Duncan was 2-4 shooting for 6 points in the first half. The Heat are down 28, so this might be the end of the road for him. At least this time around.
Iām not sure Iāve ever seen anyone guard the pick and roll as well as Davis tonight.
Oh well, all hail to King LeBron!
This was still a ton of fun to watch. Way to go Duncan! The future is bright for Duncan and the Heat.
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Yeah, the Heat have about $50 mil coming off the books in the form of Dragic, Crowder, Meyers Leonard, and Solomon Hill. Now, they may re-sign some of those guys (probably not Hill or Leonard, or at least nowhere close to their numbers), like I sort of think Dragic will get brought back because the FA pool at PG is miserable and heād probably be the best available playerā¦but his salary will be reduced. I imagine theyāll try to re-sign Derrick Jones Jr.
Duncan and Nunn both have non-guaranteed minimums next year, which I imagine will get picked up, and possibly extensions offeredā¦they should be able to get a pricey player to add next year no matter whatā¦maybe a guy like Bertans or Galinari to replaced Crowder.
So much respect and admiration for how the Heat do their thing. Glad our guy Duncan is a part of that, and glad our coach came up as an assistant there.
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Wouldnāt a weak PG FA pool lead to Dragic getting a good pay day? Iām not totally sure what the market will be for him, but he played really really well in the playoffs. Age is the biggest concern though. And COVID revenue decreases. So yeah not sure what the market will be for him, but Iād bet on a per year basis he could get similar dollars to what heās getting now.
Crowder just had a career shooting year and is only 30 so heāll get a raise if they want to keep him. Not sure Iād go for Bertans if I were them since heās basically just taller Duncan
It would, but Dragicās salary was $19+ mil - I donāt see a way heās getting that. Hopefully thereās some measure of good will there too. I just donāt think Iād give Crowder much of a raise off his current number - heās not going to shoot like that again (hell, we saw it in the playoffs). I think Galinari is probably the best fit with what they have.
(made the profane error of saying H E double hockeysticks again)
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āthis hecksiteā is a pretty good way to describe this forum
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Agree about Crowder. Doesnāt thrill me. Not sure Iād go Gallinari though; I think you need a real two-way player. Theyāll be building the team with the expectation theyāll face the Lakers again in the finals, and you canāt have Butler checking LeBron all game. Duncan isnāt of assistance there.
Sure thatās what you get ideallyā¦but that guy isnāt on the market. The āwingyā guys who are any good that can shoot (I think they need this position to shoot) that are FAs are Galinari, Bertans, Bogdonovic (the Kings one, not the Jazz one). Heyward and DeRozan are absolutely taking their massive player options.
You could argue they should kick the space forward to the next year (Igoudala comes off the books), but how much tread does Butler have on the tiresā¦
Yeah, I have no idea who is on the market. Maybe canāt do better that Crowder, who is kinda mediocre both ways. Iād be tempted to go D over shooting though with this bunch, assuming you have Dragic still. Or maybe they let Dragic walk and try to upgrade the wing through a trade. Youāve got to assume Rileyās thinking big, though, and not going to stand pat. After 05 he could have assumed that another year of same-roster growth plus another year of Pistons decline would be enough to get him into the finals, but he went out and pulled that huge four-team trade and coaxed a productive season out of Antoine Walker.
There was a really interesting Duncād On episode about the topic. They advocated for a 1 yr deal with a team option for both Dragic and Crowder that pays above market value. It would keep the cap sheet clean for the '21 free agency class and allow them to run it back in the meantime.
Chasing a Gallo or someone like that would probably crater their 2021 FA hopes and is therefore a non-starter. And the team options on both contracts would open up salary matching in a potential sign and trade for a superstar like Giannis. Which is how they got Jimmy in the first place.
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Thatād be ideal for the Heat, but the question is if Crowder and Dragic would go for that.
Yeah, I donāt see Dragic doing that. Heās 34 according to basketball reference so this could be his last chance for a real payday. Crowder maybe, but even then a team option/1 year deal is a tough sell for any plus player.
I wonder how the pandemic cap impacts will have players thinking about that though.
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Yeah thatās true. Players might be more inclined to take a 1-year deal if the cap number is projected to bounce back next year. Though then youāre looking at a deeper free agency class also if enough players take that route. Tough to predict, but I think most guys error on the side of ālock up my money now while I canā with the exception of a handful of elite guys.
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My guess is that Dragic could probably make as much asking for a 1 year deal as he would asking for a theee year at age 34 - he missed half the season two years ago and hurt himself again now. Nobody will want to pay him multiple years unless itās cheap as hell.
I have my doubts on that. I think a number of teams would sign Dragic to a decent three year deal, even if they think theyāll only get one or two more good years out of him. Youāre right there are some lingering injury concerns, but if he can prove heās healthy (and Iām not sure the latest injury is thought to be serious or long-term, right?) then his stock probably went up if anything in the Bubble. I guess weāll see soon enough though.
Heās still a really good player.
The key is it would have to be an overpay. Heat are one of the few teams with cap space this summer so the multi-year deal you are talking about might not be on the table. Are the Pistons/Hornets tripping over themselves to offer Dragic 3 yrs? Almost certainly not.
Not to mention he missed out on his 1 career finals appearance so I am sure he is dying to be on a competitive team. Time will tell, but they Heat seem to have the tools to be competitive again next year in the final yr of Duncanās current deal (to get the thread back on topic again).