Yes--but only if he accepted a role as 6th man. Players like Lavine really need to come off the bench and contend for 6th man of the year. Paying them the max and letting them start is a bad idea. He could still become better than Lavine though, that's not outside the realm of possibility.
Y'all are underselling Lavine I think. Yes he's not the number one option on a good team, but he's been a nice, top 30 guy for several years now.
Uncle Jeff & Reg - Grant Willliams. To me this is a no-brainer Win - Win. Tate & Jock - Buddy Buckets AH. - Svi and cut + 2 2s. Jrue wants to play with his brothers; Cs want to te-sign long-time Jrue. If the Future star were traded: Jalen, Jock - Murray, Griffin That is how I believe the week will play out.
If he can’t be the #1 guy on a team, how can he be top 30? I don't know if it’s really underselling LaVine when comparing Green to him. LaVine is an overpaid player. I think most of us anticipated/expected Green to be the #1 option, and so far, he has not lived up. My fear is giving Green a contract that has us hamstrung. If Green were a clear-cut #1, wouldn’t blink at giving him a contract like LaVine has.
I don't think it's a good outcome because of how high his ceiling could have been but I'd be happy enough to keep him around if that's what he ended up becoming. When all these guys hit their prime, we still need someone to score. Jalen is already clearly being emphasized less now so if he is able to accept a more supporting role in the future he'd still be a very important member of the team.
Isaac Okoro 23 year old, 6-5, 225 lb SG from Auburn 8.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.8 apg in 26.3 minutes in 2023-2024 Dean Wade 27 year old, 6-9, 228 lb PF from Kansas State 5.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.9 apg in 21.7 minutes in 2023-2024 Outgoing Players Jock Landale 28 year old, 6-11, 255 lb C from Saint Mary's 2.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.6 apg in 9.1 minutes in 2023-2024 Jae'sean Tate 28 year old, 6-4, 230 lb F from Ohio State 4.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.1 apg in 17.9 minutes in 2023-2024
I don't know if you have to be a true #1 to be worth paying the max--teams can have two max players and still assemble a roster after all--but I still think LaVine is overpaid in the sense of roster construction/salary cap management. The way I look at it is, if you're a pure scorer like LaVine or like Jalen and don't bring anything else above average to the table (playmaking, defense, rebounding) you need to be truly elite at scoring to be worthy of a max salary slot on a team. Not just really good, but like one of the 3 to 5 best scorers in the NBA. So a guy like Lauri, even though realistically he's the #2 option on a true contender, is worthy of the max, because he is a very good rebounder in addition to being a very good, efficient scorer. LaVine might have been good enough to be the #2 option during his peak years (I don't know if he is anymore since he's already showing signs of decline), but he didn't/doesn't bring anything else above average to the table.
Honestly, I wonder if addition by subtraction. I don't see any available superstar wings to trade for. I think Brooks at the 2 and either Tari or Cam at the 3 is a defensive upgrade. If we could convert Jalen into an unprotected pick for 3 or 4 years from now I wouldn't mind.
Ha, good point. I guess I'm trying to say he shouldn't be a #1 option or your team probably isn't very good. Regarding Green, I potentially see him getting a contract extension similar to Devin Vassell (which isn't THAT bad under a $150 mil cap) as he is having a third year similar to him. Definitely not a max and not as much as LaVine.
Jeff Green Jock Landale 2024 Nets top 1 protected pick 2025 top 1 protected pick For Mikal Bridges I know, they won't take it. We got ALL the leverage here. Let's not forget that. Which team will give them two top 6 picks (they can control it) for Mikal? If they think a team is willing to trade for Jeff Green then they agree and keep trying to add to the agreed upon trade prior to the deadline tomorrow. Involve a 3rd team. Rockets probably have a good sense of teams interested by now. Let Jalen Green go into RFA and let the market determine his contract value. If a team gives him the max then there's probably some existing trade value still left (if we decide to match) if not then it's not a problem. They won't take it but that's as far as I'll go by tomorrow. If Nets think spiraling downwards without anything to show for it in the future is better than having 2 consecutive top picks then tell them to have fun.