NBA News: Offseason

[Shabazz]

I'm very curious to see what we do with Len's extension. If we think he's our center of the future and we can get him for $15M per, I think we have to.

[O_Gardino]

Do you think McCollum could have ever imagined anything like this coming out of college?

He was a lottery pick, so, yeah. I think he was imagining that he would score a bunch of baskets and get a big contract.

[O_Gardino]

I'm very curious to see what we do with Len's extension. If we think he's our center of the future and we can get him for $15M per, I think we have to.

Or if someone else thinks he is their center of the future and we want to trade him.

[OE32]

I suspect we won't extend Alex, in order to preserve cap space next summer.

[Superbone]

Do you think McCollum could have ever imagined anything like this coming out of college?

He was a lottery pick, so, yeah. I think he was imagining that he would score a bunch of baskets and get a big contract.

Yeah, but 26.5 Mil a year?! I agree with your last sentence but he couldn't have imagined that contracts would be that big for his first big pay day after the rookie scale. Besides, the question was rhetorical. The answer is not "yeah."

[Indy]

I suspect we won't extend Alex, in order to preserve cap space next summer.

I will be incredibly surprised if we bail on Alex at the end of his rookie contract without getting something for him.

[Cap]

I suspect we won't extend Alex, in order to preserve cap space next summer.

I will be incredibly surprised if we bail on Alex at the end of his rookie contract without getting something for him.

But I won't be incredibly surprised if we decline to extend his contract, then deal with him as a RFA.

There's some risk involved in that approach, since we don't know what kind of offers he'll get as a RFA and we may end up having to pay a lot to keep him. But there are also some advantages to the approach: giving us another season to evaluate his value, and potentially being able to use our cap room next summer before using the Bird exception to resign him.

[Indy]

I suspect we won't extend Alex, in order to preserve cap space next summer.

I will be incredibly surprised if we bail on Alex at the end of his rookie contract without getting something for him.

But I won't be incredibly surprised if we decline to extend his contract, then deal with him as a RFA.

There's some risk involved in that approach, since we don't know what kind of offers he'll get as a RFA and we may end up having to pay a lot to keep him. But there are also some advantages to the approach: giving us another season to evaluate his value, and potentially being able to use our cap room next summer before using the Bird exception to resign him.

How many top 5 picks has that happened to lately?

[TOO]

I suspect we won't extend Alex, in order to preserve cap space next summer.

Wont he be restricted anyway?

[OE32]

I suspect we won't extend Alex, in order to preserve cap space next summer.

Wont he be restricted anyway?

Precisely. If we extend him, the extension counts against the cap. If we wait until next summer, we can wait to extend him, and only his QO hits our cap (IIRC).

[Sunsfan4life]

Dion Waiters to the Heat for either 1yr 2.9mil 2yrs 6mil. Seeing conflicting reports but either way...

Have fun with that Goran.

[SDC]

Dion Waiters to the Heat for either 1yr 2.9mil 2yrs 6mil. Seeing conflicting reports but either way...

Have fun with that Goran.

2yr, 6mil is nothing. it means dion is expendable. he's low risk, high reward with that contract. lebron called him the next dwyane wade. they both have the same initials too... DW.

[Split T]

Big year for Alex. I'd be hesitant to extend him now, I'd rather wait and see how he does this year. We need to give him the minutes though, 15 minutes off the bench won't cut it. Regardless though, he'll get a big paycheck next summer. If mozgov can get 15 per year, Len should be able to get 15-20.

[Nodack]

Don't players usually perform at the top of their game during a contract year? Big pay days are big incentives.

[pickle]

Sure, but Len's performance thus far, I would say, has not been due to a lack of effort, as you would have with guys like Dalembert.

[O_Gardino]

Do you think McCollum could have ever imagined anything like this coming out of college?

He was a lottery pick, so, yeah. I think he was imagining that he would score a bunch of baskets and get a big contract.

Yeah, but 26.5 Mil a year?! I agree with your last sentence but he couldn't have imagined that contracts would be that big for his first big pay day after the rookie scale. Besides, the question was rhetorical. The answer is not "yeah."

My rhetoric-radar must be off!

[O_Gardino]

I actually think McCollum is an interesting case-study for what TJ Warren might be worth. McCollum has basically only had one year of high production, but his per36 number are fairly consistent across the last two years.

If Warren can do the same thing- keep his production up as his minutes rise - does he get the max?

[ShelC]

Nope.

CJ McCollum is a key piece to what the Blazers are doing and pretty much a cornerstone as a backcourt mate of Lillard. On his own team or with a different PG, might be a different story. But a typical case of him being worth the max to the Blazers but maybe not other teams. I don't think TJ will have that kind of impact, nor should he take up a max slot.

[Mori Chu]

It could also be argued that small-market teams like the Blazers need to keep their incumbent players happy and focus on building a team of ingrown talent. They can't compete for every top FA like the Lakers can.

[OE32]

Big year for Alex. I'd be hesitant to extend him now, I'd rather wait and see how he does this year. We need to give him the minutes though, 15 minutes off the bench won't cut it. Regardless though, he'll get a big paycheck next summer. If mozgov can get 15 per year, Len should be able to get 15-20.

I think Alex's low minutes are likely to continue this season. I've been looking for a team who would be willing to take Tyson on... I haven't found a candidate. I think he's ours. And in a league where true centers rarely play more than 30 minutes per game total for any team, I don't see how both Tyson and Alex get their minutes.