[Shankar] Do not expect Amen to get a max contract extension (and other stuff)

Straight up, if Stone manages to keep Amen without paying him a max and paying him more like what his brother's likely to get then his ability as a GM will go up massively in my estimation. I still think 23% of the cap would be massive overpay though tbh.

 

Man, i've been watching Ausar closely in this series and holy mother of god he's worse then Amen on offense by such a massive degree i have been floored.

 

Shankar? I barley know her

 

Just because Ausar's worse, doesn't make Amen good. Do I really need to repost the shooting charts showing Amen approx 10-20% BELOW league average everywhere except directly under the basket again?

 

The question I'd have is: Is Amen's "better offense" really worth it when him doing it makes him a worse defender than his brother, and he still shoots worse than average everywhere except dunking right underneath the basket? Surely you're supposed to lean into the strengths of your players, not move away from them and make them lesser because you couldn't be bothered acquiring a real PG?

 

What “other stuff” is Tilman trying to give him?

 

Can we pay him 30 per year and a big ass Landry's advertising campaign? I'd be all for that one lol

 

I didn't say that Amen is good, i said i was floored at HOW much worse Ausar is on offense. I guess Ausar does shoot only 57% from the line and only 68% around the rim compared to Amen's 78% free throws and 76% around the rim.

 

Oh I don't think Ausar is good either, I just think he's more likely to be paid like a defensive specialist roleplayer and that'll be more value for money than paying his brick machine brother 23% of the cap.

 

I guess it depends on how you project Amen out. Everyone here mocked and ripped the Cade contract, turned out amazing. Everyone mocked Barnes, nobody thinks it's bad now. You'll rarely screw yourself giving a young super talented guy a big contract, the ones that screw you are paying old guys. Even the Paolo contract which looks terrible, if they wanted to trade him they could do it in a heartbeat and get something positive. The rockets gave Jalen, who has never showed he can even be a starting level player a nearly 22% of the cap contract and Amen is light years better then Jalen.

When you say Ausar paid like a defensive specialist, are you thinking like 5/100? Or like 4/60?

 

I don't think the Jalen Green contract is a good example of value for money if we're being honest about it, looks like an absolute massive **** up tbh haha. Based on their production, I'd pay Ausar in the 4/100 range similar to a Dyson Daniels type allowing for inflation year to year and being an example of another perimeter defensive specialist with low shooting ability. I'd be more than happy to pay Amen more like 30, 35 per at the high end, which is honestly being generous if you compare him to other defensive specialists with low shooting percentages and limited true offensive skillset. That extra is the allowance for "potential." Until he realizes said potential you're risking turning him into another Jalen contract. I think that's fairly reasonable tbh, despite the flaming I'll get for it from his stans. The modern CBA situation means we should be frugal so that we have the money if we need to when/if a real star potential player or actual star comes available.

 

Of course we will. He's going to be Ime's best man if he gets another woman in the future. Our offense will die even more deaths so Ime and his boxing buddy can stay best good pals.

 

That's all fair, he can't be a Jalen contract because he's already so much better. Daniels is just a really shitty version of Amen, worse on both ends and he got 25/year. I'd be thrilled with 35/year for Amen and ok with 40 but anything near a max is absurd.

 

For me 40 is a bit much, but I think he'll probably get it. I do agree on Daniels which is why I put Ausar more at that level money wise with Amen slightly above. For me I'd just err on the side of caution with Amen, don't be the person who overpays until he actually earns that. Give him more than his actual peers as low-offense defensive specialist with a bit more for the potential without a big overpay, and then if he does break out properly and learn some offensive skills then give him his payday on the next one. Don't make him the perimeter version of Evan Mobley.

 

Mobley is on a supermax though, he's at 30-32% every year. Even with that, he's really really good and if the cavs wanted to trade him they could trade him in a millisecond for a ton. The risk with young guys is just so much lower because they are so much less likely to have seasons of 40 games. Honestly the difference between 35 or 38 or 40 isn't really worth much discussion.

 

I honestly think it is worth discussion in the current financial climate. We need those extra millions for if a star does shake loose, it's not a case of just throwing money around any more (obviously, our FO DOES do that with **** like the DFS, Capela and FVV contracts, I just don't consider Stone a particularly great GM either.)

 

Whether Amen gets $35M or $40M AAV, he is still going to be on a much "worse" contract going forward than he has been, just by nature of no longer being on a rookie contract. He made $9M this year.

It's a salary capped league. You can't win a championship with a roster of players making fair value contracts.

You need a Shai or Jokic who are massively underpaid on maxes, or a Dylan Harper or Ajay Mitchell who are massively underpaid on rookie deals.

We have neither going forward. You can't trade for a Shai or Jokic, so time to get some more rookie deals.