can stay healthy, get 'comfortable' looks on offense and regain some agility on defense then he could regain some value.
The other thing is that he is 1 year away from his contract not looking so bad. There is a big 'mental' difference btwn a 3 year contract and a 2 year contract. A 2 year contract is only 1 year away from being an expiring contract. This is what makes even a guy like Kemba tradable. So all is not lost. If Mavs do *have* to keep KP he is still going to be a good player and they will still win games. The biggest thing in my mind is getting a center next to KP that can play defense.
KP and his brother are not dumb, they see the headlines. Also the disadvantage of having your brother as an agent is that you have none of the typical agent leverage one would normally have. If KP changes agents to like Schwartz or something then he would gain a lot of leverage. Also remember agents are good about working the media to get positive articles about their guy. Again there is no Rich Paul type agent behind the scenes getting a pro-KP article written. So it's all been bad news.
All that to say KP understands he has very limited ability to force a trade. He is not a Rondo type that would tank his value to get traded. I think if there really is no market (as we are led to believe) then Rick/KP could come to an arrangement this summer to get him more involved in the offense. He still got 16 FGA a game in the regular season so its not like he's not getting shots but I think they could work on getting him better looks in the flow of the offense. Other roster moves could help in this regard. The biggest change is moving KP back to PF. He had a good statistical year so if he can stay healthy, get 'comfortable' looks on offense and regain some agility on defense then he could regain some value.
The other thing is that he is 1 year away from his contract not looking so bad. There is a big 'mental' difference btwn a 3 year contract and a 2 year contract. A 2 year contract is only 1 year away from being an expiring contract. This is what makes even a guy like Kemba tradable. So all is not lost. If Mavs do *have* to keep KP he is still going to be a good player and they will still win games. The biggest thing in my mind is getting a center next to KP that can play defense.