Neurosis
05-14-2016, 08:26 AM
First off, don't take this as me hating on Parker. This is just my assesment of his worth to the team relative to the size of his contract. With that out of the way:
Parker does nothing on offense that we couldn't get for about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the price from another PG in this league, and there's better defenders at the PG spot who earn 1/10th of what he gets per year.
That's not to say we had a realistic shot at obtaining them at the time we signed Parker, but it's an indisputable fact that Parker's contract is absolutely terrible value. He's earning $13.5mil this year, while Jeremy Lin is getting $2.1mil. Think about the extra room you've got to acquire better pieces if you make that move and don't make decisions based on, "history". For the output we've gotten out of Ginobili and Duncan, it's hard to say they're getting charity pay for their historical contributions to the Spurs (which are way more than Parker anyway).
Not only did they do more in their primes, they did more in the last two seasons - all while getting paid less than Parker. He's absolute shit value for us and it's pretty much keeping us limping to keep him here on that contract. Considering that we have some really good pieces NOW in LMA/Kawhi and the value we've got on the supporting cast around them (DWest is an absolute bargain and whatever drawbacks he has, his contract is awesome value) we should be doing everything we can to model ourselves into a competitive unit. We've got serious issues at multiple positions that can be alleviated by not having that shit Parker contract.
Also people can say what they want about the 'benefit of his leadership' but it's really nothing compared to TD and Manu. TD is a top5 all time player and Manu is literally a basketball visionary and unbelievable competitor. They offer incredible intangibles to the team. Parker doesn't. He's been around a long time - so what? There's lots of veterans out there, he's not unique in that regard. Parker always served a niche, he had great speed, quickness, a great finisher at the rim and a good mid-range J off the dribble if given space. He played within that mold and he had the physical ability to use that combination of traits to play efficient, winning basketball on a consistent, night-in, night-out basis. He no longer possesses all these qualities to a level where he can ever be relied upon, and he has no quality that he can fall back upon when he's not doing those things consistently.
If Parker isn't scoring lay-ups, hitting open jumpshots and finishing floaters in the lane - he's completely useless to the team. If he loses half a step (which he has) and that floater which used to just outreach the finger tips of shot blockers is now getting blocked the opponent starts getting fast-breaks off Parker-drives instead of us scoring 2points. He used to often drive inside, put up a floater and then careen into the baseline cameramen as the ball dropped neatly through the net for 2. It was pretty to watch and don't get me wrong - I was a big Parker fan in those days because despite his lack of Defense, he was a net positive for the team. Now he more often gets the shot blocked, or because he's lost half a step he often adjusts the angle of his shot to either get it off quicker or arc it higher, and a lot of his floaters rim out and the way he careens into the baseline just looks pathetic when he misses.
If he was being paid $5mil to come off the bench - no sweat. He's worth that and he's a great tool to keep teams honest. Scrubs can't guard Parker because he still has the skillset to punish bad defense, he forces opposing teams to keep a defender with good footspeed on the floor, or decent length to bother his shots. He's been beating up on any team that doesn't give him at least that respect all year, and that's fine in my book.
However $14mil next season is just too much to ask. For the sake of the team, he really should get traded. We have too many gaps to shore up to keep this poor-value contract on the squad. Honestly I don't blame Parker for this either, he does what he can with the abilities he has. It's not his fault that his worth to the team was grossly over-estimated by the FO. I wish he was on a lesser contract because I wish we could use him as a talented niche player on the team. As it is we can't - because the contract he's on is totally absurd for his output.
Sad to say but Parker's gotta go.
Parker does nothing on offense that we couldn't get for about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the price from another PG in this league, and there's better defenders at the PG spot who earn 1/10th of what he gets per year.
That's not to say we had a realistic shot at obtaining them at the time we signed Parker, but it's an indisputable fact that Parker's contract is absolutely terrible value. He's earning $13.5mil this year, while Jeremy Lin is getting $2.1mil. Think about the extra room you've got to acquire better pieces if you make that move and don't make decisions based on, "history". For the output we've gotten out of Ginobili and Duncan, it's hard to say they're getting charity pay for their historical contributions to the Spurs (which are way more than Parker anyway).
Not only did they do more in their primes, they did more in the last two seasons - all while getting paid less than Parker. He's absolute shit value for us and it's pretty much keeping us limping to keep him here on that contract. Considering that we have some really good pieces NOW in LMA/Kawhi and the value we've got on the supporting cast around them (DWest is an absolute bargain and whatever drawbacks he has, his contract is awesome value) we should be doing everything we can to model ourselves into a competitive unit. We've got serious issues at multiple positions that can be alleviated by not having that shit Parker contract.
Also people can say what they want about the 'benefit of his leadership' but it's really nothing compared to TD and Manu. TD is a top5 all time player and Manu is literally a basketball visionary and unbelievable competitor. They offer incredible intangibles to the team. Parker doesn't. He's been around a long time - so what? There's lots of veterans out there, he's not unique in that regard. Parker always served a niche, he had great speed, quickness, a great finisher at the rim and a good mid-range J off the dribble if given space. He played within that mold and he had the physical ability to use that combination of traits to play efficient, winning basketball on a consistent, night-in, night-out basis. He no longer possesses all these qualities to a level where he can ever be relied upon, and he has no quality that he can fall back upon when he's not doing those things consistently.
If Parker isn't scoring lay-ups, hitting open jumpshots and finishing floaters in the lane - he's completely useless to the team. If he loses half a step (which he has) and that floater which used to just outreach the finger tips of shot blockers is now getting blocked the opponent starts getting fast-breaks off Parker-drives instead of us scoring 2points. He used to often drive inside, put up a floater and then careen into the baseline cameramen as the ball dropped neatly through the net for 2. It was pretty to watch and don't get me wrong - I was a big Parker fan in those days because despite his lack of Defense, he was a net positive for the team. Now he more often gets the shot blocked, or because he's lost half a step he often adjusts the angle of his shot to either get it off quicker or arc it higher, and a lot of his floaters rim out and the way he careens into the baseline just looks pathetic when he misses.
If he was being paid $5mil to come off the bench - no sweat. He's worth that and he's a great tool to keep teams honest. Scrubs can't guard Parker because he still has the skillset to punish bad defense, he forces opposing teams to keep a defender with good footspeed on the floor, or decent length to bother his shots. He's been beating up on any team that doesn't give him at least that respect all year, and that's fine in my book.
However $14mil next season is just too much to ask. For the sake of the team, he really should get traded. We have too many gaps to shore up to keep this poor-value contract on the squad. Honestly I don't blame Parker for this either, he does what he can with the abilities he has. It's not his fault that his worth to the team was grossly over-estimated by the FO. I wish he was on a lesser contract because I wish we could use him as a talented niche player on the team. As it is we can't - because the contract he's on is totally absurd for his output.
Sad to say but Parker's gotta go.