07-01-2021, 09:55 AM
(07-01-2021, 07:02 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I'm probably a charter member of the Holmes fan club (quite possibly the founder). But, I don't think you can just throw away the extra cap room this creates by assuming Atlanta will take back Maxi. Maybe. Or maybe it will take a full on max offer sheet to do this. Or, maybe Atlanta would prefer a $28mm TPE over Maxi and a $19mm TPE. And as you mention, there are players and combos of players that are precluded by spending extra on FA Holmes (who you don't control) vs. grabbing a sure thing while dealing with SA anyway. Plus, that financial difference could hinder us in future years in terms of the apron and trying to sign and trade for a player.
Almost every traditional center in the league gets run off the floor in the playoffs. There is some school of thought Utah should have sat Gobert. But, there are some guys that you just can't stop without a bigger body somewhere on your roster. I think LAC gets this right paying $7mm to Zubac. The article attached is probably a little over the top in its praise for its home town boy. While true that Holmes is better on the perimeter (but not great), Poeltl is the better interior defender.
https://www.poundingtherock.com/2021/3/2...all-impact
A couple of things.
To be clear, I don't really think there is much chance of the Atlanta trade happening at this point. I would be surprised if it does not include Maxi but if not, and we need that cap space, it would be easy to dump Maxi for a pick.
So the Zubac/Poeltl comparison makes a lot of sense. The next question would be who is our small ball center(s)? Do we need to get a 4 to play that roll? I think Maxi would be a great small ball center, but we have seen that he is better with limited minutes. Can Powell play that roll (I'm not a fan)? Do we need to get another 4 that can play that roll? In the future maybe Bey can, but I think he has a way to go. Do we try to sign Batum?
Regardless, I think DeRozan is our most likely big signing, so lets pencil him in with Poeltl. At that point you have close to 30 mil to spend. I suppose there are several candidates at roughly MLE (or less) for another rotational 4 that can play center such as Batum, Ibaka, Milsap, Theis? (not sure if mobile enough). That still gets you close to 20 for your 3&D point of attack defender.
I guess it all comes down to is Holmes versatile enough to not get run off the court for 5 out, but hold his own to some degree against the dominate big men. Maybe a committee makes more sense if not.