2020-2021 ROSTER TALK: Archived

[BasketballJones41]

Seriously is nobody worried about Batum at all?

His best seasons always seem to be contract years or the year immediately after (as a justification), then his performances fall off badly. You really trust him at age 33 to keep up his defensive intensity in two years (physically and mentally)? That he will outperform his contract (full MLE). I can easily see this contract go bad in 18 months. If we are not a legit contender like the Clippers do you think Batum would fight as hard on defense (at age 35) as a younger player, who is still looking for his next big payday? That´s before we even get into arguments about natural physical decline.

I´d feel a lot more confident that Markkanen lives up to his potential contract than Batum.

Also he´s averaging 8/5/2, instead of 4/4/3. Not sure he should get the tossed around MLE money at age 33. It´s not like he is suddenly setting the world on fire. We presumably have to pay DFS in 12 months, too.

Even if my Markkanen pipe dream doesn’t happen I’m still not all that interested in guys like Batum. At 35 he provides absolutely no upward mobility for the team. If you sign him and it doesn’t work out he’s going to have very little trade value. I’d rather sign a young guy who has a chance at rebuilding himself here and becoming an asset.