You're the one who said the 11th pick wasn't good enough.
Did you change your mind?
First round picks are not as valuable as people think they are. For one thing, a first round pick is not anywhere close to being worth a proven veteran.
Which would you rather have - the 3rd pick a year from now, or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? Myself, I'd take Alexander. Perhaps we disagree.
Ah, three seasons, you think. To replace which three players on the current roster, and make the team a contender again? Any suggestions?
What's wrong with starting now to try to rebuild the team into a contender? Why wait three years before even trying? Not that you meant that, but, well.
I think there's no better time than the present.
Also, I think they need more than 3 players. They need to be looking seriously, now, to replace all the following on the roster.
Forbes (lack of defensive ability)
Belinelli (age)
DDR (lack of constructive presence)
Mills (defensive liability)
Gay (age)
LMA (age)
Metu (failure to develop into a useful player)
Eubanks (ditto)
Murray, White, Walker, Lyles, Poeltl, Johnson, Weatherspoon, and Samanic are all worth a longer look, as far as I can tell.
DDR's existing deal is for $27.7 million per. So you want to extend him for, what, three more years at $27.7M per? To trade him. To Orlando.
Are you sure your mind hasn't floated away into the clouds? I have to tell you, that idea looks odd to me. Like, really odd.
Why can't Orlando negotiate their own deal with DDR, if they want him? Did their front office all drop dead from the Wuhan?
That is wrong. I was telling you why the idea of getting picks for Gay is unrealistic. The reason why is basic. He is not worth $14M.
Guys on podcasts shoot the breeze about all kinds of stuff. We know that Gay did not get traded, and it's easy to see why not.
Gay's contract is true, and it says $14M, and he is not worth that.
I keep saying exactly what I keep saying. First round picks are not as valuable as people think they are.
I apparently have to remind you, the Utah-NY thing is your scenario. Not mine.
There is a good free agent available. The Spurs have $60 million in cap space. The 76ers are over the cap by $20 million. Discuss.
My friend, it does matter to the player who wants to make money playing basketball, whether a team can pay him. The pros play for money. That is why they are called pros. It's really that simple.
The Spurs cannot sign free agents if they do not have the money to pay those free agents. That is true, and no amount of talk is going to get around that simple fact of reality.
Your point is...?
I'm still not the one who wants to give DDR a billion $ over the next 30 years. That seems to be you. The smart thing to do about DDR is to let him walk, as soon as he will. Devote the team's time and resources to other matters.