The Andrea Bargnani comp comes from someone claiming Markkanen is like Dirk Nowitzki. I said, quite correctly, that he's far closer to Bargnani than he ever would be, in any conceivable universe, to Dirk Nowitzki.
He's not terrible. He's hardly a star who deserves a max contract. Really, the person who's making the tank impossible is Will Hardy.
The Andrea Bargnani comp comes from someone claiming Markkanen is like Dirk Nowitzki. I said, quite correctly, that he's far closer to Bargnani than he ever would be, in any conceivable universe, to Dirk Nowitzki.
I agree to a certain extend that his stats have been a bit inflated by the system and the coach but his profile is really unique in the league and his real value comes from the matchup nightmare he can create. As much in SA than in GS tbh
With the new Tv deal and if PATFO manages to bulk his first years he's 100% worth it imo, even with a lesser production.
The more I think about it the more I don't want to miss this opportunity, he's perfect next to Vic, not a huge ego, perfect Spur
For all the slobbering that is done over Ainge as the GM, it's not too dissimilar to Chris Quinn saying that the Spurs are in a class with the Thunder and Celtics as far as GM'ing goes.
Ainge wins a lot of deals, but he doesn't win many games (like our front office as of late). The latter is what matters in this league. What makes Presti and Stevens different is that they've built winners (though Presti still hasn't delivered a chip). Ainge does deserve some of Steven's credit, however, as it was his shrew moves with Garnett and Pierce that resulted in Tatum and Brown, but there was also some degree of luck involved there. Ainge also made a big more for Kyrie that didn't really pay off and then lost him for nothing.
With the Spurs having used up all their cap space on the Paul and Barnes acquisitions, they no longer would have the ability to renegotiate the last year of Markkanen’s contract so that the 40% raise on his extension would reach the max.
I think the only teams left with enough space to do that are the Jazz themselves and the Pistons.
Markkanen and his agent therefore have a vested interest in trying to scuttle any trades from the Jazz by suggesting they won’t re-sign.
What makes the most sense for Markkanen is to stay with the Jazz, do the renegotiation and extension ASAP on August 6, and then if the Jazz still want to trade him, they can do so at the trade deadline.
I don't believe an acquiring team doing a re-negotiation was every really in the cards, since there is a 6-mo waiting period for the acquiring team to do so. If someone acquires Lauri, it will be with the unofficial promise of an extension, unless the Jazz to the renegotiation on Aug 6 and execute a trade deadline deal (which I don't think is in their best interest, personally).
Personally, I think we'll see Lauri get traded somewhere before Aug 6 - Ainge is just squeezing every last drop from suitors.
They can use Barnes in a trade with Utah, making room for Lauri I believe.
Dude Ainge built the Boston team taht won in the 2000s and he built the core of the team that just won. He definitely has won and has done so in multiple eras and has done well as GM of multiple teams. Its hard to find fault with him. He's way more of the reason Boston just won than Stevens is.
The renegotiation and extension are two separate things. The renegotiation would be on his existing deal, to get his salary high enough that the extension, limited as it is to a 40% raise, could reach the max. I don’t think the renegotiation has a 6-month moratorium for the acquiring team.
The renegotiation, though, has to come out of cap space.
PAFTO built the teams that won in the 2000s too. Not really relevant at this point. The league changes. And I already gave him credit for the current Celtics squad.
The point here is that none of Ainge's shrew dealmaking has amounted to in Utah, nor have the moves that PAFTO has made in the last 7 years they're getting credit for.
I thought Chinook said that the renegotiation also had a 6-month moratorium, but I could be wrong.
If Barnes didn’t update all his pages to show Spurs in them, this is what I would believe. I just find it hard to believe they’d risk losing some of their guys to get Barnes. That’s… weird.
This is like saying the cake I put in the oven 30 seconds ago doesn't taste good.
If it did, that would be all the more reason for Markkanen to work to scuttle any trade. His best and maybe only chance to reach the max would be with Utah.
It is nice to acquire vet players and get to talk about how they'll find into the team instead of how much dead money we're eating to waive them, at least.
Is this Ainge's first season as Utah's CEO? He might be working that same patience grift as PAFTO.
Since taking over, he's made moves to get them from playoff team to treadmill team, with their arrow pointing down. How long it takes him to bottom out will be important, and then how quickly he can build after that is the next (which is the same question the Spurs FO is facing right now).
He'll get the max next summer one way or another (barring injury). Not sure if that extra money this season takes priority for him over the right home. Varies by player I suppose.
Time to lock this thread?
Did the Jazz trade him elsewhere?
All I keep hearing about this trade is how Utah doesnt' want to trade him. That strikes me as nothing but posturing to get a better offer out of team's that have reached out. I'm not pressed for the Spurs to make a huge offer at this moment. I think if they can get him for a few picks then that would be great but it doesn't seem like Utah is dying to trade this guy for some middling first rounders off in the future. Ainge obviously feels like he has leverage here and he's not just going to give in to the first OK offer he gets. The Spurs shouldn't be rushing out to get a deal done now unless the price is right and there's absolutely no indication the price is right ATTM.
I like LM but I don't understand the rush to go out give away the farm for him just yet. People clown the Hawks for their move so I would hope they would understand why the Spurs shouldn't rush into the same .
To my knowledge, no one has advocated to give away the farm. The Spurs have expanded their farm from 100 acres to 1000 acres. Trading away 100 doesn't mean you gave away the farm.
Its been 2 seasons since they blew it up and they've done well to get assets in that time even if they haven't landed a franchise player. Guess what man, it takes a long time to rebuild a franchise from scratch. Expecting results after 2 years is way more delusional than I expect from you. It's inconsistent AF to hold up Presti while trying to knock down Ainge because Ainge hasnt' built a winner in two years. How long has it taken Presti? A whole of a lot longer than two years.
There are plenty of people here advocating going "all in". How else am I supposed to read that other than doing whatever it takes?
I don't expect anything... I just said he's won on trades before he's won games. This is a fact. That doesn't mean Ainge or PAFTO suck, it just means that its a little premature to be taking victory laps. This relates to Quinn (in a separate tweet) lumping the Spurs, Thunder and Celtics as front offices "who are better than everyone else". But this iteration of the Spurs FO hasn't turned the corner yet, so it's premature to heap that kind of praise on them.
Sounds like you're disagreeing just to disagree.
Last edited by scott; 07-07-2024 at 04:15 PM.
If it’s premature to praise them, is it premature to criticize them?
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